(a) A depository may establish hours for historical resources to be available to the public to coincide with the hours of its own operation, so long as these include at least 32 hours between 7:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and no fewer than 40 total hours each week. The depository may be kept open longer provided the institution at which it is located insures the security of historical resources as required under these rules.
(b) Historical resources may be made available for research or exhibit by temporary transfer to a depository or regional research center or to the Texas State Library. Records may not be transferred or loaned to any other institution or to a person. Historical resources may not be transferred or loaned if in the opinion of commission staff the transfer or loan would endanger them. If the cost of providing photocopies to a researcher would be less expensive than the cost of transporting the historical resources, the commission may require that photocopies be provided instead of transferring or loaning the historical resources.
(c) Transfers of historical resources shall be scheduled as much as possible to coincide with other planned travel of state library staff and at the lowest cost compatible with security of the materials.
(d) Requests for loan of historical resources must be submitted on forms prepared for that purpose by the commission and countersigned by a staff member of the commission or of a depository. If countersigned by depository staff, a commission staff member must sign approval on the loan form.
(e) Transporting of historical resources must be by a member of the commission staff or, on request and authorization of commission staff, by depository staff, except that they may be shipped by air when a commission or depository staff member delivers them to the originating airport and another is on hand at arrival of the plane to take custody of them.
(f) Historical resources may be loaned for a period of up to 60 days, and the loan may be renewed for one additional period of up to 30 days, if no other request for them has been received.
(g) Historical resources which are on microfilm may be requested through either regular interlibrary loan or through interdepository loan. Interlibrary loan requests for historical resources may be handled by a depository in the same manner as other interlibrary loan requests it processes. Commission staff approval of interlibrary or interdepository loan requests for microfilm is not required and microfilm may be shipped by mail. Microfilm may be loaned for a two-week period, and may be renewed for an additional two weeks if no other request for them has been received.
(h) The commission may remove historical resources from a depository or regional research center if in its opinion such removal is necessary for their protection or would make them more available to researchers.

Source Note: The provisions of this §7.4 adopted to be effective February 19, 1990, 15 TexReg 652.