Policies and Procedures

Table of Contents

 

Access

  • The Archives is open to patrons by appointment only. Available hours will be from 1 to 4 pm, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and 9 am to 12 noon on Wednesdays and Fridays. Appointments must be made ahead of any visit. If you are making a multi-day or longer term research visit, please contact us to make arrangements.
  • All first-time visitors must complete a registration form before using the collections; repeat visitors must notify staff of changes in their contact information before using the collections. All visitors must sign in and out of the Reading Room at each visit.
  • Coats, bags, and other personal property must be left with staff or kept in the coat/locker room. Pencils, paper, and laptops are permitted in the Reading Room, but pens and carrying cases are not. As a security measure, the Archives and Special Collections staff reserves the right to inspect all articles used at the research tables. The reading room is equipped with power and data jacks, as well as wireless.
  • Materials do not circulate. They may be used in the Reading Room only.
  • Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited.

Use

  • All material must be handled carefully. Materials may not be leaned on, written on, folded, traced from, or handled in any way that might cause damage. Cotton gloves must be worn when handling photographs and cradles must be used when handling fragile books; these will be provided by the staff. Mutilation, destruction and theft of materials are subject to prosecution.
  • Certain documents may be restricted by statute or by the donor. For the protection of the collections, the staff reserves the right to restrict the use of materials which have not been processed, are being processed, or which are particularly fragile. In some cases, photocopies or microfilm of fragile originals can be provided.
  • Researchers may retrieve for themselves any reference books housed in the Reading Room, but are not permitted to reshelve these materials.
  • Researchers must request all other material through the staff as the stacks are closed. Materials in off-site storage may take 24 hours to retrieve.
  • Only 10 boxes of archival material will be issued at a time. Only one folder may be removed from a box at a time. Researchers may not rearrange the order of materials within folders or boxes. Researchers are asked to notify staff if materials appear to be damaged or out of order.

Reproductions

  • Photocopying and other duplication of materials will be arranged by the archives and library staff if it can be done without injury to the materials, and does not violate copyright or other restrictions. All copying, except from certain reference books, will be done by staff.
  • Copies are provided for personal research use only and may not be transferred to any other person or institution, nor re-duplicated or published in any fashion, without prior written request of the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library.
  • Fees for reproductions are as follows:
Bates Students Bates Faculty and Staff Outside Researchers
Photocopies from open stack items Free Free $.20 per page
Photocopies from closed stack items $.20 per page Free if work related;
otherwise $.20 per page		 $.20 per page
Scans/digital images $10 per image Free if work related;
otherwise $10 per image		 $10 per image
Audiotapes/CDs $10 per tape Free if work related;
otherwise $10 per tape		 $10 per tape/CD
Videotapes/DVDs $10 per tape Free if work related;
otherwise $10 per tape		 $10 per tape/DVD
PDFs $.20 per page Free if work related;
otherwise $.20 per page		 $.50 per page

Note there is a $5.00 shipping and handling fee for all mail orders.

Publication

  • Permission to use materials does not convey the permission to publish, exhibit, quote beyond fair use, or otherwise reproduce materials in full or in part. Permission to publish material will only be granted following the receipt of a completed permission to publish form.
  • Once the request is approved, the researcher assumes full responsibility for securing permission to publish from any and all owners of copyright or publication rights. Bates College makes no claim to be the owner of copyright or literary property rights to any materials in its collections unless these rights have been explicitly transferred.
  • Preferred citation format is: [Item identification and date], [Series info.], [Collection title], [Box and folder number or other physical identifier], The Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Bates College. See our full citation guide for more information.
  • There is a $100.00 publishing fee for all archival materials.
  • The Archives reserves the right to request two copies of the publication.