Archives & Special Collections Policies

Using the Archives & Special Collections

Food and drink are prohibited.
Pencils only are allowed for taking notes.
Gloves are provided and may be required.
Lockers are provided for patron belongings.
- Paper, pencil, and laptop (or similar devices) are permitted at the research table.
- Folders, binders, and all other patron belongings must remain in the locker.
Staff will retrieve requested material and will provide one item or box at a time.
- Please maintain original order of materials provided. This includes folder level or box level materials.
- Do not place anything on top of materials – papers, folders or boxes – such as, elbows, laptops, books, pencils, magnifiers, devices, etc.
- Do not take notes on top of archival materials, folders, or boxes.

Other policies

Photocopies, scans, and other reproductions

Reproduction Request Policies

Due to the rare, valuable, and often fragile nature of our collections, staff makes most of the reproductions requested by users. We reserve the right to restrict reproduction of our materials due to donor agreements, copyright restrictions, condition, value, and size.

Requests may take 1-2 weeks to complete. In the event a request takes longer than two weeks to complete, staff will communicate with the requestor.

Urgent requests are ones that require a less than twenty-four (24) hour turnaround. Urgent requests must be sent using our correspondence form and will only be designated as urgent upon reply from Archives & Special Collections staff. If staff does not identify the request as urgent then the request will be handled as a regular reproduction request.

We do not require fees to publish or exhibit based on our holdings. However, we require the institution be noted in film credits or bibliographic citations. Examples of preferred citations are located on this page under the heading Citing materials.

A courtesy copy of any subsequent publication is also required for our records.

Reproduction Fee Schedule

Students, staff, current and emeriti faculty, and alumni are not charged for the first $5.00 for a request.

All other researchers are not charged for the first $2.00 for a request.

$0.15 per photocopy page.
$1.00 per low resolution (under 300 dpi) digital scan at original physical size.
$3.00 per high resolution (300 dpi and above) digital scan at original physical size.

Requests for originals exceeding 11”x17”, a large quantity of scans, and digitization of recorded audio/visual materials, may be outsourced at the discretion of the Archives & Special Collections staff and will incur additional fees.

Prepayment is required on all orders. Shipping charges are additional. Cash payment is not accepted.

Pay Charges Online

Some self-service scanning is permitted with assistance provided by library staff. Researchers may take digital images (without flash) at no charge.

Publication & copyright

Citing materials

Collection development / donation of materials

The Penfield Library Archives & Special Collections unit is interested in materials that are:

directly related to local or SUNY Oswego history, or
authored by past or current faculty members.

Materials that are currently or have historically been collected into the College Archives include, but are not limited to:

Accreditation Files and Self-Study Reports for college, schools, programs
Annual Reports
These document yearly activities and achievements of departments, programs, schools, etc.
Blueprints & Maps
Bulletins (college catalog)
Budget materials, Annual Budgets, Audits
By-laws
Correspondence - incoming and outgoing correspondence - relating to activities of the college, departments, schools and programs
Class Schedules
Course Outlines approved by the faculty
Department and Academic Program Records
Annual Reports
Course Outlines
Course Syllabi, samples of these
Minutes of committees and faculty meetings
Grant proposals that were successful
Reports, publications, brochures related to Dept./Program activities, including staff or students
Records about honors and awards given to faculty members
Records about honors and awards given by the Departments
Records of special gifts to Departments
Faculty Scholarly & Creative Works
These document professional faculty activity that supports the SUNY Board of Trustees requirements for professional advancement.
Final Reports
Fundraising campaign literature, promotional material, annual reports of activities
Inauguration Materials
Minutes & Agenda
These document activity, policy, planning and final decisions of campus and department committees, councils, and task forces
Official papers of the presidents of SUNY Oswego
Photographs, slides Negatives
Including publicity photographs, and other visual documentation of university activities. Each item should be identified with names of individual(s), subject of pictures, occasion, place, and date
Plans, Reports, Feasibility Studies required by various agencies, such as affirmative action plans, official statistical reports, drafts & final report, etc.
Public Relations Records
Campus publications, selected news releases, and publicity written for the institution.
Publications Related to Students, Faculty & College: Handbooks, Directories, Commencement Programs
Recruitment Materials: general information, plans and reports
Speeches of University Officials
Statements prepared for delivery at meetings and other public functions
Student Publications: Yearbook, Newspapers, literary magazines, etc.

If you have materials that you think meet this criteria, please see our Donate / Transfer page for more information.