NEW OPENING HOURS FROM 1 OCTOBER

The Archive and Local & Family History opening times are now Tuesday to Thursday, 10am-4pm and Saturday 9.30am-1pm. Tuesday evenings will also be available by appointment.

Using the Service

Visit Us

The Local & Family History Service is situated on the first floor of the AK Bell Library and has a large space available for researchers. You do not need an appointment, but if you are planning to look at a lot of records it would be best to contact us a few days before you visit. This will allow staff to prepare them for you in advance and make best use of your time.

We have desk space for you to work at, and three computers and microfilm readers where you can access a variety of online and family history resources. Or you can relax in one of our comfy chairs while you read!

The Local & Family History resources are covered by copyright law. However, most records can be copied for personal study or educational use, except those which are very fragile or have copyright restrictions. If you require copies for any other purpose, you will need to get permission from the copyright owner. You can make copies using your mobile phone or camera, or you can ask Local & Family History staff to make copies for you. There is a small charge for both services, you will find details in the Fees and Charges section below. If you take your own copies, you must follow our guidelines for self-service photography.

Research Service

We are always happy to give advice about using our collections. If you have an enquiry, you can contact us by phone, e-mail or post. Please provide as much relevant information as possible, to make best use of our time. Full details are at the bottom of this page.

For enquiries which take longer than half an hour, a research fee of £23.50 per half hour will be charged. We will let you know if your enquiry is likely to incur a charge before we begin your research and will provide an estimate of the likely time and costs. Where enquiries involve reproduction, this will incur an additional cost. Further details about our charges are given in the Fees and Charges section below.

Fees and Charges

Access to the Local & Family History Service is free, but there are charges for making copies of records and for staff-facilitated research over 30 minutes.

Self Service Photography

Researchers may photograph documents using their own cameras or mobile phones, subject to the condition of the records and copyright regulations. For the safety of the records, hand-held scanners and cameras with detachable lenses are not permitted. Self-service Photography Licences can be purchased at the following costs:

1 Image – £1.50

1 Day – £12.00

1 Week – £24.00

1 Month – £48.00

1 Year – £125.00

Copying Undertaken by Staff

High Resolution images are digitised at 300dpi for documents and 600 dpi for photographs and illustrations. Low Resolution images are digitised at 72 dpi. Where digital images already exist, customers will be charged the ‘supply’ cost only; where no digital image exists, customers will be charged the ‘new photography’ and ‘supply’ charges. Images for publication will also incur a Licence Fee, please see our Publishing Guidelines and CPK fees and charges for more details.

New High Resolution photography (up to A3) – £25 per item

New Low Resolution photography (up to A3) – £5 per item

New Photography (over A3) – Price on application and subject to the condition of the original item.

Supply of High Resolution digital image – £45 per image

Supply of Low Resolution digital image – £2.50 per image