Use and Access
The holdings of Spec are maintained and made available for the benefit of university stakeholders and the public. The use of the collections is central to the mission of the department and should be facilitated whenever possible.
Patron Inquiries
The primary use of Spec materials comes in the form of research inquiries. Researchers may make a request for information in-person, over the phone, or by email. Researchers who can conduct the review of material themselves should be encouraged to make an appointment in advance. Relevant collections, in full or part, can then be brought to the Reading Room for their study. See Reading Room Practices for additional relevant information.
If a researcher cannot visit the institution themselves, the responsibility for responding to research inquiries is shared by all Spec staff and faculty. A member of the department will use physical and digital archival materials, knowledge databases, and colleagues to answer the patron inquiry. Upon completion, the research inquiry should be logged in the Patron Support Report for future reference.
Research and Reproductions
In most cases, the Spec representative should not spend more than an hour working on a single inquiry. If an inquiry may take more than one hour to complete, and the representative has time available, they should communicate any expected charges to the patron. A research fee of $25.00 per half hour will be charged for research conducted by Spec representatives beyond the first hour. This fee is due regardless of whether the desired information is located. Spec staff can use the Research/Reproduction Fee located on the University of Idaho Marketplace.
Patrons may request physical or digital copies of materials held by Spec. Generally, copies are provided free of charge, within reason. Reproduction requests that total less than 25 pages, require a low resolution for scanning, are easily handled in a flatbed scanner, and are in stable condition should be provided at no charge. Items that are bound may require equipment not immediately available in Spec and may delay fulfillment of a request. Items that should be handled with extra care should be photographed rather than scanned.
When a reproduction request exceeds the parameters listed above, it may be appropriate to assess a reproduction fee. Again, a $25 fee will be assessed in half-hour increments. Examples of reproduction requests that may necessitate a fee include scanning very large or fragile items, duplicating audio or video materials, or scanning numerous photograph negatives.
NOTE: An estimate of probable research and reproduction fees should be provided to a patron in advance of any work being completed. In general, if the time needed to complete a request exceeds the estimate, Spec representatives should not assess any additional fee. If in doubt, consult with the Head.
Spec representatives retain the right to refuse any individual research or reproduction request that interferes with their normal duties. While customer service of great concern to the department, it is not a research firm and cannot accommodate all requests due to staffing limitations.
Based upon advice from University of Idaho General Counsel in Summer 2022, Spec should not assess use fees on materials provided to researchers.
Access to Born-Digital Materials
The Archive Drive is a separate storage network created to houses born-digital and hybrid accessions and processed collections. Write access is given to the department’s Digital Archivist and other members of the staff dependent on needs. Read-Only access can be accessed by the entire department after appropriate network mapping. Please view the KeePass and Access Archive Drive directions for steps on how to map the storage network to your computer.
During the ingesting process, Spec will maintain the original digital assets for preservation, while access copies of the materials will be created for patron use. It is important to note that some access copies may change from their original format to an Open Document Format (ODF). These formats have easily recognizable extensions (i.e. PDF, TIFF, WAVE) that can be rendered more easily. When patrons request to see digital items, they will be made aware of the format and specific software they might have to use. Documentation of formats and access copies will be made during the accessioning and processing stages. Confidential information and copyright require restrictions for access and use.
For current digital collections that are viewable to the public, U of I Library uses CollectionBuilder. This program uses collection metadata and related digital materials to create collections that are accessible online. The process to create a digital collection from the ground up can be viewed on the Digital Collections Team documentation site. Born-digital and hybrid collections may seem easy to immediately create a digital collection with the digital assets. However, it can be just as time consuming as using materials from a physical collection. Metadata might have been migrated over during the ingesting processes, but staff members still must check for correctness (i.e. item title, date, creator, rights, etc.) and create interpretive descriptions.
Some questions staff members should ask to help navigate the decision of making digital assets immediately accessible via digital collections are as follow:
- Is there a current demand?
- What is the priority rating?
- How will this collection serve our patrons?
Internal Use
Collection materials are used internally by Spec faculty and staff, as well as others within the Library, to create physical exhibits, interpretive essays, public education programs, and digital online collections. When planning for such projects, consideration should be given to the physical care and preservation of materials. Ideas may be generated internally by department employees or come from external requests.