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Rules for consultation

Visitors wishing to consult documents at the IISH agree to the following set of rules.

  • We ask users to treat the material with the utmost care and to follow instructions from IISG staff. See 'handling documents' below.
  • Archive documents that you are allowed to view with the permission of the lender or donor may not be shown to third parties.
  • Scans and photographs of documents may only be used for your own research, teaching and private use.
  • The user must be aware of all relevant legal regulations concerning copyright, the protection of privacy, libel and the like. The user indemnifies the IISG against all legal consequences of their use of the material. See the IISG copyright statement here.
  • When using material from the IISG collection in publications or otherwise, please use the following source citation: [Name of collection], International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam).
  • The IISH can change the accessibility provisions if new circumstances require it.

Handling documents

The IISH makes every effort to responsibly store the material we curate and to preserve it for the future. We therefore request that you treat the material with the same care. Archive records, books and periodicals may not be removed from the reading room.

  • Documents in poor material condition will not be made available for viewing.
  • You can consult materials from the collections on the tables in the reading room, not on the floor.
  • If scans or microfilms of certain documents are available, you cannot consult the originals.
  • You may not remove or add labels, staples or other adhesive materials from any archival documents, or fold archival documents.
  • Make sure that materials you bring to the reading room are not mixed up or confused with others.
  • You may not make notes on archival documents, add or remove papers, or rearrange the order of document pages.
  • After consultation, documents must be returned to the desk in the same condition and order in which they were received.
  • If you are using the scanner, please leave the documents in their envelope on your way to and from the scanning unit. Only use the scanner for documents up to A3 size.