Using our Collections
Getting Started
Though a part of the Trinity College Library, the Watkinson remains a public institution available to all readers under the rules governing its use. On arrival in the Library, the researcher signs the register as a Library reader and consults the Library’s staff for reference assistance. Non-Trinity readers must also fill out a Watkinson Library/Trinity College Archives Application for User’s Card.
Most of the Library’s book collection is listed in the Trinity College Library’s online catalog. Manuscripts can be located in large measure through the Library’s manuscript guide, which is on the Watkinson Library’s website. For the ephemera collection, which includes, among other things important holdings of sheet music, Soviet, and World War I posters, readers should speak to a Library staff member. As a further aid to researchers, the staff has prepared a series of guides to some of the major areas of the collection, including the Civil War, the manuscript collection, music, and women’s studies. Our exhibition catalogs are also helpful in locating materials. All materials are requested by call slip or by manuscript/archives request form.
Access to and Handling of Materials
The holdings of the Watkinson Library and College, as is typical in special
collections, are for the most part rare, fragile, or in unusual formats. Therefore certain restrictions apply in their use. The Library has closed stacks and is non-circulating, and all materials are brought to researchers and used on site. No drinking, eating, chewing of gum, or smoking is permitted.
Extra care must be exercised in handling all materials:
• Pencils are to be used for taking notes. No pens are permitted.
• Hands should be clean and preferably freshly washed, esp. after eating.
• Treat all materials gently and with respect, turning pages carefully.
• Do not lean on, mark, or write on any items. Keep flat materials flat and use our foam cradles to support all bound books. Report any unopened leaves to the librarian on duty.
• Preserve the original order for any loose materials.
• Report any mis-arrangements or damage to any items.
When leaving the Library, please return all materials to the reference desk and let know us whether you have finishing using them or would like them held for future research. For the security of our materials, we reserve the right to examine your notes or personal property upon departure.
Photography
Photocopies (through our photocopy scanner) and photographs can be made from most materials in the Watkinson. Size and condition are limiting factors. Consult with a member of the staff, if you require this service. In addition, under supervision of the staff, a reader may bring their own camera and do their own photograpy.
Publication and copyright
Permission to consult materials does not carry with it permission to publish, which must be requested separately in writing. Users of materials from the Watkinson Library and the College Archives accept full legal responsibility for observing the laws of copyright, as well as the laws of libel and invasion of privacy and property rights.
Directions to the Library
Housed in Trinity College's Raether Library and Information Technology Center, the Watkinson Library can be reached either by automobile or public transportation. Buses run frequently from the center of the city to the college campus (Broad Street line, Trinity field house stop). Limited parking space is available near the Library building. Maps and directions are available on the Trinity College website: http://www.trincoll.edu/AboutTrinity/VisitingTrinity/
