Requesting LSC Archival Materials Described in the Online Archive of California

Library Special Collections is in the process of finalizing a new system that will allow users to request archival material via the OAC within their LSC User accounts. This future system will allow users to see the full descriptions of the materials they’re paging while submitting those requests. While we finalize this work, patrons will be unable to request boxes directly from the OAC, and must submit these requests individually from that collection’s record in UC Library Search.

Until the new system is available, please follow these instructions to submit individual requests for OAC-listed archival material using UC Library Search.

Once you’ve identified a collection’s finding aid in the OAC and have determined which boxes you’d like to request, open a new browser window and navigate to UC Library Search. For example, if you’d like to request materials from the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company Records, navigate to UC Library Search and search for “Golden State Mutual” to get the following results:

This is the collection-level catalog record. (If you have trouble locating the catalog record for a collection that has a finding aid in the OAC, please email LSC staff at spec-coll@library.ucla.edu.)

You can further limit your search by location. LSC materials are held in two locations: Library Special Collections and the Southern Regional Library Facility.

To find the specific box you wish to request in UC Library Search, select the filter icon at the top of the Location Items screen.

Select the dropdown menu under “volume” to scroll through the boxes in numerical order.

Scroll until you locate and select your desired box.

Click on the “Special Collections Request” link for that box.

This will open the sign-in page for your LSC User account where you will be prompted to sign in to an existing account, or for new users, to create a user account. This must be done for each request (and each box).

(Our future integration with the OAC will allow for multiple box requests simultaneously.)

The request form should be auto-populated with the catalog information for the selected box. Make sure to select the calendar icon at the bottom of the form and provide a date for your visit. All requests must be submitted 2 business days in advance of your visit to allow for offsite item retrieval. Scheduling the delivery of paged boxes is not an appointment and we cannot guarantee seating in the reading room.

We will work on your request after you click the 'Submit Request' button.

If you have trouble making your request, please contact LSC staff:

email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
telephone: 310.825.4988 (10AM - 5PM)