The different collections at the Mining Institute are listed and catalogued using different systems and tools. Our main book catalogue is available here.
Journals are in the process of being stock-checked and listed. When this process is complete we hope to add this information to the main library catalogue and also to export this data to SUNCAT to improve the national visibility of our collections. We have roughly 600 different journal and periodical titles from across the world, dating back to the 1790s in some cases, so this is a large project.
Map collections have been listed over a number of years and there are over 20,000 maps on the database so far. This includes Ordnance Survey, Geological Survey and world maps as well as underground mine plans. We have quite good coverage of the local area in Ordnance Survey maps of various scales. If you would like to see maps of a particular area, it would be helpful if you submitted a request in advance as some maps are stored in high level drawers. The map database will soon be available online; please note the ID number, county and sheet number of any maps you would like to see.
The Tracts Collection comprises of a series of pamphlets which were bound into volumes covering a wide range of subjects. The Institute is working on a project to scan all of the volumes, including the large fold out plans, to protect and preserve these unique volumes for the future. Over 230 volumes have been scanned so far. All of the articles within the Tracts will be added to the main library catalogue with links to some of the images.
We also have a number of different Archives at the Institute. Our primary collection consists of notebooks, letters and manuscripts from a number of different Colliery Viewers such as John Buddle, John Watson and Thomas Emerson Forster. These collections are listed on webpages here and we are hoping to transfer this information into a searchable database soon. Smaller archival collections have also been donated and initial listings have also been added to webpages.
The Mining Institute also houses the British Coal Utilisation Research Association (BCURA) collection of research papers and the Coal Research Establishment (CRE) reports, pamphlets and papers. The printed books from the BCURA and CRE Libraries have been assimilated into the main library collections and catalogued on the online library catalogue. The unique collection of around 16,000 papers and pamphlets will be catalogued as archival collections.
There is a photographic collection of approximately 38,000 prints, negatives and slides and we would like to provide online searchable access to these in the future.
