Rules For Use of Archival Material
Patrons using archival material at the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections are required to abide by the following Rules for Use:
- Researchers are encouraged to call, write, or email in advance of arriving at the Archives.
- Researchers must sign the Visitor’s Register each day that he or she uses the Archives.
- No food or beverages are allowed in the research area.
- Only pencils, notecards, laptops, and paper essential for research will be allowed in the research area. All briefcases, coats, and other items not essential for research should be deposited with a member of the Archives' staff.
- All notes must be taken in pencil or on an electronic device only! (No Pens)
- All materials are to be used in the Archives’ research room in an area designated by the Archives’ staff.
- All materials are housed in closed stacks. A staff member will assist researchers and bring material to the research room.
- A minimum of materials essential to immediate research needs is allowed at any time.
- The exact order or arrangement of the papers must be kept intact. If any mistake in arrangement is discovered, please call it to the attention of an Archives staff member. Loose material may not be removed from their folders.
- Exercise greatest possible care to prevent damage to materials and extreme care in handling fragile items. This also includes making no marks on materials, no resting of books or objects on the surface of items used, handling loose sheets by their edges and avoiding, as far as possible, touching the surface with hands.
- The Archives Department will consider requests for limited reproduction of material when such duplication can be done without injury to the material, when such duplication does not violate donor agreements or copyright restrictions, and when reproduction does not cause undue burden to the staff.
- Photo-reproduction will be furnished at the researcher’s expense. Do not remove any material from the collection or change its order in the collection. Please ask a member of the Archives’ staff for instructions and assistance if photocopying is desired.
- All photocopying and scanning services are performed by Archives’ staff. No scanners or cameras are permitted in the Research Area without permission from the Director of the Archives.
- For publication (in print or online) of any archival material (photographs, etc.) a credit line specifically for Archives should be given as follows: “Photograph courtesy of the Louise Pettus Archives & Special Collections at Winthrop University, Rock Hill, S.C.”
- Permission to publish (in print or online) from unpublished manuscripts or published work under copyright must first be obtained from the holder of copyright. It is the researcher’s responsibility to secure that permission.
- On citing material from the manuscript collection located in this department, the form should be as follows (after identification of item and title of Collection): Louise Pettus Archives & Special Collections. Winthrop University, Rock Hill, S.C.
