The Department of Archives and Special Collections

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. Special policies apply for the use and publication of Visual Collections, the Blues Collection, the Rowan Oak Papers, and other Faulkner collections.

Books, manuscripts, and other materials in the Archives and Special Collections 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.

Because of the uniqueness and value of materials in Special Collections, security measures are in place at all times. Lockers are provided for materials not required for taking notes. Researchers are asked to sign in and out on each visit, and to sign for all materials requested. All materials will be checked prior to the researcher's departure.

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.

Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collections Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at (662)915-7408 to specify requested material.

Collections stored at the Library Annex include Modern Political Collections from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as well as all visual material in Special Collections, such as photographs, slides, negatives and film reels.

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 photocopier with copies costing $.10 a page. Books dating from the Nineteenth Century through 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 make copies.

View our full registration form with photocopying procedures (pdf).
View our photo duplication policies.

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.