The past is a largely undiscovered country. Explore what came before around the world in our new Archives Unbound collections: Not only but also… The Daily Mirror Archive is now also live through Gale Primary Resources (1903-2000). Search the UK’s …

New oldness! Historical archives unbound Read more »

We are excited to begin the new year by presenting you with the archives of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) covering 1482-2010.
Funded by research funding from our success in the last Research Excellence Framework exercise, this archive of historical geography is extensive and includes Maps, Atlases, Charts and Plans; Expedition Reports; Fieldnotes, Correspondence and Diaries; Grey Literature; Photographs, Artwork and Illustrations; Journal Manuscripts; Photographs; Proceedings, Lectures, and Ephemera. The collection spans a wide variety of interdisciplinary research areas, and supports educational needs in Anthropology, Area Studies; Cartography and Visualizations, Colonial, Post-Colonial & Decolonisation Studies; Development Studies; Environmental Degradation; Historical & Cultural Geography; Historical Sociology; Human Geography; Identity, Gender & Ethnic Studies; Geology; International Relations; Trade and Commerce, and Law and Policy relating to Colonization and over a hundred special collections.

We are delighted to announce that we have just added another eresource from AM Digital (formerly Adam Matthew) that is very relevant to Portsmouth: Life at sea. This new database gives you access to three centuries of archives from the UK and America that chronicle the lives of ordinary seamen, merchants, whalers, and pirates.

Artist's impression of librarians upon the arrival of new eresources

Good news, everybody! We now have many more information resources of interest to surprisingly wide audiences, from everything tangentially related to computing to resources that help diversify the curriculum and more archives on British history from Victoriana to the modern day. Whether you are into History, Design, or Electronic Engineering, we have something new here for you.

What makes something special? Reaching for the Oxford English Dictionary, one promising definition it offers is: “Distinctive in some way; distinguished from others of the kind by a particular quality or feature; particular, specific.” Oxford English Dictionary Online (n.d.) From …

Introducing the library’s special collections Read more »

During the period that the National Archives at Kew are closed to the public, they are making many of their digital records freely available on their website.  You can register to order and download up to 10 items at no cost, …

Free digital downloads from the National Archives Read more »

As February is the month of love, we have gathered together to share with you books from our Rare Books collection that all have red covers. Red being the colour of energy, passion and of course love. Have a look …

We love books – especially rare ones! Read more »

For December and January, we have on display on the first floor foyer a book found in the Rare Books Collection that we recently discovered had a story tucked inside from a newspaper. The article told the story of Donald …

Lost and Found and the Rare Books Collection Read more »

Over the past couple of months, our new Rare Books display case has been put to great use to show to you some of our collection that are not usually on display. In October we had the powerful artwork of …

Divine Images from our Rare Books Collection Read more »