Resources housed in Special Collections consist of unique, rare, and fragile materials. To assist us in preserving these materials for future SCAD students and Faculty, please follow the Special Collections handling and use procedures.
- Arrive at Special Collections with clean hands, washed with only soap and water. Lotions and hand sanitizers are to be avoided before handling materials as they contain harmful residues. Restrooms are located near the entrance to the library.
- All Special Collections materials must be used in the reading room or dedicated special collections classroom under the supervision of a librarian.
- No food or drink is permitted in the reading room or special collections classroom at any time.
- All personal belongings must be set aside in the location designated by the librarian. This includes coats, backpacks, binders, portfolios, laptop cases, and closed water bottles. Headphones, hanging IDs, scarves, long necklaces, large bracelets, bulky rings, and anything that could snag and therefore damage collection materials must be secured.
- Special Collections materials must lie flat on the tables or be supported by a book cradle (librarian will advise); do not place items in your lap or hold them up. Do not lean on, prop up, or take notes on top of materials. Do not write on, erase, trace, place face down, fold, or handle materials in any way that could potentially cause damage.
- Pencils and single sheets of paper for notes will be provided. No ink, highlighter, or mechanical pencils are permitted when taking notes for research. Only write on the front of the paper to avoid transferring graphite to the surface of the table, where it could come into contact with collection materials. Only no. 2 graphite pencils are permitted.
- Phones are allowed in the reading room to document collection materials for assignments and research. Personal copiers, scanners, tripods, and lights or flash are not allowed.
- The librarian will limit the amount of materials on research table at one time based on preservation needs and size.
Use of gloves to protect special collections during handling
- Researchers should wear gloves only when handling photographic, film, and metal materials. Photographic materials include prints, negatives, and transparencies. Nitrile gloves will be provided. Cotton gloves are available upon request.
Gloves are recommended for certain types of materials that are particularly sensitive to the naturally occurring oils in hands, such as photographs, film, and metal. Even when wearing gloves, photographs and film should be handled by the edges to avoid damaging the image surface.
Why not use gloves for all materials in special collections? For paper-based materials, gloves can do more harm than good. Gloves reduce tactile sensitivity, making it harder to sense brittleness and fragility. Cotton gloves have threads that can catch on tears and brittle paper edges, worsening existing damage. Thick cotton gloves also make it difficult to turn individual pages of books and separate archival documents, and because they are absorbent, they can pick up dust, dirt, and oils and transfer them to the collection materials. It is safer to handle most items in special collections with clean, dry hands.
