ALA-SAA Joint Statement on Access: Guidelines for Access to Original
Research Materials
August, 1994 > Revised August, 2009
1. A repository [1] preserves collections [2] for
use by researchers. It is the responsibility of a repository to make available
original research materials in its possession on equal terms of access.
Access should be provided in accordance with statutory authority, institutional
mandate, the Code of Ethics for Archivists [3], the Standards
for Ethical Conduct for Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections
Librarians4, and this Joint Statement. A repository should
not deny access to materials to any researcher, nor grant privileged or
exclusive use of materials to any researcher, nor conceal the existence
of any body of material from any researcher, unless required to do so
by statutory authority, institutional mandate, or donor or purchase stipulation.
2. A repository is committed to preserving manuscript and archival materials
and to making them available for research as soon as possible. At the
same time, it is recognized that a repository may have legal and institutional
obligations to protect confidentiality in its collections, and that private
donors have the right to impose reasonable restrictions upon their papers
to protect privacy or confidentiality for a reasonable period of time.
a. It is the responsibility of the repository to inform researchers
of the restrictions which apply to collections.
b. The repository should discourage donors from imposing unreasonable
restrictions and should encourage a specific time limitation on restrictions
that are imposed.
c. The repository should periodically evaluate restricted material
and work toward the removal of restrictions when they are no longer
required.
3. As the accessibility of material depends on knowing of its existence,
it is the repositories responsibility to inform researchers of the collections
in its custody. This may be accomplished through local, regional, or national
catalogs; inventories and other internal finding aids; published guides;
and the assistance of staff members.
4. To protect and insure the continued accessibility of the material
in its custody, all materials must be used in accordance with the rules
of the repository. Each repository should publish or otherwise make known
to potential researchers its rules governing access and use. Such rules
must be applied and enforced equally.
a. The repository may limit use of fragile or unusually valuable materials,
but should try to provide suitable reproductions to researchers in lieu
of the originals.
b. The repository may limit access to unprocessed materials, so long
as the limitations are applied and enforced equally.
c. The repository may, under special circumstances, loan or place on
deposit with another repository part or all of a collection.
d. The repository may refuse access to an individual researcher who
has demonstrated such carelessness or deliberate destructiveness as
to endanger the safety of the material, or to a researcher who has violated
the policies and regulations of the repository.
e. To protect its collections, a repository may, in accordance with
statutory authority and institutional mandate, require acceptable identification
of any individual wishing to use its materials, as well as a signature
verifying the individual has read a statement defining the policies
and regulations of the repository.
5. A repository should not charge fees for making available the materials
in its holdings, except when required by statutory authority or institutional
mandate. A repository should facilitate access to collections by providing
reproduction services. These services can include electronic, paper, or
photographic copies; microfilm; or other means of reproduction. All reproductions
should be made in accordance with statutory authority, including copyright
law, institutional mandate, and repository regulations. Reasonable fees
may be charged for these copying or research services. A repository is
not obligated to conduct copying or research services beyond those required
by statutory authority or institutional mandate.
6. Each repository should publish or otherwise make available to researchers
a suggested form of citation crediting the repository and identifying
items within its holdings for later reference. Citations to copies of
materials in other repositories should include the location of the originals,
if known.
7. It is the researcher's obligation to satisfy copyright regulations
when copying or using materials found in collections6 Whenever
possible a repository should inform a researcher about known copyrighted
material, the owner or owners of the copyrights, and the researcher's
obligations with regard to such material.
End Notes:
[1] A repository is defined as an archives, manuscripts library,
research center, or any other institution responsible for keeping primary
research materials.
[2] Collections are defined as individual manuscripts, archival
or manuscript collections, fonds, or record groups found in repositories
in any format.
[3] Code of Ethics for Archivists and Commentary (Chicago:
Society of American Archivists, 1992).
[4] "Standards for Ethical Conduct for Rare Book, Manuscript,
and Special Collection Librarians, with Guidelines for Institutional
Practice in Support of the Standards," College & Research
Libraries News 54 (April 1993): 207-215.
[5] Repositories wishing to participate in the interlibrary loan of
materials may consult as a model the "Additional Guidelines for
Access to Archives, Manuscripts, and Special Collections," Chapter
8 of the Research Libraries Group Shared Resources Manual (3rd
ed., Stanford, CA: Research Libraries Group, 1987). The chapter is reprinted
in Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianship 3 (Fall 1988):
126-130. Repositories wishing to loan original materials for research
or exhibitions may consult the RBMS "Guidelines for the Loan of
Rare and Unique Manuscript Materials," College & Research
Libraries News 54 (May 1993): 267-269, or the "Guidelines
for Borrowing Special Collections Materials for Exhibition," College
& Research Libraries News 51 (May 1990): 430-434.
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