Practical and inspiring open days for PhD students of all disciplines, new to the Library

The British Library is the national library of the UK and one of the world’s leading research libraries.

Complementing our Reading Rooms at St Pancras in London, the Library’s site at Boston Spa – two miles outside Wetherby in West Yorkshire – offers researchers an alternative gateway to our vast research collections. These include academic journals covering all disciplines, millions of monograph titles and the national newspaper collection, as well as rich sound archives and web archives.

Held on site at Boston Spa, this open day will introduce you to these collections and provide practical guidance on how to use our catalogues and navigate our online resources. Suitable for researchers of all disciplines and subject areas, the programme will give a flavour of the breadth and depth of our holdings and research expertise.

The day will showcase the expanding range of research material accessible to researchers at Boston Spa. However, it will also provide an overarching introduction to the Library that will be of interest to anyone planning to explore our collections for PhD research – whether that is in Yorkshire, in London or online.

Researchers with specific subject interests covered by one of the other open days are encouraged to register for the appropriate event at St Pancras, if feasible. However, the Boston Spa Open Day offers those unable to make it to an event in London another opportunity to meet our experts and discover our remarkable research collections. 

These events are aimed at first year PhD students who are new to the Library and are designed to explain the practicalities of using the Library and its services plus help you navigate our physical and online collections, as a starting point for your own research.

Each day focuses on a different thematic area of the Library’s collections – just select the one that will be most useful for your research.

View a draft programme for the day [PDF]

Booking is essential

To prepare for the Open Days:

Follow the link in your confirmation email to complete our pre-event survey.

Pre-register for a free Reader Pass

Check the email address you used for booking to receive updated information and timings in the run up to the event.

Details