Research Visits / Library Services

Hours
Visiting the Library
Reader's Cards
Reading Room Protocols
Computers in the Library
Microfilm Readers and Printers
Locating Materials in the Tamiment Library
Requesting Materials
Offsite Storage
Photocopy Service
Permissions
Copyright
Reference Photography
Public Services Forms
Library Instruction Sessions

Visiting the Library

The Tamiment Library is located on the 10th floor of New York University's Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South (West 4th Street between La Guardia and Greene Streets), New York, NY 10012. Map

The Tamiment Library is open to the public. Researchers who are unaffiliated with NYU must present a valid photo ID at the Library Privileges window just inside the front door of Bobst Library to receive a day pass to visit Tamiment on the 10th floor of the building.

Once in Tamiment, unaffiliated researchers must register to use the library's collections, which entails filling out a form and showing a valid photo ID. To obtain a pass which grants access to the Tamiment Library for six months from the date of issue, researchers should ask for an extended access form when they register and then turn it in at the Library Privileges window on the first floor of the library to receive a six month pass for access to Tamiment's collections.

Reader's Cards

All researchers wishing to use archival collections and researchers unaffiliated with NYU wishing to use the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives must register to use the collections, which entails filling out a registration form and showing a valid photo ID. They will then receive a Tamiment Library Reader's Card with an ID number required on various public service forms.

Reading Room Protocols

As a member of the Association of College and Research Libraries, The Tamiment Library and Robert F. WAgner Labor Archives adhere to the Joint Statement on Access to Original Materials approved by the ACRL Standards & Accreditation Committee, ACRL Board of Directors, and the ALA Standards Committee, February, 1994.

We ask that researchers observe the following: Sign in each day; hang up all coats and outerwear; store large bags in the lockers provided; use pencils to take notes; and handle materials carefully. No food or beverages are allowed in the reading room. Cell phones are not permitted.

Computers in the Library

There is one PC in the Tamiment Library's Reading Room on which researchers may access BobCat, New York University's library catalog, the Tamiment Library website, and other electronic resources. Researchers may retrieve printouts at pick up stations located around the library using a value added copycard.

Researchers may also bring laptops with them to the Tamiment Library and NYU-affiliated researchers may use NYURoam, NYU's secure wireless network.

Microfilm Readers and Printers

Tamiment holds nearly 10,000 reels of microfilm and thousands of microfiche containing archival collections, serials, dissertations, and monographs. There are three microfilm reader/printers in the Library. One is a traditional reader/printer from which researchers may print using a value-added copycard. The other two are digital machines that allow scanning to CDs, flash drives, or e-mail.

Requesting Materials

With the exception of reference titles on open shelves in the Reading Room, the Tamiment Library's books, serials, oral history interviews, vertical files, and archival collections are held in closed stacks. Most of the library's holdings are represented in BobCat, NYU's online catalog.

To request books, serials, vertical files, and microfilm, researchers should fill out a call slip for each title. To request archival materials and oral history interviews, researchers should fill out an Archival Request Form in the library.

All Tamiment Library materials must be used on site. Materials do not circulate.

See Locating Materials in the Tamiment Library for tips on finding books, serials, vertical files, oral histories, and archival collections.

Offsite Storage

A number of the Tamiment Library's archival collections and some serials and monographs are housed in offsite storage. Records in BobCat, NYU's online library catalog, and entries on the Collections List / Finding-Aids page indicate when items are stored offsite. Materials requested from offsite storage before 3:00 p.m. are often available early in the afternoon the next business day. Contact staff at the library's reference desk at 212-998-2630 to request materials from offsite storage.

Photocopy Service

There is a self-service, state-of-the art preservation photocopier in the Tamiment Library's reading room on which researchers may make reference photocopies of non-archival library materials that are in good condition. All copyright laws must be observed. Copies are 20 cents per page.

Researchers wishing copies of archival materials must fill out and sign a copy request form and tag pages to be copied with acid-free flags available at the Reference Desk. Payment is expected in advance. Copy charges for on-site researchers are 20 cents per page. For off-site researchers, copies are 30 cents per page. There is a limit of up to 250 copies, at the discretion of library staff. The Library will not copy material that is in poor condition or where legal restrictions apply. Copies are generally available in a week and may be mailed to researchers for a small fee.

Permissions

Researchers wishing to publish images of materials in the Library's collections or quote from unpublished materials must request permission to do so in writing from library staff and the copyright holders. Contact reference staff at 212-998-2630 for details.

Copyright

The Tamiment Library abides by the copyright law of the United States.

Title 17, United States Code, governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other that private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. It is the legal responsibility of the researcher to secure permission to publish, not only from the institution having custody of the manuscripts, but also from the owner of copyright.

Information about copyright holders and how to locate them can be found in The WATCH File, a joint project of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at UT, Austin and the University of Reading in the UK.

Further information about copyright is available in the NYU Handbook for Use of Copyrighted Materials.

The Digital Copyright Slider is a handy tool for determining whether a work is protected under U.S. Copyright law.

Reference Photography

Researchers may bring their own cameras to the library to take still photographs of library materials for reference purposes only. All copyright laws apply. Prior to taking reference photographs of materials in the Tamiment Library's collections, researchers must fill out and sign an application form and read the accompanying guidelines.

Public Services Forms

Public services forms for signing in, registering to use the collections, and requesting photographs and photocopies are available in the Tamiment Library. Images of those and other public services forms are also available online for reference purposes.

Library Instruction Sessions

NYU Faculty and Graduate Assistants may request an instruction session at the Tamiment Library tailored to the research needs of the class. Please fill out an online request form if you would like to bring your class to the library. The online form, which is used for all Bobst Library instruction requests, will be routed to the Tamiment Librarian, Donna Davey, who will contact you to make arrangements. Please specify on the form that you are making a request for an instruction session in the Tamiment Library.

Updated 08/04/09