Museum libraries and archives
The Museum collection is available to researchers of all different levels through its galleries, libraries and study rooms, as well as online.
Libraries catalogue online
Catalogues for all of the Museum's libraries can be searched online. Work to develop and enhance the catalogue will continue over the coming months – please note not all Museum libraries have their entire collection recorded in the online catalogue. Please contact the relevant library prior to your visit for further details or to make an appointment where necessary.
Libraries and study rooms
Each of the Museum's curatorial and research departments has public facilities including study rooms and, in most cases, a library.
These can all be accessed for research enquiries by appointment only, apart from the Centre for Anthropology which is open every week day 10.00–17.00 (12.00–17.00 Thursdays).
Contact the relevant department, for more information:
Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Including the Centre for Anthropology
Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Asia
Coins and Medals
Conservation and Scientific Research
Greece and Rome
Middle East
Prehistory and Europe
Prints and Drawings
The Paul Hamlyn Library is now closed. Family backpacks and trails are available at weekends and during school holidays from the Great Court.
Museum archive
The Museum's Archive contains administrative records of the Museum dating back to its foundation in 1753, including minutes of meetings of the Museum’s Trustees, acquisitions reports and administration, policy and financial records.
The Central Archive holds limited information on the Museum’s collection: these records are generally held by the Museum’s curatorial departments (with some exceptions). For archival enquiries about Museum objects you should therefore contact the relevant department.
Archive material held by the British Museum Department of Manuscripts (usually with references beginning ‘Add’) and some other Museum records (before 1973) are now held by the British Library. Central Government records concerning the administration of the Museum, including various records of the Museum building, are held by the National Archives.
Access to the Archive is by appointment only.
For more information, contact:
Phone: +44 (0)20 7323 8224
Email: centralarchive@britishmuseum.org