The Blues Archive

Othar Turner © Brett Bonner

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The Department of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Mississippi asks potential patrons to read the following general rules covering on- and off-site use of our collections. These policies have been framed primarily to conserve the physical integrity of materials and to protect the legal, intellectual, and creative rights of copyright holders.

Books, manuscripts, and other materials in the Blues Archive are maintained in closed stacks and do not circulate beyond the department. Patrons must complete a request form before archives personnel will retrieve materials.

While conducting research, patrons may use pencil, not ink pens. Laptops are permitted, but patrons are encouraged to bring adequately charged batteries since we cannot ensure access to electrical outlets. Researchers are not permitted to bring bags, backpacks, purses, briefcases, laptop cases, books, binders, folders, notebooks, etc. into Special Collections. Lockers are provided for the storage of personal items.

Researchers who seek access to manuscript materials must sign a release agreeing NOT to publish extensive quotes without the written permission of all interested parties and assuming sole responsibility for any infringement of literary rights and copyrights.

Regulations for the photocopying procedures at the Department of Archives and Special Collections reflect our adherence to copyright laws and our commitment to preservation. The department maintains a self-service, cash- or change-only photocopier with copies costing $.10 a page. Books dating before 1940 must first be inspected by a staff member before copying. All manuscript materials must also be inspected by a staff member before copying. The department retains the right to refuse to permit copying.

Except for select items, the Blues Archive does not own copyrights for most of the photographic and sound recording collections. Permission to copy these items must be obtained from the Blues Curator on an item by item basis.

In the information age, intellectual property is as valuable as material property. Strict adherence to copyright law protects the creator of original works. Copyright is a right granted by legal statute to the author or originator of a literary or artistic production that invests, for a specific time, the originator with the sole and exclusive privilege of multiplying copies of the work and selling them. The United States copyright law protects unpublished materials as well as published works. If you wish to use an unpublished manuscript in a publication, you must determine if the work has passed into the public domain and is no longer under copyright protection. If not in the public domain, copyright holders must authorize any use of a potential work.