Access to the collection is subject to special conditions and is at the discretion of Matheson and Co. Ltd, part of the Jardine Matheson Group. A statement of the conditions and an application form are available in the Manuscripts Reading Room. Printed copies of the form are available by post (please contact the University Library). An electronic version can also be found at https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/files/jm_permission_form.pdf.

Records described in the catalogue as being in a bad condition are in a fragile state that precludes them being made available to readers.

Access is generally available to documents dated up to 1969. Access to some earlier records may be restricted under the terms of the Data Protection Act, 1998.