Visit Special Collections

Community Agreements

Smith College Special Collections has developed a set of community agreements that seek to make the ways in which we are all interdependent on and accountable to each other more visible. We expect that researchers will join us in upholding these community agreements just as Special Collections staff will be accountable to researchers and to each other in this ongoing and evolving work. Please read through our community agreements in advance of your visit.

Book an Appointment

We strongly encourage all visiting researchers to make an appointment to view materials 24 hours in advance.

Book An Appointment

• Appointments may be made up to 24 hours prior to your visit.
  • Appointments are for one person. If you are coming with additional researchers, they will each need to book an appointment
  • You are not required to arrive at the start of your appointment nor stay until the end of your appointment.
  • Depending on the number of bookings in the reading room, you may be able to extend your appointment. Please speak with the archivist at the reference desk if you would like to extend your visit.
  • The reading room closes daily from 12-1 for lunch and at 4:45 for the day
• After you have reached the “confirmed” page at the end of the booking form, please confirm your appointment using the link emailed to you. You are then set for your visit and there is no need to confirm your appointment with us.
• You may cancel your appointment yourself via the link in your confirmation email.
• All materials that can be used by researchers are held on-site, unless otherwise noted in the finding aid.
• Do not submit a materials list in advance of your visit. We page materials when you are in the reading room.

Registration

You will complete a paper registration form in person once you arrive in the reading room welcome area.

Accessibility

Special Collections is committed to ensuring equal access for all visitors. See Reading Room Accessibility for more information.

What to bring in with you

In the reading room, we welcome:

• Silenced phones and cameras (for non-flash photography)
• Notebooks
• Pencils
• Laptops and tablets

When you arrive in our welcome area, you will be greeted by staff and, if you are a visiting researcher, given a keycard for a locker. We ask that you leave the following items in your locker:

• All food and drink
• Bags of any kind
• Outerwear
• Umbrellas
• Pens

The reading room is not a silent space and a conversational level of speech is welcome. If you need a deeper quiet, we have disposable earplugs for your use. Please do not make or take phone calls in the reading room.

Requesting material

• Once in the reading room, you will fill out slips to request material. You may request up to 2 items at a time.
• Materials are paged on-demand. The number of researchers in the reading room and the location of the materials in our five on-site storage areas impacts when you will receive your materials once you have completed your call slips. Paging materials can take up to 15 minutes.
• We pull materials from 10am until 11:45am and from 1pm until 4pm.
• We close for lunch from 12pm to 1pm. Materials requested after 11:45am will be pulled when we reopen at 1pm.
• We start collecting materials 15 minutes prior to closing.

Materials handling

Do:

• Use one folder at a time, marking the location with a placeholder that we provide
• Take pictures or videos of the materials with your device (or borrow a device from us!)
• Touch papers with your clean, bare hands
• Use gloves to handle photographs or metallic objects
• Handle materials gently
• Keep materials flat and centered on the table
• Take notes with a pencil and paper, your computer, your tablet, or your phone
• Use foam wedges and weighted strings when examining bound material
• Ask a staff member for assistance if you are not certain how to best handle an item

Don’t:

• Lean on the material
• Change the order that materials are arranged in a folder
• Fold, crumple, or write on the materials
• Force bound material to lay flat on a table
• Use a pen or marker for taking notes

Reference materials available

The reading room houses a collection of Smith College-related reference materials, including yearbooks, course catalogues, and issues of the student newspaper. These materials do not require paging and can be accessed up to closing time.

Research equipment

We have equipment in our reading room for researcher use, including:

• iPads
• Laptops
• Hovercams
• A lightbox and slide viewer
• Tablet and phone stands
• Chargers and cables

Digital Reproductions

Personal Photography in the Reading Room

Smith College Special Collections encourages the use of personal photography in the Reading Room under the following conditions:

1. Non-flash photography of materials is allowed during your research. Special Collections has document cameras, iPads, and specialty lighting available for researchers on a first come basis, or you may use your own device.
2. Fragile bound materials must be supported in a book cradle, with no pressure applied to bindings.
3. Unbound materials can only be photographed lying flat on a research table; no copy-stands and unstapling.
4. When handling photographs, wear gloves, which will be provided to you.
5. Use of personal scanners is not permitted.
6. Images may not be published in any way without written permission of the copyright holder. Images may not be changed, modified, or embellished without written permission of the copyright owner.
7. Researchers can request publication-quality scanning from Special Collections. Reproduction fees apply. See Digitization & Use for more information.

Visitors are welcome to take pictures of the reading room space so long as they do not photograph any researchers in the room.

Digitization Services

The mission, vision and values of Special Collections affirms our primary goal of making collections accessible to anyone with interest. Within these principles, Special Collections also balances long-term care of the materials, intellectual property rights, and issues of privacy and confidentiality. Information about our practices and guidelines, including fees, can be found on Digitization Services.

Directions

Special Collections Reading Room
Neilson Library 307
7 Neilson Drive
Northampton, MA 01063

Directions from Neilson Library's Main Entrance: Enter the main front entrance of Neilson Library, located on the east side of the building that faces Seelye lawn. Move into the first floor Central Hall and then turn right to locate the central elevator. Take this elevator to the third floor. Coming out of the elevator, turn right, then left and follow the signs to the Special Collections reading room. Download a floor-by-floor guide to Neilson Library.

Parking

Please use our visitor parking spaces around campus and in the parking garage, or seek City of Northampton parking options. Find parking on the campus map.

• You may request a campus parking pass 48 hours (Monday through Friday) in advance of your visit from Facilities Management Customer Service. Please complete a request form and the pass will be emailed to you directly for you to print out.
• There is metered parking available on Green Street. The meters accept quarters ($.75/per hour) or you can download the Northampton Parkmobile parking app and pay with a credit card.

Public Transit

PVTA: The closest PVTA stop is located in front of John M. Greene Hall, which is 600 feet from Neilson Library. This stop serves routes 39, 39E, R42, and B43.

Amtrak: The Northampton train station is less than a mile from Neilson library (approximately a 15 minute walk or 5 minute cab ride). Please note: we have limited, unsecured storage for luggage.

Peter Pan and Greyhound: The bus terminals are in separate locations but are each about ½ mile from Neilson Library.

Hotel Accommodations

The college does not provide on-campus accommodation for visitors. Please review places to stay in Northampton to locate accommodations for your trip.