Located in the basement of Fondren Library, the Kelley Center houses over 200 major microform collections which together consist of over 3 million items. The collection is expansive and covers a wide-range of topics, from Congressional Hearings and Department of Energy Reports to the personal papers of Jane Addams and W.E.B. DuBois.
Accessing and Retrieving Microforms
Please note: Most microfilm has been moved to the off site Library Service Center (LSC) please request materials before visiting the library.
- The Houston Post, Houston Chronicle and New Orleans Times-Picayune are housed in Fondren Library.
Members of the public, please fill out the LSC Retrieval Request to have microfilm (showing a LSC location in the catalog) returned to the library for viewing.
Rice ID holders logged into OneSearch may click on the Request Delivery of Item button in the catalog record and check specific items to retrieve.
- Requests made before 9 am are delivered to the library in the morning.
- Request made before 2 pm are delivered the same business day.
- Requests made after 2 pm arrive on the next business day.
- Deliveries are made Monday-Friday so please request microfilm before 2 pm on Friday for weekend use.
- Requests from the public require a librarian to fill out a form, so plan for delivery on the next business day.
- Your requested film will be held at the Service Desk for 2 weeks.
Inventories and Subject Guides
To find microform collections pertinent to your research, browse the major microform sets. One may also find collections by searching the Fondren Library catalog. Alternatively, one may consult the subject research guides put together by Fondren librarians. These subject guides include information not only about the microform collections available in any given area but also other resources, such as online databases. These subject guides are an essential resource for regular Fondren users.
Using the Microform Collections
- The microform collections are part of the Kelley Center for Government Information, Data and Geospatial Services in the basement of Fondren Library. Access to these collections is available during the business hours of the Kelley Center.
- The microform collection is arranged by call numbers in the basement of Fondren (B43A) except for microfilm showing a location of the LSC (Library Service Center - see note at the top of the page). Machines for viewing and printing from microfilm, microprint and microfiche are available. We also have microform scanners which allow patrons to scan microform content into digital formats such as PDF and TIF. Microform copying machines take coins but not copy cards.