IMPORTANT: ACCESS TO RESEARCH LIBRARIES

This section includes information about places and institutions that are open to the public, and also about the holdings of research libraries where access is restricted to qualified readers.

Books, manuscripts, photographs, and works of art are fragile. In most cases they have to be conserved under special conditions. Despite their interest and importance, they are often damaged by handling. There is therefore a conflict between the needs of present-day researchers and of future generations. For that reason, some material is only made available to library-readers on microfilm. 

Highly trained staff are needed to look after these holdings and to catalogue them. Paper-based documents should only be put on public display for short periods or under special lighting. One aim of T.E. Lawrence Studies is to provide an on-line exhibition that allows people to see objects and documents that are normally inaccessible. Likewise, the T. E. Lawrence Letters series, which aims to publish much of T. E. Lawrence's correspondence within the next few years, will make his letters much more widely available. 

Original research materials often have financial value. They need protection from vandalism and theft. Incidents in recent years have made it increasingly necessary for libraries and museums to install security equipment, to keep visitors under surveillance, and to restrict access.  Responsible people, when asked to give a reference supporting an application to see materials in a library, have to think how much or how little they really know about the candidate. 

For these reasons it is not getting easier to gain access to research collections. If you wish to see research materials in a library that is not open to the public, you will normally be expected to have academic status and references. Without those qualifications, you will need an exceptionally good reason for viewing the material, supported by influential referees. Always think carefully before asking someone to act as a referee.

Jeremy Wilson