University Archives and Special Collections Handbook

Located behind the student assistant desk on the top of the bookshelf, there are "Request for Materials" forms. If there are none, notify a staff member to print out more.

The forms looks like the following example below:

All student assistant must have all visitors fill out the following section(s) and legibly:

• Name
• Date (Including year)
• Address/Department
• Phone Number (including area code)
• Email Address
• Class (Student only -- this denotes the course such as ENG 101, ENG 226, HIST 298, etc.)
• Materials Used (i.e.: topic, etc.)
  • Staff can fill out further once returned by the visitor with additional information (i.e.: viewed MSS 001-1; etc.).

Staff and student assistants are required to fill out the following the visitor returns the form and denote the correct information on the visitor in the following section(s):

• Student, Faculty/Staff, or Public
  • Who is this visitor? Check with the visitor and/or the staff to double check.
• Phone, Email, or Walk-In
  • How did they contact the department?

Whoever takes this request must place your initials on "Staff" line (i.e. - JAW, BB, MS, DE, etc.). This is for accountability purposes and if questions are raised, the person can be clarify or explain.

Once the form is completing filled out and the patron is finished using the department's material, take the form and place it onto the library assistant's desk.

• Give the visitor a "Request for Materials" form, or complete form for phone calls or emails.
  • Record name and contact information.
  • Make sure the department name, course, and contact information is recorded.
• Ask questions about research and topic.
  • Record notes on form.
• Ask if they have visited or contact the archives about the research.
• Check log book if they have contacted the unit.
• Locating resources
  • Search finding aids for related material.
    • May need to refer staff member to senior staff member, or university archivist.
  • Check digital files for scanned materials.
    • Look at both photographs and documents.
    • New materials are being scanned all the time, so check to see if item is already in a digital format.
• Pull materials for patron
  • Record all materials found: collections, box and folder if appropriate photograph item ID number, or call numbers from books in the reading rooms.
    • If staff member requests to borrow materials, see "Home" tab under "Circulation Policy".
• Digitization requests
  • All internal scan projects must be cleared by the senior staff member or archivist.