You are here

Haverford CollegeLibraries

Using & Accessing Materials

Notice

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the Quaker & Special Collections reading room is closed. Please inquire before planning any research trips. Outside researchers are welcome to continue making research and reproduction requests, but these cannot be fulfilled until staff are again working on campus.

Quaker & Special Collections welcomes everyone. The Quaker & Special Collections Reading Room is the supervised area in which researchers may use collections held by the department. Rules governing the use of materials are designed to protect and preserve collection materials for future research use.

Appointments are not required. Visitors are encouraged to contact Quaker & Special Collections prior to their visit, as prior notice allows us to best prepare for visits.

Researchers are asked to agree to the following:

  • Materials are to be used in the Reading Room.
  • Researchers must register and sign in each day and agree to abide by departmental policies.
  • Researchers may bring pencil and paper, laptops, tablets, cameras, phones, and reference materials to the tables, and will store all other personal belongings, including coats, purses, briefcases, and water bottles, in the provided lockers.
  • Use of the Reading Room is reserved for those using Quaker & Special Collections materials until 5:30pm.
  • Access to unprocessed collections will be at the discretion of curatorial staff.

Quaker & Special Collections accepts research requests via email (preferred) and phone from those unable to visit the collections. In general, Quaker & Special Collections staff can provide up to half an hour of research free of charge; after that, researchers will need to make other arrangements.

If you have a question about materials in a certain collection, visiting the collections, or anything else, please contact us.

Reproduction Policies & Fees

Accessing Materials

To find materials in Quaker & Special Collections, researchers may need to search in several places. Tripod, the Libraries’ online catalog, contains the records for all books held by Quaker & Special Collections, and some of the manuscript materials.

  •  Tripod

    Tripod, the Libraries' online catalog, contains the records for all books held by Quaker & Special Collections, and some of the manuscript materials. If there is an online guide to the collection, the Tripod record will provide a link to this guide. Some ephemera can be found through searching Tripod, and there is an index to the newspaper issues held by Quaker & Special Collections.

  •  TriArte Database

    A small amount of the art held in Quaker & Special Collections is available online. The TriArte database allows you to browse by format or to search. In almost all cases, records in Triarte include an image of the art as well as descriptive information.

  •  Triptych

    Collections in Triptych include Bi-Co News photographs, Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures materials, the Cope-Evans family papers, historic photographs of Haverford College, Quaker broadsides, Quaker journals and diaries, images of Quaker meeting houses, and materials related to Quakers and slavery. Some material can also be found in digital exhibits.

  •  Triceratops

    Materials in Triceratops include recordings of speeches, oral histories, and digital versions of Quaker serials. Also included are minutes of various faculty, administration, and student committees; these may be accessible only to those on campus.

Quaker & Special Collections also captures various parts of the Haverford College website as well as websites of Quaker organizations for historical purposes.