Use Materials Onsite

Our reading room in the Special Collections Research Center is open to students, faculty, visiting researchers, and members of the community. Appointments are required to access materials.

Be sure to plan ahead. You must place requests and make an appointment at least 10 days in advance of your visit.

Requesting materials

Before you can place a request, you’ll need to be registered as a researcher. 

The process for placing a request depends on which of our systems the materials are described in. See how to request special collections materials for instructions.  

If you plan to request 10 boxes or more, please contact us directly at special.collections@umich.edu at least 2 weeks in advance of your visit.

Making an appointment

You can schedule an appointment before placing requests by logging in to your Special Collections Request Account, selecting “Appointments” from the menu, and choosing an open date and time. Otherwise, you'll make an appointment as part of placing a reading room request and once you have one, you can add additional requests for collection material  to it.

At the end of the request form, you'll see options to select an appointment you've already scheduled from the drop-down menu or the “New Appointment” button to see open dates and appointment times.

Most  of our collections are located off-site and require time for us to make them available. We may ask you to reschedule your appointment during exceptionally busy times. 

During your visit

You can bring in laptops, phones, pencils, and notepaper, but other belongings — such as bags, laptop sleeves, coats, and other outwear — must be stored in a locker outside the reading room.

Food, drink, pens, and markers are not permitted in order to protect our materials.

We allow photography, without flash. Fragile materials may require approval for photography or scanning.

We’ll provide instructions regarding the handling of collection material and, when appropriate, book rests, weights, and protective gloves.

Copyright and guidance for using reproductions 

While we own the items in our collections, we do not hold the copyright unless it has been explicitly transferred to the university. You are responsible for understanding the copyright implications of using duplicated materials.

If you are planning to publish or reproduce materials, please see our guidance on reproductions. It includes how to let us know about planned use and cite our materials, as well as specific requirements and terms of use for papyri.