General Library Manual

Here at the Library, we have two (2) main locations: Manhattan (Cullman Education Building/54th Street/Main Museum) and MoMA QNS (the big blue warehouse located in Sunnyside/LIC… not PS1). You’ll almost always see them abbreviated as MAN/MHTN and QNS from here on out, and almost everyone will reference them as such, so it’s a good thing to keep in mind. [We will highlight locations that do not circulate by where they are stored in the collection below.]

At MHTN, we have our offices on the 6th floor, as well as the main Reading Room. On the 8th floor, we have the bookstacks where we keep about 20% of our collection. We also share the MHTN bookstacks with Archives, so every now and then you’ll see a few of them in the stacks - be sure to say hi!

At QNS, we have a lot more space to use. Like in Manhattan, we have the library offices, a Reading Room, and the stacks (much larger than the one in MHTN), but we also have two (2) storage rooms (Storage Room A and Storage Room B) in the basement of the warehouse where we keep most of our backlogs or lesser-used items. The two storage rooms in the basement need keys to access, which can be found in “the chute” (packing area) by the QNS offices. Every now and then, you might have a request from one of the storage rooms, so be sure to ask someone to show you where the storage rooms are.

We keep library items on both the 6th and 8th floor at MHTN. You can usually tell that they belong here if you search the item in ALMA and the library is “Museum of Modern Art Library”.

In the 6th floor Reading Room, we have reference books (location code: mmrm or mmr, REF MOMA on the label), reference artist books (abbr. REF. A.B. on label), MoMA exhibition catalogs (location: mmn, MOMA [number] on the label), and the reading room periodicals (will have a PER sticker on them). The reference books, reference artist books, and MoMA exhibition catalogs are kept permanently in the Reading Room, while the Reading Room periodicals issues are swapped out every year. All of the books in the reading room are non-requestable, but patrons can use them while in for an appointment, and staff can. ***Any item paged from the 8th floor is for library use only.***

On the 8th floor, we keep most of our special collections (you’ll see them as Spec. coll. or RARE on the label), as well as artist books, library archives, P.S.1, the Bern Porter collection, Extra Art files, and a small selection of high circulating periodicals that are kept in MAN. If any of the following items get paged for staff, they will need to go in the locked drawers behind the reference desk:

• All items paged from the 8th floor

• Periodicals

• Flat items (if they can fit)

• Artist/any files

• Artist books

Here’s a list of all our item groups in the stacks in Manhattan, as well as their location abbreviations:

• Spec. Coll./ Spec. Coll. PER (mms, will have Spec. Coll. or Rare on the label)

• Spec. Coll. oversize / Spec. Coll. PER oversize (mmso, will have Spec. Coll. or Rare on the label)

• Special vertical files (mmsf: These are split between Manhattan [Extra Art files, EXF on the folder] and QNS (regular special collection artist files, S.C. written on the folder in front of the name)

• Bern Porter Collection (mmsp)

• Archive and Archive oversize (mmy and mmyo, will have Archive on the label)

• Artists’ Books (mma, will have A.B. on the label)

• Artists’ Books Box and Artists’ Book Box oversize (mmab and mmabo, will have A.B. BOX or +A.B. Box on the label)

• Manhattan periodicals (mmp)*

• P.S.1 publications (mm1, will have P.S.1 on the label) [*Note: These are being transferred to QNS]

*Note: Periodicals shelved upstairs in MHTN are not labeled differently from the ones shelved in QNS, so here’s a list of the titles we have upstairs: Art in America, Art Monthly, Artforum, and ArtNews. Be sure to double-check the location if you’re not sure where it belongs.

As mentioned before, items in QNS are kept mostly in stacks, with the exception of the two storage rooms in the basement. Almost all of the items in stacks (except for audiovisual items) are regularly circulated, but from time to time there will be a request for an item in the basement. With the exception of periodicals, Fluxus, and flat items, if these items are requested, paged, and sent to MAN, they can all be shelved for pickup behind the Reference Desk; see Completing The Page below for more details.

The QNS Reading Room is mostly used for storing duplicate books for sale or books for cataloging, but on very rare occasions we will have a staff researcher come out to QNS to look at items that cannot not be shipped to MHTN. There are also a couple of office desks out in the Reading Room that are mainly used by the Pratt Fellow when they are in.

QNS houses at least 80% of our items (everything that can’t fit in MHTN), so this list of collections and location codes will be a bit more extensive:

• Offsite Library Archive (mqy, will have ‘Archive’ on the label)

• Offsite Exhibition Catalogs (mqye, will have MOMA [number] on the label)

• Silverman Fluxus Collection (mqsx, will have FLUX or FLUXUS on the label)

• Frontlog A and Frontlog B (mq9 and mq9b, will have a flag with assigned number and label will say ‘PRE-CAT’) [Give to cataloger to update record before circulation]

• Photo Bio Files (mqfpb: these files are smaller than the other files, may have the location stamped on)

• Film books (mqz, will say film or film center on label)*

• Photography books (mqbp, will say photo on label)*

• Stacks books / Stacks oversize (mqb / mqo, oversize will have a + or * on the label)**

• Flat files (mqfof)

• AECs (mqe, most will have AEC stamped on or have AEC on the label)

• GECs (mqg, will say GEC on the label)

• Artist files and Special Collection Artist files (mqf)

• Franklin Furnace artist file (mqfff, will say franklin furnace on folder)

• Subject file (mqfs, will have subject file stamped on the folder)

• Video Organization file (mqfv, will either have a video org stamp or title will be written in black marker)

• Audiovisual material (CD-ROMs [mqh], DVD-ROMs [mqi], audio items [mqu], video items [mqv])*** Material does not circulate at all, give to JS to contact patrons

• Spec. Coll. Flat (mqsof, will have 3 asterisks and spec. coll. on the label)

• Microfilm items (mqmfm)

• PER, PER Oversize, and PER flat (mqp / mqpo / mqpof, oversize will have an asterisk on the label, flats will have 3 asterisks on the label) [*Note: email staff members for scans or if they need the whole volume BEFORE sending over]

• Flat items (mqof, will have 3 asterisks or say FLAT on the label)

• Artist books oversize and artist books flat (mqao / mqaof: These two are shelved together regardless of distinction - oversize will have a + or * on the label, flat will say FLAT or have *** on the label)

There may be a few other location codes that you see in some records that aren’t listed above - you might see mzzzz for MoMA review in a few (for a fulllist of locations, see here. These are most likely locations that are not being used anymore, and the record either hasn’t been updated, or the item is missing. Always feel free to ask any of the other library staff for help, or check the bibliographic record for clues to where the item might now be kept.

Because we don’t have different location codes for the storage rooms in the basement, almost everything that’s kept in the storage rooms will have a note after the call number stating which one it’s located in, but the location will most likely be ‘mqb’ for stacks. The storage rooms can be a bit difficult to navigate, so it might be good to have someone assist here, too.

As a staff member of MoMA, you are able to request and use items from the library’s collection, but as library staff, you’ll have to be able to find books on your own, and complete the request for other staff and library patrons. The following section should help you get started with requesting items online, finding the books on the shelves (or where to look when you can’t), and returning them when ready.

When requesting material online, our go-to portal is MoMA’s discovery module, Primo. We are also part of the NYARC Consortium along with The Frick Collection and the Brooklyn Museum who each have their own versions of Primo. Our consortium-wide Discovery layer is here.

You can sign into Primo using your MoMA email and log-in credentials (patrons will have their assigned Library Card ID number and password), and begin searching for a title. Once you find the title and the item that you’d like to request (you will be able to select the location(s) and see all the items in the chosen location), there should be a “item request” link that will take you to the next part where you can add a comment for the request, and then send the request through. If you haven’t signed in yet, the system will tell you to sign in to see request options. (NOTE*: If the patron does not have a user account in ALMA, they will not be able to login to Primo.)

As a reminder, public patrons are allowed to request up to 20 items per appointment (the account will block any requests over 20 until they are checked out to the patron). Staff do not have any request limits, but we strongly encourage them to keep it to 10 items per day.

The library does not currently offer any outgoing ILL (Interlibrary Loan) requests for staff, so all ILL requests / purchase requests can be forwarded to the library account.

Our stacks are closed to staff and visitors, so only library staff can pull items. If you’re looking for an item located in the stacks, first make sure you know the call number**, the physical location (mms, mma, mqb, etc.), and the barcode of the item, if needed. If you’re paging for the day, it will be on the request slip, otherwise you can print out the MARC record in Primo or write down the information from ALMA.

** Note: Call numbers have their own section later in this document, so you can skip to it using the document navigation panel on the left if you’d like, but for now we’ll just talk about them in reference to finding books.

Both the stacks in Manhattan and Queens have very handy labeling cards on each range of the stacks. It should tell you the collection (A.B., PER, etc.) housed in the row, and the call numbers (or titles for periodicals) that are covered on the shelves. In some cases, the books have shifted a bit and vary a little from the cards on the ranges, so always make sure to check both sides if the call number falls on the end of the assigned call cumber on the card.

Most of the time, an item that is marked Available should be on the shelves, but if you ever have trouble finding it, here are some steps you can take:

1. Look at books to the left and right of where the item should be; it might be misshelved by a couple of call numbers, or have gotten mixed up along the way. It’s also possible it was pushed behind the other items on the shelf or is stuck inside/on another item.

2. Check the status of the item in ALMA by searching the barcode, call number, or title. If there is an “awaiting reshelving” note in the item status, it was checked in very recently and might still be on the sorting shelves at the back of the stacks.

3. Check the bibliographic record to see the size of the item; maybe it was accidentally placed in oversize (30+ cm) because of the height - if so, check the oversize section for the same call number.

If you reach Step 3 and still haven’t found the item, you can: a) ask another staff member in the library to do a stacks check, or b) check similar call numbers (check ND for NB, call numbers with the same ending 2-3 digits, etc). Ultimately, the book might just be missing, in which case you should leave the request slip or a print out of the MARC record with Jillian, then go to the item in ALMA, click the ellipses to the right of the item information, and select ‘Toggle missing status’***. This will let other people know that the book is missing and cannot be requested.

***NOTE: If the item is for a patron or staff, doing this will cancel the request and confuse the system, so be sure to cancel the request before marking the item as missing.

Sometimes a book may be marked “In Transit” in the item record - if the item was not checked in recently (+/- 2 days), it’s most likely that the item wasn’t checked in properly, and if found, will need to be checked in before it is checked out again.

When you’ve found what you’re looking for, you’ll need to check out the item to yourself or the patron using the ‘Manage Patron Services’ module in ALMA (Go to ‘Fulfillment’ in the sidebar, then click on the module under ‘Checkout/Checkin’). Search for the patron by either name or ID number, then select the patron and click the ‘Go’ button on the right of the search bar. If there are multiple records for the same person, make sure you check the patron category (looking for ‘MoMA Staff’ or ‘MoMA Public’) - if they have both a patron and a staff record, check both records to see which one the requests are under (click on the ‘Requests’ tab above the barcode scan area). After going to the patron account, make sure you are under the ‘Loan’ tab before you start scanning the barcodes of the requests. Check the screen once you are done to see if the barcode was scanned properly, and that the total loans in the session match what you have checked out to the patron. You’ll need to close the user account before checking out to the next patron, but ALMA has great blocks in the system to prevent checking out books to the wrong patron. Once you’ve checked all the items out and close the patron account, you’re all done!

When you (or staff) are done using the requested items, you can either drop them on one of the book return carts in the Reading Room (one by the elevator, one by the Reference Desk), or you can check them in yourself. Once the items are checked in, make sure you sort them by the main location (all QNS items are packed and shipped back to Queens, MHTN items are either shelved in the Reading Room or brought upstairs for sorting). If you’re not scheduled or required to page items in the library, you don’t have to shelve or sort items, but it wouldn’t hurt to know what to do with them if no one is around.

All of our items get checked in at least once when they are returned by patrons. Because all items are returned in Manhattan, any items that are shipped back to QNS are checked in for a second time when they are unpacked to confirm they are in the correct location. The process of checking in returned items, and scanning them in again when they arrive in QNS is fairly straightforward, but we do use two separate modules to make sure things are returned correctly.

*TIP: Some items, such as AECs and GECs are fairly small, so they might get lost in between other larger items - a helpful solution to this would be to separate the smaller items before checking in so that you can keep a closer eye on them.

The ‘Return Item’ module in ALMA is very simple. Once you’re on the page, there’s only one field and that’s where you scan the barcode. Once scanned, ALMA will say “Reshelve to ___ (whichever location the item is shelved in)”. If the item is shelved in the opposite location (i.e. returned the item in Manhattan, but it is shelved in QNS, or vice versa), there will be a pop-up saying that the item is in transit to the opposite location. After an item is checked in, the title, call number, and barcode should be the first three columns in the line produced for the return - it should always match the item in hand, so if something is off, put the book aside.

ALMA might also have other pop-ups when you return an item, so make sure you’re taking a look at the screen to see if anything pops up. Sometimes the item will need to be sent to the other location (MAN or QNS), so make sure that you are always looking at the screen in case a book needs to be rerouted. The most common one is if you’ve scanned a book that has already been scanned in the same session, a pop-up will appear, and the book will not be checked in twice. Some other pop-ups will tell you if the book needs to be returned to housing, catalogers (will say ‘return to cat’), or if a patron has requested the item and it needs to be checked out to them. In the last case, books that are being returned cannot have a hold placed while they are checked out, so it’s more likely that the book was never checked out properly to the patron in the first place. If this notice pops up, do not print the hold slip, clear the check in function, and check in the item again (no notice should pop up this time).

Paging and shelving are part of the duties for all Library Assistants, but if you’re not required to page or shelve, you may still need to know some of the basics of the schedule and how both are related to requesting items.

Items are paged twice a day in both Manhattan and Queens, usually at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and we print all requests that come in before the page times. We require all of our public patrons to request items at least seven (7) days in advance, but we will print requests for anything that comes in before the page times. The paged items will be packed at the end of the day if the cart delivering them to the other location is going out that night, or they will be left until the next time the cart is going out (usually Fridays).

MHTN and QNS receive one (1) morning shipment, four (4) times a week (delivered Tuesday - Friday mornings, goes out Monday - Thursday nights). The delivery is capped at eight (8) gray bins per trip, but we can also add banker boxes, padded envelopes, and other boxes to the shipment. The easiest way to remember to bring the cart down/out for delivery is to do it as soon as you’ve packed the cart for the night. In Manhattan, the cart is brought down to the first floor in Cullman and left next to the bottom of the ramp by the Security Desk, or in the locker area if there is an event going on (you can always check with the guard on duty if you are confused about where you should leave the cart). In QNS, we usually bring the cart down to the loading dock in the basement, but as the elevator is currently being upgraded, we bring it out to the bike rack right outside the Queens Library Reading Room.

Items located in QNS that are requested after 3 p.m. on Thursdays will not be available in MHTN until the next page (Tuesday morning, as we don’t put the cart out on Friday night), and the same goes for holidays and the like. Occasionally, there will be a day or so when the morning delivery is delayed due to excessive traffic or a U.N. meeting, so the returns might not arrive in QNS for a few hours. If there are ever any delivery issues, you can reach out to Jillian to contact NPD (the company handling delivery).

If you’re scheduled to page for the day, you’ll have to page both in the morning and afternoon (usually at 10am and 3pm). Here are the steps you’ll need to take:

** Some of these instructions are also part of Sorting and Shelving and are part of the paging process.

1. Bring the cart upstairs (it will be parked on the first floor either at the top or bottom of the ramp by Security) and unpack the requests from the morning delivery in the Library Offices; move the cart to the back hallway past the dumbwaiter.

2. Check out the requests to the corresponding patron, then separate by patron type (public vs. staff) and sort the requests by last name. For public patrons, write the upcoming appointment date on the top right corner of the request slip, and tuck the request slip inside the item so the name is visible.

For staff requests, you will need to do the following:

1. Sort the requests between circulating and non-circulating requests (periodicals, Special Collections material, files, etc) - if a staff member has both circulating and non-circulating requests, write down their name - this will come in handy later.

2. Sign into the Library email account (library@moma.org), and compose an email using one of the three (3) templates for staff email: ‘Staff - Non-circulating request’, ‘Staff - pick-up’, ‘Staff - pick-up and non-circ’.

3. Follow the instructions in red at the top of the email, then bcc the staff with the corresponding request types (staff with only circulating items will be bcc’d under the ‘Staff - pick up’ template email, staff with only non-circulating items will be bcc’d under the ‘Staff - non-circulating request’ template email, and staff with both circulating and non-circulating requests will be bcc’d under the ‘Staff - pick-up and non-circ’ template email.

3. Place the requested items on the shelves in the Reading Room.

   1. Requests made by public patrons go on the shelves to the right of the reference desk - sort by visiting week (current on the left vs. future on the right), day (Wednesday for the top two shelves or Thursday for the bottom two), and time (a.m. above or p.m. below)

   2. Requests made by staff go on the shelves above the drawers in alphabetical order by last name; any non-circulating requests go into one of the locked drawers below the staff circulating requests (AKA The Paranoia Drawers - see MAN for a reminder of what items go in these drawers); folders go in the small drawers on the left, and all other non-circulating items go in the larger staff drawers, sorted by last name (the items themselves do not have to go in order by staff, but it would be nice to try to keep all the items for one person together if you can.)

4. At around 10 a.m. or after you have completed the first half of the page which shouldn’t be too long after 10 a.m., print the new requests and retrieve all public patron requests from upstairs. For staff requests, leave them on Jillian’s desk if they do not have a scheduled appointment (they would be in the library calendar). Follow the same steps in #2 (above) for both public and staff requests, except for sending staff an email - if they already have an appointment in the calendar, it means that they will not need the prompt to make an appointment.

5. At 3 pm, check and print any new requests (there’ll be an option in the ‘Pick from Shelf’ module in ALMA to filter requests that have not been printed), and sort/pull/check out/shelve the requests as necessary.

6. Pick up the returns from the return carts in the Reading Room, check the items in, and sort by main location (MAN or QNS)

7. Pack the QNS items into the gray bins and place them on the cart; bring the MAN items upstairs and sort on the shelves, or reshelve the reference books and Manhattan exhibition catalogues after they’ve been checked in.

8. Check the returns cart every hour or so and check in / sort / pack items as needed.

9. Check the returns one last time at 5pm and check in / sort / pack as necessary.

10. Bring the cart with the returns down and place next to the ramp (unless instructed to place in the locker room to the right of the ramp.

1. Bring the returns from the bike rack area into the shute in the Library offices (we will need to pick up the cart from the loading dock in the basement once the elevator is fixed) and unpack the returns.

2. Check in the returns at the computer in QNS stacks, then bring to the reshelving area to sort (these should be in order by call number on the shelf).

3. Print the notices and retrieve the requests from the stacks; go into the ‘scan in items’ module in ALMA, then scan the barcodes of the requests. When scanned, there should be a pop-up saying that the item is in transit for a patron physical item request (Note*: if there is no pop-up for the item and the following steps say to reshelve in stacks, you might not have pulled the correct book. Make sure to check the description on the request slip, or search the item in ALMA to see the barcode and copy number). There’s no need to scan them in any particular order, as they will be fully sorted in Manhattan.

4. Bring the scanned requests out to the shute to be packed and put on the cart. We usually pack all the requests at the end of the day, after the second page has been completed.

5. At 3pm, print the notices again and follow the same steps as before.

6. Pack up the requests and place them on the cart; bring the cart out before you leave at the end of the day.

If you need to cancel a request (in order to mark an item lost, for instance, or because the patron no longer wants the item), look up the patron record in ALMA, click on the Requests tab, and find the item in the list of requested items. Click the ellipse on the right side of that line item and select Cancel, choose the reason for cancellation, uncheck “notify patron” and confirm the cancellation - you’re all done!

We went over this a bit in the ‘Using the Library’ section, but here’s a little more info. Whenever there’s a patron request for an item that you can’t find, it’s best to have at least 1 other person do a stacks check before you mark the item missing completely. In the rare event that there’s no one around, you can always leave this for the person paging the next day (or the next time someone comes in). If both you and someone else cannot find the item, give the request to Jillian, and then mark the item as ‘missing’ by checking the ‘Toggle missing status’ option in the drop-down menu for the item (Note*: you’ll need to toggle the missing status from the item directly through a search, not in the “pick from shelf” list, and cancel the patron request before marking the item as missing). Once this is done, write ‘MISSING’ on the request slip and file it with the other request slips that are lost or missing.

If a request comes in for an item without a barcode and you find the item, you’ll need to add in a barcode before you can put the item in transit. Here’s a fool-proof way of doing so:

1. Find the item with no barcode either in the ‘Pick From Shelf’ module in ALMA or by searching the request in ‘Manage Patron Services’ the user management, then go to the title and find the requested item (there will be a ‘1’ under the ‘No. of requests’ column in the list of items).

2. Click the ellipses to the right of the item record, and select ‘edit’. Take a barcode and scan it into the barcode section at the top of the item form. Scanning with the barcode scanner should produce an automatic ‘enter’ which will automatically save the item form.

3. Affix the barcode to the item and the item should now be able to be scanned and put into transit.

Here are some helpful tips when paging that’ll help you and everyone else out in the long run:

• At the end of the day, be sure to communicate with the assistant(s) paging in the opposite location to figure out how many bins you will need to send between MAN and QNS. You can also do this for the padded envelopes, as well as banker boxes.

• Make sure to keep an eye on your email in case an emergency / next day request comes in (especially if you’re at QNS) - it’ll help to find the item before the cart goes out in case there needs to be further communication about where the item is needed.

• Padded shipping boxes are great for large rectangular books if you have just 1 or 2 - using the large shipping bin can be a hassle, and the padded envelopes can often fit more than you expect.

• Always look at the details in the request slip when pulling a request - some call numbers repeat, and the books may look the same, but might be different editions.

• If you have a missing book, but notice there’s another copy in the same area (or another library location), you can change the request by skipping the location for the item in the ‘Pick From Shelf’ module in ALMA. Just make sure it’s the right edition, and that the original request was marked as missing. If you can’t edit the request to change the copy (if they are shelved next to the missing copy), cancel the request, then create a new one for the patron, with the copy in hand. You should be able to scan the item and put it into transit after this.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for help if there are a lot of requests, or leave some for the next page! The patrons have to request seven (7) days in advance to avoid any books not coming in time for their appointment, and staff generally understand that their requests aren’t guaranteed to be sent over the next day.

• When checking in returned books at either location, there will be some sorting and shelving to do. Both QNS and MHTN have sorting shelves at the back of the stacks with labeled shelves where you can place the books after check-in to ensure a smoother transition to shelving. If you’re ever confused about where an item should be sorted, you can always check the location in the item record to be absolutely sure - occasionally there might be an item placed on the wrong sorting shelf, and if no one catches the mistake, it might be lost forever...

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• You’ll notice that on the 8th floor, there is no space for sorting books shelved on the 6th floor - these books don’t really get checked out, so if there is ever one placed on the returns cart, just check it in and shelve it immediately. The same goes for items kept in storage rooms or otherwise in QNS - if the item is not shelved in stacks, there won’t be a sorting shelf for it when it’s returned. Otherwise, every item that belongs in our library will have a place on our sorting shelves.

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• Shelving in QNS and MHTN is divided amongst the library assistants. Sometimes the shelving may build up fairly quickly if there’s a huge number of returns in a short period of time (usually at the end of a semester), so don’t be afraid to ask for help if the shelving gets out of hand! There’s absolutely no rush in doing shelving (accuracy is preferred over speed), but keep in mind that overflowing shelves and multiple sorted carts take up a lot of space and effort to handle. We should generally be reshelving on a weekly basis, or more depending on the amount of returns.

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• Sorting books before shelving saves a lot of time in the future (you don’t have to shift back and forth between rows and can go in order), so it’s worth the extra few minutes to sort and check a cart to make sure everything’s in order. Sorting a cart can also give you an idea of how well you understand how the call numbers work, so you can check your order before you put items on the shelves. For each location that you sort books, start at the very first number/letter in the call number and put the books in order until all the books are sorted (*Tip: you can start sorting by separating the books into piles - this is really helpful for LC call numbers where the first line may be the same for a large amount of books and the call number requires a closer look).

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• Shelving books is essentially returning the book to its rightful place on the shelf. It works very similarly to sorting, in the way that the shelves are organized from the first number/letter in the call number. Just like pulling books for the page, you’ll want to make sure you are in the correct location and call number range before shelving the book. Sometimes when shelving, you may see a gap where a book may have been pulled from, but make sure to check the books around the gap to ensure the call numbers are correct - books may get shuffled around during the page and you don’t want to accidentally place a book a few spots off from its actual place.

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• If it’s your first time shelving with any of the call numbers, a good way to practice is by shelving a cart of books spine down, and having someone check the shelved items before you continue. They’ll be able to catch and correct any mistakes that are made, and show you how to fix them, or let you know what to keep an eye out for. Feel free to have someone check your cart until you feel comfortable shelving on your own - it’s better to be safe and correct than sorry and missing an item that is very hard to replace.

Call numbers are one of the more … fun parts of working in a library. Every library uses them (not necessarily the same ones, as there are many different ways of organizing books), and art libraries are no different. However, there are quite a few variations of call numbers that we use, sometimes within the same collection.

Let's get started on these call numbers, shall we?

For most items, we use three (3) main call number types: alpha-numeric, numeric (Dewey Decimal-derived, the use of which was discontinued in the late 1990s), and LC (Library of Congress). LC call numbers are the most popular of the three, and are used widely among libraries as it was created by the largest library in the world. The alpha-numeric and numeric call number types are both a bit older and more personalized to our collection and style of cataloging. Here’s how they each work:

Also self-explanatory. The numbers used at the beginning of the numeric call numbers range from 1 - 199.9999 (basically, any value under 200), and work the way regular numbers work. Like alpha-numeric call numbers, there is at least a second group of letters and numbers following the first set of numbers, but sometimes there may also be a third set of letters and numbers following the second line. These second and third groupings are organized and read the same way as the alpha-numeric call numbers, in decimal format.

LC is similar to alpha-numerica call numbers in the way that every group (except the year) will start off with a letter followed by a set of numbers, but there are some key differences as to how the first line in the call number works. For the first line in the call number, there will be at least one (but usually two) letter(s) followed by a set of numbers - these numbers will be read as a whole number instead of as a decimal. This is the only line where that is the case. Every set of letters and numbers following this will be read as a decimal, with the first set coming after a decimal point directly in front of the letter in the set - this is known as the cutter number. In most cases, there will be a year at the end of the call number - there will not be a letter in front of the year (so not read as a decimal), but there may occasionally be a letter following the year.

If you ever get confused differentiating an alpha-numeric versus an LC call number, the two things that you should always keep an eye out for is the decimal point ‘.’ before the second group of letters, and the year at the end. The LC call number will ALWAYS have the decimal point, and 95+% of the time will have the year at the end.

We use a few other systems to organize items in the library that don’t fall into the ‘book’ category - most of them are numeric, but some collections are organized by title or author name.

Media items are consecutively issued a four(4)-digit number that is created when they are cataloged. Whenever a new media item is added, we look for the last number issued, and assign the next one to the new item. The exception of the numbering system is any media item linked to a periodical, in which the first two letters of the item will be ‘05’ followed by the next two numbers in line. These numbers are read and shelved as whole numbers, so they are very straightforward.

MoMA Exhibition Catalogs (both in MHTN and QNS), Microfilm, and Sort-By-Size (SBS) utilize the same whole numbering system (excluding periodical numbering), so they are also formatted and read in a similar manner.

The artist file groups are always shelved by last name, followed by the first and middle names (the same way artist/author names are input in ALMA). The files are easier to get mixed up as some last names vary by a single letter, so be careful when shelving and when looking for files, it’s best to keep this in mind if you can’t find what you’re looking for immediately.

**NOTE: We are currently working on a project where Franklin Furnace files are going out to be scanned. The ones out for scanning will be checked out and non-requestable.

Periodicals, Subject files, and Video Organization files are shelved in regular alphabetical order. An important factor to note is that the first article in the title (a/an/the) is always ignored regardless of the language unless it is an official part of the title (for example, we have a periodical titled ‘Der:die:das‘ in which all three are articles, and the rule would be ignored in this case). Articles may be hard to identify in foreign languages, so if you can’t find the item in the correct spot, definitely check under the article, and be sure to shelve in the correct spot moving forward.

For these items, the call number will always start with the year, followed by a consecutive four (4) digit number (like media items). Because GECs are for multiple artists, they will never have any letters for any of the artists in the call number, so this is a good way to tell them apart. GECs will also have GEC in the call number, while AECs will usually have an AEC stamp somewhere on the item.

Frontlog items are waiting to be issued a proper call number or have some other issue with the bibliographic record fixed, so they’re assigned a temporary 6-7 digit number. The frontlog items are issued numbers in the same way that media items are, but the numbers are much larger and temporary. Frontlog items are waiting to be issued a proper call number or have some other issue with the bibliographic record fixed, so they’re assigned a temporary 6-7 digit number. These items will have flags with a 6-7 digit number, and instead of being labeled with a call number, the label (if any) will say ‘PRE-CAT’ or have no label at all. Anything with a ‘PRE-CAT’ sticker should be returned to a cataloger when it is requested, or after it is returned from a patron so that a proper call number can be assigned.

Some collections in the library utilize multiple types of call numbers. Here are the main types and what call numbers they use:

• Spec. Coll (regular, oversize, and flat) - alpha-numeric, numeric, and LC, in order of appearance.

• Artists’ books (regular, oversize, and flat) - alpha-numeric, numeric, LC, and SBS. SBS is at the front of the collection in Manhattan stacks, followed by the rest of the call numbers in given order.

• Regular bookstack (QNS) - LC, numeric, and SBS. (NOTE*: All numeric call numbers between 70 and 79.999 are shelved in the photo section.)

• Oversize bookstacks (QNS) - LC and SBS. All the numeric call numbers that were previously numeric have been converted to LC call numbers.

• Flat stacks (not flat files) - Alpha-numeric, numeric, and LC, in order of appearance.

Congrats, you’re almost done with this manual! This last section will let you know about all the more technical things in the library, including scanning, printer help, and some more general library knowledge.

We have Bookeye scanners as well as flatbed scanners in both locations, but at QNS, it is specifically for use by library staff and can be made available to MoMA staff members who are working/doing research in QNS. The Bookeye and flatbed scanners at MTHN are available to both staff and public users, though we strongly encourage staff members to make an appointment to use either (during public hours we do not book scanner appointments for staff, since the public patrons really like to use them).

From the Bookeye scanner, you can send scans to yourself or a patron via email, or use a USB to save the scans. For larger scans the PDFs will be broken into segments and sent in multiple emails, so if you scan more than 15 spreads, the first pdf will not contain all the scanned pages. You can also convert the scans into different save files (jpeg, etc.).

The flatbed scanner in Manhattan is a recent acquisition, and can scan negatives and slides as well as flat items at extremely high resolutions. Because it is so expensive, we have to be really careful making sure not to crack the glass on either side of the scanner, so we do not scan any bound or stapled items (folded is ok). We also have a set of instructions on how to use the scanner for both regular scanning and slides/negatives, but if you need help or training on using the scanner, there should be at least one person between the inner departments of Archives, Library, and Research Collections (ALRC) who will be able to help!

Scanning and printing is free for staff and patrons, but we do encourage them to bring USB drives in case printing is not an option.

Almost all the printers that we use here (either for printing the notices or just regular printing) will be named and connected to the system drive. Almost all the printers are named after artists, so make sure you have the correct one when you are sending a document for printing (you can set defaults as well, but if you need to print on another floor or from another printer on this floor, it’s good to check first).

Extra printing paper can be found in the scanning room, under the desk to the right. If we ever run out of paper completely, let our Department Manager, Megan, know and it will be replaced by the Museum (we don’t need to put this on the office supply spreadsheet - see below).

We use an archives and office supply spreadsheet to replace items that run out in the office, such as packing tape, tissue paper, or sharpies. For either spreadsheet (use the tabs on the bottom to navigate between the two), you’ll need the vendor name or website link for the item you need replaced/purchased, the name of the item, the item code, and the units per pack for the item - put all of this on the next available line (follow the format, it’s fairly straightforward). You can also email the Department Manager to let them know that you’ve put a new order on the spreadsheet, or let them know if the item needs to be replaced urgently.

All permanent staff have mailboxes in the department office (6-212), so from time to time small items and letters will be dropped off in them. Larger items and packages for library staff will either be in the office, or left on / by your desk. Any outgoing mail (including Interoffice items) can be placed on the cart to the left of the department office. If you’re expecting a package that hasn’t been delivered yet, you can call down to the mailroom, but keep in mind that they do close at 4 p.m. (or earlier), or your package may have just not been sorted yet.

That seems to be the end of our general staff manual, but we do have some more! Be sure to check them out for some more in-depth tutorials. Bye!