Visiting Us

The Oberlin College Archives are located on the fourth floor of Mudd Library. New program space in the Mudd Center was dedicated in 1974, in the memory of Miss Margaret Morfoot, where the present archival holdings are housed in two main vaults: one vault is on the northwest side of the fourth floor, Room 420, and a second one is on the south side of the same floor, Room 407A. In order to best assist you during your visit, please Contact Us to make an appointment. Walk-ins are also welcome.

If you are visiting from out of town, take a look at the Visiting Oberlin page for information on accommodations, transportation, and other travel arrangements.

Requesting Records

When asking Archives staff to retrieve records, users should provide all the levels of description as listed in the inventory. For example, users requesting specific information from the records of the College of Arts and Sciences would ask for Record Group 9, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Subgroup IV, College of Arts and Sciences Academic Departments and Programs, Series 2, Academic Programs, Subseries 1, Campus Programs, Box 5, Independent Study Project. For more information, see Reference Services.

Reading Room Guidelines

The College Archives welcomes all members of the College community as well as registered users and asks them only to follow a few operational rules:

• Patrons are asked to register/sign-in if they are here to use collections for research. Students visiting as part of a class are also asked to sign-in.
  
• All historical materials must be used in the Archives/Special Collections Goodrich Reading Room (Mudd 410) or other area designated by staff.
  
• Coats, bags, umbrellas etc. should be left on the hooks and in the lockers provided for that purpose in the hallway.
  
• No food or drinks are allowed in the Goodrich Room.
  
• Researchers are asked to work quietly, put their cell phones on vibrate and take/make calls in the corridor.
  
• Researchers should use pencil in taking notes and must handle records with utmost care. Handling information will be provided on a case-by-case basis.
  
• Researchers are asked to wash their hands prior to using collections and in some instances may be required to wear cotton gloves.
  
• Some records contain restrictions. Conditions on access exist to protect individual privacy or confidential information. In these cases, the Archivist or the creating office can sometimes grant permission to gain access to the records.
  
• The College Archives offers photocopying and some .pdf scanning services for a fee of 40 cents per page. For higher resolution images please see our Permissions & Reproductions guidelines. All work is done by our staff. We can direct requests for continuous tone photographic reproductions to an outside vendor.
  
• Patrons can make full use of laptop computers. The Goodrich Room is equipped with power outlets, data ports, and wireless Internet. More limited use of hand held digital cameras in the Reading Room is permitted. Camera flash is not permitted.