The documents of The Women's History Archives are mostly open to the public to view.
The Women's History Archives preserves over 300 private collections. Most of them are open and without any access restrictions. An overview of the contents of most of them can be viewed on this website, full list in Icelandic here.
You can request documents in advance by telephone and email, or ask directly at the office of The Women's History Archives. Once the documents have been requested they can be accessed at the desk of the Icelandic National Collection, located on the first floor of National Library Main Building (Þjóðarbókhlaða). Documents can only be used in the reading room of the Icelandic National Collection. Their opening hours are advertised here.
Guests must be careful around the documents. Pens are not allowed in the reading room and it is strictly forbidden to change the original documents or mark them in any way, which includes adding post-it notes and stickers. The documents should not be rearranged from their original order in the box. When guests need to look at more than one box of documents, only one of them should be open at a time, to prevent confusion. If an archive is open to the public, it‘s usually possible to photograph the documents without flash, but please ask permission first.
Sample of private collections from private associations and groups kept at the Women's History Archives: