Visiting the Center

​Hours and Location

The Bates Center and Ellen D. Baer Reading Room are open to scholars and interested non-academic researchers by appointment only Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (closed from 1:00 - 2:00 PM daily).   

• The Center is closed for official University holidays.
• No bags, food, or drinks are permitted in the Ellen D. Baer Reading Room.
• Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
  
• To tour the reading room or Center, please schedule an appointment prior to your visit.  
• The Center is located in Suite 2U, Claire M. Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Boulevard. Directions to the Center.
• The building is handicap-accessible.

Scheduling a Visit and General Access Policies

• Researchers should submit a statement of their proposed research topic prior to their visit by emailing nhistory@nursing.upenn.edu.
•  The Center strives to open as much of its collection to research use as possible. Restrictions may apply to unprocessed holdings.
• Researchers must make an appointment prior to visiting the Center. Walk-in researchers cannot be accommodated.
• Any visitors wishing to reserve the room for a special event must submit a formal request to nhistory@nursing.upenn.edu.  No walk in appointments can be accommodated at this time. 
• Portions of collections may be restricted in order to comply with laws and regulations governing privacy or confidentiality or to honor requests of individual donors. Researchers will be informed of any restrictions governing the use of material they request.
  
• Before visiting the Center researchers should consult the Online finding aids to the Center’s collections.​ Please note that the Center is currently in the process of adding its full collection of finding aids to the Penn Libraries website.   If a collection does not have a finding aid and/or inventory online, please contact the Center staff at nhistory@nursing.upenn.edu in order to determine if one is available.  
  

• If you have never used the archives, you will need to review and sign the researcher application​.  A valid form of photo identification must accompany the signed application in order to access the archives for the first time.  
• Members of our archival staff are available to conduct research as a fee-based service on a case by case basis.  Please contact nhistory@nursing.upenn.edu for more information.