Special Collections’ Reading Room
General information
Address
Wroclaw University Library
Special Collections’ Reading Room
Fryderyka Joliot-Curie 12 St.
50-383 Wroclaw
phone: +48 71 37 52 403
e-mail: czs.bu[w]uwr.edu.pl (czs[dot]bu[at]uwr[dot]edu[dot]pl)
Opening hours:
| October - June Monday, Thursday: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 8:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. |
July, September Monday, Thursday: 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. |
August Reading room is closed |
The Special Collections’ Reading Room zone is situated on level 3 of the Wroclaw University Library and consists of:
reading room with a reference collection and workspaces for library's users;
room for consultations with employees of special collections departments;
the Pyramid exhibition hall, where presentations of special collections, didactic classes and trainings are organised;
hall with traditional catalogs of special collections departments;
a cabin with a digital piano (intended for learning and practicing) and a MIDI keyboard (an educational and workshop tool).
To enter the Special Collections' Reading Room, one should ring the intercom located at the entrance and wait for the librarian to open the door.
Ordering collections
Orders are fulfilled from Monday to Friday:
for special collections up to 2:00 p.m.,
for general collections from special collections's departments up to 2:30 p.m.
Orders placed accordingly after 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. will be accomplished in the next day. Fulfilling of orders last about 30 minutes, in case of special collections – it may change due to the specifics of the collections, the state of preservation, and the time needed to make them available for users.
Materials from special collections must be ordered via online catalog, digitized catalogs or on traditional order slips delivered to the the Special Collections' Reading Room (e-mail correspondence regarding collections is not treated as an order slip).
Users
All library users can use contemporary and historical collections from individual special collections' departments and the Special Collections' Reading Room.
Special collections are available for the scientific researchers for research purposes:
academic teachers and independent research workers with at least a PhD degree;
students and PhD students after presenting letter of recommendation from the academic tutor, so called Recommendation;
persons who are performing researches on behalf of scientific or cultural institutions after presenting Recommendation from their employee, explaining aim and scope of conducting researches;
in special cases, users may use special collections with the consent of the director or managers of the individual special collections' departments.
All users using special collections are additionally obligated to fill User’s declaration. After receiving Declaration, librarian is obligated to verify the correctness of personal data with user’s identity card.
Declaration and Recommendation are valid for calendar year from the date of issue.
Circulation of collections
The Special Collections's Reading Room has its own reference collection with free access to the shelves, which is constantly selected and carefully supplemented with new items. The collections are arranged on shelves by divisions.
The Wroclaw University Library boasts one of the most valuable special collections in Poland. It is a unique resource of immense historical, scientific, and research value. In the Special Collections' Reading Room, the collections from the following special collections departments are available:
Wratislaviana (the so-called Ypsilons), Silesian and Lusatian collections (former Silesia-Lusatian Cabinet), the so-called Ypsilons and Social Life Documents are circulated in the Silesian Collection Reading Room.
Catalogs
Electronic catalogs:
:: Wroclaw University Library's online catalog [Enter]
Traditional catalogs:
:: Alphabetical, subject and topographic catalogs of Special Collections’ Reading Room’s reference collection
:: Digitized card catalogs of the University Library [Enter]
:: Traditional card catalogs of special collections' departments
:: Special collections' departments also maintain their own internal catalogs and registers for their collections. Information about some of them is available on the websites of individual departments.
Special collections, especially the most valuable ones, are systematically digitized, and their digital copies can be found in the ">Digital Library of University of Wroclaw. One can also use the Digitized Collections Search Engine.
Conditions of usage of the Special Collections' Reading Room
Conditions of usage of Special Collections’ Reading Room are determined in the Rules of library's materials circulation in the library and information system of the University of Wrocław.
The Special Collections Reading Room does not lend library materials, and taking them outside the reading room is strictly prohibited.
Users are obligated to:
leaving in the cloakroom: overcoats and all briefcases, bags, hand-bags, backpacks, laptops' covers, etc.;
signing in the guest book legibly;
presenting to the librarian a valid document authorizing using of library materials (documents without a photo authorizing the use of services should be presented to the librarian together with a valid ID document);
behaving quietly, not using cell phones to conduct calls, deterring from eating, drinking and smoking.
Rules for access to special collections
Original materials, that have copies - microforms, reprints or electronic documents, are only available in special, justified situations. The consent to make the original available for the user, instead of copy, may be expressed by the director of the Library or manager of the proper department.
Managers of special collection's departments can deny to circulate to the user materials particularly valuable, in poor condition or because temporary inaccessibility of items (e.g. maintenance or preparation for exhibition).
Rules for using special collections:
a user of special collections should bear in mind that they are dealing with historical collections of particular value and should treat them in such a way that their state of preservation is not impaired,
the number of original special collection items circulated at one time is limited. When ordering a larger number of works, it is recommended to arrange the date and procedure for order fulfillment with the appropriate department by phone or mail;
in the case of manuscripts, user is also filling metrics attached to each manuscript;
the user bears full financial responsibility for the object entrusted to him and is responsible for material losses caused by his fault,
any damage or defects should be reported immediately to the librarian,
use, on the librarian's order, disposable latex or cotton gloves, lectern, support, etc.;
volume's cards should be moved carefully, without holding any objects (e.g. a pencil) in hand;
it is prohibited to bend cards, corners, underline or put any objects on the object
notes should be made only outside the library materials,
in loose materials, the order of cards must not be changed - any comments as to the order of cards should be reported to the librarian,
Reserving or prolonging of ordered materials
Materials can be reserved on user's order until they are no longer needed, but no longer than for a period of 3 working days. Reservation could by prolonged personally, by phone: +48 71 37 52 403 or via e-mail: czs.bu[w]uwr.edu.pl (czs[dot]bu[at]uwr[dot]edu[dot]pl)
Amenities
There is a Wi-Fi network in the reading room. Moreover, users have access to computer workstations with access to catalogs and digital resources of the Library, microform readers and scanner as well as technical aids: special lectern and pillows for accessing special collections, weights, lamps with a magnifying glass and LED illuminated boards for reading watermarks, headphones for listening to audio documents.
The Reading Room also has workstations adapted for the disabled people - computer software enlarging the text, a reader reading the text displayed on the computer monitor and a headset.
Copying
Free copying of special collections is permitted using your own camera without a flashlight after obtaining the consent of the librarian. Digitization and Digital Services Department fulfills user's orders for paid reprographic services.
Publishing of a reproductions from the special collections
The condition for reproducing an item from the library's special collections is to include information that it is the property of the Wroclaw University Library and to provide the library with a copy of the reproduced item.