Free Discovery and 1-2-1 sessions: 2023

A view of the King's Library

We offer a range of free Discovery and 1-2-1 sessions to help you make the most of your time researching here.

Unless otherwise stated, our Discovery and 1-2-1 sessions are aimed at Registered Readers and usually held within our Reading Rooms, which are only accessible with a valid Reader Pass. If you wish to attend you should register with us for a Reader Pass.

Note also that 1-2-1 sessions are offered subject to staff availability.

Discovery sessions

We provide a variety of engaging and informative Discovery sessions so you’re sure to find something that matches your interest. They typically last one or two hours each and we can accommodate up to 12 people per session.

News-related Electronic Resources

11 April (14.00 – 15.00); 15 June (14.00 – 15.00)

This session will cover the range of news related electronic resources available at the Library and how to access this material.  At this session we will:

  • make you aware of newspaper electronic resources and the importance of newspaper e-resources for contemporary research
  • highlight the various ways to access the Library's newspaper e-resources
  • demonstrate key newspaper e-resources
  • showcase the variety of newspaper databases including facsimile and text only e-resources, and various news related bibliographies and indexes available at the Library.

These sessions take place, here, at St. Pancras. To find out more or to book a place, please email us at newspaper@bl.uk or speak to a member of staff at the Newsroom Reference Desk

Introduction session for Post Graduates

17 April (14.00 – 15.00); 15 May (14.00 – 15.00)

This session, aimed at Post Graduates, provides basic guidance on using the Library and our resources. At this workshop we will:

  • give you an overview of our collections, including primary resources
  • tell you what digital sources are available
  • introduce you to EThOS, our E-Theses Online Service
  • provide information on resources and services in the Reading Rooms.

These sessions take place, here, at St. Pancras. To find out more or to book a place, please email us at SCITECH@bl.uk  or Humanities-Enquiries@bl.uk

Introduction to family history sources in Asian & African Studies

18 April (12.00 – 13.30); 17 May (12.00 – 13.30)

If you are trying to trace details of the births/baptisms, marriages and/or burials of Europeans who were born, married or died in South Asia (= including Burma, but excluding Sri Lanka) before independence in 1947/48, then this session should be of interest. Previous knowledge of the topic is neither expected nor required. The session includes a brief overview of the historical background together with practical advice in how to access the genealogical data held in the collection. Participants do not have to be registered Readers.

These sessions take place, here, at St. Pancras. To find out more or to book a place, please email us at apac-enquiries@bl.uk or speak to a member of staff at the Asian & African Studies Reference Desk.

Beyond baptisms, marriages and burials: additional family history sources in Asian & African Studies

18 April (14.30 – 16.30)

This session provides information about the wealth of printed, online and visual material available to family history researchers in forms such as wills, photographs, biographical compilations, newspapers and directories. It is useful, but not necessary, to have attended the introductory session. Military ancestry is not covered, being the subject of a separate session.

These sessions take place, here, at St. Pancras. To find out more or to book a place, please email us at apac-enquiries@bl.uk or speak to a member of staff at the Asian & African Studies Reference Desk.

Sources for military ancestry in Asian & African Studies

17 May (14.30 – 16.30)

This session looks at sources in our archive and elsewhere containing information on the lives and careers of officers and men who served in the armed forces of the East India Company and / or the pre-independence Indian Army .

These sessions take place, here, at St. Pancras. To find out more or to book a place, please email us at apac-enquiries@bl.uk or speak to a member of staff at the Asian & African Studies Reference Desk.

Introduction to the Newsroom

17 May (14.00 – 15.00)

At this session we will introduce you to the Newsroom and the news collections as well as provide basic guidance for researchers using this room.  We will:

  • give you an overview of the scope and history of our news collections
  • tell you about the digital news sources that are available
  • show you how you search for, and order, newspapers
  • provide you with information on resources and services available in the Newsroom.

These sessions take place, here, at St. Pancras. To find out more or to book a place, please email us at newspaper@bl.uk or speak to a member of staff at the Newsroom Reference Desk.

1-2-1-sessions

Would you like to register for a free 30 minute one-to-one consultation session with one of our Reference Enquiry specialists? We can show you how to get the most from our catalogues and resources and can use our expertise to direct you towards useful and hard to find material based on your research interests.

To find out more or to book a session, please contact the appropriate team.

To book a place, please provide us with the following information:

  • your general or specific area of research interest
  • the level (personal interest, undergraduate, postgraduate, academic) of research you are undertaking and stage (planning, beginning, finishing) you have reached.

Note that these 1-2-1 sessions are for registered readers only.

Please also note that these sessions are to guide you in your research so we cannot answer very specific research queries or produce comprehensive bibliographies.