| . |
Trade cataloguesDirectory of belgian trade catalogues before 1950 |
Museum Library – regulations for visitors 1. The regulations Please read these visitors’ regulations carefully. When you register you are required to put your signature to these regulations, committing yourself to abide by these house rules. You may feel that some of these regulations are irritating. But bear in mind that the MOT has charge of unique documents and reference books. It wants to make its collection available under the best possible conditions to all interested parties, but it is also responsible for their conservation. Strict rules are therefore unavoidable. Would you like to have further explanations? Our staff will be very pleased to help you. 2. Access to the public rooms Every visitor to the library has access to the reading room, the public corridors and the lavatories. The stacks, the offices and the exhibition rooms are not freely accessible to the public. In the reading room a power point is available for a laptop. There is a visitors’ PC at your disposal with access to the Internet by cable. The MOT has no wireless network for your laptop. Important: no smoking is allowed anywhere in the Museum. 3. Appointment and reception The library is accessible by appointment only. Entrance is free. For a visit to exhibitions you will have to pay a separate entrance fee. You can make an appointment by:
We ask you emphatically to make contact 14 days in advance, so that our staff can make themselves available and, if required, carry out any preparatory research. If you make your request very detailed, we can instigate searches beforehand and save you time. 4. Opening hours You can use the reading room from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 17.00 hours, except for public holidays. The MOT is closed between Christmas and the New Year. 5. Registration on arrival On your arrival you are requested to report to the reception and ask for the member of staff with whom you made your appointment. You will be asked to supply your name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address and, if relevant, your employment/function in writing. You will then be given a short introduction by our staff member, who will give you a copy of these regulations for visitors and explain how you have to leave the building if the alarm sounds. You will be personally accompanied by this staff member to the reading room and back from it after your visit. He/she is your contact person for the remainder of your visit. 6. What can you take into the reading room? In the interest of the conservation of our documents, you can only take with you into the reading room writing materials, loose sheets of paper or filing cards, a laptop and a camera. You may only take a notepad and your own notes if you are prepared to show them when you leave the reading room. Our staff may also ask you to open your laptop when you leave. All your other possessions can be left at the reception desk or at your contact point, such as: coat, umbrella, bags, case for the laptop, hand scanner, hand-held reader, flashbulbs, lighting equipment, audio equipment with headsets, food and drink, and anything else that could, even unintentionally, harm the archive, such as scissors or a paper knife, glue and correction fluid, marker pencils, stapler or perforator, pencil sharpener, etc. A stand or tripod is only allowed if it can do no harm to the documents or the reading table and does not disturb other readers. If you take your handbag, briefcase or laptop case into the reading room, you must be prepared to have these inspected for theft by our staff when you leave. 7. Respect for museum staff and other visitors The reading room is a small room suitable for a limited number of people. If you need more room, you will be directed to the conference room or another appropriate room. In general any behaviour that may disturb other people should be avoided. Conversation should be subdued. Mobile telephones should be switched off. The use of flash or associated lighting for photography is not allowed. Elementary personal hygiene may be expected of a visitor. No eating or drinking of any kind is allowed in the reading room. Ask your contact person where you can have your meal, if necessary. He or she can also supply a soft drink for a small payment. 8. How do you go to work? You should do your own research as much as possible. The inventory of our library collection is entirely digital and can be consulted on the visitors’ PC. Your contact person will provide a brief introduction to the use of the thesaurus and inventory, and will set you on the right road for your searches. You can search for author, title or keyword. The MOT indexes specifically by the user, not by the name of the trade or product. Hence we use ‘butcher’ and ‘butcher’s tool’ as keywords, and not ‘butcher’s shop’ or ‘meat’. Via the thesaurus you can also search for synonyms or dialect equivalents. You make a note of the catalogue numbers of the books you wish to consult and give them to your contact person. He/she will get the titles requested from the library and bring them to the reading room. For articles from newspapers and journals you obviously need to mention the publication date and issue number. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask your contact person. 9. Restrictions on consultation Some of the documents kept in the MOT are not available for consultation. This applies particularly to documents in a poor condition; if there is a risk that irrecoverable information may be lost, the documents cannot be taken out of store. If you still need these documents for your research, they can on request be scanned by the MOT and provided in digital version against payment (for conditions see Borrowing and reproduction). Specific conditions also apply to the Trade Catalogues section of the collection. These vulnerable originals may only be consulted with our approval and under supervision. The maximum number of titles you can request in any one day is 25. This rule can be relaxed with the permission of the curator. Important: never ask for more items then you can complete in one day. 10. Borrowing and reproduction Borrowing books, newspapers or documents is not allowed. You can, however, have specific items photocopied, photographed, or scanned by the MOT. See the Price List. For all kinds of reproductions of documents – both those carried out by the MOT and those done by readers themselves – the same restrictive conditions apply as stipulated in Reproduction rights of the MOT. Obviously items that cannot be consulted because of their poor condition are not reproduced. What forms of reproduction are possible? 10.1 Photocopying
Photocopies can be made by the museum staff against payment. Coloured copies are not possible.
Trade catalogues may not be copied. Copying may be refused for vulnerable documents.
To prevent abuse there is a limit of 50 copies per user per day. This rule can be relaxed with the permission of the curator.
Please list the page numbers you want to have copied on a separate sheet and give this to your contact person. The addition of post-its, file cards or other indicators to original documents is not allowed.
For current prices see the Price List. Payment is in cash at the reception desk on leaving.
10.2 Photography
Taking photographs with your own camera is allowed.
In doing so the following rules must be respected:
You can also order digital photographs which are made by the museum photographer against payment. These photos are supplied within 20 days in digital form, by e-mail or via the post on cd-rom, depending on the size of the file.
When you order, you need to make clear what you need the photographs for, and the size of prints needed. This is necessary to determine the appropriate resolution.
To prevent abuse there is a restriction of five photographs per visitor per day. This rule can be relaxed with the permission of the curator.
For current prices see the Price List. Payment is in cash at the reception desk on leaving, or by transfer, in which case payment details will be given to you with the photos.
10.3 Scan
You can on request order scans which will be made by the museum staff. The scan will be delivered to you within twenty days in digital form, by e-mail or by post on cd-rom, depending on the size of the file.
When you order, you need to make clear what you need the scans for, and the size of print needed. This is necessary to determine the appropriate resolution. Scanning is possible up to an A3 size, anything larger than this has to be photographed.
To prevent abuse there is a restriction of five scans per visitor per day. This rule can be relaxed with the permission of the curator.
For current prices see the Price List. Payment is in cash at the reception desk on leaving, or by transfer, in which case payment details will be given to you with the scans.
10.4 Price list
11. How to deal with the documents Consultation of the originals takes place only in the reading room. Documents may never leave the reading room without the permission of a member of our staff. Immediately after consulting the document you must return it in its original state and with the same internal arrangement (even if this seems to be lacking). The documents are put back in their file or box with great care – without force or folds. You must deal with documents with extreme care. You are not allowed to fold or crease pages, to lean on documents, to put the sheet for notes on top of the original, to write notes on it, or to trace over it. We would be very grateful if you would advise our staff immediately of any damage or wrongly filed items. It is very important for the preservation of vulnerable documents that direct contact with hands is avoided. Never let your hands rest on the document. To follow the text, lay a blank piece of paper or blotting paper under your hand. Turning over the pages with a damp fingertip is quite obviously forbidden. When you consult dirty or very vulnerable documents, e.g. some trade catalogues, you should wash your hands regularly. When you consult very valuable originals, our member of staff will give you a pair of clean cotton gloves, which you should return afterwards. 12. Gift of publications Those who have written a publication, dissertation or thesis based on one of our documents, are kindly requested to donate a copy to the MOT library. 13. Responsibility of the visitor You are responsible for any damage you have caused to a document or its container, furniture, equipment or any other property. You will be required to pay for any damage. Museum Library – registration of visitors Dear visitor, Before you start your visit to the museum library we kindly request you to fill in this registration form and sign it. Attached you will find a copy of the library regulations. Your signature to the registration form indicates your acceptance of these regulations. We wish you every success with your research. With kind regards, The MOT Name:
Address:
Email:
Tel:
Date and signature:
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 
| 
|
|
To receive every month information about the history of old techniques and the MOT, click here. |
| MOT's MSN community - FORUMS - LINKS - CHAT |
