Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottingham

Description

Manuscripts and Special Collections is a University-based infrastructure at the University of Nottingham. It collects, cares for and provides access to the University's collections of archives, rare books and printed items, together with the Museum of Archaeology. The collection of manuscripts and local archives has been an activity of the University Library for almost seventy years: the first archivist was appointed in 1948, and a separate Department of Manuscripts was established within the University Library in 1958. The department became Manuscripts and Special Collections in 1989, and it has been based at King's Meadow Campus since 2006. Its holdings span manuscripts, local archives, rare imprints and special collections across many subject areas; it serves as a repository for specified classes of public records and is recognised as a repository for manorial documents. Several of its collections have been recognised under the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council Designation Scheme as being of outstanding national and international importance, including the Portland, Portland of Welbeck and Newcastle of Clumber collections and the D H Lawrence Collection. It provides a reading room (by appointment), learning resources, research guidance, exhibitions and reprographic services. Follow the department on LinkedIn.

Beyond the reading room, the collections work extensively with partners across the cultural sector. Recent collaborations include an exhibition developed with the National Trust at Clumber Park, drawing on the archives of the Dukes of Newcastle, and loans of manuscripts relating to D H Lawrence and the Earl of Rochester to Writers Revealed, a touring exhibition co-curated by the British Library and the National Portrait Gallery that travelled to China and South Korea. The service also supports community and participatory research: Women in Red, run with Nottinghamshire Libraries, trains local volunteers to improve the representation of women on Wikipedia, and a project built on the early modern medicine collections had volunteers transcribe historic recipe books into a searchable database of ingredients and remedies. It works with other universities too, supporting Nottingham Trent University's Teaching Medieval Women project and the University of Leicester's Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space, and lends items each year to regional museums.

Currently active

Yes

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

1958

Contact details

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Categorisation

Type

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University affiliation(s)

University of Nottingham
Nottingham

Partner Infrastructures

National Trust

The National Trust looks after places for everyone, for ever, but the world around us is constantly changing. Research helps the National Trust to understand these changes, learn more about the places… read more about National Trust

Swindon

British Library

Research is central to the British Library's role as the national library of the United Kingdom. It helps the British Library to share their collections and intellectual heritage with people across th… read more about British Library

London

Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space (LCHS)

The Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space is a University of Leicester research centre examining outer space as a human and cultural domain rather than purely a technical one. Based at Space Park L… read more about Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space (LCHS)

Leicester

Partner Universities

Nottingham Trent University

Additional Partnerships

National Portrait Gallery; Nottinghamshire Libraries