Hey Friends! I hope you're all safe and well. The William C. Jason Library is open to the campus community on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The University Archives, specifically, is open on Monday and Wednesday. As always, I am eager to assist you in whatever capacity I can, however, I must beg your patience and make you aware of some protocol:
- If you are a university community member, and need to access archival collections I ask that you email me (rscherry@desu.edu) well in advance to schedule a visit. This is necessary to ensure that the appropriate health and safety arrangements have been undertaken.
- If you are an alumni or member of the public, please email me to determine how I can best assist you. In most cases, I will conduct research on your behalf and provide a limited number of digitized records pertinent to your request.
- Please be aware that myself and my fellow librarians are working remotely on the days when the building is not open. Toward that end, we are not reachable by office phone. Email is the best method of communication (rscherry@desu.edu).
While COVID-19 may seem like a significant barrier to accessing the archives, it can also be a benefit. For example, I recently had a request for records of the 1968 student unrest. In meeting the patron's needs, I was actually able to upload the 1968 unrest collection to our digital repository (https://desu.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.12090/345). So while I share your frustrations, I am also pleased to be able to increase our digitized collections. I hope that you will enjoy exploring the new records.
