Archives

The Rinzler Archives is closed for renovations to improve storage conditions for our collections and to ensure their preservation long into the future. Before planning a visit, please consult this site for our anticipated reopening date. Although our collections are currently inaccessible, we will continue to assist researchers with reference inquiries, rights and reproductions requests, and other collections-related matters. Contact us at RinzlerArchives@si.edu.

As a public resource, we invite researchers and artists to use our materials. Please make an appointment if you wish to consult materials in the Rinzler Archives. Let us know what materials and subjects you are interested in so we can determine if they are available, as some materials are stored offsite.

Photo/Print Material

Our listening and reading room is open to the public by appointment only. We have binders of photographs, slides, and contact sheets from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Diana Davies Photographs, and Robert C. Malone Photographs, with finding aids available. A small library of serials and monographs related to folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology, musicology, and the music business is also available. Copies of manuscripts can be made depending on their preservation status, and use of our photocopy machine is free.

Audio/Visual Material

Audio/visual materials can be used depending on the format and preservation status. We provide recording playback equipment, but a number of obsolete formats cannot be accessed. One-of-a-kind fragile recordings cannot be used without advance notice; archives staff will need to make a reference copy. We do not have transcripts for most of our holdings, nor do we have the resources to make audio or video copies for the public.

Non-published archival materials are made available on a limited basis for research purposes. Copying these materials requires permission from the performer or informant in the recording. In addition to our own collections, there is a library of commercial LPs, 45s, 78s, cassettes, and CDs of sounds of the world from other recording companies available for listening, although we do not have the rights to copy this material.

Online Access

A limited amount of archival material is available online. A portion of our finding aids and inventories are available on the collections page and the Smithsonian Online Virtual Archive. Some of our collections are described in SIRIS, the Smithsonian’s library and archives online catalog.

The commercial recordings in our collection can be accessed online through Smithsonian Folkways. On the website, users can access free thirty-second samples of all individual tracks or pay to download entire tracks or albums along with PDF liner notes.

Archival Materials Requests and Licensing

To request copies of photographs, documents, audio, or video in our collections for research use, please use our Archival Research Materials Order form. If you would like to license materials for publication, please submit an Archival Materials License Request form, or contact us for further information. Be advised that we do not own or control the rights to all materials in our collections. Your use of collection items is contingent upon obtaining final permission for use from the rights holder.

Requests for copies of archival material are considered on a case-by-case basis, subject to copyright and other restrictions, the availability of digitization equipment, and staff resources.

Processing fee for all orders	$20
Image Reproductions
New JPEG, TIFF, or DNG scan	$10 per image
New Low-resolution Scan (PDF)	$1
Previously Digitized Image	Processing fee only
Image Licensing for Commercial Use	$50 per image in publication interior and website/online/digital/film applications; $150 per image publication cover
Image Licensing for Nonprofit Use	$25 per image in publication interior and website/online/digital/film applications; $75 per image in publication cover
Re-Use of Previously Provided images	$20 for entire order
Audio-Visual Reproductions
New AV Digitization (all formats)	$40 per item
Previously Digitized AV materials	Processing fee only
AV Licensing for Commercial Use	$200 per item
AV Licensing for Nonprofit Use	$100 per item
Re-use of previously provided AV material	$20 for entire order
Turnaround Time
Previously Digitized Items	10 business days
Items Requiring Digitization	4 weeks
Permission to Re-use Materials	5 business days
Rush Fees	Double the cost of order

We grant exceptions to these fees for past Festival participants and their immediate family; current Smithsonian Fellows (limited to 10 undigitized images/year and 5 undigitized AV items/year); students (limited to 5 undigitized images/year and 2 undigitized AV items/year) who provide proof of status; records creators; and other individuals on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature of their project.

TV and Film Production Guidelines

The Smithsonian has developed guidelines to be used by television and film producers in working with Smithsonian units. The guidelines describe key areas that should be addressed when working with Smithsonian archival units and special collections. Specific guidelines for Smithsonian Networks producers are also available.

Acquisitions and Donations

The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections only collects outside materials on a very limited basis, depending on if there is intention to use them to further our Center’s mission. We acquire other collections if they directly relate to our pre-existing collections or they are related to important persons connected with the Center.

New record company collections are acquired only when all of the publishing rights are turned over to the Center so that we may distribute them. If they complement our collection’s strengths, we collect outside published materials on a limited basis for our library.

The Smithsonian does not provide valuations of recordings, artifacts, and other items.