Excerpt:
THE VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES
(opened to the public by Pope Leo XIII)
RULES FOR SCHOLARS
1. The Archives are open to qualified scholars from institutions of Higher Education pursuing academic research.
2. Applications requesting access to the Archives should be submitted, accompanied by a letter of introduction from either a recognized institution of Higher Education or from a suitably qualified person in the field of historical research, to the Prefect.
Annotation:
Until one of the most important libraries in the world shifts its collections to a digital format, researchers will find themselves traveling to Rome and seeking permission to read documents in the Vatican Library and 'Secret Archives' collections. These pages, though mostly in Italian, include information in English about procedures for gaining access to the collections. This information may prove most useful to scholars of Early Modern European Science, Technology and Medicine.