Using the Collections

• All researchers must register during each visit. Photo identification is required at each entry. Researchers will be required to fill out a use form, which will become part of the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ permanent file.
• Researchers may bring belongings such as purses, briefcases, and other personal property into the CALS Roberts Library Research Room. However, these items will be subject to search prior to departure.
• Food, drink, and smoking products are not allowed in the CALS Roberts Library Research Room.
• Cell phones must be turned off or put on vibrate.
• CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies materials do not circulate, and use of materials is restricted to the CALS Roberts Library Research Room.
• A request form must be filled out for materials in the closed stacks area (manuscript collections, photographs, pamphlets, maps, etc.).
• Manuscript collections are limited to one box at a time.
• Researchers may be required to wear gloves in order to handle some items.
• Researchers must not lean on, write on, fold anew, or set other items on top of original materials.
• Researchers must maintain existing order and arrangement of unbound materials.
• In general, appointments must be made in advance to use media formats that require playback equipment, such as LPs, audiotapes, videotapes, and films. In cases where the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies holds unique or archival examples, materials must be reformatted before they can be accessed, sometimes at the researcher’s expense. Please contact us for further information or to schedule access to audio-visual materials. Access cannot be guaranteed unless prior arrangements have been made.
• Please contact us for further information or to schedule access to the permanent art collection.

• When searching our finding aids, you will find audio/video materials within collections that have not be digitized. Researchers can request that these audio/video materials be digitized. To request materials, please contact us.
• Please allow at least five business days for digitizing requests to be processed. Depending on format, some requests may take much longer and/or not be possible.
• Patrons will be notified by CALS Roberts Library staff that digital items are ready.

• Hand-held personal digital cameras or camera phones may be used in the CALS Roberts Library Research Room only with the permission of our reference staff.
• Permission must be obtained in advance from CALS Roberts Library Research Room staff, and the items being photographed will be evaluated for physical condition, copyright issues, and donor restrictions.
• Use of a flash or other lighting is prohibited.
• Use of tripods or camera supports will not generally be permitted. Flatbed or hand-held scanners are not permitted.

• Researchers will request duplication of any archival material. This can be done digitally via the web, or in person at CALS Roberts Library.
• Items selected for duplication must be properly identified.
• Reproduction of materials will be governed by any and all of the duplication restrictions that govern the research use of a specific collection.
• Reproductions will be used only for personal reference and research purposes.
• Images will not be published or broadcast in any media, exhibited, or displayed online without the express written permission of the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.
• Images will not be added to the holdings of another library or archival repository.
• The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will not duplicate entire collections or material that is on microfilm.
• Photographs and maps will not be photocopied.
• Orders will be handled in the order in which they were received, with the exception of large orders (250+ pages), which will be worked on steadily as time and smaller orders allow.
• CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies staff members will make the final determination on whether an item can be photocopied based upon condition, size, and donor agreements.
• CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies reserves the right to refuse or to limit a duplication request.

For associated fees, please review the fee schedule.

The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies can offer photographic reproductions of many of the materials in its collections. These reproductions will be made with consideration to the following criteria:

• They do not violate Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law that governs the making of reproductions of copyrighted materials.
• Donor agreements do not restrict photographic reproduction.
• The prints will be used only for personal reference and research purposes.
• Images will not be published or broadcast in any media, exhibited, or displayed online without the express written permission of the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.
• Images will not be added to the holdings of another library or archival repository.
• These reproductions can be produced without damage or risk of damage to the original materials.

For associated fees, please review the fee schedule.

The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies can offer digital reproductions of many of the materials in its collection. These reproductions will be made with consideration to the following criteria:

• They do not violate Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law that governs the making of reproductions of copyrighted materials.
• Donor agreements do not restrict digital reproduction.
• The digital images will be used only for personal reference and research purposes.
• Images will not be published or broadcast in any media, exhibited, or displayed online without the express written permission of the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.
• Images will not be added to the holdings of another library or archival repository.
• These reproductions can be produced without damage or risk of damage to the original materials.

For associated fees, please review the fee schedule.

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies reserves the right to refuse to accept a duplication request if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the request would involve violation of copyright law.

Copyright law protects unpublished as well as published materials. If you wish to use either published or unpublished materials from our collections in a publication, you must determine whether the work has passed into the public domain and is no longer under copyright protection or find the copyright holders and get permission to use the material. An excellent source on the Internet is the the WATCH: Writers and Their Copyright Holders database at the University of Texas, Austin.

For more information about copyright law, see Stanford University’s Copyright and Fair Use site.

When using materials from CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in your research, please acknowledge their source by clearly stating the name and accession number or call number of the collection or book in which you found the materials. If the materials you are using were found on our web pages, please specify, in addition to collection name, the URL of the page on which you found them.

Example: Letter: Clarissa H. Smith and Calie from Annie Maurice Smith Strong, June 26, 1868, Smith family papers, MSS.02.20, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History and Art, Central Arkansas Library System

• The reproduction, exhibition, broadcast, or publication of archival material obtained from CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies collections requires the express written permission.
• Any permission granted by the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will fully comply with the limitations and strictures imposed by the collection’s donor.
  • This permission is valid only insofar as the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, as owner or custodian of the material, has any rights in the matter. This permission does not remove the responsibility of the author, editor, publisher, or broadcaster to guard against infringement of any rights, including copyright that may be held by others. Provisions of the copyright law of the United States govern publication or broadcast of unpublished manuscripts and permission of the copyright owner may be required for any use exceeding “fair use.”
• It is important to note that determining and locating the copyright holder of manuscript material is a difficult and potentially impossible task. Whenever possible, the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will provide researchers with information about a manuscript item’s copyright holders.
• Receipt of a permission form does not grant, convey, or imply an exclusive right to use a particular manuscript item. In every instance, the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies fully retains its own right to publish material and reserves its right to authorize others to do so.
• Granting of permission is contingent upon your assurance that the material will be properly cited (See “How to Cite Materials” above) and identified as being a part of the collections administered by the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.
• To obtain permission from the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, you must submit a Permission To Publish Request Form (linked below).
• Upon receipt, your request will be reviewed and answered in the order that it was received.
• The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will not sign any submitted contracts or publisher-generated permission forms.

The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies reserves the right to refuse to grant permission to publish.