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- Archival Film Flashes Back to 70s Student Life
- Manuscript Traces SFU's Architectural History
- Early University News Publications Now Digitally Available
- Digitized Programs Commemorate SFU’s Opening & Installation Ceremonies
- Archives Celebrates Fall Convocation with Release of Digitized Programs
- Films Capture Visual History and Sentiment of Time Gone By
- Lost and Found: Simon Fraser Letters
- Oral History Provides Glimpse into Mind of SFU’s First Chancellor Gordon Shrum
- Early SFU Photos Tell a Story That Frames Our World
- Aerial Photos Capture Campus Landscape & Photographer’s Legacy
- You have what...?!! and other interesting things you didn't know about the SFU Archives
- Charting the course of history: documenting SFU's early days from the student perspective (Part 1)
- Charting the course of history: documenting SFU's early days from the student perspective (Part 2)
- Helping others find their history in the future: Preserving the records of the Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry at SFU
- Preserving the sparks of global revolution in the Adbusters Media Foundation fonds
- Reflections of a co-op student
- Debunking popular myths and conspiracies with the Barry Beyerstein fonds
- In "The Beginning...": First student film returns to SFU
- "Got any pictures of Terry Fox?"
- My summer in the archives: a co-op placement retrospective
- Seeing the world through Arthur Erickson's eyes
- Beer (records) in the Archives!
- Quartet in the Quadrangle: PSQ Records Come to SFU
- Navigating silences and filling gaps: finding Black stories in the Archives
- Boxes, boxes, and more boxes: my summer co-op at SFU Archives
- Glossary
HOW TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AT THE ARCHIVES
Archives are full of unique, unpublished material in a variety of media not available anywhere else in the world. Archival research holdings must be used onsite and handled with special care.
Interested in provincial history, women’s issues, or social activism? We keep a wide range of archival material in our specially designed vault and provide access to it in our Reading Room. Follow along to learn how to conduct research at the Archives.
Step 3: Applicable rules
The following rules apply when working in the research room:
- Food and drink are not permitted.
- Coats, briefcases and bags must be left in the designated area.
- All archival materials are non-circulating and must stay in the research room.
- Only pencils are allowed; you may not use ink for taking notes. Laptops and other portable computers are also permitted provided they are not placed in physical contact with archival materials.
- Avoid damage to materials by not leaning on, folding, writing on, tracing or otherwise impacting them. Please notify staff of anything needing preservation attention.
- Photocopies and scans must be made by Archives staff. Researchers may take their own digital photographs of research materials with prior approval of the Reference Archivist on duty. We regret that digital copies cannot be made to digital storage devices provided by the researcher.
Can I make copies of materials in the Archives?
There are restrictions on making copies of archival material, and there may be fees associated with producing some reproductions. You should also be aware of copyright restrictions on archival material. The Archives provides limited reproduction services to researchers wanting copies of materials. See the document below for details.
What if I need access to personal information in the Archives?
We are required by law to protect specific types of information, disclosure of which would cause harm or be an unreasonable invasion of privacy (see our access policy for more information). Where a researcher requests access to files containing personal information, it might be necessary to enter into a Research Agreement with the Archives. Researchers needing access to personal information must complete and submit the form below to archives@sfu.ca. It is a PDF with fillable fields that can be saved to your computer.
Reading Room Hours
Monday: by appointment
Tuesday: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturday: closed
Sunday: closed
Email: archives@sfu.ca
Phone: 778.782.3805
Before your visit
During your Visit
Internet Connection
In order to use an SFU wifi connection, you will need to set up Eduroam while you are still at your home institution.
Researchers unaffiliated with an institution can access the internet through a designated workstation or their personal phone data.