Our reading rooms are places of calm and quiet. We kindly ask you to be considerate of others and to observe our house rules.
Before you enter the reading room
- Our reading rooms can be visited free of charge at the presentation of a visitor pass;
- Your visitor pass is registered to your name and has to be presented for each visit;
- In order to acquire a visitor pass, please bring a valid form of identification with you on your first visit. This could be a passport, an ID card or a driver’s license (which includes a photo and is no older than 10 years);
- We record some personal information. For more information on how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy policy
Inside the reading room
- Laptops, note pads, cameras, pens and pencils without an eraser can be brought into the reading room;
- Coats and bags are not allowed in the reading rooms and must be stored in the cloakroom, where lockers are available free of charge. If necessary, you can purchase a see-through bag at the reception desk;
- Mobile phones are allowed in the reading room, provided they are set to silent or vibrate mode. It is not allowed to make phone calls inside the reading room;
- Food and beverages are not allowed inside the reading room;
- Conversations with other visitors should be conducted outside of the reading room;
- Please refer to our Consulting materials with access restrictions page for more information about our policies concerning the reproduction of archival documents with access restrictions;
- Apart from assistance dogs, animals are not allowed inside the reading room.
Consulting archival material
- Requesting access to original documents can be done in advance from home by making an online reservation, or in the reading room during your visit;
- We will give you a maximum of three pieces to consult at a time. Additional pieces you have requested will be kept behind the reading room counter for you;
- Original materials may only be consulted on the numbered tables;
- If an original piece has been digitalised and the scans have been made available online, we will no longer bring out the original for consultation in the reading room.
Handling archival materials
Archival materials are vulnerable and unique. To help us keep the archives accessible to the public, we ask you to comply with the following instructions.
- Please wash your hands before and after consulting archival materials. Do not wet your fingertips before turning a page;
- Wear special gloves if the staff asks you to do so. These gloves can be found at the reading room counter;
- Make sure the archival materials are placed on the table in a level position. Do not lean on the materials. Use a cushion or lead lace if convenient. Our reading room staff is happy to advise you in this;
- Do not place any objects (laptop, note pad, phone, camera, etc.) on top of the archival materials;
- Leave the materials as you found them. Do not remove labels or staples. Do not add or remove any materials, or alter the order of the documents;
- Only make notes on your own note pad, laptop or tablet;
- Do not place archive boxes on the floor.
Photographing archival material
- Archival materials without any access restrictions may be photographed (please turn off your flash);
- Please refer to our Consulting materials with access restrictions page for more information about our policies concerning the reproduction of archival documents with access restrictions;
- Would you like to publish your photos of archival materials? Please make sure there are no copyright violations. Any judicial consequences are your own responsibility.
In case of calamity
To ensure everybody’s safety in case of a calamity, we ask you to always follow the instructions of our emergency response officers. You can recognise them by their fluorescent vests marked ‘BHV’ (short for ‘bedrijfshulpverlener’).