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Handling Rare Books, Archives, Manuscripts and Records

14 December 2017, 10:30 am–12:00 pm

Event Information

Open to

All

Location

Room 417, 4th floor, Science Library, DMS Watson Building, Malet Place, WC1E 6BT

This session is part of the Doctoral School Skills Development programme and is open to postgraduate research students at UCL only. To book a place please login via the programme website.

Handling rare, fragile and unique books and manuscripts for the first time can be daunting. Either too little or too much confidence can lead to the material being damaged, and lack of care in keeping physical records and archival items in sequence can cause items to be misplaced.

This course aims to teach correct handling skills for using this type of primary material in research. It also aims to give participants the confidence to know when they can safely handle material themselves, and when to ask for help. The session will use items from UCL's outstanding and extensive Library Special Collections as examples.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Have confidence in judging when you can safely handle rare physical library and archive materials yourself, and when you need to ask for help
  • Understand the different requirements in safely handling paper and parchment items
  • Understand the different requirements in safely handling print, manuscript and hand-illustrated items
  • Understand how to handle bound items safely, including how to use rests and snakes
  • Understand how to handle collections of loose-leaf items safely and systematically
  • Know what is required to handle photographs safely