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Natural History Museum Library

Bones, Bugs, and Books: our foray into museum collections 

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by Catherine Birch

Did you know there’s (part of) a real dodo hidden in an Oxford library? How about the oldest pinned butterfly in the world? Or the first illustrated life cycle of an insect? 

As we’ve said before, one of the great advantages of the traineeship is the training itself. As well as our scheduled sessions we’re encouraged to explore different aspects of library work, and there are loads of great opportunities for shadowing across the university. So, as a few of us wanted to learn more about other GLAM1 careers, we decided to arrange a group visit to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to see what goes on in a museum library. During a rare training-free week, we braved the winter chill to gather at the entrance and meet Danielle, the museum’s lead Librarian and Archivist, for a tour.

An external view of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It is a large Victorian building built in brown stone with a small grassy area in the courtyard.

Our intrepid tour guide took us to the site of the original library to start with, as she gave us a brief overview of the museum’s history. OUMNH was founded in 1860 with the intent to modernise and promote natural philosophy at Oxford. Previously, science faculties had been scattered across different colleges and institutions, usually without suitable teaching and research space.  The museum was designed to house all these departments (and their collections) in one purpose-built location, with a 500-seat lecture theatre, specialised laboratories, and a large library. 

The library in particular was designed as a grand intellectual space unifying art and science, in line with contemporary ideas about natural theology. The interior design was crafted to be educational as well as decorative, and while the layout has been altered significantly over time, parts of the original structure remain. This library wasn’t just for private study: it was used for teaching and hosting events too, and many famous feet trod the boards of the museum. Some actually visited before it was fully opened! The museum library was the site of Wilberforce and Huxley’s famous ‘Great Debate’ on natural selection, held before the collections were even installed. 

Unfortunately, the lack of light and climate controls in this grandiose Victorian building meant it wasn’t the best space for preserving collections. The library was eventually moved to more suitable rooms on the other side of the building, and this space now holds the museum’s sizeable insect collection – the second largest in the country, with an estimated five million specimens! The Hope Entomological Collections (named for their founder F. W. Hope) particularly focus on historic material, and the museum even holds the world’s oldest pinned entomological specimen: a Bath white butterfly from 1702. We also learned about other gems of the collection such as the world’s largest known bee, Charles Darwin’s beetles, and an individual collection of 140,000 flies. These are all stored safely in their cabinets, protected from harsh sunlight and fluctuating temperatures which could damage them long-term. The perils of beautiful old buildings…

These insects aren’t managed by the library or archives staff as they need more specialist care, but they are available for viewing and study by appointment. Apparently, they’re a very popular topic! 

The Old Library. It is a long dark room with a single large window at the far end and a pointed ceiling. Two rows of display drawers and cabinets go all the way down the room.
Sunlight and fresh air is great for living specimens… not so great for preserved ones

Once we’d finished staring at drawers full of bugs, we left this room behind and headed to the new library. The bookstacks hold information on all the collections areas in the museum: zoology, entomology, geology, general natural history, and more! However, one unusual feature of the library is a total lack of plant biology. OUMNH doesn’t cover any botanical science, as they try to avoid significant collections overlaps with other university institutions. They coordinate their collection development with the Botanical Gardens and Herbaria (which hold all the university’s plant specimens and literature) and the Radcliffe Science Library (Oxford’s main science library), although a lot of their new material is donated rather than actively sought out. Danielle explained that this means a lot of the collection is highly specific and niche material produced by subject experts. The library also contains a lot of small-scale periodicals and amateur publications – in some cases, it holds the only publicly available copy of an item! While a lot of this content isn’t in high demand, it’s incredibly useful for in-depth research, and people travel from all over to consult the collections.  

The upstairs shelves in the new library, filled with books and grey archive boxes.
More shelves downstairs in the new library, broadly identical to the upper level.

After this overview we learned about some of the ongoing projects within the library – mostly to do with organising the collection. As previously mentioned, the museum was originally designed to host all the non-medical sciences in one space. As each of these faculties gradually moved out, they left behind some of their books and papers, which got quietly absorbed into the wider library. While this was useful for expanding the collection, most of these items weren’t re-labelled or updated. This means the library now has a huge variety of shelfmarks and classification systems to contend with, which can make finding certain things a real challenge if you don’t know where to look! The library is in the process of a massive stock inventory and re-classification process to try and alleviate the issue but given the scale of the collection, it’s definitely going to take a while. Thankfully, the collection is fully catalogued, so all these items are traceable online. As trainees, it’s always interesting to see how other libraries manage their collections and what projects get prioritised; there’s always a million jobs to be done in a library, and never the time to do them all… 

A metal, dome-shaped helmet with a brim. The letters OUM are painted on the front. It rests on top of a display cabinet containing a plaster cast of a human face).

After that, we moved into the next room to see the archive. Anything which isn’t a book or a specimen goes here, including historical photographs, research notes, old journals, and other relevant ephemera, as well as all the artwork on display in the galleries. If a specimen is in the museum, accompanying field notes are almost certainly held in the archive. The museum also has a smaller institutional archive for important documents and items related to the building’s history. We saw a photo of the museum when it opened, and a picture of the original bird display which featured the remains of an actual Dodo! These remains are still held within the collection (although not on public display), making it the only place in the world to still have a soft tissue Dodo specimen. The nature of archives means that all these items are rare or unique, and the collection is full of unusual gems like a (mildly creepy) cast of a face and an old professor’s shoes.

As a rule, every archive does have at least one item that nobody can quite explain, and this one was no different: Danielle showed us this unidentified old helmet which was allegedly pulled out of a taxidermized camel’s hump! 

Now it was time for the really fun part: the treasures of the collection. Every librarian loves to talk about their favourite books, and we loved listening to it! We got to look through a lot of really interesting items, like a handwritten letter from Charles Darwin, the engraved trowel used to lay the museum’s foundations, a handmade eighteenth-century book of botanical and entomological art (left), and a book of butterflies which helped inform Linnaeas’ taxonomy (right).

An example page of entomological art, featuring a selection of different species of spider in a tree.
A page from 'the History of Four Footed Beasts and Serpents', containing an illustration of a unicorn and explanatory text.
A page from 'Jones Icones', featuring two illustrations of a particular species of butterfly.
Not your average library books!

My personal favourite was the first book on natural history written in English: ‘The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents’ (centre).

Produced in London in 1658, the author Edward Topsell had actually never left England, and was working mostly from the descriptions of other naturalists. This meant he had never seen most of the animals he was drawing and describing… and it shows. The book features cats and hedgehogs alongside unicorns and lamiae, each with pages of detailed description. While the animals might not all be real, and some of the drawings are certainly questionable, the fact it’s written in English is historically significant, and it represents an admirable effort to compile and share scientific information.  

Another particularly interesting find was the first nationwide geological map of Britain (or any country, actually). The map was produced by William ‘Strata’ Smith, a canal surveyor looking to make some extra money. Smith began noticing consistencies in the strata he saw while working: they were always arranged in a predictable pattern, and usually followed the chronological succession of fossil groups. In search of a way to represent his findings, he developed a detailed geological map of the area around Bath, which he later extrapolated into a map of the entirety of England and part of Scotland. He didn’t find much success or fame during his lifetime unfortunately, but he’s now recognised as the father of English geology and his work is still famous today. Fun fact: he produced each map individually and numbered them, so you can identify where he corrected his own work over time if you look through them in order. 

Having seen all there was to see, we said our goodbyes and left, though not without a last glance at the galleries and a few photos of our favourite items. After all, is it even a natural history museum if you don’t see a dinosaur?  

A large model of a dinosaur skeleton from the museum's main display gallery.
Two different dinosaur skeletons in the centre of the museum's main display gallery.

The real stars of the show

Oxford Museum of Natural History is a fascinating place, with over 150 years’ worth of collections and a rich institutional history. If you want to learn more about the items mentioned in this blog post, why not see them for yourself! The library covers a huge range of subjects, and the entire collection is searchable via the university catalogue and the museum website, with access open to anyone by appointment.  

  1. Gardens/Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums ↩︎

Trips to London Libraries

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On the morning of Wednesday 5th July, this year’s Graduate Trainees met at Oxford station for perhaps the most eagerly awaited trainee trip: The visits to two specialist libraries across the capital. This year, trainees could decide to visit the Guardian Library, the Natural History Museum Library, the London Library, and the British Film Institute Library. As this visit was the highlight of the year for many trainees, we have therefore decided to write a few words about the day and what we learned from visiting these four unique libraries!

THE GUARDIAN LIBRARY

For the morning session, eight of the trainees had decided to visit the library of the Guardian and Observer newspapers. Located in a light and airy high rise just to the north of King’s Cross Station, it was immediately apparent when entering the building and meeting the Information Manger that both the library and the role of a librarian at a news organisation were very different to the world of academic libraries we had grown accustomed to in Oxford. Instead of the gothic exteriors, ancient tomes, and wooden panelling of many of the Bodleian Libraries, on our tour of the newspaper offices we encountered instead a busy open plan office stretching around the entire building and a rather small library tucked away in the corner.

The entrance to the Guardian offices (Photo credit: Will Shire)

In his informative talk during our visit, the Information Manager explained why this was the case. In a world of 24 hour news and broadband connectivity, the role of the librarian at all media organisations has changed considerably over the last few decades. Before the internet, he explained, all large newspapers required a librarian to manage a ‘cuttings library’, filled with stories taken from all the major newspapers and meticulously organised by their subject – either about a particular event or about the activities of a well-known person. As technology advanced and journalists started to do the majority of their work online, the role of the librarian therefore also changed. The cuttings library still exists, but on top of managing this, the information team now use the Guardian collections to improve the journalism in other ways. He explained that their in depth information knowledge gained from librarianship means that they are well placed to answer any complicated research enquiries from journalists or to even create their own pieces following statistical analysis and insight gained from managing the Guardian Library’s holdings. Although technology is affecting librarianship across all sectors, this talk therefore demonstrated that the skills of librarians remain useful in a digitally connected world.

The tour that we had of the offices concluded with a visit to the offices of the Guardian’s archives team, which also works closely with the library. The two archivists emphasised the importance of their collections, as they not only provide a unique glimpse of the changing journalism industry in the UK, but can also act as a springboard for a wide variety of researchers, as newspaper articles are the first response to current events. The archives contain several back editions of the Observer and Guardian newspapers, and several artefacts relevant to their journalism, such as the Edward Snowdon laptops that are now of national importance.

It was excellent to have the opportunity to visit the media library of one of the most well-known newspapers in the country, and the talks gave us a well-rounded introduction into another aspect of librarianship that few of the trainees had prior knowledge of or considered as a career path.

Written by Will Shire, Taylor and PTFL trainee

THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM LIBRARY

Those of us fortunate enough (perhaps ‘judicious’ might be a better term – who wouldn’t want to stroll beneath a 25.2 metre-long floating blue whale skeleton?) to bid to visit the NHM were hoping for a morning of quirks and curiosities.  Happily, we were not to be disappointed.

Seated amidst the stuffed rarities and sweeping bookshelves of the Reading Room we were treated to two very intriguing talks delivered by the Researcher Services Librarian and the Special Collections Librarian, which covered (amongst other things) mermaids, woodworm, and the dangers of voyaging in the 18th century.

We were able to hear about the development of the existing collections and received an overview of some of the topics represented in the library today such as Palaeontology, Botany, Entomology, Zoology, Ornithology, Anthropology and Mineralogy.

The trainees at the Natural History Museum Library (Photo credit: NHM twitter feed, originally posted on 5th July, 2017)

There was also a chance to take a closer look at some of the NHM’s most fascinating manuscripts and special collections including a letter penned by Charles Darwin and the Endeavour botanical illustrations.  Our guides were friendly and very knowledgeable and I feel that we all benefitted from our exposure to a library so entirely different to those that many of us are used to.

The NHM has been steadily acquiring material since 1881 and hosts readers from a variety of backgrounds on a daily basis.  There is a growing emphasis on the importance of digitisation across libraries and archives at present and consequently the NHM aims to upload around 25,000 items to the Biodiversity Heritage Library every single month, ensuring that scholars are able to access the materials they need wherever they are located.  NHM staff have produced publications on a plethora of interesting topics and are often found engaging in outreach activities such as ‘Nature Live’ (free discussions held in Attenborough Studio, by all accounts not to be missed!).

I’d like to thank our hosts for their time and efforts in showing us around this magnificent institution.  I left the NHM with a whole new appreciation of the magnitude of that 83 foot whale skeleton, but also with a better awareness of the sheer scale of the NHM library and archival operations, and for that I’m incredibly grateful.

You can keep up to date with the latest goings-on at the NHM by following them on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/NHM_Library.

Written by Steph Bushell, All Souls College trainee

THE LONDON LIBRARY

Following our respective morning sessions, eight of the trainees travelled to 14 St James’ Square to visit the famous London Library in the afternoon. From the outside this library looks rather small, as it appears to just fill one small building tucked into the corner of the square. Once we entered, however, it became clear that appearances can definitely be deceiving!

The entrance to the London Library (Photo credit: Sophie Welsh)

Upon entering the building, we were met by the Head of Membership Services and she proceeded to give us a very informative tour through the labyrinthine London Library. Although the library originally only occupied the small entrance building on St James’ Square, she told us that it had continued to grow since its foundation in 1841 and had gradually expanded into the adjacent buildings. On our tour, we therefore climbed several sets of stairs, and saw beautiful cast iron stacks, filled with levels of books both above and below us as far as we could see.

Whilst we were looking at the stacks, we were given a short introduction into the unique classification scheme at the London Library. Unlike the academic libraries in Oxford, the London Library is designed for browsing, and the shelfmark system is therefore designed accordingly. Instead of the neat labels with individual shelfmarks in the Bodleian Libraries, the London Library’s books are arranged alphabetically by individual categories designed in the Victorian period. This means that browsing must be really fun, as readers not only have to browse the shelves to find a specific book (and hopefully encountering other interesting titles whilst they do so), but also have to think like a Victorian to find the books they need. Books on Ethiopia are consequently still shelved under A for Abyssinia, as this was the name of the country when the scheme was developed! As the library has no formal weeding policy and keeps 95% of its material on the open shelves, it is therefore common to find a modern book (such as one on Ethiopian History) nestled next to a Victorian copy on a similar topic.

The beautiful stacks in the London Library (Photo credit: Sophie Welsh)

After looking at the stacks, we then had a tour of the main reading rooms. Whilst we were looking through these rooms, our tour guide gave us several interesting anecdotes on the history of the library. We learned, therefore, about the heroic efforts of the readers to rescue as many books as possible after one of the rooms was hit by a German bomb during the Second World War, and also discovered more about the famous literary figures associated with the library. These range from T.S Eliot, a long serving President of the Library, to Joseph Conrad, Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf, and Siegfried Sassoon who were all members.

Our visit to the London Library was a really enjoyable experience. As it is a private members library, it was interesting to compare this library with the academic libraries we are used to in Oxford, and to see how this affects library organisation as it has created a library based around browsing and quick access to the majority of material. It is without doubt a unique library, and if I ever live in London and have enough money for the membership fees, I would definitely like to join in the future!

Written by Will Shire, Taylor and PTFL trainee

BFI REUBEN LIBRARY

On the way to the BFI (Photo credit: Hannah Medworth)

Arriving at the British Film Institute at Southbank after lunch on a ridiculously sunny day (see Hannah’s photo!), half the trainees met with the Librarian for Reader Services for the BFI Reuben Library. First of all, she took us to the library’s main reading room and spoke with us about what her library offers and how it functions, along with a brief history. We learnt a lot. For example, we were told that the library has recently seen a surge of A-Level pupils and school-aged readers. We also learnt about the library’s stance on membership; previously it had been a members’ library which charged a small membership fee but now it is free for everybody to use.

After the introduction, we were given a demonstration of the library’s collections database which holds information on more than 800,000 film titles. The database itself was quite different to ones we as trainees are familiar with in our university libraries. When using SOLO, we may filter by ‘physical items’ or ‘electronic resources’, but at the BFI it is the norm to begin a search while keeping an eye out for symbols indicating a much larger range of materials:

Materials available at the BFI Reuben Library (From collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web)

Following this, if you are searching to view a film – or as it is referred to at the BFI, searching to access ‘moving image material’ – there may be several different ‘manifestations’ to choose from. This has been explained to be roughly equivalent to different editions or publications of a book. These different manifestations could include film, digital copies, VHS cassettes, audio tapes, and film negatives – all of which could be subdivided by gauge, release print, or combination.

We were also shown some of the exciting projects going on at the BFI, from their streaming service – BFIPLAYER – to the fascinating Britain On Film. The latter is a web interface where you can find films made locally for a certain area: documentaries, home films, shorts and even feature films.

Next we were taken downstairs to visit the library’s stacks. There we received two treats tailor-made for librarians: bookmarks and a recommendation of a film with a particularly inspiring librarian character: Desk Set (1957) starring Katharine Hepburn. Our tour guide also mentioned an article she had written for the BFI website about the best librarians on screen (not, as she said, just on film, else you have to miss out Giles on Buffy): http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/10-best-librarians-screen

It was here too that the Librarian for Reader Services explained how she had had to fight against cuts to the library, whether to its staffing, funding or collections, leaving us with the impression that as a librarian it is important to be a passionate and vocal advocate for libraries.

Written by Connie Bettison, St John’s College trainee

So that’s a short guide to our hugely enjoyable day visiting some beautiful libraries across London! The day was definitely one of the best visits we have been on throughout our year, and I’m sure I can speak for all trainees when I say that I am very grateful to Staff Development for organising everything and to the individual staff members at the respective libraries who made time for us. It was a great way to end our traineeship, and gave us a fascinating insight into several libraries that are completely different to the ones that we are familiar with in Oxford.

London Adventures!

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The Graduate Trainees were lucky enough to visit some libraries in London at the beginning of July. We could choose two out of four different libraries, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Here’s what we got up to.

The Natural History Museum Library – Alan McKechnie 

NHM The Graduate Trainees meet Dippy the NHM’s famous diplodocus – photo courtesy of Danielle Czerkaszyn

As a part of our traineeship a lucky group of us got to explore the Natural History Museum Library and Archives in London. Opened in 1881, the library and archival collections numbers over 1 million items, including books, journals, artwork, and archival items. The materials are housed across two sites (the offsite repository being based in Tring), but there is also a growing wealth of online resources available.

Our first port of call was to meet with Hellen Pethers (Reader Services Librarian) who kindly served as our tour guide. We got to view the beautiful Art-Deco style reading rooms, with dark wood panelling, exquisite metallic hand rails, and walls lined with all manner of Natural History material – it was a real treat. One of the critical talking points from Hellen was library logistics from both the standpoint of operating a split site and how they manage collections, loans, and visitors in one of the busiest museums in London. The fetch service and the pre-order of materials before a visit works exceptionally in this demanding museum. Hellen also discussed utilising the library materials for the ‘afterhours’ educational events, such as ‘Crime Scene Live’, which is a great way of giving the public access to materials and publicising the more obscure literature which might otherwise go unused.

The next talk was with Andrea Hart (Library Special Collections Manager) who had a fascinating spread of archival and special collection material for us to sample. Andrea talked in detail about the materials, which ranged from old velum covered books too warped to even be opened safely, to exquisite botanical drawings, to photographs of the founding staff of the Natural History Museum. These we viewed under the eerie and watchful marble eyes of the busts of previous naturalists and museum curators. The sheer range of materials the Natural History Museum houses was remarkable and to be given such detailed information on these materials and their preservation was a real privilege.

The final talk was given by Paul Martin Cooper (Special Collections Librarian) who discussed creating ‘The Bauer Brothers: Masters of Scientific Illustration’ exhibition currently on display. It was fascinating to learn the fine details of exhibition planning, from choosing the illustrations, to executing the quarterly rotations to keep the exhibition fresh, to how Paul chooses what to write on the display cards – the meticulous planning results in repeatedly beautiful displays. We also discussed Paul’s exhibition publication ‘Images of Nature: the Bauer Brothers’, which gives the public a take-home sample of never before published archival material.nhm archive

Examining the museum’s special collection treasures – Photo courtesy of The Trustees of the Natural History Museum London

The BFI Library – Mary Atkinson 

It was difficult to choose between the excellent libraries we had the opportunity to visit! However as I have an interest in film I decided that I would like to see how a specialist library like the BFI Reuben Library manages its collections and works within a large arts organisation. When I met Sarah, the Reader Services Librarian, her enthusiasm for the role of the library in promoting the study and love of film was infectious.

Located in a cultural hub between the Royal Festival Hall and the National Theatre, the BFI South Bank is the public face of the British Film Institute and hosts many screenings and events. Sarah explained that the BFI has various branches to support its aims as a major funder of film production, as well as the organisation of film festivals and events, rights clearance, fundraising and outreach work. Archives, special collections and film media are stored in their Multi Media Vault in controlled conditions. Because of this spread of activity, the South Bank location is the first point of call for enquiries from students, researchers and members of the public.

The Library is free to use and is open to everyone. I found the atmosphere warm and welcoming, with a cosy reading room, open shelf books and journals, and computers for catalogue searching and viewing digitised material. Sarah showed me some example catalogue searches to demonstrate how the library organises its complex holdings. They also hold events and talks tied in with current film screenings, and outreach activities including study sessions with A-Level Film students. The visit ended with a look at the stack where older periodicals are stored, including some brilliant early trade and fan magazines. I left feeling inspired by the range of services offered by the library, and also determined to check out the BFI’s fascinating free online resources such as the Britain on Film collection: http://www.bfi.org.uk/britain-on-film).

Danielle Czerkaszyn – The London Library

London Library book stack

One of the stacks found at The London Library – Photo courtesy of Danielle Czerkaszyn

We arrived at 14 St James’s Square somewhat unsure of the unobtrusive entrance to the London Library. We were met by the Head of Member Services, Amanda Stubbings, who gave us a guided tour and told us more about the fascinating history of the UK’s largest independent lending library, a vast building hiding behind a deceptively modest façade…

In 1841, Scottish historian and author Thomas Carlyle decided to open a private lending library after finding that many of the policies and facilities at the British Museum Library were not to his liking. Over the years, as the collections grew, the Library attracted many of the most famous names in the literary world – Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Darwin, Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, George Bernard Shaw, Agatha Christie, and T.S. Eliot – to name but a few.  Today, the library holds over one million books and periodicals in over 50 languages, whilst also keeping pace with a growing range of electronic journals and databases.

Amanda helped us navigate the maze of different spaces in the Library; from the Victorian steel framed see-through (!) book stacks to the newest space, The Art Room, redesigned in 2014. She outlined the scope of the collections, which are particularly strong in the humanities, and highlighted some of the Library’s special collections. We were amazed by the broad range of subjects covered and given that everything is arranged by subject and author, we discovered that browsing is a dream! We also learned about future projects and refurbishment plans, including additional reading desks, three more floors of book stacks, and a new reading room.

It’s safe to say that we all left feeling highly enthused by what we’d just experienced. We loved the narrow stacks, the smell of old books and friendly nature of staff and patrons, all of whom were clearly there due to a real love of books.  Membership is open to everyone for an annual fee, though the library also runs free evening tours for members of the public who fancy a quick peak.  The London Library is currently celebrating its 175th birthday so there is no better time to visit this literary gem.

The Guardian – Clare Hunter

Guardian

Some trainees meet the very cute stars of a Guardian advertising campaign –  Photo courtesy of Tom Dale

In the afternoon four intrepid trainees took the tube to Kings Cross to explore the exciting world of news librarianship at the Guardian. We were welcomed by Richard Nelsson, the Information manager. He gave us a fascinating insight into why a newspaper might need a librarian and how the role has developed from organising cuttings in folders to searching through electronic databases. It was particularly interesting to learn about the different types of research performed by the research department and how they worked with both the Editorial staff and the archives. After our discussion we were given a quick tour of the rest of the Guardian’s offices, where we saw the hustle and bustle of the different departments of the newsroom. Finally we met with the Guardian’s archivist who took us through some of the incredible array of items in their basement store.   So much of the Guardian’s history was there, from sketches for a cartoon from the 1970s to photographs of Margaret Thatcher and the smashed up parts of the hard drive that held the information released by Edward Snowden! It was fascinating to be able to learn about a very different side of librarianship that we had not seen before and see where one of Britain’s major newspapers is put together.

Exploring the Libraries of London

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On July 11th, the graduate trainees visited some of the interesting and eclectic libraries in London. We each attended a tour and talk at two of the following: the London Library, the Guardian Newspaper Library, the British Library and the Natural History Museum Library and Archives. I am pleased to report that everyone enjoyed the visits, none of us got lost, and no one embarrassed Oxford too much…

TheThe entrance to the London Library - 14 St James's Square London Library is a members-only lending library, founded in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle. Membership is open to anyone (£445 per year), and the library is funded almost entirely by these fees. As books are never withdrawn, the constant battle for space is more acute than at most libraries. As you wander around, lost or otherwise, you notice that each extension has a distinct style, ranging from utilitarian steel shelves to wood paneling, indicative of the era it was built in. The unique classification system groups books alphabetically by subject, including, under ‘Science & Miscellany’, topics such as Love, Genius and Duelling.

The Guardian Library serves the research and fact-checking needs of the newspaper’s journalists, compiling timelines, background information and previous press coverage to support big stories. The library staff also maintains a section of the Guardian website, showcasing articles froInside the Guardian newspaper officesm this day in past years, and putting up interesting features, such as a timeline of Guardian articles about Harry Potter to celebrate the books’ 15th anniversary. The library’s physical collection amounts to one wall in the archive office, and consists mainly of dictionaries and reference works such as Who’s Who. However, the library also provides and promotes many online reference tools for reporters.

The British Library is impressively large with over 150 million items, on-site space for 1200 readers and a glass tower containing the library of King George III in the centre of the building.  The talk at the British Library was about their Greek Manuscripts Digitisation Project – its highlights, challenges and workflows.  Both the tour and the talk highlighted the collaborative, outreach and digitisation work of the library. We concluded our day with a visit to the highly recommended Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands exhibition.

Inside the Natural History Museum Library
From left to right: Rebecca (futureArch), Vicky (All Souls), Jayne (MLFL), Charlotte (Nuffield), Janine (SSL), Lizzie (RSl), Matt (Bodleian), Michelle (University Archives), Rebecca (EFL).

The Natural History Museum Library is open to the public as a reference library, but is primarily a lending library for scientists working at the NHM, who can borrow an unlimited number of books. Loans are still recorded on paper, which means the library is closed for two weeks each year while the borrowing slips are checked against the sometimes hundreds of books in scientists’ offices… The archive holds records relating to all activities of the museum, from the late 18th century to the present day, and includes such documents as accession registers of specimens received by the museum, and letters from a collector about having his arm bitten off by a cheetah.

London Library and Guardian Newspaper Library by Evelyn (Union), British Library and Natural History Museum Library by Lizzie (RSL).