UKRR

The UK Research Reserve (UKRR) preserves the nation’s printed journal collections. Together with the On Demand service, we give quick and easy access for researchers and help libraries make cost-effective decisions.

UKRR allows libraries to de-duplicate their journal holdings and save space. The UKRR team, based at the British Library site at Boston Spa, check the availability of every issue offered against the national collection by searching library holdings listed on Jisc Library Hub to make sure that two copies of a journal are always retained - an access copy at the British Library and one further preservation copy within the community. 

Log into LARCH to submit the journal titles you want to de-duplicate. If you’re a new user, please contact us to register.

UK Research Reserve (UKRR) Service - potential impact of site works at Boston Spa

Transforming Boston Spa

The British Library has ambitious plans to transform our Boston Spa site, including the building of a state-of-the-art, high-density repository, adding 225km of storage capacity. This will support the storage and availability of the continually-growing national collection for generations to come and allow the de-commissioning storage buildings that date back to the 1940s. This major new development commenced this year, following the commitment of £95m of Government funding, and has a target date of 2025 for completion.

During this period, the physical collections held at Boston Spa will have to be temporarily relocated elsewhere on-site to allow construction works to take place. The UKRR service will continue as normal receiving and processing lists, but we expect there to be some challenges in terms of our ability to receive de-duplicated collections from donating libraries. 

You should continue to submit lists as normal, but please be aware that from now until at least early 2025, the UKRR team will be carefully managing ingest capacity and may have to defer or re-plan physical transfers to Boston Spa. We will aim to communicate any such disruption in advance, so that you are able to plan accordingly.

Contact us

Please continue to contact ukrr@bl.uk, or if you prefer, contact the UKRR Team Manager directly.

Find out more

What is UKRR?

UKRR saves space in libraries by de-duplicating print journals.

How we work

The British Library accepts offered journal issues to fill gaps in its own stock, thereby enhancing the national collection; providing ongoing access onsite in the Reading Rooms or remotely via British Library On Demand.

Scarcity

For access and preservation, the scarcity process ensures a copy of every print journal offered is held at the British Library, and another within the UKRR community.

Scope

We accept academic print journals, in a robust and stable condition, suitable for continued use.

Latest News

Coronavirus notice

26 May 2020

To keep our users and all our staff safe and healthy we’ve taken the decision to close our physical sites in London and Boston Spa for the time being, and suspend our public events.

UKRR: A collaborative collection management success story

16 March 2020

UKSG Journal Article summarising the achievements of the UK Research Reserve

Accessing British Library online content and services

19 March 2020

We're carefully planning a return to our public spaces that keeps everyone safe, and we're always open online.

More news stories

Case studies

…Using UKRR we have freed up valuable space so that we can upgrade the quality of our study areas…

Leeds University Library Joined the UKRR scheme in 2008 and the service is a key part of the stock management process. Jane Saunders explains how this is beneficial to the university.

…Being a member of UKRR has allowed us to free up physical space across the Library estate…

The University of St Andrews has been fortunate to be a member of UKRR since its inception and has found the process to be a fantastic collaborative initiative, vital in the rationalisation of the Library’s print journal holdings.