Archives Policies
Access
Archives and Special Collections access is available to Hampshire College faculty, staff, and enrolled students as well as alums; Five College patrons; and researchers from outside the local area. Access is by appointment with the archivist and collections curator (archives@hampshire.edu). Some archival material has access restrictions for reasons of confidentiality or condition.
Copyright
Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections provides access to its collections in order to support education and scholarship. Some archival materials may be protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Additionally, the use and reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms listed in the deeds of gift and donor restrictions. Laws against libel and invasion of privacy may also apply.
Permission to examine and reproduce materials is not an authorization to publish them. Researchers who plan eventual publication of their work should make inquiry concerning overall restrictions on publication before beginning their research. Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections does not assume responsibility for infringement of copyright held by others. If permission to publish is granted, location of the material must be indicated in the work as well as appropriate attribution.
Publication of electronic scans or copies of archival material must be obtained from the copyright holder of the material. Please contact the archivist for additional information.
Reproduction
Requested archival material, including documents and photographs, can be supplied as scanned files. Because electronic delivery is much faster than hard-copy delivery, Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections prefers to email PDFs to researchers. Fees for generating and mailing hard copies are below under Use Fees.
Researchers are responsible for obtaining the appropriate permission and are responsible for conforming with the laws of libel, copyright, and literary property rights when obtaining and using reproductions of archival material.
There is a limit of 100 pages/images per researcher per year. Digital copies of audiotapes, videotapes and motion picture film will be created as possible. Because of the fast evolution of digital audiovisual formats, the archivist will work with the patron to deliver digital AV materials in a format both suitable to the patron's needs and appropriate to the archives' infrastructure. Orders will be filled as staff time permits; large orders may require a substantial amount of time.
Use fees
There is a flat $5 fee for reproductions, either hard copy or digital. Tracking down materials and reproducing them takes time and effort. This use fee helps to support the activities of the archives. The archives may also need to apply shipping fees for hard copies (including AV media like DVDs and CDs).
Reading Room Etiquette
Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited in the archives. Clean hands are a fine way to make sure that materials used are not damaged by use. Marking, folding, or removing any archival material damages materials. Material should be kept in its original order, in the folders in which it is supplied, and handled carefully. Slips will be provided to indicate where copies or scans are desired.
Internet Access
Although many records in the Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections are open to the Hampshire community and/or outside researchers to view without restriction, publication of this material, in print or on the web, on Hampedia or social networking sites, must be treated differently. Concerns include copyright ownership, privacy (especially for alums), and concomitant exposure of the College to lawsuits, as well as the ability to alter the documentary record.
Documents requested for making available on the web must be examined in light of these concerns, and if approved, posted on a site under Hampshire institutional control, preferably the Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections website. Links from commentary or indexes may be made to these documents from other websites as desired. Material will be scanned and posted as staff time is available.
Hours/Days
The archives are available by appointment; contact the archivist and collections curator at archives@hampshire.edu.
Donations and Deeds of Gift
If you wish to donate materials to the Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections, please visit us on the third floor of the Harold F. Johnson Library on the Hampshire College campus. You can also call the archives at 413.559.5761 or email us at archives@hampshire.edu.
Donations are formalized with a deed of gift. A deed of gift is a document specifying the type and content of materials being donated to the archives. The deed also specifies what rights, if any, to the donated materials are being conferred upon the archives and what rights the donor will retain.
Donors who wish to make their work freely usable should consider publishing their work under a Creative Commons license. This allows people who wish to use your work to be protected from copyright infringement claims. More about Creative Commons »