u/Tall-Lobster-9795

I am used to the model of the public library wherein one places a hold for a title and is placed on a list. Do academic libraries differ from this model? I cannot request titles that are currently checked out. I can only request titles for pulling from another location.

I am familiar with significantly longer circulation periods at academic libraries but are there no holds lists to be added to? Is it standard practice for academic libraries to not have requests/holds for checked out materials? If this is the case, do you know the reason?

I know that generic silica gel packets are not archival-quality tools, but can they be helpful even if not pre-conditioned? Say if a damp book won't dry or a single leaf became damp or even if an archival box got moist but not soaked. Or in display cases during the humid summer? Are they something that anyone keeps on hand just in case?

I'm looking for guidance on adding outside materials to institutional archives. In our current institutional archives, we have materials dating back hundreds of years to our founding. But there is another institution (3 hours away) that holds the original record book (purchased years ago at auction from a collector). I'd like to include that record book in our archives as a reference of some kind. Is it possible to reproduce the book (in photos) and cite the holding institution as the owner of the original? For the ease of research and reference.

Basically my question is this: is it inappropriate to duplicate another institution's holdings (with citation!) if they originally belonged to us and illustrate our institutional history?