Printed collections in UCL Library Services are described below. There is also information about:
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The Yates or Classical Archaeology collection is located in the Institute
of Archaeology Library, 31-34 Gordon Square (5th floor) and has the prefix YATES in
honour of James Yates (1789-1871), an antiquarian and collector whose will provided for the founding of
the present collection. Its strengths include a large number of excavation reports from the main Greek and
Roman sites (e.g. Delphi, Samos, Delos, Olympia and Pompeii) and many important series such as: Corpus
vasorum antiquorum, the basic study tool for all students of Greek pottery and vases, and Lexicon
iconographicum mythologiae classicae. The collection concentrates on the art and architecture of the
Classical world, especially Greece from the Archaic period – 30 B.C. and also (to a lesser extent)
the art and architecture of the Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Other collections which may be relevant include Ancient History
and Classics which are housed in the Main Library. The
Institute of Archaeology is also largely responsible for material on general archaeology, methodology,
excavation techniques, etc., which is therefore not now purchased for classical archaeology. Other aspects
of archaeology, e.g. Mediterranean (especially of the Bronze Age),
Egyptology and scientific methods in archaeology will also
be found at the Institute of Archaeology Library.
See separate pages for maps and opening hours.
Book collections
The Library has its own classification scheme for arranging
books on the shelves: a typical classmark for a book on the “open” shelves will consist of
the name of a subject (indicating a section of the library) followed by letters and numbers denoting its
classified position on the shelves in that section. For YATES the Garside classification
scheme allows for excavation reports on individual sites to be shelved together:
e.g.
YATES QUARTOS E 12 DELO for all works published on the excavations in Delos including
those of the Exploration archéologique de Délos faite parl'École française
d'Athène.
For items that are not concerned with the excavation details of a particular site the classification
system is divided up by type of artifact. The collection is especially strong on pottery and vase
painting, sculpture, numismatics, epigraphy, and the architecture of the classical world, and as far as
possible the Library attempts to acquire the excavation reports from the main Greek sites such as Olympia,
Corinth, Delos, Delphi, etc. The collection concentrates on Greece, covering the period from c. 2000 - 30
B.C., with less emphasis on Roman materials as these are the concern of the Institute of Archaeology. The
Institute is also largely responsible for material on general archaeology, methodology, excavation
techniques, etc., which is therefore not now purchased for classical archaeology.
Journals covering Classical archaeology are interfiled in a single sequence alphabetically by title with
other journals shelved in the Institute of Archaeology and have the prefix INST ARCH
Pers. Journals are normally available for overnight loan (from 4.00pm). For
electronic journals, see below.
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Electronic sources
Material held in electronic form is available to registered members of UCL: you will usually need your
UCL userid/password from Information Systems in order to gain access to them. For the full list of electronic
databases presently available please consult:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/database/.
Electronic journals
A range of electronic versions of journal titles is available. Start from the list on the Library's web
pages at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/ejournal/ where you will find
details of access arrangements for each title.
Exam papers
Copies of UCL examination papers for undergraduate courses (from 1997 onwards) are available on the web
at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/exam.shtml. Printed copies of the papers
are held in the Main Library in the Short Loan Collection: ask at the Issue Desk for them.
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The Institute of Classical Studies Library/Joint
Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies has an excellent collection on Greek & Roman
archaeology. Also of interest are the King’s
College Library, The Library of the School of Oriental &
African Studies and the Warburg
Institute Library.
For more information about the use of other libraries, see the full informationat
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/otherlib.shtml - this includes a link
to http://www.m25lib.ac.uk/ and which offers a subject-based
search of other libraries' collections in the London area.
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If you have any problems in using the Library, come to the Enquiry Desk, or ask for the subject librarian
for Classical Archaeology:
Jes Cooban (Wednesdays only)
E-mail: j.cooban@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: internal: 54062; external: 020 3108 4062
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