Access

Liberty Hall Museum’s research area is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am-2pm. The following criteria must be met prior to requesting an appointment:

• All researchers have made an appointment by contacting the Curator of Archives at least two weeks in advance of their preferred date.
• Researchers have a valid form of photographic identification
• No children under the age of sixteen are permitted in the research room while archival materials and collection objects are present.

General browsing of the collection is not permitted. A complete list of requested archival records or objects must be provided prior to the visit. During a research appointment, staff may not be able to provide access to additional records unless they have been requested in advance.

The Curator of Archives, the Curator of Collections, or other designated staff, will facilitate research visits. Researchers will be escorted to the research room by designated staff and supervised for the duration of the appointment. Liberty Hall Museum does not charge a fee for researchers to access our collection.

Research requests may be declined for any reason, including if the curators deem an item or object too fragile to study or if the item is culturally insensitive, requires permission from a tribal organization, or other external authorities for access. If requesting access to an object for study, a researcher must have prior experience handling historic objects or other expert qualifications.

Personal Belongings and Security

• Researchers are not permitted to retrieve archival materials or objects from storage.
• Coats, bags, backpacks, scarves, gloves, or other outwear are not permitted. A secure storage area will be provided for researchers prior to entering the research room. Liberty Hall Museum staff reserves the right to ask any researchers to remove any additional article of clothing if they feel it could damage the archive or collection.
• Liberty Hall Museum staff reserves the right to inspect all materials and personal belongings upon a researcher’s departure from the research room.
• Phones and computers may be brought into the research room, along with notepads and pencils; please note no pens are allowed.

Reviewing Archival Records

• Food or drinks (including water) are not permitted in the research room. Smoking is not permitted onsite.
• No more than one folder, box, or container of any sort may be accessed or used at any given time.
• No records or materials may be removed from the research room.
• Researchers must wash hands prior to reviewing materials.
• Researchers must use the provided placeholder when removing items from folders, boxes or other storage containers.
• Researchers are not permitted to rearrange materials. If something seems out of place, or in need of adjustment, researchers are requested to notify museum staff.
• No marks, notes, or alterations may be made to archival and special collection materials.
• Books should receive adequate support to reduce strain on the binding and covers. Support materials will be provided to researchers.
• Museum staff will notify researchers if they should wear gloves when handling an object.
• Never lean on or apply weight to books or archival materials.
• All materials should remain flat on the table or in provided supports and should not be removed from their folder to maintain original order.

Prohibited Items

• Food, drink, tobacco products, and all other edible items.
• All liquids and balms (hand sanitizer, lotions, lip balm, fingertip moisteners, etc.). If you have already applied any of the above substances, researchers must wash hands before handling objects or archival materials.
• Ink pens and markers of any kind.
• Adhesive backed notes such as post-it notes.
• Rubber bands and paper clips.
• When handling objects, remove all jewelry including rings, watches, bracelets, necklaces, lanyards, etc. before entering the research room. Liberty Hall Museum staff reserves the right to ask any researchers to remove any additional articles of jewelry if they feel it could damage the collection.