Archives Service Center:
Usage Policies and Guidelines

Collection Access | Rules and Regulations | Usage Permission Agreement | Citation Guide | Encoding Finding Aids in EAD

Collection Access

Certain collections held by the Archives Service center are subject to donor, administrative, or conservation restrictions. Researchers should contact archives-ref@mail.pitt.edu or telephone 412-244-7091 in advance of any visit to ensure availability of any collection in which they are interested.

Rules and Regulations

  • The researcher application and request forms must be completed before material may be used.
  • Briefcases, packages, backpacks, and purses are prohibited in the Reading Room and must be placed in the lockers provided. 
  • All materials must be used in designated research areas only.  Smoking, eating, or drinking are prohibited in the research area. Researchers are permitted to use the facility’s staff lounge if necessary.
  • Notes may be taken in pencil, laptop or tape recorder. Pencils will be provided upon request. No ink pens of any type may be used.
  • All materials must be handled with extreme care and must lie flat on the surface of the table. Objects should not be placed on top of material while taking notes.
  • Access to confidential collections will be administered as outlined in the Deed of Gift or applicable state and local laws.
  • When microfilm or photocopies of collections exist, they will be made available to the researcher rather than the original material.
  • Photocopy services are available. ASC may decline requests to photocopy fragile documents and material or other material not permissible to copy as stated in the Deed of Gift.
  • Any persons found stealing, defacing, mutilating, or in any way damaging materials in the ASC will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
  • Failure to comply with these regulations will result in the suspension of research privileges.

Usage Permission Agreement

ASC Usage Permission Agreement (.RTF)

Materials for use in publication, exhibition, or any other public purpose require written permission from the Archives Service Center. All proposed commercial use of material, including photographs and media, must be stated in advance. A fee will be charged for all commercial use approved by the Archives Service Center.
Use of materials from the Archives Service Center does not imply that the Archives endorses the product, enterprise, opinions, or confirms the accuracy of any content in the publication or production.

Permission may be granted upon request for a one-time, non-exclusive use of material for publication, exhibition, documentary creation, or other purpose if the proposed use is specified and approved. Any subsequent use of the same material will require separate permission from the Archives Service Center and may require payment of a separate use fee.

Citations to material should be in full (e.g., Allegheny County Wildlife Federation, 99:99, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh).  Knowledge of and compliance with the property rights, current copyright law, the law of libel as well as other applicable law, and the necessity to secure permission to publish materials is the researcher’s responsibility.

The person, publisher, or production company who requests permission to use a photograph or other media in their project is responsible for providing the Archives Service Center with verification that proper use and credit has been made as specified in the original request and for which permission to use was granted. One copy of the completed work is considered fulfillment of the verification requirement.

The copyright law of the U.S. (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to make a photocopy or reproduction. One of the specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Citation Guide

ASC Citation Guide (PDF)

The Archives Service Center has developed its own citation guide to assist researchers in properly attributing credit to material they cite from collections held here. Individual faculty, journal editors, university presses, and book publishers may require the use of a specific style manual, but most style manuals do not provide complete instructions for the citation of all manuscript materials.  For example, The Chicago Manual of Style’s general rules for references to unpublished materials indicate that “Librarians and archivists are usually willing and able to explain to an author what is required in citations to the documents in their collections.” 

One intention for this guide is to provide advice for adequate citation to manuscript materials without regard to any specific style manual.  Providing adequate information that would enable archives staff, other researchers, and you a clear link to cited materials from the Archives Service Center is our aim.  Ideally, each citation should include enough information to identify the specific item used. 

Guidelines for Encoding Finding Aids in EAD at the University of Pittsburgh

The following guidelines provide information about encoding archival finding aids at the Archives Service Center (ASC) and Special Collections at the University of Pittsburgh. The information presented in these guidelines is designed to generate uniform practice in the application of Encoded Archival Description (EAD) at the University of Pittsburgh. The intended audience is archivists, interns, and students encoding completed finding aids using EAD.

EAD is the encoding standard for archival finding aids supported by the Society of American Archivists, the Research Libraries Group, Inc. (RLG), and the Library of Congress. The use of EAD allows access to finding aids in the platform-independent electronic format, eXtensible Markup Language (XML). 

These guidelines were revised in 2005-2006 in order to integrate XML and EAD 2002 into the ASC encoding process.  The ASC has encoded finding aids in Version 1.0 since 1998 as part of Historic Pittsburgh and is currently transforming existing files into EAD2002 with assistance from the Digital Research Library. 

More information about EAD is available on the Library of Congress EAD Web site. Encoders are encouraged to consult the official EAD Standards home page for background information about EAD and to obtain current and authorized versions of the EAD DTD, the Tag Library, and the Application Guidelines.

To download, right-click on the link and select “Save Target As...” or "Save Link As..."