Donating Materials

The Niels Bohr Library & Archives (NBLA) accepts donations of published and primary source materials through staff appraisal, including:

Photographs

The Emilio Segrè Visual Archives (ESVA) accepts donations of professional and candid photographs of scientists. When added to our collection, these photos are freely shared with researchers on a non-profit basis, strictly for educational use.

Donated photographic materials, including prints, negatives, digital images, and slides, often come to ESVA from personal collections. We particularly welcome pictures of scientists; not only formal portraits but also snapshots of them at work, with colleagues or family, on vacation, and in other social situations. 

If you have questions or would like to donate to ESVA, please email [email protected].

Books

We accept donations of books and textbooks on the history of physics, astronomy and geophysics from the 19th and 20th centuries. See here for more information or contact [email protected].

Institutional records

NBLA is the official repository for the permanent records of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and its member societies.

Personal manuscript collections

NBLA does not normally acquire manuscript collections but instead works to place these collections in the most appropriate repository.  See here for more information.

Audiovisual materials

When appropriate, NBLA accepts donations of audiovisual materials such as audio cassettes, reel to reel tapes, grooved media, optical discs, acetate film, and video tapes. 

Journal Referee Files

We preserve historically valuable referee files for journals published by AIP, making the records available for research 50 years from their date of creation. Read here for more information on our policy.

Electronic formats

We welcome electronic file formats with accompanying metadata such as .JPG, .TIFF, .WAV, .MP3,. PDF, .DOC, and .RTF, among others. 

We follow best practices compiled by institutions such as the National Archives  and the Library of Congress in our on-going effort to ensure the long-term preservation of electronic files.

Contact us if you are interested in donating materials to the NBLA.

See also: