Sourcery @ New England Archivists Spring 2026
Spring has (finally!) sprung, and with it we at Sourcery are setting our sights on institutional accounts! We spent the weekend at the New England Archivists’ Spring 2026 conference in Portland, Maine discussing how institutions fulfill scan requests for distant patrons. These conversations will help us to start developing and planning for institutional beta testing.
Here are some frequently asked questions we received while at the NEA conference (and, of course, their answers*):
- How will payments work for institutional accounts? Specifically, how will institutions charge for scans and how will payment be collected?
Payments, like all things dealing with money in Sourcery, will be processed through Stripe’s familiar, secure interface. Many workflow details are still in flux at this point, but we don’t envision Stripe changing any time soon. Institutions will be able to set their own prices or choose to give away scans for free.
- How will institutions fit in the Sourcery workflow?
Institutions with active accounts will be afforded the right of first refusal, meaning they will be the first to see Sourcery requests for their materials. Institutions will then be able to decide which requests to claim and fulfill and which requests to decline and make available for Sourcerers to claim. This allows institutions to accept only the scan requests they have resources to complete and also lets them see the kind of requests Researchers are placing.
- How do Researchers know to place a request at a specific institution?
Researchers are used to tracking down relevant sources through repository finding aids or following the trail of citations in published works. Once the Researcher identifies the material they want scanned, they begin the Sourcery request process by selecting the specific institution that holds the materials.
- How do institutions become partnered with Sourcery?
Reach out to us! If you’re interested in beta testing or learning more about partnering with Sourcery, contact us at su*****@*********pp.org.
- How do/will institutions know when Sourcery requests are placed for their materials?
At the moment, there is no notification system for institutions when Sourcery requests are placed for their materials. However any Sourcery user may set a preferred location and be notified about new requests within a city. When institutional accounts are introduced, there will be an optional notification system when new requests are placed and are available for review.
- How does Sourcery help increase accessibility?
Sourcery increases archival accessibility by streamlining the scan request and delivery process for remote researchers who are unable to visit in-person. By streamlining access to simple reference scans, Sourcery separates simple document delivery tasks from the specialized archival work supporting researchers. We hope this will free up both researchers and archivists to focus on the sustained, mutual journeys of intellectual discovery at the heart of archival research.
❓Have a question about institutional Sourcery that isn’t mentioned here? Reach out to us at su*****@*********pp.org
🧪 Interested in beta testing with us? Fill out our interest form and someone will be in contact with you shortly!
*If you have questions about how institutional accounts have continued to develop, shoot us an email at su*****@*********pp.org.
