Due to the fragile nature of items in the Archives/Library collections, scanners are not allowed in the Research Room. Placing books face down on flat surfaces puts stress on the bindings.  We have a special copier that cradles the books face up to alleviate the stress on the spine.  We can make paper copies for you using that.  If you need actual digital copies, arrangements can be made through our Digital Services department.

The Ohio Historical Society does encourage visitors to use digital cameras to photograph items from the collection. We ask that they agree to and sign the procedures specified in the Ohio History Center Digital Camera Use Form

Over the past decade, the Ohio Historical Society has faced severe cut backs in state funding and other revenue.  As a result, our staffing levels have been cut back to less than half of what they were in 2000.  Nonetheless, the Society has worked to implement innovative methods for cost-savings, allowing the Archives/Library to be open four days per week. Help support the Archives/Library by becoming a member.

Unlike typical libraries, the goal of the Archives/Library is to ensure that collections are preserved for generations to come.  Some of the rules are in place to keep the materials in the best possible shape.  Others are for security, to keep them from being defaced or stolen. The majority of our rules are in place to protect the collections. 

The closed stacks comprise 3 floors. It can take 10 minutes just to get to the upper floors and back without even retrieving any books while up there.  The pages often have to retrieve multiple items per trip.  Also, some of the materials we have to retrieve are large and unwieldy, requiring 2 staff members to retrieve them.

We do appreciate the desire on the part of our patrons to help us.  Unfortunately, some patrons either aren’t very familiar with our shelving system or aren’t very careful in putting things back.  When items are  misplaced, it takes a lot more staff time to find them than it would have to have us just put them back ourselves.  In the meantime, the misplaced books are unavailable to our other patrons.  Our staff and volunteers specialize in ensuring that materials are reshelved and also utilize re-shelving as an opportunity to review the condition of materials. 

Depending on what you need, you may be able to have copies made or have microfilm sent to a nearby library through interlibrary loan.  Due to copyright and conservation issues, restrictions may apply.  Please see http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/fees/ for information on copies and http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/ill.html for information on interlibrary loan.

Information on our holdings is available through our online catalog at http://www.ohiohistory.org/occ/menu.htm.  Many of the manuscript collections also have finding aids available at http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/aids  that will give a more detailed breakdown of what is included in them to help you figure out what you need.

Although we have scanned some items from our collections into the following online databases (see links below), this represents a small fraction of the collection contents in our archives.  We are continually working to make items available in digital format, but there is a cost in money, time, and staffing that makes it unlikely that all of our holdings will be accessible electronically.

African American Experience in Ohio 1850-1920: http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Fight For the Colors: The Ohio Battle Flag Collection: http://www.ohiohistory.org/etcetera/exhibits/fftc/index.cfm

Kilroy Was Here: The 1940s Revisited: http://www.ohiohistory.org/etcetera/exhibits/kilroy/index.html

Ohio Memory: http://www.ohiomemory.org/

OhioPix: http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix/search.php?home=yes&gallery=most_popular1

Remarkable Ohio: http://www.ohiochannel.org/your_state/remarkable_ohio/index.cfm?mh=ohs

Significant Government Documents in Ohio’s History http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/

Virtual First Ohioans: http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=25/

We are happy to answer reference questions without charge if the answer is something that we can find out relatively quickly.  Due to our limited staffing, we have to charge a research fee for more complex questions.  Please see http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/fees/rr.html for more details.  For very complex, time consuming research requests, we will need to refer you to a professional researcher.  There is a list of them available at http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/resrchrs.html

Due to the labor intensive nature of newspaper research, we do not have the manpower to be able to provide that service.  However, you can have that roll of film sent to your local library through interlibrary loan and make a copy of it yourself.

We can only make loans to others libraries for use within their facilities.  Please contact your local library and have them make arrangements. More information about out interlibrary loan policies is available at /collections--archives/archives-library/interlibrary-loan

While our staff members are on phone duty, they are unable to leave the small office area where the phone is.  This limits them on how much access they have to our resources to be able to check on things for you.  For example, if you wanted to know what town in your county was the original county seat, they cannot get up, go into the Reading Room, and look at the county history to find that information for you.

Another issue is that many of the questions we get are very complicated.  We may need more information than you have readily available to be able to help you, or the question may be so complex that it is subject to a research fee.

Finally, our individual staff members have different areas of specialty.  The one who knows land records inside and out may not know all the intricacies of military history, and the military history expert won’t necessarily know everything about mental health records.  Getting your question in writing allows us to direct your inquiry to the person who is best able to answer it.  Due to issues with people forgetting to leave their contact information and with playing telephone tag, having you send an email has proven to be far more efficient than having you leave a voice mail message.

You can either come to the Archives Library in person to make copies yourself or you can request copies of records by mail or the internet.  Details about obtaining copies can be found at the following:

Birth records:  http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/brthdth1.html

Death Records:  http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/death1.html

Marriage Records:  http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/marriag1.html

While we receive some state funding, we are not a state agency.  The funds we receive from the state pays for the expenses involved in making the records available but does not cover the cost of providing copies of them.  In accordance with Ohio law, we charge fees based on our actual cost for paper, microfilm machine maintenance, and labor.  The fees we charge are actually much lower than those charged by state agencies for vital records.

In rare cases, names have been mistakenly left off of the death index when it was originally compiled by the Department of Vital Statistics.  We have no control over that.  However, more often than not, the requestor provided incorrect information for us to pull the death certificate by.  They may have the death year wrong, or were unaware that Grandpa Joe’s real first name was Oleander, or didn’t know that their ancestor who was buried in Cincinnati died across the state border in Kentucky.  We have to spend staff time looking for the certificate regardless of whether we are given correct information to find it with.  It actually takes us more time to process orders where the name isn’t found in the death index than it does when the correct information is provided.  

It takes more staff time to locate records from before December 20, 1908.  Before then, death records were kept as line entries in ledgers.  The indexing for them is not straightforward like the indexing for the post 1908 records is.  The records are also usually handwritten and often very difficult to read.

No.  Since we were not the issuing authority, we cannot provide you with a legally certified copy.

Your support is always appreciated.  You can become a member of the Ohio Historical Society or make a donation.  You can also volunteer to help with the behind the scenes work.  Please contact Annamae Kacsandi or akacsandi@ohiohistory.org for more information on volunteer possibilities.

Please contact reference@ohiohistory.org with a description of what you would like to donate.  A curator will call you to make arrangements from there.  They may need more information to determine whether your item is appropriate for our collections.  We do appreciate all offers, but not everything is within the scope of what we collect here.  

Sometimes we already have multiple copies of something and do not have need of another one.  We can also only accept original materials.  For example, we could accept an original copy of a pamphlet from 1911 but could not accept a photocopy of one.  Family histories are welcome, but only if they are bound, indexed, and cover families that lived in Ohio.  We are unable to accept family Bibles due to space limitations.