Visit and Use of Collections

Prepare your visit

You can request materials via our catalogue: search.iisg.amsterdam
Please note that permission is required for the use of some archives. This information is listed under the heading 'Access and Use' on the archive description page. You can request permission via the online catalogue. Please arrange permission before visiting the reading room.
The material can be consulted in our reading room. Visitors do not have access to the stacks.
Pre-requested material is available at 10:00.
You can request material during the day. Material is retrieved from our stacks 4 times a day, at: 9:30, 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00. We try to have the material ready for you within half an hour.
In the reading room you can use your own laptop. There is equipment available for scanning documents; please bring a USB stick with you.
Part of the collection is only available on microfilm and microfiche. Reading and scanning equipment is available.
Please note that part of the collection is available online: Online archives.
If you have any questions, please contact us at ask@iisg.nl.

More information on:
- rules concerning consultation
- request archives - request books and documents
- reproductions - copyrights - rates
- borrowing documents for exhibitions
- house rules
- machine access

Address and Opening Hours

Address for visitors:

Cruquiusweg 31
1019 AT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel + 31 20 6685866

Bank Account: IBAN NL63DEUT0411390805; BIC DEUTNL2N
CoC: 41205203
VAT: NL002958697B01

Opening hours of the Reading Room

Monday to Thursday: 9.00 - 17:00

The building is accessible for wheel chair users.
Read about the house rules of the IISH

Closing Days in 2023

The Reading Room is closed on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and the following days:

The Institute is closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and following days:

1 January New Year's Day
7 April Good Friday
10 April Easter Monday
27 April King’s Day
28 April Friday after King's Day
5 May Liberation Day
18 May Ascension Day
19 May Friday after Ascension Day
29 May Whit Monday
25 December 2023 - 1 January 2024

Due to maintenance work, the cafeteria will not be available for use as a workplace on the following days:

Friday 17 November
Friday 24 November
Friday 1 December
Friday 8 December
Friday 15 December
Friday 22 December

How to get there

Public transport:

From Amsterdam Central Station: bus 22, bus stop Veelaan.
From Amsterdam Station Zuid: bus 65, bus stop Veelaan.
From Amsterdam Station Muiderpoort: bus 22, bus stop Veelaan or walk (15 minutes walking distance).
From the centre of Amsterdam: tram 7 to Van Eesterenlaan (a 10 minutes walk), tram 14 to Javaplein (a 5-10 minutes walk).
More information on the public transport website.

By car:

From the circular road (A10) take the junction Zeeburg (S114), proceed to the traffic lights, and follow the signs Zeeburg across the bridge (left turn). At the end of the bridge go right at traffic lights. At the next traffic lights, take the road to your right (Molukkenstraat). Proceed to the end of the Molukkenstraat; the IISH is the large white building ahead of you. Attention, there is only paid parking space near the IISH!

Consultation

Donors and owners of material on loan to the Institute may have imposed certain restrictions on accessing, copying, and publishing these collections or parts of collections, including a requirement for expressly requesting permission from the donor or owner. Restricted access to archives may also be necessary to protect the privacy of individuals or because of the physical condition of the material in question. To find out if access to a collection is limited, see the archive description page in our online catalogue.

If you wish to consult a collection in the Reading Room, please read our rules first.

Consultation rules

Request for permission

You can request permission to consult a collection with limited access directly through the archive description page in our online catalogue.

For more information please contact the Reading Room

Contact

For enquiries about the consultation of documents or ordering reproductions please contact us at ask@iisg.nl .
As a general rule questions are answered within three weekdays.
If we do not have an answer to your question, we will try to refer you to another institution or specialist.

Registration

Anyone who wants to engage in research in archival collections and use the library of the IISH, NEHA, and Press collection is welcome to the reading room.
Pre-registration is not necessary, visitors are asked to register at our reading room desk on their first visit every year.

Facilities

The reading room contains reference works on social economic history, recent issues of journals, and publications by IISH, NEHA, and Press collection. Researchers who need to spend extended periods working at the Institute can reserve a study carrel.
Researchers have access to computers with Internet accessibility. Besides the online IISH search portal, various databases are available.

Researchers who bring their own laptops can use the free WiFi connection.

There is equipment available for:

scanning and copying documents
reading and scanning of microfilms and microfiches
watching video tapes, slides, and negatives
listening to CDs, LPs, and audio cassettes.

Visitors are welcome in the cafeteria on the first floor.

Temporarily unavailable

Some collections may be temporarily not available for consultation. This can occur if documents are being reinventorised, receiving conservation treatment, being digitized, due to shortage of stack space, or renovation.

For more information on availability of collections please contact the reading room staff

Temporarily unavailable