Digital cameras will be allowed in the archives reading room beginning January 3, 2011. Researchers may use their cameras to photograph archival materials for private study, subject to certain rules (see the following).**
Researchers may photograph up to one hundred* pages from each collection each academic year. Collections that specifically limit photographic reproduction, such as the Chiang Kai-shek diaries, are excluded from the policy. Only cameras are permitted; scanners and cell phones*** are prohibited.
In addition to the convenience for researchers, digital cameras will reduce the handling of archival materials that would otherwise be duplicated on a photocopy machine. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photographs of copyrighted material, and researchers who take digital photographs of archival materials are liable for any infringement. For more information about copyright, see Stanford's Copyright and Fair Use website.
*Increased to four hundred in March 2011.
**Copy limit eliminated in May 2011.
***cell phones allowed in September 2011.
