Access Handling and Policies

  • ANLA’s stacks are closed; patrons are expected to make appointments with ANLA staff to view specific materials in the Alaska Polar Regions and Archives’ Research Room at Rasmsuon Library. APRCA’s Research Room is typically open Monday-Friday 10:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-4:00pm. Appointments must be made with ample advance notice. Materials may not leave the designated research space.
  • ANLA’s Research Room policy is to provide a friendly environment that protects the material, taking its relative rarity and fragility into account, without overly restricting researchers. Visitors will conform to acceptable norms of behavior and abide by APRCA’s Research Room Policies, as well as any University policies (including indoor masking when applicable). Visitors should maintain courteous and respectful interactions with staff, and understand that staffing shortages may lead to longer retrieval times.
  • In the event that a patron becomes aggressive, unruly, or disrespectful, the patron may be asked to leave the premises, and repeated offenses will result in increasing limits on in-person access, up to and including permanent restrictions.
  • Patrons must respect the original state of archival materials: original order must be maintained, materials must be treated delicately, etc.
  • Patrons are expected to do their own research: ANLA staff will help navigate the catalog, provide training on use of the catalog, and retrieve boxes of interest for the patron, but will not undertake research on behalf of the patron or go through boxes, files, or tapes to find items of interest.
  • Patrons may request that ANLA provide digital surrogates of a reasonable range of undigitized, unrestricted, uncopyrighted materials within staff’s means. Patrons will be conscientious that ANLA staff may not be able to accommodate requests for high-resolution reproductions or reproductions of special formats; in such cases, such requests may be denied, or redirected to APRCA’s reproduction services.
  • Some materials, such as cassettes, audio reels, and restricted records, are not available for handling or on-site use. Please direct reasonable audio digitization requests to ANLA staff.
  • Unprocessed collections are normally not available for research use; however, if such a collection is requested by a researcher, a special arrangement may be made whereby the researcher assists in processing the collection, but this is only at the discretion of the Archive Director. Users handling unprocessed materials are expected to exercise special care to preserve these collections’ original order, and respect any sensitive, copyrighted, or exceptionally delicate materials encountered therein.
  • ANLA’s Access and Handling Policies may change without notice.
  • Please ask ANLA staff if you have any questions!