The Library, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG.
(020) 7637 2388
There is no separate history collection. Material with the exception of law and art is arranged primarily by region, sub-divided by the countries and languages of that region; and there is also a general, non-regional collection for mainly social sciences and humanities. Within these sub-divisions there is a shelf arrangement by subject using a modified form of the Dewey Decimal classification. Special Collections (archives, manuscripts, rare books, theses) are kept in closed access, and are ordered and consulted in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Please check the web site for up to date information.
Term-time, Christmas and Easter Vacations
| Monday - Thursday: | 0900 - 2045 |
| Friday: | 0900 - 1900 |
| Saturday: | 0930 - 1700 |
Summer Vacation
| Monday - Friday: | 0900 - 1700 |
| Saturday: | 0930 - 1700 |
Closed on August Bank Holiday weekend.
The Library may only be open to existing ticket holders on certain Saturdays. If you wish to apply for a ticket on a Saturday you should call the Library during the week to confirm if the membership desk is operating on a particular Saturday.
ACCESS
The Library is open for reference purposes to other students of the University if the material they need is not available elsewhere.
Occasional access (maximum five day-passes in a year) is granted if a college library ticket and or identity card is shown; this excludes closed-access collections or certain IT services. Fees are charged to some users from outside the University of London. If access for longer-term use is required, then students are expected to become members of the Library:
Requests for membership should be made on the appropriate form for taught-course or research students, counter-signed by the student's Tutor or supervisor. Students on taught courses are normally granted reference membership but only University of London research students may be allowed to borrow. Inter-collegiate students attending courses organised by the School have the privileges of SOAS students. External members may not normally use material in the Teaching Collection; the location of material within the Library is indicated in the catalogue.
Rare books and periodicals, microforms, pamphlets and all manuscripts and archives are on closed access, and can only be consulted by members after the request has been approved and a collection made. There are only three or four collections a day, Monday to Friday, so students must be prepared for delay or to make more than one visit if they wish to use these categories of material. If in doubt, a letter or telephone call can save a wasted journey. Special arrangements apply in order to access archive and manuscript material. Members of the public can apply for an archives ticket, subject to letter of reference.
SOAS Library is a member of the SCONUL Research Extra scheme.
There is wheelchair access.For full details on admission check here
READER PLACES
There are approximately 900 places for readers distributed throughout the library. Certain areas of the Library have Wi-Fi access.
The Faculty Librarian for Arts and Humanities (including History) is Mr. Nicholas Martland. Regional specialist librarians are responsible for the regional collections, including history of the regions.
Staff are normally available throughout library opening hours but if particular assistance is required it may be necessary to make an appointment with the relevant member of staff.
The library's on-line catalogue is available on the web at http://www.soas.ac.uk/Library (telnet address: 195.195.181.2).
There is a link from the library web-page (currently being revised and upgraded). The catalogue contains records for about three quarters of the library’s holdings. Several projects for retrospective conversion of the old catalogue are in progress. In addition there are card catalogues and published catalogues which allow author, title and subject access to material. There is no separate history catalogue and the old subject catalogues are arranged primarily by region, sub-divided by countries and languages, followed by a standard set of subject headings of which history is one.
An online catalogue to the archive collections is currently available in the Special Collections Reading Room. There are also unpublished handlists. Descriptions of the main archive collections are available at http://www.aim25.ac.ukThe classification is a local variant of the Dewey Decimal classification which is preceded by letters signifying countries and languages. There are a few areas which have not fully converted to this system and use an older arrangement.
There are c. 1.2 million volumes of books, pamphlets, and periodicals, and in addition there are substantial collections of microforms, audio-visual materials, manuscripts, archives and maps. There are a number of important archive collections within the library, particularly the archives of several missionary societies. A published Guide to the Archives and Manuscript Collections in SOAS Library, (SOAS, 1994) is available. Serials records do not always record all details of imperfect sets of serials. If information is required on particular volume holdings, especially from users based outside the Bloomsbury area, enquiries can be directed to the Serials Division (ext 4791).
The strength of the collection for the historian is a consistent collection programme since the School's foundation in 1917 of material on the history of Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands in both western languages and those of the respective regions. The collections have been developed bearing in mind the strengths and interests of other collections in the London area. The library actively collects catalogues and guides to libraries and archive depositories, where relevant, throughout the world. The Library holds a number of named book collections, including the Hardyman Madagascar Collection and the Burma Campaign Memorial Library. The Archives, Manuscripts and Rare Books Section also holds the libraries of the Council for World Mission/London Missionary Society and the Methodist Missionary Society, in addition to their archive collections. It is thus a particular strength for the study of the history of Western missionary enterprise.
The Library holds a significant collection of vernacular manuscripts, including especially Swahili, Arabic and South Asian languages.
Card-operated photocopying facilities are provided. Rare books and manuscript collections can only be copied for readers at a higher charge by archive staff at their discretion. All copying is covered by the relevant copyright restrictions. There is a range of microfilm and microfiche readers available and a reader/printer can be used by appointment with the Technician for a fee. Carrels are not available for outside readers but there is a variety of working environments. There are facilities for using material in the audio-visual collection. The School has a self-service restaurant and snack bar.
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