Guidelines for Use

Collection Use

Permission to use historical materials will be granted to you after you complete the Application for Collection Use. This application signifies your understanding and acceptance of The Center’s rules for using historical materials. We require one form of picture identification.

To the extent it may properly do so, The Center will ordinarily grant the usual publication rights to those who request them. In giving such permission, The Center does not surrender its own right to publish or to grant permission to others to do so; nor does The Center assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights in the historical materials held by others. You, as the researcher, have the ultimate responsibility to comply with copyright law.

Careful footnoting that clearly indicates the location of material will help other researchers and archivists. The items you cite should be precisely identified as to names, dates, folder title, box number, and collection name.

A letter about a speech might be cited this way: Mary Jones to EMD, 16 July 1964, f. Remarks, Releases, and Interviews, Remarks and Releases File, Everett M. Dirksen Papers, The Dirksen Congressional Center, Pekin, IL

Staff at The Center will photocopy materials, provided that such photocopying is consistent with donor instruction and copyright law. In some cases, the physical condition of historical items or the amount of staff time available may make copying on demand impossible. But we will complete your order as quickly as possible and mail it to you. The current charge for copies is 25 cents per page.

Alternatively, Center staff will digitize limited amounts of historical materials at no cost.