Archives at Lakehead

The purpose of The Lakehead University Library Archives is to collect, preserve, promote, and facilitate the use of materials which document the history of Lakehead University; organizations, individuals, or institutions closely affiliated with Lakehead University; as well as materials relating to the history of Northwestern Ontario.

Access to the archival collections may be obtained through the Archivist or through the staff of the Northern Studies Resource Centre.

All materials will be consulted by patrons in the Archives.

The holdings of the Lakehead University Library Archives are available for use by staff, faculty, students, alumni, researchers, and the public, unless otherwise indicated.

Confidential or restricted records of Lakehead University are available only to authorized staff from the records’ originating office.  All other patrons require the permission of the unit head of the originating office, and are governed by all federal and provincial legislation, and any other relevant agreements.

Access to all of the archival collections is subject to any restrictions agreed upon during negotiations with the creator/donor of the records.

Details on collection specific restrictions will be indicated in the applicable finding aid.

Collections labeled Restricted may only be accessed or retrieved by the Archivist.

Any library staff member working directly with the material within Archival boxes must sign a Confidentiality Agreement.

Unprocessed material will generally not be made available for research.

Fragile, valuable, or rare material may also be restricted at the discretion of staff, in which case copies will be substituted when available.

The Lakehead University Library Archives seeks to identify and acquire materials originating from or related to Lakehead University and its faculty, staff, students, or campus organizations, which document the University’s history, organization, structure, and functions. In addition the Archives will acquire material which compliments its existing holdings, established University programs, or the history of Northwestern Ontario.

The Archives will collect material regardless of medium; however, the acquisition of artifacts or museum materials will be done selectively, and only if it relates to the understanding, use, or display of archival documents.

The Archives may consider acquiring material outside the normal scope of its acquisitions in order to support research in a particular field at the discretion of the Archivist.

The Archives reserves the right to refuse donations which do not meet its mandate, or if it conflicts with the collections policy of other institutions.

Items within Archival collections may be removed if the material is not considered to have archival value. In this case items will be offered to the Lakehead University Library, returned to the donor, or destroyed if no appropriate repository can be found.

Upon acquisition all material becomes the property of the Lakehead University Library Archives, and as such may not be returned to the donor.

The Lakehead University Library Archives seeks to preserve and provide access to the records in its collection, and recognizes that the digitization of archival resources fits with these goals.

Patrons may only use scanners, digital cameras, or other digital reprographic devices with the permission of the archivist. 

Digital copies of photographs for personal or research use, may be requested through the archivist using the scanner in the archives.

The digital copy provided to the patron will be free of charge.

The patron will be provided with a low resolution scan of the item, with a digital stamp of the Lakehead University letterhead in an unobtrusive section of the image. The archivist or an authorized library staff member will scan the photograph(s).

The Archives reserves the right to limit the number of scans provided to any patron at one time, based on resources and staff availability. 

The digital images will be sent to the patron by email, loaded onto a USB drive provided by the patron, or burned to a CD provided by the patron. 

Photographs will only be scanned once, and a high quality master digital copy of the file will be preserved by the archives. Scanned photographs will have a scan number labeled in pencil in a discrete location on the back of the original photograph, as well as on the photograph envelope or file folder (if applicable).

All scanned images including master, access, and thumbnail copies will be regularly backed up to archival quality CD-ROMs. Two copies will be made. The copies will be checked for data consistency every 3 years, and will be re-copied or migrated to a new format every 5 years.

All images posted online to a website or similar resource will be of the same resolution offered to patrons, and will include a digital stamp of the University's watermark in an unobtrusive portion of the image. 

Physical prints of photographs may only be obtained through the University photographer. The patron will agree to cover all costs associated with this reproduction.

High resolution scans of images without the University watermark may be provided to patrons at the discretion of the Archivist.

The original physical records will not be disposed of after scanning.

The publication or commercial use of copied archival material must be approved by the Lakehead University Library Archives. The Archives requires that published materials include a citation crediting the Lakehead University Library Archives, the collection, and the appropriate archival number.

The recipient of the scanned item is responsible for determining whether the publication of the item does or does not constitute an infringement of copyright under the Copyright Act. In those cases where permission to publish is required the recipient is responsible for obtaining authorization from the copyright holder.