Library Access
Ledgers and Contribution Points
Each patron (at cost to them), librarian, or sponsor will be given a ledger. These ledgers will be reflective of their position within the Arcaneum and will act as a form of identification for those who travel between our repositories. These ledgers contain minimal personal information, their primary focus being to monitor the contributions made by an individual.
Contribution points are awarded for meritous behaviors that further the efforts of the Arcaneum: recovering items and manuscripts, completing or aiding research on behalf of the Arcaneum, donations of materials and artifacts, sponsorships, gifting knowledge of any kind (recipes, blacksmithing techniques, weapons blueprints, animal lures, corroborated gossip, etc). An even simpler way to earn CP could be providing translations or annotating documents. All information has value. Once received, the information will be appraised by reference librarians and contribution points will be credited to the individual's ledger. This appraisal process might not always be immediate, however. It should be noted that while you may receive contribution points in exchange for monetary contributions, this transaction cannot be reversed. There will be no established exchange rate for CP to currency.
Many things can determine the CP credited: source reliability, location, age of information, novelty of information, whether the information was gathered by request, etc. (This would mean information will be more highly appraised near exposition.) It is important to note that no information is worthless - science is an art perfected by repetition. While there may be a lower appraisal for information already possessed, there will always be a reward for those in earnest pursuit of knowledge.
Ledgers, How to Obtain
Ledgers are a symbol of your scholarly achievements and should be treated as such. Only the individual owning the ledger is authorized to use it. Unauthorized use of a ledger will result in immediate revocation of library services, without exception. Ledgers are used to access all information within the Arcaneum. Library services rendered to an individual are also for personal use, unless otherwise stated. If any individual is found to have abused library services as to allow another party unauthorized access, both parties will be penalized.
To be approved to receive a ledger, an individual must first submit an application at a local repository, or with a Patron Specialist, along with any fees. Once vetted, the applicant may request a ledger. Ledgers are made upon request, customized to reflect the rank and title of the owner, along with the scope of access granted. The level of access granted to non-referred applicants is weighed based on their perceived possible contribution. For example, if they can be expected to continue research, teach classes, or grant future donations, they would be given sufficient access to meet their needs.
Staff would have ledgers indicating their positions, while members of nobility might have ledgers marked by a family crest. The most basic ledgers are offered free of charge and grant the patron access to what is determined to be basic education. Access to other more privileged knowledge would either require vetting to receive a new ledger, or payment using CP. All transactions involving CP, along with dated use of library services, will be documented within individual ledgers. Forgeries, or purposeful manipulations, will result in revocation of privileges and fines/prosecution. (Once mechanics are released we will be looking into ways to distinguish ledgers - watermarks, imprints, seals, etc. Forgeries are a well-documented reality so we only assume there will be ways to officiate documents, as well.)
Ledger, Services
Some foreseeable services include: a) timed access to locations and contained texts, b) timed access to specified texts, c) copies of a text (explicitly for personal use), d) rights to use texts in publications or for mass reproduction, e) tutoring, f) purchasing pre-bundled sets of texts (recipes, techniques, etc.), g) study of artifacts, h) controlled use of artifacts. All services have varying costs dependent on the materials involved and the level of access required.
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