Public Services

Policies Regarding Use of Materials

The Special Collections and University Archives Department of Stanford University Libraries is committed to acquiring, preserving, and providing access to materials of enduring historic value that support the research needs of the Stanford community and beyond. The holdings of our department are divided into three distinct and unique divisions: Manuscripts, Rare Books and University Archives.

Accessibility and hours

We welcome all students, scholars and members of the general public to the Field Reading Room. Members of the Stanford community should show a current Stanford I. D. and all non-Stanford users must show a current photo I.D. All users must register upon their first visit to Special Collections and University Archives. For non-Stanford visitors wishing to make subsequent visits to Special Collections, a new pass will have to be obtained from Green Library for each day of access. To obtain a pass, please consult with a Green Library portal monitor. Please click here for information regarding parking, driving directions, hours of operation and location.

Since all of our materials are located in remote facilities, patrons must request materials two full business days before planned date of use. In some cases, paging may take up to a week. To make your visit as time efficient as possible, please click here for more detailed information about our paging schedule.

For collections that fall under our Access to Health Information of Individuals Policy, researchers must apply to the department in advance before consulting archival materials. The policy applies to collections or specific materials in collections that Special Collections and University Archives have identified as containing health information of individuals. If a collection falls under this policy, a note will be placed in the collection's finding aid and online catalog record. To determine whether a collection falls under this policy, please consult the bibliographic record for the collection. For further clarification, please contact public services or the Department Head.

Reading Room policies

Because the vast majority of the department's holdings are unique, rare, or extremely fragile, we ask patrons to help us preserve these materials for future scholars by following these special handling requirements:

• All materials in the department are non-circulating and must be used in the Field Reading room (the Special Collections and University Archives reading room)
• No food or drink is permitted in the Field Reading Room at any time.
• All personal belongings, except those necessary for research (such as single sheets of paper, pencils and laptop computers), should be placed in the reading room lockers. This includes coats, backpacks, three-ring binders, spiral bound notebooks, and laptop cases.
• All books must be used in a foam cradle. A staff member will provide you with the appropriate cradle and book weights (when needed) upon your arrival.
• Researchers are allowed to view five books at one time.
• Manuscript and archival materials must lie flat on the tables; do not place items in your lap or hold them up. Do not rest objects or take notes on top of materials
• Researchers are permitted to use one box and one folder from the box at a time. Please take care to keep the documents in the file in the order in which you found them.
• Pens and highlighters may not be used in the reading room--only pencils and laptops are allowed.
• White cotton gloves may be required to handle photographs. A staff member will provide you with these upon your arrival.
• Photography is generally not allowed in the reading room, nor in Green Library as a whole. Personal copiers and scanners are also not allowed.
• The use of cell phones, cameras, PDAs, and mp3 players are not permitted in the reading room.

These guidelines apply to anyone researching in the Field Reading room, even if they are not using Special Collections and University Archives materials (i.e. interlibrary loan materials). If you wish to learn more about how these simple actions protect our materials, please ask the staff for more information.

Duplication

Photocopying is done by Special Collections staff only. The department reserves the right to refuse photocopy requests if the materials are fragile or may be damaged by the duplication process. Providing reproductions does not constitute permission to publish or reproduce images in print or electronic form. For more information regarding our duplication services, please click here. Please note that we do not reproduce entire books or manuscript boxes (or substantial portions of either) unless authorized.

Permission to publish or broadcast

Formal written permission is required from the Department of Special Collections and University Archives prior to publishing or rebroadcasting any item or work, in whole or in part, held by the Department. For permission to publish or quote from any of our materials, please submit your request to the department. More information can be found here.

Contact us

Via email: speccollref@stanford.edu

Mailing address:

Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Attn: Public Service
Green Library
Stanford University Libraries
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064

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