Use of Collection Materials
Permission to examine manuscripts will be granted to qualified researchers upon completion of the application form provided for that purpose. Such permissions are subject to whatever restrictions may have been placed by donors or depositors. In certain cases, researchers may be required to use microfilm or printed copies of manuscripts when such copies are available.
Protection of Manuscripts
All briefcases, envelopes, notebooks, and other items not needed for research purposes must be left at the designated area. Researchers are responsible for the safeguarding of any materials made available in a reading room. Researchers may not remove materials from the reading room for any purpose or re-arrange the order in which they are delivered. The use of any kind of pen is prohibited. Manuscripts may not be leaned on, written on, folded anew, traced, fastened with rubber bands or paper clips, or handled in any way likely to damage them. Food and drink are prohibited in the reading room.
Social Security Numbers Non-Disclosure Agreement
Holdings may contain Social Security numbers. The reader must agree not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security numbers that may be included in requested materials. Failure to comply with this agreement may result in the loss of research privileges at Yale University.
Permission to Publish
Permission to examine manuscripts is not an authorization to publish them. To the extent that it may properly do so, the Library will ordinarily grant the usual publication rights to qualified applicants. A special fee may be charged for permission to publish facsimile copies. Researchers who plan eventual publication of their work are urged to make inquiry concerning overall restrictions on publication before beginning their research. A written request for the right to publish or for permission to publish facsimile copies must be made on forms provided for that purpose when the applicant's research and writing have reached the stage where it is possible to identify the precise texts to be published. If permission to publish is granted, the location of the cited manuscripts shall be indicated in the published work. Dissertations are considered published works. A copy of publications which rely heavily on the Library's manuscript holdings (except dissertations) should be presented to the Library as soon as the work is published.
Copyright
In giving permission to publish a manuscript, the Yale University Library does not surrender its own right thereafter to publish the manuscript or to grant permission to others to publish it; nor does the Library assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights in the manuscript held by others.
Exclusive Rights
Exclusive rights to examine or publish manuscripts will not ordinarily be granted, although in exceptional circumstances such rights may be granted for a limited period of time.