The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library offers a wide range of reproduction services for materials in its collections to assist scholars in their research. See services below. To request reproductions, please send an email with the call number, or as much information as possible, to beinecke.library@yale.edu. The library generally does not charge for reproductions.

Many items from Beinecke’s collections have already been digitized and are available to download for free from our Digital Collections. Patrons are encouraged to check there before placing their order. 

All requests are subject to review by the Beinecke Public Services staff. The library reserves the right to revise or refuse an order due to preservation concerns, time constraints, or size of the material. If an order must be changed to a different format, the patron will be notified of the change. Additionally, the Library may be unable to accommodate reproduction requests prior to and during the closing of a collection; the status of “unavailable” closed material is generally reflected in item records in Orbis, Quicksearch, or Archives at Yale.

Turnaround time is 10-14 weeks. Turnaround time is dependent upon the complexity of the order and the format of the reproduction. We do not accommodate requests for rush reproductions orders.

The Library’s provision of a reproduction does not imply an authorization to publish or reproduce it. Please see our Permissions and Copyright page for more information. 

Service Details

For general information about our reproduction services, please visit the Reproductions section of the Guide to Using Special Collections at Yale University.

Formats

Existing images in our Digital Collections

If you find an existing image in our Digital Collections and would like to download it, you may choose to download it in TIFF, JPEG (full sized or reduced size), or PDF format.  For images that are only viewable online to members of the Yale community because they may be protected by copyright, please email beinecke.library@yale.edu to request image files.

New images

You may request image files for materials that have not yet been digitized.

We offer:

• Uncompressed TIFF image files, captured at 600 ppi in accordance with FADGI 4 star (Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative) and MetaMorphoze color management standards, in 24 bit color, at 100% of the original size of the item. TIFF files are suitable for full-size, full-color publication.
• Color PDF scans suitable for reference and most online applications.

Audio and Video Files

Yale Library’s digitized audiovisual collections are available in Aviary. Patrons are encouraged to check there before placing their order.

The reproduction or reformatting of audiovisual materials is dependent on the condition of the original and may take considerably longer than other formats. Contact Public Services at beinecke.library@yale.edu to inquire about specific items.

Reproduction & Distribution of Electronic Files

Patrons may request reproductions of born digital archival materials. The Library may provide copies of born digital collections content in their native format, unless donor or other related restrictions prohibit this. The Library may create and provide access copies of collections content in an appropriate modern format to render the content if it is necessary to firmly distinguish between original and access versions of a particular file or if the original format does not render correctly in modern computing environments. The Library will not provide reproductions of disk images. Contact Public Services at beinecke.library@yale.edu to inquire about specific items.

Microfilm

A self-service microfilm reader/printer is available for patron use in the Reference Room, where readers may also create PDF files to save on a flash drive. Contact Public Services at beinecke.library@yale.edu to inquire about specific items.