Participating Libraries and Archives
Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
The Brotherton Library contains the research collections for languages and the arts. The Special Collections Research Centre, including some of the UK's outstanding rare books and manuscripts, is based within the library. Special Collections is the home of hundreds of thousands of rare books, manuscripts, archives and art. The collections offer a rich resource for staff, students and the wider research community.
Discover documents from the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds.
The City of London's Guildhall Library holds internationally renowned collections of books on family and local history, wine and food, Samuel Pepys, John Wilkes and Thomas Moore, plus the libraries of the Clockmakers', Gardeners' and Fletchers' Companies, the Antiquarian Horological Society, Gresham College and the Charles Lamb Society.
The Guildhall's archive collections, which are managed by London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) and accessed at Guildhall Library, include the archives of eighty City livery companies and the London Stock Exchange, and the Lloyd's Marine Collection.
Discover documents from the Guildhall Library, London.
Located on 235 acres along the banks of the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware, Hagley is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E. I. du Pont in 1802. This example of early American industry includes restored mills, a workers' community and the ancestral home and gardens of the du Pont family.
Hagley's library furthers the study of business and technology in America. The collections include individuals' papers and companies' records ranging from eighteenth-century merchants to modern telecommunications and illustrate the impact of the business system on society.
Discover documents from Hagley Museum and Library.
In 1974 a small group within the advertising industry decided that its heritage needed to be preserved and that the study of UK advertising should be encouraged. As a result, The History of Advertising Trust was founded in 1976 and registered as a charity in 1978.
The History of Advertising Trust is the archive for many of the major governing organisations of UK brand communications. These include: The Advertising Association, The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, The Direct Marketing Association, Periodical Publishers Association and The Institute of Public Relations. The trust’s archive clients include Butlins (Bourne Leisure), Kraft Heinz Ltd (now including HP Foods Ltd), Hovis (RHM Group Ltd) and Vimto (Nichols plc).
The History of Advertising Trust also hold the archives of many of the top 30 agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and J. Walter Thompson, as well as dozens of agencies that no longer trade such as Bates UK/Dorland and Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Discover documents from the History of Advertising Trust.
London School of Economics and Political Science
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is one of the foremost social science universities in the world.
Discover documents from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The importance of collecting rare and special books for use as unique research tools has been recognized by the Michigan State University Libraries since its beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. Honouring this commitment, Special Collections was formally established in 1962 with the charge to house special materials, as well as to build, preserve and make accessible important research collections for educational use.
Today, Special Collections holds over 450,000 printed works, numerous manuscript and archival collections, and an extensive collection of ephemera supporting research in popular culture, radicalism, comic art and gender. Notable rare book collections include early veterinary medicine, eighteenth-century British history and culture, modern American literature, cookery and natural history.
Discover documents from Michigan State University Libraries.
State Library of New South Wales
The State Library of New South Wales is a leading global library, with a history dating back to 1826. The State Library's collection contains over 5 million items including more than 2 million books, 1.2 million microforms, 1.1 million photographs, as well as newspapers, maps, architectural plans, manuscripts and other items. The Library’s collection has a reputation as the most valuable library collection in Australia and among the most valuable in the world.
Discover documents from the State Library of New South Wales.
The British Library serves business and industry, researchers, academics and students in the UK and world-wide. The library receives a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland and the collection includes well over 150 million items, in most known languages, with three million new items added every year. The British Library houses manuscripts, maps, newspapers, magazines, prints and drawings, music scores, patents, sound recordings, stamps and other philatelic items and over 16,000 people use the collections each day (on site and online).
Discover documents from The British Library.
.gif){kind=small}
The National Archives are one of the world’s most valuable resources for academic research. As the official archive and publisher for the UK government they are the guardian of millions of the UK's national documents, the earliest dating back over 1,000 years. Their role is to collect and secure the future of the government record, both digital and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible. For the academic community and others engaged in scholarly research The National Archives offer opportunities for collaboration and partnership across a broad range of disciplines. They bring together the skills and specialisms needed to conserve some of the oldest historical documents with leading digital archive practices to manage and preserve government information past, present and future.
Discover documents from The National Archives, UK.
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego Library provides access to more than 7 million items, including digital and print volumes, journals and multimedia materials to meet the knowledge demands of scholars, students and members of the public. The University of California, San Diego Library is ranked among the nation’s top 25 public academic libraries and plays a critical role in advancing and supporting the university’s research, teaching, patient care, and public service missions.
Discover documents from the University of California, San Diego.
The University of Michigan Library is the sixth largest library in the United States. The Library contains more than 12.8 million volumes and 136,819 current serials. The Special Collections Library is home to some of the most historically significant treasures at the University of Michigan. The Special Collections Library includes around 275,000 published volumes, as well as an estimated 6,500 linear feet of archival material, about 450 incunabula (pre-1501 books), and almost 1,400 early manuscripts on vellum and paper. The Special Collections Library also includes an estimated 20,000 posters and prints and 10,000 photographs.
Discover documents from the University of Michigan.
Almost 60 years ago, collector and horticulturist Henry Francis du Pont (1880–1969) opened his childhood home, Winterthur, to the public. Today, Winterthur is the premier museum of American decorative arts, with an unparalleled collection of nearly 90,000 objects made or used in America between about 1640 and 1860. The collection is displayed in the magnificent 175-room house, much as it was when the du Pont family lived here, as well as in permanent and changing exhibition galleries.
Winterthur is set amidst a 1,000-acre preserve of rolling meadows and woodlands. Designed by du Pont, its 60-acre naturalistic garden is among America’s best, with magnificent specimen plantings and massed displays of colour. Graduate programs and a preeminent research library make Winterthur an important centre for the study of American art and culture.
Discover documents from the Winterthur Library.
The New York Academy of Medicine Library
Initially established as a medical collection for the use of physicians, the Library opened to the public in 1878. As a working professional library, the collection’s primary focus was first in contemporary medicine, but soon extended to rare and historical materials. The Library's current focus has shifted to building on its historical holdings, including current works in the history of medicine.
Special subject strengths of the collections include anatomical atlases, cardiology, cookery, dermatology, healthy living regimens, history of medicine of the City of New York, homeopathy and alternative medical systems, medical Americana, medical botany, neurology, surgery, and women's and children's health. Manuscript strengths include medical and culinary receipt books, student notebooks, hospital casebooks, and the personal diaries, daybooks, and correspondence of prominent New York physicians.
Discover documents from The New York Academy of Medicine Library
Cal Poly is a polytechnic university, established in 1938 that prides itself in its technology-enhanced, learn-by-doing approach to education.
The University’s Special Collections and Archives collect, organize, preserve, and make available Cal Poly Pomona's rare books and archival collections. The collections centre around themes relevant to the mission of the university and are available for use by all interested users including students, faculty, staff, and the general research community.
Special Collections and Archives actively acquires new materials on a regular basis in their subject strengths. They house the University Archives, the Southern California Wine and Wine Industry Collection, the Pomona Valley Historical Collection, and the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library.
Discover documents from Cal Poly Pomona
Bristol City Archives look after the archives of the city of Bristol and surrounding areas, as well as the British Empire & Commonwealth Collection. They have made both archives available to the public, free of charge.
Collections at the archive include records reflecting different aspects of Bristol’s history such as official records of the city, the records of estates, families and individuals associated with Bristol and the archives of Bristol businesses such as the confectioners J S Fry & Sons and Elizabeth Shaw.
Discover documents from the Bristol City Archives
Established in 1935, The British Film Institute National Archive contains one of the largest film and television collections in the world, consisting of nearly one million titles, dating from the birth of cinema to present day. Concentrating on British titles, the BFI carefully select material for their collections, preserving, restoring, and interpreting them to ensure that film heritage is widely accessible in cinemas and in the home. They also collect posters, images, publicity material, original scripts, letters, and other artefacts.
Discover films from The British Film Institute
Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History is a historical research unit of The University of Texas, based in Austin. Their archival, artifact, and library collections contain historical treasures documenting key themes in Texas and U.S. history. These treasures echo with stories of the people, places, events, and ideas that have shaped America’s history.
Collection highlights include the Field Foundation Archives, a collection documenting the way in which The Field Foundation supported organizations that promoted civil rights, child welfare, and social change. The collection contains documents touching on issues surrounding hunger and malnutrition in 20th century America, as well as the ways in which charitable and government organisations tried to tackle them.
Discover documents from the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America is a research library based at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. The Schlesinger Library holdings date from the founding of the United States to the present day and include more than 3,200 manuscript collections, 100,000 volumes of books and periodicals, and films, photos, and audio-visual material.
The library’s holdings are particularly strong in the fields of women’s rights and feminism, work and family life and culinary history and etiquette. The library is also home to the manuscript collections of the popular American cookery teacher and television personality, Julia Child.
Discover documents from the Schlesinger Library