THE ICHS ARCHIVES
POLICIES AND FEES
The archives of the Illinois Central Railroad Historical Society have been created to preserve the history of the Illinois Central Railroad and its predecessors. It is the intention of this Society that this collection of photographs, slides, negatives, printed material, and other items and memorabilia be preserved for the primary use of Society members and recognized historians. Because of the overlapping nature of railroading, these archives may also contain historic information about the communities served by these railroads, connecting and competing rail lines, and related topics.
Much of this material in these archives has been donated to the Society, and for that Society members are extremely appreciative and recognition will be given when appropriate. Some items have been purchased from estates and other sources. Some of this material cannot be reproduced by agreement with the seller. This material is for ICHS use only. And other material has shown up without our knowledge of the source.
Every effort has been taken, and will be made, to preserve this material and organize it in a readily accessible fashion. However, the Society is comprised of volunteers and time constraints have kept this process from moving along as rapidly as we would have liked. It is not always possible to fulfill every request and in that respect we hope those involved will understand.
Because of the continual growth of the amount of material in the archives and the increasing requests for its use, the Society feels obligated to set standards and requirements/restrictions concerning the use of this material. Therefore, the Board of Directors, acting on behalf of the Society, has established the following guidelines and rules.
As stated, the primary purpose of these archives is to preserve the history of the Illinois Central Railroad. In that respect, the principal use of this material should be in the publications produced by the Illinois Central Railroad Historical Society for its members and others interested in the history of this railroad.
A related purpose of these archives is to provide Society members with a source of prototypical material for modeling and other personal historical purposes.
We realize that these archives may also be of interest to railroad fans and historians who are not members of the Society. Every effort will be made to accommodate these individuals. However, we are a volunteer organization, our time and effort constraints may make such effort difficult in a timely manner.
Requests from publications for material to be used in connection with news and/or feature articles in both mass media and limited circulation publications and newspapers will be considered on an individual basis.
Material requested for use in books, videos, advertisements, by model manufacturers, and for other commercial use will also be considered on an individual basis.
All use of Illinois Central Railroad Historical Society archive material will depend on the accessibility of the requested material and the manner and form in which it can be made available.
The material provided by ICHS is intended for personal use only. The material cannot be re-copied, scanned, or distributed without approval and written permission from the ICHS Board of Directors. For Commercial use of ICHS materials please contact the ICHS Board of Directors for applicable fees and charges. A letter agreement will be required for personal and commercial use.
ICHS members requesting copies from archive material for personal use will be charged a fee that is twice the actual cost of reproduction and postal expenses. The charge outlined in No. 1 below will be waived for Society members if research time is an hour or less.
ICHS Research Fees
Basic Charges:
There will be a charge of $20 per hour for time spent in researching, producing, copying, and fulfilling requests for information from ICHS archives (1 hour minimum).
Copies or reproductions, of non copyrighted material, from ICHS archives will be charged at an additional fee of (2 times) the actual cost of providing this service.
All telephone, postage, shipping and other incidental expenses incurred by the Society in fulfilling the request will be billed at actual cost.
8x10 black and white photographs reproduced from ICHS archive negatives will be billed at $25.00 each. This is in addition to the charges outlined above.
Any deviation from the above schedule must be approved by the Society’s Board of Directors.