First Published: 14 February 2011
Original Location: IHR News
The IHR has now agreed with the University which sections of the Library collection should take priority for open access during the next phase of the refurbishment of Senate House. As indicated in the Director’s statement in December, during the two year period of relocation to the 3rd floor of the South Block only one-third of the IHR Library will remain on open access. The bulk of the remainder of the collection will be housed in the Senate House Library Tower and available through a dedicated fetch service.
In order to ensure the most effective use is made of the space available, a survey of collection usage has been running throughout this academic year. The usage level of each collection has been the main criteria for retention on open access, amongst other considerations such as usage patterns, growth rate, the needs of Institute staff and students, ease of requesting and fetching, type of shelving available, the size of the individual books within the collections, online availability (mainly in the case of periodicals), and availability elsewhere in other local libraries. The outcomes have been discussed and approved by both the IHR Library Committee and the IHR Advisory Council.
The following collections are to remain on open access, with the exclusion of folio material and periodicals:
| British History to c.1603 | B.1-B.6 | Excluding bibliography |
| British History from c.1603 | B.7-B.8 | Excluding Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates |
| Quick reference collection | Q. Ref | |
| British Local History | BC.51 – BC.95,BC.25 | English Counties and Poll Books only |
| Irish History | BI.010-883 | Excluding Dublin Gazette |
| London History | BL.002-872 | |
| Scottish History | BS.01-71 | Main sequence only, excluding local history |
| General Historiography | E.10-149 | |
| French History | EF | |
| French Provincial History | EFP | |
| Italian History | EI | Excluding Italian Parliamentary Papers |
| Ecclesiastical History | ER.01-89 | Excluding Patrologia Latina |
| History of the Crusades | EU | |
| Current issues of all periodicals | ||
| Microfilm/fiche collections |
Ordering and consultation arrangements for materials in the closed stacks
It has been agreed that the IHR library staff will administer a dedicated hourly fetch service from the 3rd floor temporary location. Library staff will aim to ensure the service is as responsive to demand as possible, and requests for material can be made in person, or via telephone, email, or the website, where there will be a request form. Please note that due to staffing restrictions it will not always be possible for material to be fetched outside the core hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. The Library would strongly encourage those wishing to request closed access material to contact the Library in advance of their visit wherever possible, so we can ensure material is waiting on arrival. In addition, material can be kept out for readers who wish to consult closed access items over a longer period. As is the case currently, library staff will work in an accessible enquiry office throughout library opening hours, ensuring continuity of service to readers.
Reader facilities
The current IHR photocopiers and microform reader/printer will be available in the temporary location, in addition to reader desks, catalogues terminals and PCs.
Opening hours
The IHR Library will maintain its current opening hours in the temporary location. However, please be aware that there will definitely be a period of closure in August to enable the move to take place. The moving schedule is yet to be agreed but closure dates will be publicised as soon as they are known.
If you have any queries about these proposed changes, please contact the IHR Librarian Jennifer Higham on jennifer.higham@london.ac.uk