User regulations

The basis for the use of the KIT Archives is the user regulations. You can download the document as a PDF or view the text on this page.

Note: Below is a translation of our user regulations. These are intended to serve as a guide. However, only the German text is legally binding.

The following user regulations apply to documents from the university area of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). References to the University of Karlsruhe (TH) in the user regulations refer to the university area of K:IT. The relevant sections of the Baden-Württemberg State Archives Act apply to the use of documents from the KIT's large-scale research area until the entry into force of user regulations that apply to the entire KIT archive.

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In accordance with § 7 para. 2 of the University Act and § 8 para. 2 of the State Archives Act, the Senate of the University of Karlsruhe adopted the following user regulations for the University Archives on November 11, 2002.

 

§ 1 Tasks

The archive of the University of Karlsruhe (TH) serves as a public archive for research, teaching and studies at the university and also for other scientific work and factual information. It makes the University's archive material generally accessible.

 

§ 2 Admission to use

Anyone who can credibly demonstrate a legitimate interest, in particular a legal, scientific or local and family history interest, may use the archive in accordance with these regulations. They have the right to use the archive material after expiry of the retention periods, unless otherwise stipulated by legal regulations or agreements with current or former owners.

 

§ Section 3 Type of use

(1) Archival material is generally used by inspecting it in the archive.
(2) The University Archives may also facilitate use by responding to written or oral inquiries, by submitting or providing reproductions, by sending or lending archival material.
(3) The response to inquiries is generally limited to information on the type, scope and condition of relevant archive material.
(4) The provisions governing the use of archive records shall apply accordingly to the use of finding aids, other resources and reproductions.

 

§ 4 Application for use

(1) The application for use must be submitted in writing to the University Archives. It must contain details of the person making the request and, if applicable, the person commissioning the use, the intended use and the purpose of use, as well as whether and how the results are to be published. In the case of academic use, the type of academic work and, if applicable, the university and the name of the supervising university lecturer must be stated.

(2) A separate application must be submitted for each research subject.

(3) If the person using the work wishes to involve other persons as assistants or agents in their work, they must submit a separate application in each case.

(4) Upon request, the person making use of the library must provide proof of identity.

 

§ 5 Permission to use

(1 ) The person entrusted with the management of the University Archives shall decide on the application for use.

(2) The authorization for use may be subject to ancillary provisions within the meaning of § 36 of the State Administrative Procedure Act and is limited to one year.

 

§ Section 6 Restrictions on use

(1) Pursuant to Section 6 (6) sentence 1 of the State Archives Act, use shall be restricted or denied if

  1. there is reason to believe that the welfare of the Federal Republic of Germany or one of its states would be jeopardized, or
  2. there is reason to assume that the interests of third parties worthy of protection would conflict with this, or
  3. the state of preservation of the archive records would be jeopardized, or
  4. an unjustifiable administrative burden would arise or
  5. agreements with current or former owners conflict with this.

(2) The University Archives may also restrict or deny use for other important reasons, in particular if

the user has repeatedly or seriously violated the user regulations or has not complied with the conditions imposed on him/her,

  1. the condition of the archive material does not permit use,
  2. archive materials are not available for official reasons or because they are being used elsewhere at the same time,
  3. the purpose of use can be adequately achieved by other means, in particular by consulting printed works or reproductions.

(3) The user is obliged to provide the University Archives with a specimen copy of a printed work within the meaning of Section 2 (1) of the Obligatory Copy Act, which he or she has written or produced with substantial use of archival material of the University Archives, free of charge after publication of the printed work without being asked. If the user cannot reasonably be expected to provide a specimen copy free of charge, in particular due to the small print run or the high cost of the printed work, he or she may either provide the University Archives with a copy of the printed work for a reasonable period of time to make a reproduction or demand compensation up to half the retail price. If there is no retail price, the user may demand compensation up to half the production costs of the specimen copy. Sentences 1 to 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis to publications by the user in collective works or journals and to written works that have not been published. Without the consent of the user, unpublished written works may only be used by the University Archives for the purpose of indexing archive material; other persons may not be granted access to unpublished written works. Sentence 5 shall not apply if the copyright has expired.

 

§ 7 Withdrawal and revocation of permission to use

The University Archives may withdraw or revoke the user authorization in accordance with §§ 40 and 49 of the State Administrative Procedure Act, in particular if

  1. essential information in the application for authorization of use is not or no longer correct,
  2. subsequent reasons become known which would have led to the denial of the use,
  3. the user repeatedly and seriously violates the terms of use or fails to comply with the conditions of use.
  4. the user violates copyrights and personal rights as well as the legitimate interests of third parties.

 

§ 8 Blocking periods

(1) In accordance with Section 6 (2-5) of the State Archives Act, the following retention periods apply to documents that were not intended for publication or accessible to the public when they were created:

  1. Archival material may not be used before thirty years have elapsed since the documents were created.
  2. If archive material was subject to legal provisions on confidentiality, it may not be used for at least sixty years after the documents were created.
  3. If archive records relate to a natural person according to their intended purpose, they may not be used for at least ten years after the person's death, notwithstanding the time limits in sections 1 and 2. If the date of death cannot be determined or can only be determined with unreasonable effort, the retention period shall end ninety years after the birth.
  4. The Rectorate may extend retention periods by a maximum of twenty years if this is in the public interest or if this is necessary to protect the interests of the person concerned.

(2) In accordance with Section 6 (4) of the State Archives Act, the following provisions apply to the shortening of retention periods: The Rectorate may shorten embargo periods if this does not conflict with interests of the person concerned that are worthy of protection. A shortening of the retention period in accordance with paragraph 1 number 3 is only permissible if

  1. the person to whom the archive records relate or, in the event of their death, their spouse, children or parents have consented, or if
  2. the use for scientific purposes or for the protection of legitimate interests which are in the overriding interest of another person or body is indispensable and the interests of the person concerned which are worthy of protection are adequately taken into account by means of anonymization or other measures.

In the case of use for scientific purposes, anonymization may be dispensed with if the scientific interest in disclosure significantly outweighs the interests of the data subject worthy of protection due to the importance of the research project and the research project could not otherwise be carried out.

(3) The application to shorten the embargo periods must be submitted in writing to the University Archives. The decision on the application shall be made by the Rectorate. In addition to the information specified in § 4 para. 1, the person submitting the application for the use of documents which, according to their intended purpose, relate to a natural person, must submit either

  1. enclose the written declaration of the person concerned or their relatives within the meaning of para. 2 or
  2. provide detailed reasons in the application as to why a shortening of the retention period is essential.

(4) If the anonymization of personal data is to be waived for scientific purposes, the applicant must also justify why the scientific interest in disclosure significantly outweighs the interests of the data subject worthy of protection due to the importance of the research project and why the research project cannot otherwise be carried out. It must explain what measures will be taken to adequately take into account the interests of the person concerned that are worthy of protection when publishing the research results.

(5) At the request of the University Archives, the application for a reduction of the protection period must be accompanied by additional information and documents, in particular statements from academic teaching staff in the case of university theses.

 

§ 9 Use of the archive

(1 ) In principle, the order forms of the University Archives are to be used for ordering archive material. The signature of the archive materials should be determined by the person using them. As a rule, incomplete and unclear orders cannot be processed. The University Archives may set ordering times.

(2) As a matter of principle, the archive material is only presented for use under supervision in the rooms designated for this purpose during the opening hours specified on the notice board.

(3) Archival materials and resources may only be used for the stated purpose of use and may only be viewed by the person using them who has received permission to do so.

(4) There is no entitlement to receive archive material at a certain time or in a certain order. In principle, only a limited number of archival records are presented at any one time. There is no entitlement to assistance in reading the archive records.

(5 ) The submitted archive materials, reproductions, repertories and other aids must be treated with the utmost care. In particular, it is not permitted to

  1. to change the order of the archive material,
  2. remove parts of the archive material such as sheets, slips of paper, envelopes, seals, stamp impressions, stamps, etc,
  3. make or erase annotations in the archive records,
  4. to use archive records as writing and copying material.

(6) The use of technical equipment requires permission.

(7) The user shall be liable for all damage to archive materials and aids culpably caused by him or his assistants.

(8) Insofar as use takes place in the reading rooms or in special workrooms of the University Library, the latter's user regulations and the provisions issued for their implementation shall also apply.

 

§ Section 10 Reproductions of archive material

(1) Users may not make reproductions themselves.

(2) The forms provided are to be used for ordering reproductions. There is no entitlement to the production of reproductions. They shall only be produced insofar as any risk to or damage to the archive records can be ruled out.

(3) Reproductions of all kinds may only be made by the University Archives itself or by a body designated by it. The University Archives shall decide on the appropriate production methods. It may demand that the reproductions be made under its supervision and charge the person or body commissioning them for the costs incurred.

(4) Reproductions may only be passed on to third parties, duplicated or published with the consent of the University Archives. Reference must be made to the origin from the University Archives and the signature must be indicated. If copyrights exist, the consent of the authorized person is also required.

 

§ Section 11 Dispatch of archive records

(1) The sending of archive material is only permitted in justified exceptional cases for use in external, full-time administered archives in the Federal Republic of Germany.

(2) The person or body submitting the request must obtain a written declaration from the foreign archive in which the latter undertakes to

  1. to present the archive material on the premises under constant supervision only to the applicant or a person authorized by the applicant,
  2. to keep it safe from theft and fire,
  3. not to make any copies or reproductions without the permission of the University Archives and
  4. to return the archive material after expiry of the specified period, which should not exceed two months, and in special cases, at the request of the University Archives, before expiry of the specified period.

(3) The shipping costs shall be borne by the person or body using the archive.

(4 ) Excluded from shipment are finding aids and archive materials that

  1. are subject to restrictions on use,
  2. is not suitable for dispatch due to its high value, its state of order and preservation, its format or for other conservation or security reasons,
  3. is frequently used,
  4. has not yet been finally recorded

 

§ Section 12 Loan of archive records for exhibition purposes

(1 ) Archival material may only be loaned for exhibition purposes if it is ensured that it is effectively protected against loss, damage and unauthorized use and that the purpose of the exhibition cannot be achieved through reproductions.

(2) The University Archives shall ensure the security and preservation of the archival material on loan by imposing conditions.

(3) A loan agreement shall be concluded between the University Archives and the borrower. The University Archives reserves the right to reclaim the object of the contract at any time. The contracting party must be informed of this in writing before the loan agreement is concluded.

(4) The production of reproductions of exhibited archive material by third parties requires the consent of the University Archives.

 

§ 13 Use of external archive material

The University Archives may also allow the use of archival material sent by other archives or other bodies for use by third parties. Unless otherwise stipulated by the sending body, the provisions of these regulations shall apply accordingly.

 

§ Section 14 Use by submitting bodies

The provisions of these user regulations shall not apply to the official use of archival material by those university departments from which it originated or which have handed it over. The type and manner of use shall be agreed on a case-by-case basis. It must be ensured that the archive material is protected against loss, damage and unauthorized use and that it is returned within a reasonable period of time.

 

§ 15 Fees

The use of the University Archives by members of the University is free of charge. In the case of use by other persons, the University Archives shall charge fees for the services it provides in accordance with the applicable ordinance of the Ministry of Science and the Arts on fees for state archives.

 

§ 16 Entry into force

These regulations come into force on the day after their publication in the official announcements of the University of Karlsruhe (TH).

The user regulations for the archives of the University Fridericiana Karlsruhe dated 30.08.1990 (published in: Amtliche Bekanntmachungen der Universität Karlsruhe (TH) vom 02.10.1990, Nr. 11) expires on the same day.

Karlsruhe, November 15, 2002

signed. Professor Dr. sc. tech. Horst Hippler