Accessing our Digital Collections
An introduction to viewing our collections online
Special Collections at The University of Manchester Library hold outstanding collections of rare books, manuscripts and archives, many of which can now be viewed online. Special Collections material can be accessed online using two platforms: Manchester Digital Collections and Library Digitised Collections (LUNA).
- Library Digital Collections (LUNA)
- Manchester Digital Collections
- Manchester Digital Exhibitions
- Using our images in your work
- Requesting digital copies of material
Library Digital Collections (LUNA)
Library Digital Collections (LUNA) is our established image viewer, hosting all of our digitised images. To check whether an item has been photographed and is available online, it’s recommended to check first on LUNA.
For more information on using LUNA, please see this post:
Manchester Digital Collections
Manchester Digital Collections is our newest platform, giving researchers, academics and students the ability to unlock the potential of our collections. It allows enhanced viewing and manipulation of ultra-high quality images, with a parallel display of text, audio and video content. Its catalogue records allow links to be added, making navigation of digitised books and codices much simpler.
Using Manchester Digital Collections, academics can curate digital editions of important items from the collections, contextualising them and bringing their research on the collections to a wider audience. New material is presently being added, and we are busy migrating many of our collections across from LUNA.
For further guidance please see this page:
Manchester Digital Exhibitions
Manchester Digital Exhibitions (MDE) draws together past exhibitions at the Rylands and new online-only projects. Discover digital objects and uncover in-depth interpretation from our staff and researchers.
Using our images in your work
The University of Manchester digitised Special Collections material is made available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 4.0) wherever possible. This license allows non-commercial reuse of the image, provided credit is given and other conditions are met. When viewing an image on LUNA, there will be an ‘Access Rights’ field on the left hand side with a Creative Commons logo beneath. Clicking on logo this will clarify the terms under which the image can be reused.
For further information on copyright and reusing our images in your work, please see the Specialist Library Support team’s guidance, or contact the Imaging team.
Requesting digital copies of material
Our Imaging team can provide digital images of Special Collections material for research and publication. For further information and to request high resolution copies please get in touch with us.
The University of Manchester digitised Special Collections material is made available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 4.0) wherever possible. For further information on digital images and to request high resolution copies please contact our imaging team.
