Before
you begin your research, we will need to investigate the status
of the collection and discuss the following questions with you:
Is
special permission for access required?
How
organized is the collection?
Are
the contents in order?
Are
the contents accurately described in existing finding aids?
(When a collection is unprocessed it may not be available.)
Are
there restrictions on its use?
Have
recent Institute policies changed previous access status?
What
you should know when requesting material
Most
of our collections are stored off site and require 24-48 hours
to retrieve.
Many
of our collections are unprocessed, and some are restricted because
of donor agreements or MIT
access policies.
In
some cases you may need to write (mail or FAX) to request permission
for access to restricted Institute records; while the Archives
works hard to secure permission as quickly as possible, it may
take several weeks before a decision is made.
