We recognise that you may wish to obtain a copy of material you are using. However, many of our holdings are extremely fragile, and could easily be damaged or destroyed by the copying process. See guidelines below.
The following ways of copying material are available.
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Self-service photocopying
- There is a photocopier in the searchroom, which can be used to copy Local Studies printed material only.
- No original documents or fragile printed volumes may be placed on it.
- The copier operates by a card system; you must take the material you wish to copy to the enquiries desk, where you will be given a card for the number of copies you are requesting. No open ended cards can be issued.
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Computer and microform printouts
- The PCs showing online resources and the microfilm / fiche reader-printers can print out the information shown on the screens.
- It is also possible to download this information on to a USB memory stick.
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Staff-operated photocopying
- Some material can be photocopied, but only if handled with extreme care.
- This material must be requested on a photocopying form (pdf format, 107 KB) and will be copied by staff; we cannot guarantee that this can be done on the spot.
- The photocopying rules will tell you which items can be photocopied and which cannot.
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Taking digital photographs
You can bring in your own digital camera, but you will need a permit and there are rules you need to follow.
You must buy a permit from the enquiry desk at Oxfordshire History Centre before you take any digital photos. See charges.
You are not allowed to make any further copies of your digital photos or to publish them either in digital or hard copy format.
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Equipment you can use
You can use a digital camera, film camera, mobile phone or hand-held scanner provided it doesn’t make contact with the item.
Certificates
Official certificates are available for baptism and marriage entries, made out by staff. These are officially recognized by the church authorities for administrative purposes. Certificates can also be provided for motor tax registration.
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Digital prints and electronic files
Digital images can be made of various of our holdings at appropriate resolutions; this is usually the best way of obtaining copies of photographs. These can be provided as prints or as electronic files. See our charges page for the options available. It is also possible to have work done by an external photographer.
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Copyright
Most of the material held in the history centre is covered by copyright legislation, and in most cases that copyright is not held by the centre – it may not even be held by the person who deposited the material.
We cannot, therefore, give permission to take copies for anything other than private research (which can only be a small proportion of any work or document) and particularly not for publication.
If you wish to publish, it is your responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright owner, which will often mean investigating who the copyright owner is.
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Photocopying guidelines
- Oxfordshire History Centre reserves the right to refuse any order for photocopying if the item is likely to suffer in the copying process, or for any other reason.
- No photocopies may be made from any document made from parchment or vellum.
- Photocopies may not be made of any document bearing a wax, shellac, or metallic seal. Documents bearing applied or embossed seals may be copied subject to the other restrictions stated, or at the discretion of the archivist on duty or the conservator.
- No copies may be made from any document larger than the size of the copier platen unless the document is in such condition as to allow this to be carried out without damage.
- No copies may be made from any archival volume. Copying of non archival volumes is at the discretion of an archivist or the conservator.
- No copies may be made of any document with watercolours or other pigments, dyes or inks which are liable to fade or flake or of any document with gilding anywhere other than the edge.
- Filed documents (that is, those tied at the corner with cord or any other material) may not be photocopied without first being removed from a file. A charge may be made for this service.
- No photocopies may be made from any original photographs.
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988) also contains detailed restrictions concerning the amount of published and unpublished material which may be copied, and the use to which it may be put. Further information may be obtained from the staff on duty.
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Order forms
The following forms are available:
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