The Stanford Silicon Valley Archives

Thank you for your interest in the Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford.  Below is information on

·         How to search for archival collections

·         How to request materials for reading room access 

• PLEASE NOTE: (1) Materials can be used only onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room, (2) Materials must be requested at least two business days in advance of planned use, and (3) No more than five boxes per day can be requested. 
•    For more on reading room policies and hours, click here. 

·         Permissions and duplication requests

How to search for archival collections

1. Go to http://searchworks.stanford.edu
2. Type a search term (e.g., the name of a company, technology, or individual) into the search box.  Note the links for Help and Advanced Search Options beneath the box
3. A new screen appears listing all items matching that search term anywhere in the library 
4. Click on “Manuscript/Archive” in the left column to limit your search to archival collections.  (If this option does not appear, it means we have no archival collections matching this search term.  You can try other terms.)
5. Click on the name of a collection to see more details about it

 How to request materials for reading room access

When you’ve clicked on the collection name (#5 above), you will see either a gray box in the center of your screen with the title “At the Library” OR you will see a green box that reads “Online” as well as the gray box.

·         If you see only the gray box, you need to send an email to speccollref@stanford.edu to request boxes from the collection.  (This is what is meant by the instruction to “request at service desk.”)  Be sure your email contains both the name and call number of the collection, and please recall the five-box daily limit. 

·         If you see the green box, within it are links to online finding aids that will tell you the contents of each box in the collection

•   Click on one of the links in the green box
•   A new window will open
•  Figure out from that new window which boxes you want to request
• Go back to the window with details of the collection (the one with the green and gray boxes)
• You’ll see that there is a link (in brackets) next to each box number that says “request”
• Click that “request” link
• A new screen opens with a form you can fill out to request the boxes you need.  You can click up to five boxes on that form

 Please note that materials must be requested two business days in advance of your planned use. For more on reading room policies and hours, click here

Permissions and Duplication Requests

Detailed information about reproductions is here.  Detailed information on permissions is here.  Information on those pages overrides anything that appears below. 

 Please note the following:

The fact that an item is housed in Archives or Special Collections does not mean that Stanford owns copyright to that item.  Patrons must sign a copyright declaration form acknowledging that it is their responsibility to obtain relevant permission from copyright owners in the event they decide to publish their work.

 All duplication is done by departmental staff.  Reproductions are dependent upon the physical condition of the items, as well as copyright and donor restrictions.

• Photocopy reproduction requests take 1-2 weeks to be completed.
• Researchers requesting digital surrogates of images should allow approximately four weeks for their orders to be completed.

The use of a personal digital camera in the Field Reading Room to make digital surrogates of materials requires Department approval before your visit and is by appointment only. Policy on Digital Camera Use in the Field Reading Room (PDF)

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