Most of our collections are open for anyone to use, but some material is temporarily closed to researchers due to legal restrictions, University policy, or donor agreements. 

• Board of Trustee records are closed to most researchers for 25 years from date of creation.
• Most student records (such as course papers, lab notebooks, and other assignments) are closed for 80 years from date of creation or until the person is deceased. While we do not collect student records as a rule, sometimes they are included in collections.

Specific sections of collections may also be restricted. Requests to view these materials are handled on a case-by-case basis. For example, we may look through a box of records before allowing a researcher to use it to determine if it contains information that must be redacted (such as Social Security numbers) or to remove items or folders with sensitive information.