Due to ongoing projects within the Book Depository, the University Archives will not be available for on-site teaching projects and Archives tours during the Autumn 2023 semester. If you are interested in teaching with our Digital Collections, please email archives@osu.edu.
General Info
The University Archives is open from 9:00am until 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. All tours should be scheduled within this timeframe. Please note we are not open during weekends and closed for all University holidays.
Standard Tour
A standard University Archives tour is the most popular and common among our patrons. Those interested in this informal option can expect the following:
- Brief description of University Archives goals and collection policy;
- generalized summary of the archivist profession;
- visiting our on-site storage facility (the Stacks);
- question-and-answer session;
- and viewing curator-selected materials.
Standard tours typically last forty minutes in total, although this can be adjusted within reason per the request of the visiting group. This tour is specially created for those who have no prior knowledge of an archives, the archival profession, or the goal of an archives.
Standard tours require a two week notice prior to the desired appointment. We will not accept appointments with notice less than the listed parameters. This ensures the University Archives is staffed appropriately, as tours and sessions are subject to archivist availability.
Recommended for:
- Honorary societies
- Campus committees and clubs
- Student organizations
- Course numbers 2000-2999
Tour and Information Session
The Tour and Information Session is ideal for those who are seeking more in-depth information regarding the University Archives or the archival profession. Those interested in this option can expect a standard tour along with one of the following:
- Presentation of what archivists do;
- how to utilize University Archives resources (physical or digital);
- or how to conduct research in an archives (using finding aids, requesting materials).
Tour and information sessions typically last an entire class period. Presentations are held in the conference room located at the Archives. The Tour and Information Session is not designed for classes with assignments where students perform their own archival research at a later date. Please see Tour, Information Session, and Assignment for those interested in including an assignment with the Archives tour.
Tour and Information Sessions require a two week notice prior to the desired appointment. This ensures the University Archives is staffed appropriately, as tours and sessions are subject to archivist availability.
Tour, Information Session, and Assignment
This option is strictly for those wishing for students to perform primary research with University Archives’ collections. The Tour, Information Session, and Assignment is a hands-on collaboration between the educator and the University Archives and oftentimes spans across multiple visits. Ideally, students will have a solid foundation of primary source research prior to visiting the Archives. When scheduling for this type of collaboration, educators should expect the following:
- Meeting with archivists to discuss the potential project;
- knowledge of the University Archives collection;
- a complete set of goals outlined for the project;
- and continued communication with collaborating archivists.
The Tour, Information Session, and Assignment consists of an information presentation followed by a tour of the archives; the information session can be molded to fit the particular outcomes of a specific project or assignment. In some occasions, educators prefer to have an information session within their classroom. The assignment can be done as a group but typically completed by the students independently with instructor oversight, though this is a case-by-case basis.
Tour, Information Session, and Assignment requires a six-week notice. Archivists should be given the assignment prior to the Tour and Information Session. Please consider the following prior to finalizing projects:
- The University Archives collection consists of 500,000 boxes and 2 million photographs. The archivists’ prior knowledge of an assignment can help us anticipate student needs and questions at the time of the assignment/tour.
- The University Archives is used by many researchers both from Ohio State and elsewhere. This means that all assignments and associated work coincide with our other patrons’ and researchers’ schedules.
- For student use of primary resources: Prior to the assignment, students should expect to request items one week before their appointment. This gives staff the opportunity to order, sort, and prepare requested materials.
Please note: At the time of competing the survey, educators should expect to have an idea of the potential project.
If you are interested in taking a tour at the Archives, please complete the following survey at this link.
Transportation to West Campus
Unfortunately, CABS no longer provides regular bus service to the Stores and Receiving lot. Because of this, students, staff, and faculty must drive or use a reserved charter bus or CABS-on-demand services.
CABS On-Demand is a service offered through the TripShot app. CABS On-Demand provides on-demand service to specific locations on campus and cannot be reserved ahead of time. Additionally, traffic patterns, campus events, and student demand for the service might impact travel time. Please visit CABS On-Demand by Transportation and Traffic Management for more information and troubleshooting.
Transportation and Traffic Management offers charter bus services for small groups visiting campus locations. Please see the Charter Bus page for more information.
The Library Book Depository uses CampusParc’s West Campus Surface Lot permit. If visitors have a current permit with CampusParc, please visit their homepage to see if the permit includes West Campus surface lot parking. Those without a permit are able to pay for parking through ParkMobile; there are signs in our lot with the parking code when visitors arrive. Finally, the Archives has two parking meters (card or coin only) available for the general public.
Parking in our lot is constantly monitored by CampusParc. Please plan accordingly.
The University Archives does not manage any of the above services. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please contact Transportation and Traffic Management.
Visitor Rules
Each group touring the Archives is subject to our standard patron rules. Please visit https://library.osu.edu/archives/visit for more information.