Booking an appointment for on-site consultation

Most documents held at the Acm-EPFL are available in their original physical form and can only be consulted on site. Consultation is free of charge but available by appointment only, to be scheduled at least one week in advance. This delay is necessary to allow time for preparing the documents, which are stored off-site. Requests must be submitted via the online form, indicating the research topic, reference codes and exact titles (maximum of 10 archival units per consultation). Any use or dissemination is subject to compliance with copyright law and data protection regulations.

Reading room hours
The reading room is open by appointment only, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Explore the available documents
The complete and hierarchical descriptions of the holdings and files available for consultation can be found on our online inventory platform "Morphé".

Book an appointment to consult documents

Document consultation is only possible by appointment, to be scheduled at least one week in advance.
Requests must include the reference code (e.g. 0001.02.0003) and the exact title of the files or sub-files requested (maximum of 10 units per request).

Book an appointment

■ Limit of 10 archival units per request
Consultation is limited to 10 archival units per request. We recommend selecting the smallest available units using the inventory or with the help of the archivists [more info]

■ Free access to documents in the reading room, by appointment only
Access to Acm-EPFL documents is free, but only possible by appointment in the reading room. All requests must be preceded by a search in Morphé and submission of the online form with the subject and reference codes [more info].

■ Free photography in the reading room
Free photos may be taken in the reading room using the tablet provided by the Acm, for strictly personal use. Redistribution is prohibited, and legal conditions regarding copyright and personal data apply fully [more info].

■ Credits, source citation, and author mention
Any use of archival documents must include clear mention of the source (Acm-EPFL, collection name, reference code) and the author, in accordance with Swiss copyright law. These obligations ensure traceability, highlight the value of the holdings, and respect mor

■ Permissions and copyright
Documents held at the Acm may be subject to copyright: reproduction does not imply transfer of rights or permission to distribute. Users are responsible for verifying the legal status of the documents they use and obtaining necessary permissions where applicable [more info].

■ Restrictions on consultation and data protection
All consultation requests are subject to prior evaluation to ensure compliance with legal frameworks, donor agreements, and conservation requirements. Restrictions may apply depending on the nature of the documents [more info].

■ FAQ: Why are most documents only accessible on site?
Digitisation is neither systematic nor always possible due to material, legal, technical, or environmental constraints. On-site consultation remains the standard to preserve unique and fragile documents, in compliance with legal requirements [more info].

■ General conditions
By submitting a request to consult documents, users unreservedly accept the consultation and usage conditions by ticking the appropriate box in the request form [more info].