Thomas J. Watson Library

Interlibrary Services for Museum Research Staff

Watson Library Interlibrary Services supports the research activities of Metropolitan Museum of Art staff by obtaining books, print or electronic copies of journal articles, and other texts that are not available from the Museum’s libraries.

If you are Museum research staff and you have already created an interlibrary loan (“ILL”) account, log in here.  If you have not yet created an ILL account, click on the red “Register Here” link from the ILL login page.

Please consult our Borrowing FAQ, which covers questions you may have regarding interlibrary loans and photocopies.

Interlibrary Services to Other Libraries

Watson Library Interlibrary Services also participates as a lender in OCLC’s Worldcat Resource Sharing (“WCRS”).  Please check the OCLC Policies Directory (symbol MZA) for further information about our lending policies.  We primarily lend to and provide photocopies for libraries within the RLG SHARES consortium.

As a last resort, we may lend to and photocopy for other non-SHARES and non-OCLC libraries and institutions on a case-by-case basis.  Please note, however, that items listed as belonging to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Worldcat may not necessarily be held in Watson Library, and therefore may be ineligible for lending or photocopying.  Before submitting an ILL request, please check Watsonline, our online catalog, to confirm that the item you need is held in Watson Library and is not checked out or otherwise unavailable for use.

Fees and Payment:

For non-SHARES libraries, charges are as follows:

• $20 for loans within the United States
• $20 or 1.5 IFLA vouchers for photocopy requests up to 50 pages (domestic and international)
• $30 or 3 IFLA vouchers for international loans
• Note: Fees may be waived for Art Libraries and other Museums in exchange for reciprocal interlibrary borrowing/copying privileges.

Acceptable forms of payment are: OCLC ILL Fee Management (“IFM”), credit card, or IFLA voucher.

Submitting ILL Requests:

Please submit ILL requests via OCLC’s WCRS.  Enter MZA twice in the lender string, and make sure we are the last/only lender in the string (to avoid automatic deflection).  We will normally respond to your request within five working days.

If you do not participate in OCLC WCRS, you may e-mail or fax your request (contact information is below).  Provide as much information as possible about the item you need (including our call number and location), as well as your acceptance of our above-stated fees.  We will normally respond to your request within ten working days.

Contact Information

Interlibrary Services
Thomas J. Watson Library
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
(212) 396-5221
(212) 570-3847 fax
interlibrary.services@metmuseum.org
Primary Contact: Robyn Fleming, Associate Manger for Interlibrary Services
Secondary Contact: Gwen David, Library Associate