You can begin your search by using the search bar on our website to look for keywords, names, or other search terms.
The search results will show archival and manuscript results on the left-hand side of the screen, and rare book results on the right-hand side of the screen. When you have identified a collection that may contain material you need, click on the collection title to access the collection guide.
In most cases, the first page you will see is the collection guide overview. This home page has several sections describing the general content of the collection, access restrictions, and more. To dig into the collection, you can use the Collection Organization dropdown menus on the right-hand side of the page.
These menus will display the collection series, subseries, folders, and items. You can either use the dropdown menus to look through the collection, or the search bar to search for keywords, names, or by date. From here you can identify materials you'd like to view in the Reading Room or get scanned. Note that in the case of search results for individual folders or items, you will instead be taken to the relevant section of the collection guide automatically.
To request something, click on its title in the collection organization menu. If the item is requestable, the Aeon Request button will appear in the top right portion of the screen. If this button is not present, this means the material is not requestable. This could be because the material is restricted (and therefore non-requestable) or it could mean you need to select something at a different level of the collection. For instance, series and subseries are not requestable, whereas folders and, sometimes, items are. If you have not already logged into your Aeon account, selecting this button will prompt you to login.
Once logged in, you will see a request form that gives details on the material you have requested and allows you to make further notes in the Request Information section.
The next field allows you to choose if you would like to view these materials in our Reading Room or if you'd like to request reproductions. Selecting Schedule appointment indicates that you are interested in seeing these materials in person. The remaining fields on the form are either not required or have been pre-filled for you.
The next set of fields allows you to associate this material request with an appointment you have already made, or, by using the green Schedule a New Appointment button, you can schedule an appointment straight from this form.
Selecting Request photoduplication indicates you would like a scan of your desired material sent to you. A new field will appear to allow you to describe what portions of the material you need digitized (specific page numbers, page ranges, images, etc.), as well as indicate if you are interested in publishing the image.
Also important in this field is selecting that you agree to the copyright terms.
When you have finished the above steps, select the green Submit button at the bottom of the page and you're done! If you encounter any issues with this process, please contact us at (207) 725-3288 or sca@bowdoin.libanswers.com
