Hours for the General Public

Hours for Museum Staff

Directions

The Library is located on the fourth floor of the Museum, off the Hall of Vertebrate Origins (see fourth floor map). Directions to the Museum are provided on the main Museum site.

Library Policies and Procedures

For the Public
For Museum Staff

Library policies differ depending on whether you are Museum staff or a member of the general public. Policies for the general public are outlined below. Museum staff should click on "For Museum Staff" to view the Library policies and procedures pertaining to them.

For the Public:

I. General Policies

The collections of the Library have been developed for advanced information and research needs in the subject areas of anthropology, astronomy, geology, paleontology, and zoology. Seekers of general information may be better served by using collections at a New York Public Library branch.

All patrons must leave coats and bags in the designated area at the entrance to the Library, and must register at the Reference Desk before using Library facilities. Patrons may not bring food or drink into the Library, nor use mobile phones there. Patrons are allowed in the Reading Room and in designated areas of the Special Collections Department. The stacks are not open to the public and library materials cannot be borrowed.

II. Use of the Book and Journal Collection

Patrons may consult the reference collection (which is housed in the Reading Room) or submit call slips to request items from the general collection. Librarians cannot take requests to retrieve materials from the general collection and put them on hold for a patron prior to their arrival at the Library. A maximum of ten titles may be requested per patron, per day. Call slips will be paged at 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30 only. Patrons must submit picture identification (i.e. driver's license, school ID, etc.) at the time that materials are delivered. Identification will be held at the Reference Desk until patrons have returned all Library materials.

At their discretion, Reference Staff may limit the use of especially fragile or rare materials. Rare books may be requested by appointment only; those requesting rare materials must complete a form stating the purpose of their research.

The computers located in the Reading Room are provided for research purposes only. These computers may be used to access resources such as the Library's Catalog, Index Databases, and E-Journals.

To request books, patrons should search the Library's Catalog and fill out a yellow call slip (provided at the Reference Desk) for each title that is needed. Patrons requesting journals should fill out a white call slip. All call slips must be filled out completely in order for the request to be processed.

Searching for journal articles on a particular topic is a two-step process. Patrons should begin by searching the Library's Index Databases. Once citations to journals are found, patrons then need to search the Library's Catalog to find out whether the Library owns the journal the article appears in, and to get a call number for retrieving the journal from the general collection.

III. Use of the Photo, Film, Archival, or other Special Collections

Visit the Special Collections Department for information about access and use of photos, film, and archives.

IV. On-site Photocopy Facilities and Services

A self-service photocopy machine is provided in the Library. Users must first purchase a copy-card for $1 and then put money on the card in units of $1, $5, $10, or $20. Copies are $.20 a page. The time limit for use of the photocopy machines is ten minutes if others are waiting.

Rare, fragile, and oversize materials may not be photocopied using the self-service photocopy machine. Library staff will photocopy or scan these materials for you (providing the items are stable enough to be handled). The cost for this service is $1.00 per page.

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies and other reproductions of copyrighted materials; patrons using the photocopy machine are liable for any infringement of this law.

V. Photocopy Mailing Services

Users who need photocopies of materials from the Library -- but cannot come to the Library in person -- should contact the interlibrary loan department of their local public, college, or university library for assistance. Users who do not have access to any local interlibrary loan services may request items directly from the AMNH Reference Department by following the procedure below:

1. Check our catalog to see if we own the article: http://libcat.amnh.org.
2. Email us (libref@amnh.org) or write us with a list of the citations that you need, including the call number of the item (from our catalog) so that we can locate it in our collection.
3. We will check our collection to verify that we have the items and that they are not too fragile to be photocopied. Be aware that if the order is for a large number of pages from a single volume, we may decline to make the photocopy.
4. We will tell you which copies we are able to provide and we will send you an invoice for the cost of making those copies. The charge is $20.00 for each article, plus an additional $.50 per page for articles more than 15 pages. For rare or fragile materials, the charge is $20.00 for the first 10 pages and $1.00 a page for any additional pages. For overseas orders there will be an additional shipping charge.
5. Once we receive your check or money order payment (in U.S. Dollars) we will send the photocopies.

VI. Conservation and Preservation Policies

Patrons must exercise care when using fragile library materials. Under no circumstances may rare or fragile materials be photocopied without first consulting with a Reference Librarian. To avoid putting stress to the bindings of books and journals, materials must be photocopied by putting the crease of the book or journal along the slanted edge of the photocopy machine and copying one page at a time (rather than pressing the material flat on the machine in order to copy two pages at once). Paper clips or sticky-notes on any Library materials are not allowed; acid-free bookmarks are available at the Reference Desk.

For interested patrons, the Library’s Conservation Department has also compiled useful information and advice about preserving books and papers as well as a list of suppliers for archival materials.

VII. Reference Assistance

A Reference Librarian is on duty at all times to assist with research inquiries. Librarians are able to answer inquiries that can be resolved quickly using ready reference resources. For more in-depth inquiries, librarians will advise patrons on how to conduct research using Library resources.

The Library's Catalog as well as the Index Databases provide "Help" information for users who are unfamiliar with searching that database. Patrons should consult this online information for instructions on using the Library's electronic resources.

If you are unable to visit the Museum and cannot locate the information you require, the Museum Library's reference staff can be contacted for reference purposes via mail, or e-mail. The response time is for inquiries is approximately 4 weeks. Please consult the FAQ page before making inquiries. Questions should be directed to libref@amnh.org. Librarians cannot take telephone or email requests to verify the availability of Library materials or to pull an item from the general collection to verify information (with some exceptions for out-of-town researchers).