ULRLS archival database - a new resource for labour history researchers
The University of London Research Library Services (ULRLS), which comprises Senate House Library and the libraries of the School of Advanced Study, has spent the past 18 months developing an electronic catalogue for ULRLS archives and manuscripts. Our new ADLIB database complements the descriptions of printed books, periodicals and other publications on the libraries' Innopac catalogue and makes descriptions of more than 2,000 unique collections searchable online in one place for the first time.
The range of material listed on the catalogue is extraordinarily diverse, covering many different aspects of British and world history over more than 1,000 years and addressing a variety of political, social and economic topics. There is plenty of material of interest to labour historians. In particular, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies holds numerous collections relating to trades unions in Commonwealth countries in the twentieth century. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies' holdings also include the papers of the Marxist historian, C.L.R. James whilst the Institute of Germanic Studies holds archives of the Communist and historian, Yvonne Kapp. Among the holdings at Senate House Library are the papers of Al Richardson (1941-2003) and Jim Higgins (1930-2002).
This large archive includes Trotskyist journals and pamphlets, 1930s-2003, from many countries, including such diverse nations as the United States, Chile and Sri Lanka. In addition, there are a considerable number of minutes, circulars and discussion papers chronicling various Trotskyist movements in Britain.
The ULRLS archives and manuscripts catalogue was launched officially on Thursday 31 May 2007 at [url]http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/[/url]. User feedback is welcomed: please relay comments via the link on the website.