Rules concerning consultation

When consulting documents at the IISH you agree to the following set of rules.

  • Archival collections held by the IISH are freely available for research purposes unless otherwise stipulated.
  • The Institute has the exclusive right to make these collections available. Users must treat the material with the utmost care and follow all instructions for use as indicated by the staff of the Institute.
  • If the consultation of material on loan is subject to the owner's or donor's permission, the user must apply to the Institute in advance for permission.
  • Documents which you consult with specific permission of the owner or donor are not to be shown to other persons.
  • The Institute may change the rules regarding access to its collections if warranted by new circumstances.
  • Copies, scans, and photos of documents may only be used for personal research, education and private use.
  • The Institute accepts no liability whatsoever arising from the provision of archive material. Users are expected to be aware of all the relevant statutory provisions concerning copyright, protection of privacy, libel, etc and shall indemnify the Institute against any legal consequences arising from their use of the material. See IISH copyright statement
  • Materials from IISH collections that are used or cited in a publication or otherwise must carry a credit line:
    [Name of collection], International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam), number...
  • The Institute shall be pleased to receive a complimentary copy of any editions or works of scholarship based on such material.

Working with documents

A large portion of our materials from the 19th and 20th centuries is in poor condition.
The IISH does its best to store these materials in a responsible manner in order to preserve them for the future.
We urge you to handle the documents in your possession with the utmost care. Here some tips how to look after the documents:

  • Records, books and serials have to remain in the reading room.
  • Some documents have been marked as being in poor physical condition by our department Collection Processing & Public Services. These documents are not available for research.
  • Please, do not leave materials on the floor.
  • If (digital) copies, microfilms or microfiches of documents are available for research, the originals are not accessible.
  • It is not permitted to remove labels, staples or other adhesive materials on documents or to fold documents.
  • Please, take care that your own papers and materials do not get mixed up with IISH collections.
  • You may not make notes on records, papers, nor add, rearrange or delete documents.
  • When you bring back materials at the circulation desk, they must be in the condition and order of receipt.
IISH Collections Consultation
Peter van Beek