Distribution of closed-stacks Material

Closed-stack collections are identified in the SEARCH catalogue by a specific Location , which indicates a physical place or a collection (for example, “Scaffale chiuso Orologio”), and by the Call number, which indicates the position of the individual physical copy on the shelf (for example, “190 K16 H465 EG”), as shown in the examples in the table below.

For manuscripts and archival materials, which cannot be searched via SEARCH, please refer to the relevant section Manuscripts and Archival Documents.

Request procedures

To request closed-stack materials, please follow these steps:

• log in to the SEARCH catalogue
• identify the bibliographic item you are interested in
• open the full bibliographic record
• in the Get it section click the link Book Requests for item on loan, at closed shelf or between Pisa and Florence sites
• complete the online form, making sure to provide any relevant details if you are interested in a specific copy when multiple copies are available (alternatively, you may contact the staff at the first-access service desk, who will help you submit your request accurately).

For all other details, please refer to the Reservation of a document: user's guide.

Closed-stack materials can be requested only if no other copies are available in open stacks.

Materials stored in the Offsite Storage Facility (identified in the catalogue by the location "Deposito") are retrieved twice a week, usually on Tuesday and Thursday mornings; requests received by 8:00 a.m. on retrieval days are generally processed the same day.
 

Pickup of materials

When the requested copy is ready for pickup, you will receive an availability notification by email and you will be able to collect the material at the appropriate service desk: the Orologio–Carovana site for closed-stack materials in Classical Studies and Archaeology, as well as for items from the Luporini–Gallinaro libraries (call numbers with the suffix BLG) and the Donato Library (suffix BMD); please refer to the Capitano site for all other closed-stack materials. 

While awaiting the pickup, the material will be held on the reservations shelf at the first-access service desk for 6 days, after which it will be returned to its location.

If you cannot come to the Library within this time frame, you can request an extension of the expiry date of the material requested by writing to prestitobib@sns.it.

Local and reading room loans

All closed shelf materials can be consulted at the relevant location, in the designated reading rooms, through the Reading room loan. The loan period varies depending on the type of material.

Rari e Antichi and Deposito Rari collections may be consulted solely on loan in the reading room, whereas other closed shelf collections may also be taken out by users having the right to a local loan on the basis of the single copy policy.

Manuscripts and Archival Documents

Access to manuscripts and documents from the archives (both on paper and digitalised) must be expressly authorised by the Head Librarian or by a delegate. Hence a request for access (domanda di accesso) must be submitted to the Head Librarian, signed in the original, containing the applicant's personal details, together with the subject and the purpose of the research that is to be carried out.
Requests by university students must be accompanied by a letter of introduction from the lecturer who is in charge of the research project.

Once obtained, the authorisation is valid for the entire duration of the research project; each time the user must complete the request for consultation (richiesta di consultazione) indicating the materials required.

For consultation of archives declared as being of historic interest, authorisation must be applied for at the Soprintendenza Archivistica per la Toscana.

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