Use of Collections
This page provides an overview of rules governing use of Special Collections. If you have not visited Hill Memorial Library before, we encourage you to look at “Where Do I Start” for a general orientation.
Rules concerning the use of the materials in Special Collections are designed to protect the materials and ensure that they will be available for future use. We appreciate your cooperation.
Materials housed and serviced in Special Collections are open to all who desire to consult them; no affiliation with LSU is required. Staff in the Reading Room will help patrons identify and request materials needed for research. The LSU Libraries' Online Public Access Catalog contains records for many Special Collections materials. Finding aids and subject guides are available on the web and in the reading room to provide additional access to the collections.
- Visitors to the building must sign in at the Information Desk in the lobby and wear a visitor's badge while they are in the building.
- Packages, briefcases, cell phones, backpacks, purses and the like must be deposited in lockers provided in the lobby of the building.
- Smoking is not permitted in Hill Memorial Library.
- You must fill out a brief registration form and present an identification card with a photograph and a unique number (not Social Security #) in order to use Special Collections materials.
- Special Collections materials do not circulate outside the building (with the exception of microfilm created by the LSU Libraries).
- Special Collections materials are housed in closed stacks and are paged upon request for use in the Reading Room; when planning your research, please allow time for this process.
- Special Collections manuscript and archival materials that are unprocessed may not be used without the permission of the curator. See more information on Access to Unprocessed Collections
- Some materials (including the Laughlin, Cohn, and Lincoln collections) are stored off-site and require advanced notice for retrieval.
- No materials are paged during the last 15 minutes of the day.
- Duplication services available in Hill Memorial Library include digital scans, photocopies, photographs, self-service photography, microfilm, and prints from microforms are available. Please consult our Photoduplication web page for more information.
