Services

New! The Archives is open by appointment only, Monday through Thursday. Due to COVID-19 there are no drop-in services available. Appointments can be made within either morning or afternoon blocks (9 to 11:30 am or 1:30 to 4:00 pm). Up to 2 household members may be included. No other researchers will be booked during your appointment time. To learn more, read the  Archives Safety Plan.

Reference Services

• Reference service is the assistance provided to staff and public researchers by Archives' staff in finding material relevant to a research topic or question. This help includes how to use finding aids, both on-line and in-house, narrowing or widening a search, and how to handle archival documents.
• Limited reference service is available for those making inquiries from a distance. This usually takes the form of informing the researcher of resources available and, if appropriate, mailing photocopied materials or e-mailing PDFs of scanned documents. 

Photograph Reproduction Services

• The City of Richmond Archives online database contains more than 10,000 photographs that document the people, events, and places of the community of Richmond from the late 1800s to modern times. This database however contains only a small portion of the Archives holdings. Please contact us if your search results do not include what you are looking for.
• Images are subject to the Copyright Act of Canada. They are provided on this website for research purposes only. Re-use requires written permission.
• In purchasing a photograph reproduction, the researcher obtains permission for personal use only. Permission is not granted for further reproduction or for use other than that specified in the original photograph order.
• We require that all City of Richmond Archives photographs that are published include a credit as to the source of the photograph as in the following example: "City of Richmond Archives, Photograph #1234 56 78."
• Reproductions of photographs are available for purchase and use according to specific terms and conditions. Photograph reproduction orders cannot be processed until a signed Conditions of Use Agreement has been received by the City of Richmond Archives. A copy of the fee schedule and the conditions of use agreement can be downloaded in PDF format:
•  Conditions of Use Agreement
•  Reproduction Fees and Services

Photocopy Services

• Photocopies (b+w) cost 35 cents per page.
• Photocopies (colour) cost 50 cents per page.
• Archival materials will be copied by staff. The photocopier is not publicly available. If the photocopy request is large you may be asked to return another day to pick up your copies.
• For conservation reasons some fragile paper documents are not available for copying.