Levels of access
Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this issue. I brought up my concerns at our meeting this morning and it was agreed that he would not be doing his own copying but instead clearly marking what he wants done. We will have one of our interns do the copying so it will be done quickly.
 
Thank you all for backing up my  feelings on this topis!
 

Christine A. Schmid
Associate Archivist
The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of American Jewish Archives
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220
513-221-7444 x3319
513-221-7812 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
http://www.americanjewisharchives.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Robins, Judith
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Levels of access

Dear Ms. Schmid:
 
Short form:  I wouldn't. 
 
Long form:
 
I like the motto of the police force:  "To Serve and Protect".  It is up to the client to make wise use of his resources, including time.  It is up to the repository to protect the collection while providing reasonable access.  You have provided reasonable access, given your own resources.  I hold to the rule that photocopying must be done by the staff.  If the client wants it, he will pay for it.  If he's in a rush, it can be done at a price, and he will pay for that, too.  So much for service.  Allowing a client unsupervised access on this scale, to a collection which is not inventoried, does not protect the material for the use of future clients.
 
Follow your instincts.  It IS a bad precedent.
 
Sincerely,

Judith A. Robins,
Collections Supervisor,
Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology
520 N. Northwest Highway
Park Ridge, IL  60068-2573
 
Tel:  847-268-9168
 
Fax:  847-825-1692
 
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]

 


From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Schmid, Christine
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 9:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Levels of access

I am in need of the wisdom of my colleagues regarding access.

We have a researcher who has been working for several weeks on a large collection. It was processed only on a box level and is about 200 record sized boxes. This researcher will be leaving town soon and wants to be able to photocopy documents in it on his own. He is willing to bring in his own copier, do it himself and still pay for the copies. We are actually considering his request because the collection is not in good order and the copying, if done by our part time worker, would take quite a while to get done because of the volume and disarray of the collection. Basically it would be easier on some of the staff.

We have some reservations of course. The only open space for him to set up and work would be where he would be unsupervised. Call me pessimistic and skeptical but I don't tend to trust anyone with historic records that I have been employed to care for.

Also, this researcher has a history of continuously asking for more leeway on the rules and we always give an inch, give another inch and then another inch all in the pursuit of open access for our users.

Has anyone been in this or a similar situation before? Advice? I am afraid of setting a precedent for such open access to our collections and building.

Thank you all.

Christine A. Schmid
Associate Archivist
The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of American Jewish Archives
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220
513-221-7444 x3319
513-221-7812 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
http://www.americanjewisharchives.org

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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

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