Using the Library

Access to unpublished collections usually requires approval of an application for access. The form asks for names and addresses of two scholars as references, and the staff must check these references before granting access to certain materials. Scholars may apply for a grant-in-aid to reimburse costs of a visit.

Many of the Library's resources and much of its information can be made available without a visit. Investigate our holdings online through the Archival Catalog of Sources, Archival Finding Aids and Book Catalog. The staff will conduct searches of the databases, provide information on photographs, and so forth in response to inquiries. Staff provides reference assistance for up to one-half hour per inquiry; more in-depth reseach is optional and is charged at $40 per hour.

Aside from restrictions on particular items, oral history interview transcripts and microfilms are available on loan to those whose Applications for Access have been approved. Many other materials can be provided in photocopy ($.20 per page plus $40 per hour). Please feel free to direct inquiries to us by mail, telephone, e-mail (nbl@aip.org), or fax.

The Library welcomes visitors and is open to the public without charge. Its usual hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (except for national holidays), but it is advisable to contact the staff in advance to be sure of opening times and availability of materials. The Library is located at the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland, easily reached by car, bus, Metro and rail from Washington, DC and Baltimore. It is a short drive from the University of Maryland campus and the Archives II building of the U.S. National Archives.

The Niels Bohr Library was created through the generosity of Dannie Heineman, and is sustained by the general funds of the American Institute of Physics and by tax-deductible donations to the Friends of the Center for History of Physics and its Endowment Fund.

Do you have any books to donate? Please let us know. We welcome your questions, comments, and information and feedback.