Research Guides
Searching and Requesting in Special Collections: Appointments
This guide will show you how to search Special Collections materials.
Appointments
Special Collections is open to members of the UW community, visiting scholars, and the general public. You can access our collections both in-person and remotely!
When you submit a request to view material, you will see an option at the bottom titled "Appointment Information." You will be able to schedule a new appointment, or add a request to an existing appointment, from there!
However, if you would like to make an appointment to visit the reading room without requesting materials, you can do so by going to the appointment menu in your Special Collections Request System account.
Note: Making an appointment in the Reading Room is not the same as making an appointment for research assistance. If you would like research assistance, contact speccoll@uw.edu and we will be happy to assist!
In-person appointments
Appointments are not required to visit Special Collections, but we do strongly encourage them. This is because the majority of materials are housed in secure, non-browsing stacks and are retrieved by staff members. Many of our collections require advance notice to use – whether because they are stored elsewhere in the building and not readily accessible, stored offsite and require us to arrange delivery, or because they have restrictions that require screening.
Retrieving Material for In-person appointments
Appointments are not required for onsite material without access restrictions. However, we are not able to retrieve any material ahead of time unless it has an appointment associated with it. If you submit a request without an appointment, we will pull it at the next scheduled retrieval after you arrive.
We page materials at the following times:
- 11 AM
- 2 PM
- 3 PM
Materials take an estimated 30 minutes to be delivered.
The Virtual Reading Room
The Virtual Reading Room (VRR) is a remote access service for Special Collections. Using Zoom and a specialized document camera, we’re able to provide access to researchers from all over the world!
The VRR is only equipped to show paper materials. Born digital and audiovisual materials are not something we can show at this time. Some oversize material may be too large to be viewed in the VRR.
Availability of Materials
A small portion of the collections have donor imposed or legal restrictions. Access to Manuscript collections is governed by terms agreed to by the donor of the records and the Libraries at the time of the gift. Most accessions are available for public use, but some may only be used by advanced academic researchers or are subject to other restrictions. University Archives collections are open to the public, subject to the terms and conditions established by transfer agreements or deeds of gift. Please note, however, that many collections of university records contain temporarily non-public material that are restricted to use only by University officials.