Fee-Based Research Service

SCA staff provides remote research services free of charge for non-NIU based patrons for up to one half hour (30 minutes). After the first half hour, the patron will be charged at a rate of $30.00 for all or any part of additional research hours. This fee is required for involved and time-consuming research requests made remotely that require SCA staff to perform substantial research on behalf of the patron to deliver the requested information and documentation. It does not apply to researchers using the collections onsite at SCA facilities but may apply to any subsequent requests made remotely after a visit.

Upon receiving a research request, SCA staff will discern the approximate time required to fulfill the request and will respond with an estimated cost based on the hourly rate. Once the requesting party approves the amount, they will be sent an invoice and payment instructions, which will initiate the research process. The follow guidelines apply to all transactions once approved:

• Payment is accepted only through the online portal. The SCA will NOT accept mailed cash or checks for research service fee payments.
• Any follow up requests related to or stemming from the original approved request will be considered additional hours and invoiced to the patron at the hourly rate, with payment expected prior to fulfillment.
• SCA staff will complete most digitization requests in-house for standard sized and formatted materials but may also refer patrons to the NIU Libraries Digital Lab for requests outside of its capabilities.

All digital scans created in-house by the SCA will be delivered via email or download link in PDF or JPEG format. Apart from the research service, all patrons (NIU and non-NIU based) can directly request digitization of materials held by the SCA. These requests are approved at the SCA's discretion. SCA will respond with a cost estimate in 5-7 business days. Patrons can request up to 25 pages at no charge. For requests exceeding these limits, the following fee structure applies:

• Digital photocopies or reference scanning: $30/hour
• Digitization of fragile or oversized manuscript materials and bound volumes requiring special handling: $100/hour
• Request for use in exhibition or media production: $300 fee

For more information or to place a digitization request, see Digitization Services.

Please note that the SCA research service fee does not necessarily include any charges related to digitization requests made directly to the Digital Lab. In instances that require both substantial research and digitization services, the SCA and Digital Lab will work with patrons to package the fees and deliver the content as cost-effective and efficiently as possible. For questions about this service, please contact the SCA Department Head via email bwiles@niu.edu or phone at 815-753-9392.