Making an appointment with the Archives

The archives are open to researchers by appointment only. Normal opening hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, from 10.00am-1.00pm, and 2.00pm-5.00pm. To make an appointment to view the archives, email Sarah Butler (Librarian and Head of Information Services) or Katherine O’Donnell (Archivist) on archives@some.ox.ac.uk.

We will ask you to complete an ‘application to consult the archives’ form, and you are welcome to do this in advance of your visit here.

If you are a student, you will need to provide a short statement of support from your supervisor, which should be included with your request for an appointment.

Note-taking

When visiting the archives/special collections, only laptops or pencils may be used for notetaking. You will be asked to leave your belongings in a locker (to which you will have the key) and you will be able to take into the room with you only those items required for note-taking.

Copies and copyright

The college is fortunate to have many interesting documents in its collections, but while Somerville is the owner, the college is not necessarily the copyright holder.

In most cases, we may supply copies for the purposes of research/ private study, on completion of a copyright declaration (we will inform you if any items are restricted and cannot be copied). You will be permitted to photograph items as long as you do not use a flash or, where documents have already been digitised, we can provide scans free of charge. You may also ask to have documents scanned; if we are able to do this, there is a charge for this service of £15 per hour plus VAT, with a minimum cost of £15 plus VAT.

Should you wish to publish or reproduce any items from the archives, it will be your responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder, as well as from Somerville College as owner; requests to the college can be submitted via our use of archives application form. Please note, we are unable to advise on copyright and recommend that any queries are addressed to a specialist in this field.

Useful complementary websites

Many questions concerning the period 1879-1920 may be answered by consulting the Education and Activism website which contains digitised material, videos, photographs and essays complied by the archivists of the former women’s colleges, the Bodleian Library and Oxford University History Faculty.