n.institutional parameters and space design that enable in-person presence in an archival facilityMiller 1990, 83D. Physical Access. Information about physical access includes location, restrictions, required authorizations for use, and the nature and location of copies of original records.Finch 1994, 14We are all handicapped in some way: You wear glasses, another wears a hearing aid, one is too tall to fit the chairs, another too short to touch the floor. Physical access is more than wheelchair ramps. It includes for all of us nearby parking, wide and easily opened doors, elevators for operations on several floors, uncluttered lobbies and corridors, and, if possible, signers and self-help equipment.Westbrooks 1998, 156General information helps users gain virtual and physical access to collections. Many Web sites include operation hours, staff directories, and institutional histories.Jimerson 2003, 15Physical access implies appropriate facilities to allow users to examine manuscripts and archives in a secure and convenient atmosphere. The repository should establish and clearly announce regular hours of operation for research.Ngulube, Sibanda, and Makoni 2013, 144There are also “systemic barriers” that may influence physical access and the opportunity to accessing information (Wilson 1991:97). They include office hours, providing services to the physically disabled, location of the archive and technology. Physical access can be facilitated by regular and sufficient hours of operation by archival repositories, providing space for consulting the records and enabling users to copy information from records.Wakimoto, Hansen, and Bruce 2013, 443Another issue raised in the literature concerns physical access to collections in community archives. While archives traditionally have closed stacks, some community archives do not. For example, the Lesbian Herstory Archives is not a closed stacks archives, but makes its materials available for browsing.Daly and Organ 2014, 223The archives collection is singular in its physical access restrictions, usually requiring an appointment and on-site visit to view material within the parameters of the Archives reading room.Fairchild, Inabinett, and Minor 2017, 42Terms of access. Careful attention to both physical and virtual access is important. Physical access includes admittance to library patrons, students, and South Carolina Historical Society constituents during operating hours. Virtual access ensures easy navigation of the combined online catalog interface and digital objects via the Lowcountry Digital Library.Dreyer and Nofziger 2021, 40We invite physical access with doors that are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and with the flexible arrangement of library furniture. These tactile, spatial cues send a subconscious message to those who experience reduced or limited mobility.hands-on interaction with archival materialsCasey 1992, 25First, recordings are transferred onto listening cassettes, providing physical access to researchers and to processing staff (and allowing original recordings to remain further unplayed.)Meraz 1997, 21–22Additionally, as many museums are now discovering, the public is demanding greater physical access to objects. As Charles Alan Watkins pointed out, museum “masqueraders,” such as theme parks, are attracting many museum-goers because they offer the public an intimate interaction with objects.Little 2007, 104Furthermore, a user, Margaret Moffat, describes the constructive and existential authenticities that come from physical access to archival documents: “There’s no joy like the joy you have when you hold in your hand, a letter, a photograph, a diary—something that connects you to your past.”Turley and Norling 2022, 59A collections access and use policy will also set guidelines for physical access, such as determining the means by which audiences are granted access to museum archives and identifying patron handling guidelines while in the collections access area. Examples of physical access guidelines include using pencil only for taking notes, wearing gloves and/or washing hands prior to handling, removing watches and bulky jewelry, and leaving food and beverages at home.
