Introducing Special Collections for Literary Landscapes students
A short guide to finding and using Special Collections material at the University of Manchester
Introduction
This resource will help you to navigate the wonderful world of Special Collections at the University of Manchester (UoM). Special Collections are valuable primary sources and using them effectively will enhance your research skills and help you to develop a critical approach to learning.
Content
What are Special Collections?
It isn’t easy to define ‘Special Collections’. It is a general term which usually refers to items which are unique or rare but it also includes items which have a particular association to people, places or events. Special Collections are not necessarily old. We do have clay tablets which date back to 2500 BCE but we also hold examples of modern fine printing, oral history recordings and email archives.
The Special Collections at the University of Manchester comprise rare books, manuscripts, archives, maps, visual materials, and film and audio recordings. To discover the characteristics of some of these and what makes them special, read the post below:
How to search UML Special Collections
There are a lot of different types of material included in Special Collections which vary in format. Different formats have different cataloguing requirements and standards, which make it difficult to search for them in one place. This means that you may have to consult several different types of catalogue to search across collections. But once you master the basics it’s quite exciting to surface little-known materials.
Our catalogues
Most of our catalogues can be accessed from this page. From here you can search printed materials, visual materials, archives, digital collections and manuscripts.
Library Search is particularly strong for printed materials (including rare books and maps). The advanced function allows you to search for items in Special Collections only. The short video below provides a brief introduction:
To search for maps, use Library Search. Select the ‘advanced’ search function and refine your search to ‘Special Collections’. Type in your keyword and select ‘maps’ from the drop down menu under ‘material type’. *If you are searching for a map in a well known text such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, you may also want to search our book collection using Library Search. If the book includes maps and illustrations, this should be recorded in the catalogue description.
The Elgar archives catalogue can be found here. This short video describes how to search for archives:
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre archive and library collections are held and catalogued separately. Go to the AIU collections page to view their collections’ catalogues. Go to the Manchester Libraries search page to search for their publications (you can use the ‘advanced search’ function and refine your search by selecting ‘Race Relations Research Centre’ in ‘location’). Collections-level archive catalogues can also be accessed online via Archives Hub.
Other ways to explore our collections
- Guide to Special Collections provides an overview of our collections
- A-Z of our collections provides a little more detail on each collection and how to search for them
- Collections grouped by subject
- Some of the Library’s subject guides include information about Special Collections which are relevant to specific subject areas such as Drama, English and American Studies, History, Geography, Architecture, Art History and Visual Studies and many more.
- The Library also has a subject guide for Digital Humanities. This guide supports students and researchers who wish to use Library collections with Digital Humanities techniques. Examples of how such technologies have been used with our Special Collections can be seen here.
Ask for help
Curators are happy to help with your enquiries and support you with your dissertation topic. You can read more about our Special Collections staff and their specialisms here. You can contact them directly or if you’re not sure who to ask, email: uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.
If you have any questions regarding collections at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre please contact them directly at: rrarchive@manchester.ac.uk
Accessing and using Special Collections at UoM Library
Service Update
Researchers can book appointments to access material in the Special Collections Reading Rooms at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library and the Main Library.
Appointments will be available:
- For collections held at Rylands: Mondays- Fridays between 10am and 4pm.
- For collections held at the Main Library: Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 4pm.
- Limited spaces are available, and you must give a minimum of one week’s notice when booking an appointment.
Digital Appointments
You can book a digital appointment to view a small amount of Special Collections material held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library or the Main Library via an hour long Zoom call. To book an appointment please email Reader Services at uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk
Appointments are available:
- For collections held at the Rylands: Mondays — Fridays between 10am and 4pm
- For collections held at Main Library: Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 4pm
You must give a minimum of one week’s notice when booking an appointment.
Once you have identified the material you wish to consult you will need to contact us to make an appointment to come and see it in person. This short video will help you to know what to expect when you visit us.
Membership
As students of the University of Manchester you are automatically registered as Special Collections readers. However, you will need to complete an online form here before your first visit and bring your ID card with you to any appointments.
Some items from the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre can be borrowed. To do this you will need to join Manchester Libraries — this is free to anyone living in the UK.
Locations
The University of Manchester’s Special Collections are stored across three sites: The John Rylands Library in the city centre; the Main Library on the Oxford Road campus and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, located in Manchester Central Library, in the city centre.
Most Special Collections are held at The John Rylands Library and are consulted in the reading room on the 4th floor.
Collections held at the Main Library include the archives of the University of Manchester, Christian Brethren Archives, the Map Collection, many scientific and medical archives and post-1800 medical books. These are consulted in either the Archive Centre on Blue 4 or the Map Room on the ground floor.
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre is located on the ground floor of Manchester Central Library. Some special material may need to be consulted in the Central Library Search room on the ground floor. Please contact the centre directly at least one day in advance of your visit: rrarchive@manchester.ac.uk.
Booking an appointment (for items located at John Rylands Library and Main Library)
From Monday 14th April, researchers can book appointments to access material in the Special Collections Reading Rooms at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library and the Main Library.
Appointments will be available:
- For collections held at the Rylands: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10am and 4pm
- For collections held at the Main Library: Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 4pm
Limited spaces are available, and you must give a minimum of one week’s notice when booking an appointment.
We offer a closed-access reader service which means that items must be pre-ordered and can only be viewed in our reading rooms; you cannot request material on the day.
It is essential to contact us one week in advance of any visit. This allows us to check an item’s condition, arrange any permissions for access with its archivist or curator, and have it ready on your arrival.
When you arrive at your appointment, our friendly Reader Services staff will show you how to handle material and explain our reading room regulations. You may take photographs of most material for your work but please check with a member of staff beforehand.
If you are interested in using any material from Special Collections please get in contact with our reading room staff : uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk
Checklist:
Plan ahead and book in advance
Complete an online registration form prior to your first visit
Bring the following:
Your ID card
Pencils
Camera phone
LaptopBooking an appointment (Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre).
The AIU Centre falls under Manchester Central Library operations so for the latest updates on reopening see Central Library Manchester City Council
Please contact AIU directly to book an appointment to consult material held at the Centre: rrarchive@manchester.ac.uk. More information about their access arrangements can be found here.
Virtual Appointments
Digital appointments are available now for all readers. You can book a digital appointment to view a small amount of Special Collections material held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library or the Main Library via a Zoom call.
Appointments are available:
- For collections held at the Rylands: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10am and 4pm
- For collections held at the Main Library: Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 4pm
You must give a minimum of one week’s notice when booking an appointment.
Both the John Rylands Library reading room and the Main Library. reading rooms are offering one hour ‘virtual’ appointments for those wishing to access analogue materials but who are unable to visit in person. Find out more about how these appointments work in the video below. To make an appointment please email: uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk
Digital Collections at UoM
Many of our Special Collections are available to view online. The Library has two platforms for viewing these images:
Manchester Digital Collections is our newest platform and presents collections by research theme. It allows enhanced viewing and manipulation of images and rich descriptive content. It also includes material from other Manchester cultural institutions including the Whitworth Art Gallery and the Manchester Museum:
Library Digital Collections is our established image viewer, which hosts all of our digitised images on LUNA. This is more like an image bank which you can browse by collection or keyword. Please note that Luna is a database and does not operate on a ‘google style’ search. It will not second guess typos or spelling mistakes. For this reason, a simple word rather than a string will work best. For more detailed information, video tutorials and tips on using LUNA please see this post:
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. Clicking on the Creative Commons logo will clarify the terms under which the image can be reused.
Additional resources for Literary Landscapes students
- ‘Made in Manchester’ tells the story of Manchester using items from our Special Collections:
- The UoM Map Collection holds many historical maps of Manchester. A large number of these have been digitised and can be viewed in our Digital Collections. ‘Mapping Manchester’ explores urban growth and public health in industrial Manchester and examines some of the maps in more detail (please contact map curator Donna Sherman for further information about our map collections):
- Read more about handling our Special Collections in the post below:
Images reproduced with the permission of The John Rylands University Librarian and Director of the University of Manchester Library. All images used on this page are licenced via CC-BY-NC-SA, for further information about each image, please follow the link in the description.
