Digital Image Services

The Coos History Museum in Coos Bay has over 250,000 images including approximately 3000 historic negatives from the Jack Slattery Collection; about 50,000 images from past issues of The World newspaper; over 50,000 images from the Victor West maritime collection; and another 7000 prints, postcards, glass plates, and other negatives.

The Society is the steward of objects, which it holds in trust for the public, and takes that stewardship seriously. Maintaining photographic collections is a process that requires extensive staff time and expensive archival materials to preserve the images. The chemical characteristics of paper and film/glass negatives, as well as frequent handling, hasten deterioration.

The photograph collection is not physically available to the public and shall not be loaned, but digital records with images can be viewed in the research library (by appointment only), through the online portal, or watermarked samples can be sent to patrons through email correspondence with research and curatorial staff.

Setting fees for public use of the image collections enables the Society to balance its responsibility for maintaining the photographic archives with the need for public accessibility. The fees help the Society assure responsible management of the collections.

Digital copies of unrestricted images from the photography collection are available for commercial and non-commercial one-time use for a fee. Note: Requests for images of physical objects from the permanent collection must receive advanced approval from the curator and cannot be requested through this system.

The turnaround time for reproduction requests is dependent on staff and item availability. Additionally, the items are released to patrons after a signed release and payment are received.

Note: Many of these images are still being digitized and indexed. Images that have not yet been digitized and those in fragile condition may not be available for purchase or may incur additional fees.

Please fill or download the Digital Image Reproduction Release Form for more information.

Online Application

Download Application

The Digital Image Reproduction Release is only for images that are viewable through our online portal or for patrons that have already completed a research request with the museum on their research topic. Failure to follow the procedures will result in delayed response to your request.

For general inquiries about photos in the collection, please submit a research request form. A museum representative will respond with information and image information based on the submitted request. At this time, please allow up to four weeks for a repsonse. For more information about starting a research request, Click Here.

Copyright, Credit, and Conditions

A signed Digital Image Reproduction Release Form is required for all digital image transactions. All orders are subject to review and dependent on staff availability. Images for publication must be approved by the museum board before release. Please contact the museum curator for details.

Any use of reproductions from the CHM collections exceeding fair use of copyrighted materials, including transferring or recopying, requires the permission of the copyright holder. CHM does not hold the copyright to most of the materials in its collections as historical collections are difficult to determine. It is the responsibility of the user to determine copyright and secure permissions for any reuse of CHM materials exceeding fair use.

Images must be credited to the Coos History Museum. The image number and photographer’s name, when provided, must be included in the credit line. The credit line must appear with the image, or on a credit page indicating the page number and the location on the page, for each image.

Coos County Historical Society gives no exclusive rights for use of photographs. Permission is granted for a one-time use only and is non-transferable. Any subsequent use of an image must be submitted in writing, requires the permission of the Society, and payment of additional fees.

The Coos County Historical Society will receive one (1) complimentary copy of any publication, film, or videotape in which its image appears.