A Guide to the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections

Requesting archival material by email

Please contact us ahead of your visit by submitting a form at the following link: Archives Research Collections Materials Request Form.

• You may request any combination of up to 12 items. These may be either archival boxes, books, or any combination thereof. Please note that larger archival boxes (banker's boxes and oversize items) may count as two items. For multi-volume published works, each volume counts as a separate item.

For archives, you must include the archives title and box number(s). For books, include author, title, and call number(s). Examples:

• Farley Mowat archives, boxes 7, 9, and 22
• Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, PR 6045 .O72 M7 1925

If you don’t know exactly what you want to see, please email archives@mcmaster.ca for assistance.

Reminders

• Archival material is not always available on-site. It may take a few days for the archives to get the material prepared for you. That is why it is always a good idea to email a few days in advance of your visit.
• Archival material may be subject to access restrictions. Be aware of any possible access restrictions which would be listed in the archival finding aid. If the material you are interested in researching is restricted, you will not be able to look at it. 
• After you have submitted your request, boxes will be kept 'on hold' for one week. 

Requesting digital copies

You may find archival material that you are interested in, but are unable to visit due to time and budget constraints. In some cases, McMaster can provide digital copies of archival material. When requesting digital copies of archival material, please fill out the form found at the following link: Copy Request Form.

Things to keep in mind when ordering digital copies:

• There will be a fee. Pay attention to the size of the request and consider your budget:

  • PDFs : $0.30 per page; plus $14 per hour for orders over 50 pages)

  • Photocopies : $0.30 per page; plus $14 per hour for orders over 50 pages

  • High Resolution Scans : $15 per image; oversize material, $40 per image

  • Rare Book Copy on Demand : $40 per volume

• There may be copyright restrictions. The archives may refuse your copy request if copying violates a copyright or other restriction.
• You will have to sign a copy agreement which states that the copy is being made for your own research and will not be duplicated or transferred to others.
• Digital scans may not be possible in cases where the material is fragile and if the process of scanning will threaten its integrity. The staff will assess the condition of the item prior to scanning.