Modernising old technology
Are you using microform collections and really wished you can take the images away as PDFs? Then make your way to the Upper Reading Room, Old Bodleian Library!
In URR, you can now use a new Digital Microfilm Scanner which reads microfilms, microfiche and microcards and makes digital copies which can be saved as PDFs.
It is not currently possible to print directly from the scanner, but the images can be saved onto a USB drive for transfer to a laptop or another library computer and from there printed via PCAS.
You can manipulate the images to some extent (switch negatives to positives, etc.) and you can zoom and resize to your liking.
A guide to how to use the scanner and its various functions is available with the equipment. Currently access is based on first-come, first-serve.
The Vere Harmsworth Library already has this new and wonderful technology so from SOLO you can order microform collections to either the Upper Reading Room or the VHL.
What microfilm collections are held in the Bodleian Library?
A guide to microform holdings in the Bodleian Library. 5th ed. (2002) [Available in most reading rooms – ask staff]
All microfilms are catalogued in SOLO. Suggested advanced searches:
Examples of microform collections for Medieval history
IRHT Répertoire d’incipit de sermons latins, antiquité tardive et moyen âge, 273 fiches. [BOD Microfiches 804]
Examples of microform collections for Early modern history
Flugschriften des frühen 16. Jahrhunderts. [microfiches] hrsg. H-J. Köhler et al. (Zug: IDC, 1978-87) [BOD Microfiches 400]
Contains 5,000 pamphlets in German and Latin, printed 1501-1530 within the Holy Roman Empire and in libraries, museums and archives of West Germany and West Berlin. Annual registers at BOD 25821 e. 63 and at BOD 25821 e. 64; Bibliographie der Flugschriften des 16. Jahrhunderts, Part i, Hans-Joachim Köhler (Tübingen, 1991-) accompanies this series. See also http://www.bsb-muenchen.de/mikro/litup396.htm for guidance on using this set. Online index.
Flugschriften des späteren 16. Jahrhunderts, 1531-1600. [microfiches] Series I and II, hrsg. H.-J. Köhler et al. (Leiden: IDC, 1990-) [BOD Microfiches 870]
Continues the previous collection and contains 3,666 pamphlets. Particularly good for events such as anti-papist movement, persecution of Jews and Witches and religious and political upheaval following the Reformation. Each year’s instalment consists of microfiches in binder with a guide and annual register.
Examples of microform collections for Modern History
Archives of the British Independent Labour Party
Accompanied by Archives of the Independent Labour Party, 1856-1975: a detailed guide to the microform collections (Reading, 1990)
- Organisational and regional records, 1856-1955. 25 reels. [BOD Films 1647]
- Series I: Pamphlets and Leaflets. 512 microfiches [BOD Microfiches 1006-1010]
- Series II: Minutes and related records. 176 microfiches (I: national administrative council minutes and related records 1894-1950; II: Branch minutes and related records 1892-19500 [BOD Microfiches 835]
- Series III: The Francis Johnson correspondence. 21 reels. [BOD Films 1554]
Archives of the British Labour Party
Accompanied by Archives of the British Labour Party, 1873-1973: a detailed guide to the microform collections (Reading, 1990).
- General correspondence and political records. Various parts [Check guides]
- National Executive Council minutes. 1900-64. Part 1-9. [BOD Microfiches 787]
- Pamphlets and leaflets. Parts 1-5. 582 microfiches. [BOD X.Films 81]
- Speeches and statements. Part 1: 1964-1973. 197 microfiches [BOD X.Films 82]
Archives of the British Liberal Party
- Pamphlets and leaflates, parts 1-4
- National Liberal Federation Annual Reports, 1877-1936. 481 microches + guide. [BOD X.Films 90]
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei (NSDAP): Akten der Partei-Kanzlei der NSDAP [microfiche]: Rekonstruktion eines verlorengegangenen Bestandes; herausgegeben vom Institut für Zeitgeschichte. (München: Saur: Oldenbourg, c1983-1992). [BOD Microfiches 562]
Der Kirchenkampf: the Gutteridge-Micklem collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. 515 microfiches. (London : Saur, [1988]). [BOD Microfiches 809 & B1.30 O.71]
Includes materials, assembled from private collections, which detail the attempts of the German clergy to maintain a separate identity under the Third Reich. These materials document two struggles: that of the evangelical church against the Nazi attempt to impose a unified Reichskirche; and the struggle within the church to establish and define its own development and structure while under siege.
The collection includes books, periodicals, pamphlets, correspondence, reports, memoranda and manuscripts. Most of this material originated in the Bekennende Kirche, but there is also coverage of the Roman Catholic Church, the National Socialists and their various subsections, as well as other German and British Christian churches.
Also included are unique manuscripts describing the precarious situation of the pastors, bishops, religious publishers and printers whose lives and livelihoods were threatened by the Third Reich. There are lists of pastors who were imprisoned or suspended from duty, press service reports and banned literature.
Stenographische Berichte über die Verhandlungen des deutschen Reichstages, 1867-1918. [BOD Microfiche 869]
Die Protokolle des österreichischen Ministerrates, 1848-1867. 1171, 41, 36 microfiches + 12 vols. (Hildesheim : Olms, 1999-2004). [Check SOLO]
The French Revolution research collection; editor-in-chief, Colin Lucas. 19,161 microfiches in 12 sections. (Oxford: Pergamon,[1989-1995]) [Check SOLO]
Section 1. Newspapers / editor, Hugh Gough — section 2. Memoirs and autobiographies / editor, Colin Lucas — section 3. Basic printed collections / editor, Colin Lucas — section 4. Bibliographical and research tools — section 5. The Pre-revolutionary debate / editor, Jeremy Popkin — section 6. Political themes / editor, Alison Patrick … [et al.] — section 7. Resistances to the Revolution / editors, Colin Lucas [and] Roger Dupuy — section 8. Religion / editor, Timothy Tackett — section 9. The reorganization of society / editors, Isser Woloch … [et al.] — section 10. The economy / editors, Colin Lucas … [et al.] — section 11. War and colonies / editors, Jean-Paul Bertaud … [et al.] — section 12. Culture / editor, James Leith.
Voices from Wartime France, 1939-45: Clandestine Resistance and Vichy Newspapers. [microfilm]. 206 reels. [BOD Films 2062 + Guide: URR K.8.42]
A research collection which constitutes the sum of the French press that actually reached Britain during the Occupation of 1940-44. It is the record of what was known by the British about the hearts and minds of the French people at the most dramatic period of their shared history. This collection offers the complete French holdings of the British Library, acquired through a variety of intelligence, clandestine and neutral sources, offering as full a view of life during the War as was possible at the time.
Parlamento: rendiconti del Parlamento italiano. Discussioni del Senato del regno, 1848-60; 1861-70. 2nd ed. 150 microcards. [BOD Microcards 41 (1948-60); microcards 42 (1861-70)]
Parlamento: atti (afterwards rendiconti) del Parlamento italiano. Discussioni della Camera dei Deputati, 1848-60; 1861-70. 574 microcards. [BOD Microcards 43 (1948-60); microcards 44 (1861-70)]
Cortes: Congreso de los Diputados: diario de las sessions 1810-1921/22. 6406 microfiches. [BOD Microfiches 302]
Boletin oficial de estado, 1966-69; 1977-78; 1980-85 (Madrid, 1966-86). [BOD Films 1128 (1966-86); Microfiches 837 (1987-)]
Annuario estadístico de España. 1859-64 (various). 256 microfiches. [BOD Microfiches 302]
Any questions?
Why not ask the History Librarian…