PAMM - Access policy & Guidelines

POLICY STATEMENT

The Pictorial Archives of the Maharanas of Mewar and the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation which administers PAMM are committed to supporting research. PAMM wishes to promote study of its collections as well as encourage their use to further existing research ideas. It is also PAMM’s aim to stimulate dialogue about its collections, as well as promote visibility for the Archives and Udaipur by encouraging the use of its archival material and their digital surrogates for research purposes or in scholarly, creative and/ or culturally significant contexts.

However considering the immense historic value and rarity of the collection, as well as its age and therefore, fragile nature, access needs to be regulated and supervised. In all cases, access will be granted only to low-resolution versions of images in the first instance. Physical access to and examination of objects will be permitted only if warranted and will be determined on a case-bycase basis, keeping in mind the condition of the object requested.

Access and reproduction:
All external requests to access or reproduce images from PAMM for research and reference purposes are approved in principle. However:

• Only research-oriented requests will be entertained. This includes research leading to exhibitions, conferences, seminars, literary and/ or cultural festivals, or other primarily scholarly or creative endeavours.
• External requests for images to be used in promotional material will not be entertained except when the event/ material being promoted is a scholarly or creative endeavour as outlined above.
• External requests for commercial use of images will not be entertained. Commercial use is defined as any primarily revenue-generating activity.
• Written agreements will be required to be signed and honoured for all reproductions.
• Appropriate credit lines with be required on all documentation for which reproductions are requested. Copies of all materials documenting the items reproduced will be provided to PAMM as stipulated in the relevant agreements.
• Reasonable costs will be assessed on all reproductions.
• PAMM reserves the right to refuse requests at any time, and without explanation.
• Access and reproduction requests do not require personal approval from Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar. However, he is required to be notified and reserves the right to withdraw permission at any time, and without explanation.

Loans:
In keeping with PAMM's support of research as stated above, all outgoing loan requests from PAMM are approved in principle. However:

• Loans will be solely external (both domestic and international) at this time.
• Only requests from museums/ similar public/ non-profit institutions will be entertained.
• Only research-oriented requests will be entertained. This includes loans for the purposes of exhibitions, conferences, seminars, literary and/ or cultural festivals, or other primarily scholarly or creative endeavours.
• Requests for loans to be used in promotional material will not be entertained except when the event/ material being promoted is a scholarly or creative endeavour as outlined above.
• Requests for loans to be used in a commercial context will not be entertained. Commercial use is defined as any primarily revenue-generating activity.
• All loans are subject to approval from the Conservator.
• Acceptable conservations standards within the borrowing institution will be required for all loans
• Loans can be processed only if an adequate notice-period of 4 months is provided. If loans are urgently required, additional charges will be levied to compensate PAMM for costs incurred.
• Written agreements will be required to be signed and honoured for all loans.
• Appropriate credit lines with be required on all documentation for which loans are requested. Copies of all materials documenting the items loaned will be provided to PAMM as stipulated in the relevant agreements.
• Reasonable costs will be assessed on all loans
• Insurance is required for all loans
• PAMM reserves the right to refuse requests at any time, and without explanation.
• Outgoing loans require the personal approval of Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar.

Disclaimer: This policy document is subject to revision without notice.

Once you have read through our policy and determined whether you're likely to meet our criteria, the following information will help you plan your request.

You can access our collection for REFERENCE in two ways:

• Via email – you tell us what you’re looking for and we help you find it and send you low resolution attachments via email, subject to a maximum of 15 at one time, which is usually sufficient. If we find many more matches, we’ll help you narrow your search, but if you really need more, we’ll do our best to accommodate your request, at our discretion.
• Viewing records in person – We allow you supervised access to our records in person under certain conditions (for instance, personal storage devices aren’t permitted and we won’t be able to give you printouts of our records). You can then note down specific images you’d like and email us for the low resolution attachments.

To request access to PAMM in either of the above two ways, please send an email to mmcf@eternalmewar.in with the following information:

1. Name
2. Designation
3. Valid email address
4. Phone number
5. Address
6. Institutional affiliation
7. Purpose of request, including details of the manner of reproduction in case you plan to do so (if in case of an event such as exhibition or seminar, please include details of all proposed publications/ locations/ formats for image use), proposed event venue and other details, as applicable.
8. Type of access requested. Please note that on personal visits we generally do not allow objects from our collections to be examined. This is permitted only if objects are being considered for a loan after a loan request has been approved. PAMM reserves the right to refuse permission to examine objects and will abide by the recommendation of its conservator.
9. In case you’re planning a personal visit, please indicate your preferred dates. We are open for access Monday-Friday (excluding Public holidays) and have two slots every day when we schedule visits:
   • 1100hrs – 1300hrs
   • 1500hrs – 1700hrs
   As this is a working office however, we’re usually able to provide only one appointment per day, so please indicate your preference, and do plan your visit accordingly. Please note that in case we have two visit requests on the same day we may not be able to accommodate your requested time slot.

During your visit to PAMM:

• Please bring one of the following forms of photo identification in original + 1 photocopy for our records
  • Student/ staff ID card
  • Passport
  • Driver’s License
  • PAN Card/ Social Security or other Government-issued form of photo-ID
• Passport photograph
• A letter of reference from your supervisor (if a student)/ a letter of introduction from your department/ university/ organisation endorsing your reasons for wishing to access our archive. You can request your supervisor/ introducer to email this to us before your visit if you wish.
• We will also ask you to:
  • Complete a registration form (that’s what the passport photograph is for)
  • Sign a log book
• We will assist you to navigate our database to maximise and expedite your visit

Email requests for receiving images via email attachment:
Your request for images, either after a personal visit, or simply sent via email, could be for two different reasons. You may wish for low-resolution reference images, or wish for higher resolution images, which you intend to reproduce.

In case your request is only for low-resolution REFERENCE images which are NOT meant for ANY kind of reproduction (except for except unpublished academic dissertations/ assignments):

• Each request will be subject to a maximum of 15 at one time, which is usually sufficient. If we find many more matches, we’ll help you narrow your search, but if you really need more, we’ll do our best to accommodate your request, at our discretion.
• Only low resolution (72-100 dpi) images will be provided.
• We will attempt to process each request within three working days.
• We will email you a few conditions and send you the requested images only after we receive your assent.

If you wish to LICENSE images for reproduction:

• There’s no limit to how many images you’d like to reproduce, but we’d encourage you to be as specific as possible.
• We charge a fee for licensing our images to you for one-time reproduction. All prices are in INR. We do not have differing domestic and international rates. We will provide you with a receipt.
• In case you require an image that has not yet been digitized, we can digitize it for you. Alternatively, if one of our images is not available at a high enough resolution for your purposes, it can be re-photographed as per specifications.
• As with low-resolution requests, we will email you a few conditions and send you the requested images only after we receive your assent and/ or payment.
• We request two copies of any publication for our records.
• Please see below for reproduction fees and payment methods.

Bank account details for DOMESTIC remittance of fees by DD/ ELECTRONIC TRANSFER:
Bank: Vijaya Bank
Branch: Bapu Bazar Udaipur
Account name: Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, City Palace Udaipur Rajasthan
A/c no.: 700401010009943
IFSC code no. VIJB0007004

Bank account details for INTERNATIONAL remittance of fees BY ELECTRONIC TRANSFER ONLY:
Bank: Vijaya Bank
Branch: Ahinsa circle, Jaipur, Rajasthan (INDIA)
Account name: Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, City Palace Udaipur Rajasthan
SWIFT Code: VIJBINBBJPR

NOTE: Please ensure that your remittance amount is sufficient to cover bank charges at BOTH the origin and destination. MMCF cannot bear bank charges on your behalf. We will inform you of the amount you should add to cover processing fees at our end (this depends on where you are remitting from).