Library Regulations: Schedule 5: Regulations for the Reading Room for Archives and Rare Books
All visits must be made by prior written appointment with the search room staff. On their first visit and in each subsequent calendar year, all readers are required to complete a registration form and produce proof of identity including their permanent address. The collections are usually made available between the hours of 9.30 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. No new material is produced for readers between 12.00 and 1.00 p.m. each day
All readers are required to complete a formal declaration that they will abide by these regulations and all other regulations for the use of and reproduction of materials held within the Special Collections. In addition, all readers are required to sign the visitors' register each time they enter and each time they leave the reading room. Signing implies an undertaking to abide by these regulations and all others for the use of and reproduction of materials held within the Special Collections. Infringement will render a reader liable to exclusion and could result in contractual liabilities.
All coats, umbrellas, bags and briefcases must be left in the lobby. Lockers are available, but all items are left at the risk of the owner.
All work must be done in pencil.
Researchers must do nothing to damage any document. Any damage or accident must be reported at once to the member of staff in charge.
Documents, books and objects may not be removed from the reading room.
No eating, drinking or smoking is permitted in the reading room or in the secure Special Collections areas.
The number of documents, books or objects issued at any one time to a reader may be limited. Where a reader is allowed a number of items, he or she must ensure that they are kept in their proper order. Readers are required to follow directions given by Library staff for handling items. Fragile material may be withheld.
Readers are required to follow the directions of Library staff for the evacuation of the reading room in the event of fire or other emergency.
No publication right is vested in any reader through the issue of a document, book or object. All publication right is reserved.
Separate regulations apply for photocopying, photography, quotation from and publication of material in the collections.
Researchers are required to supply the Library with a copy of any publication resulting from work on the collections.
The University of Southampton operates closed circuit television systems in the reading room and Special Collections areas for the purposes of security and public safety. It is a condition of using the reading room that all readers consent to the use of CCTV images for these purposes.
The Librarian may exclude or cause to be removed any person who contravenes these regulations or whose exclusion from the reading room is, in his opinion, necessary for its proper use and regulation.