Enquiry policy

The enquiry service at the National Library of Scotland provides enquirers with:

• Information about our collections, online resources and catalogues, and how to use them

• Guidance on how to find information or suggestions for other sources of information that might be useful

• Research that requires no more than one hour of staff time per individual enquiry

• Copying services: Please note that there are copyright and permission limitations and that charges apply — see the copying services pages for more information

• Referral to another institution if we think it would be helpful.

We are committed to dealing with enquiries promptly:

• We will acknowledge all enquiries when we receive them

• We will deal with face-to-face and simple telephone enquiries promptly

• We will process requests to place items on reserve within 48 hours. You can pre-order most items via our main catalogue, as this is the quickest way for them to be processed

• We will respond to email, letter and telephone enquiries as soon as possible and within 10 working days.

• We will answer Freedom of Information enquiries within 20 working days.

Our responses, verbal or written, will be clear, courteous, accurate and unbiased.

Please note that we are unable to provide monetary valuations of items you may have.