As of 2021, Merritt Room materials are made available to patrons in the Houghton Library Reading Room.
Review
Is the item available online?
Write back to patron with link, finish request. Patron may reopen if they need to see the original item.
Is the request for photoduplication?
Write to patron to request clarification if necessary: in-house or Imaging Services? Move request into Awaiting Request Processing – Reviewed. Add Staff Note for correspondence with patron.
MERR item
- Route request to In Item Retrieval.
- Print Aeon request.
- Page item.
- Evaluate for conservation issues. If none, proceed. If concerned, place item on hold and contact conservation liaison.
- Route request to Item on Hold and change site to HOU.
- Place item in blue transfer bin. Label bin Special Collections. Zip-tie bin closed.
- Contact HUMS to request pick-up. Alert Circulation Desk staff that HUMS will be coming the next day and can collect the item from the Merritt Room. Note that special collections materials may only be transferred between Harvard Library repositories using one of two methods: hand-carried by two Harvard Library staff members (or a staff member and a student worker), or shipped by HUMS. For routine transfers of Merritt Room materials to Houghton Library, HUMS is preferred. To request a pick-up, email hd_trans@harvard.edu or phone 496-MAIL. Sample email text:
Hello,
There is a blue HUMS bin in the Music Library that is ready to be delivered to the Houghton Library. Because the bin contains a rare book, it's being held in a locked room (the Merritt Room). When the courier visits the Music Library to pick up the bin, they can tell the person at the library's front desk that they're picking up a blue bin that's in the Merritt Room, and the person at the front desk can notify a library staff member to retrieve the bin and bring it to the courier.
Thank you very much. Please let me know if you have any questions.
- Alert HOU staff that HUMS will be delivering the next day.
- When item is ready for refile, HOU staff pack bin and request HUMS pick-up, and alert MUS staff of delivery. by emailing the Music Library at muslib@fas.harvard.edu.
- MUS staff receive bin, unpack item, place request in In Item Reshelving status, reshelve item, finish request.
MERRHD item
Send TN to HOU staff who will order directly for delivery to HOU.