1. Aim
The ICC Library provides regular walk-in, online and remote library services to ICC staff (including elected officials, staff, interns, visiting professionals and contractors), external counsel and ASP delegates (on-site reference services only). The aim of this document is to clarify the procedures that apply to service requests received from persons falling outside of these categories.
2. Scope
These procedures apply to individuals who wish to visit the ICC Library and are not in possession of a current ICC badge (external visitors), in particular:
- Former members of staff or elected officials
- Former interns and visiting professionals
- Staff members of other international tribunals and organisations
- ICC visitors
- Accredited media
- Members of the public
3. Procedures
3.1 General Principles
The ICC Library is open to use by external visitors on an exceptional basis only. Individuals requesting access to use the library should demonstrate that they have a specific research interest and that the ICC Library collection can be of use for the research project they are undertaking. The ICC Library should be viewed as a Library of last resort and the requestor encouraged to consult other relevant libraries first to access more generic materials. ICC Library collection materials are best suited for postgraduate research in the field of international criminal justice.
The ICC Library reserves the right to deny or interrupt access to the Library to any requestor, if it is considered that they will not benefit from using the library collection or if their visit will disrupt regular users.
ICC Library visitors only have access to the Library space (rooms B 00.39 and B00.37) and must adhere to Library opening hours (10:00 - 12:30 and 14:30 – 16:30) . If they wish to meet an ICC member of staff or visit other areas of the building they must have made prior arrangements and been announced accordingly on the ICC visitor's system. Library staff is not able to give tours of the building or facilitate meetings with staff or elected officials.
3.2 Request for access
Requests to visit the ICC Library should be made in writing at least 5 working days prior to the intended visit to [email protected] detailing:
- Full name and contact details of the person(s) requesting access
- Date of intended visit
- Affiliation to any research institution or organisation
- Research question or project
- Particular sources or subject areas of interest
Staff members of other international organizations, in particular other international courts and tribunals, are not required to provide specificity with regards to points iv. and v. above.
3.3 Approval
Requests will be evaluated by the Library, Archives and Legacy Officer or Associate Library Officer. A written response will be provided to the requestor approving or rejecting the request.
3.4 Arranging access
Once a request has been approved the Library team member on reference duty will announce the person on the ICC visitor's system. On the day of the visit the Library team member on reference duty will collect the visitor from reception and escort them back as necessary. A visitor already announced by an ICC staff member as visitor for that day must be escorted back to the public area and reannounced as a Library visitor on the ICC visitor's system in order to visit or use the Library unaccompanied.
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- Services available to non-badge holders
Library visitors may make use of the following Library services:
- Reference use of the print library collection: visitors have no circulation rights and hence may not borrow any items or request for items currently on loan to be recalled for them to consult.
- Photocopying: If necessary and considering principles of fair use[1], visitors are encouraged to use scanning rather than photocopying facilities. Scanning facilities are self-service and free of charge.
- Research assistance: Due to the need to ensure continuity of required levels of service, service requests from ICC staff members will be prioritised at all times. Library staff can provide guidance on available resources and location of materials. Time-consuming research assistance demanding more than 1 hour of staff time, such as responding to complex reference enquiries, locating citations and creating bibliographies is not possible due to resource constraints and will not be provided.
- Use of public workstations: visitors are encouraged to make use of the Library's public workstations rather than their own electronic devices. At no point may external media (such as USB sticks) be used on the Library's public workstations.
- Walk in access to electronic resources: subscription databases, online journals and E-books are available for walk-in access.
[1] Fair use is considered to amount to a maximum of 10% of a publication, one chapter in an edited book or one article in a journal issue.