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About Us

The Archives and Special Collections (ARCS) is a specialized unit within the Morisset Library at the University of Ottawa and is home to archival research collections, rare books, manuscripts, and periodicals that support the teaching and research needs of our community.

Our reading room is located on the promenade level of the Morisset Library (65 University Private) at MRT-039.

ARCS offers in person appointments to consult our unique archival and rare materials. To schedule an appointment, please contact us by email at arcs@uottawa.ca.

To learn about our holdings, click on the tabs above.

Consultation

To discover what is held at the Archives and Special Collections, visit the Archives database (for archival fonds and collections) and the OMNI library catalogue (for books and published material).

All material held in the Archives and Special Collections must be consulted on-site and you will need to complete a Consultation Form in order to access any items.

If you have already identified the material you wish to consult, we invite you to send us your completed Consultation Form in advance to arcs@uottawa.ca so that we can prepare the documents for your visit.

Limitations:

Although most material held at ARCS is accessible to researchers, some of them may be subject to conditions limiting their consultation.

The fragility of some documents may require you to consult them with the help of an archivist. In some cases, the consultation of the original will be limited, and a copy will be offered.

Some archival records are closed for consultation for a period of time due to restrictions under privacy legislation or at the donor's request.
Please contact one of our archivists for information on how to access these documents.

Reproduction

It is possible to obtain reproductions of documents. For any reproduction, you will need to complete a Reproduction Request Form that you will complete on site, or send to us by email at arcs@uottawa.ca. This will allow you to take photographs of the documents yourself, following certain precautions. For all other types of reproductions (including scanning and photocopying), an archivist will assist you on site.

Conditions may limit the reproduction of certain documents. This is the case for:

documents in poor or fragile condition
documents subject to restrictions imposed by the donor,
documents that are subject to the Copyright Act.

Please speak to our staff to find out more about copying the material.

PLEASE NOTE that reproductions provided by ARCS are for research or private study purposes only. Users who wish to use these reproductions for any other purpose are responsible for obtaining the written permission of the copyright owner.

The Copyright Act

"Under the Canadian Copyright Act (or the Act), copyright exists in any original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work from its creation. In most cases, it lasts for the author's entire life and continues for fifty years after his death. Second, the work is often deemed to be in the public domain" (source: Quick Reference Guide on Copyright - Copyright Office, University of Ottawa).

Many documents held at ARCS are subject to the Copyright Act. ARCS does not have the mandate to interpret the Copyright Act for the benefit of users. Thus, users requesting reproductions must be aware of their obligations.

Reproductions provided by ARCS are reserved for research or private study purposes. For all other purposes, it is the responsibility of users to obtain written permission from the copyright owner.

Before requesting a reproduction for use other than research or private study, we recommend that you consult the Quick Reference Guide on Copyright and speak to the Copyright Office of the University of Ottawa for more information on requests for permission.