Frances Loeb Library

Special Collections

The physical collections are not available for in-person consultation at this time.

Special Collections for Instruction

Frances Loeb Library has several options available for supporting teaching with Special Collections.

On-Demand Digitization: Collections can be imaged, or digitized as needed for course instruction. These collections include the Materials Collection, Rare Book Collection, and Archival Collections. Requests take 1-2 weeks to complete. Request Special Collection Material for Instruction.

Schedule a Remote Class Session with Special Collections: Archivists and librarians are available to work with instructors on designing a remote class session. Request a class session using the Special Collections and Archives Class Request Tool. Select Frances Loeb Library Special Collections to get started.

Special Collections Digitization Service 

The library is now accepting requests from Harvard faculty and students for reference scans of material located in Special Collections. These collections include the Materials Collection, Rare Book Collection, and Archival Collections. Please review the information below before submitting your request.  

  • This service is only available to Harvard faculty and students due to limited staff on–site.  
  • All scans are for research, reference, or teaching use only. We are unable to create high–resolution scans of items for publication use.  
  • Requests takes 1-2 weeks to complete. Please prioritize the items you need most so that we can accommodate as many requests as possible. 

How to submit your request 

Submit your request using this form. If there are any problems with the form, please contact the library through Ask a Design Librarian.    

Please keep the following in mind for each collection:  

Archival Collections We are unable to scan rolled drawings or oversize items from the collections at this time.

Limit: 10 archival folders per request
Materials Collections Many of the items in our collection have already been imaged and are available to view on Material Order SEARCH. Please check before requesting images of materials.

Limit: 3 items per request.
Rare Books Collection Rare book requests are subject to review by our archivists and our conservator.

Limit: 1 chapter or 50 pages per item.
Vertical Files If the item is on site, we will scan it. Limit: 1 vertical file per request

Please note that all requests are subject to review as some material cannot be easily scanned due to format and condition of item.