Collections and resources at the Humanities Library

The new Humanities Library will have over 100,000 books on the open shelves, along with about 12,000 bound volumes or boxes of loose music scores, and about 13,500 CDs and DVDs.  

The main book collection will be arranged by Library of Congress Classification. All of the library’s holdings are catalogued on SOLO, where you can find an item’s shelfmark and location. 

Subjects covered will include:

  • English Language and Literature 
  • Film Studies 
  • History of Medicine 
  • Internet Studies 
  • Music 
  • Philosophy 
  • Theology

The English Language and Literature collection will support teaching, study and research in the English Faculty.

Most of the open shelf collection will be on the second floor. The following classifications are key for the subject:

  • P – Philology, Linguistics
  • PE – English language
  • PN – Literature (general)
  • PR – English literature (includes world literature in English at PR9000)
  • PS – American literature
  • Z – Bibliography. 

The library will also hold the following collections:

  • The Old Norse-Icelandic collection will be in the new Rare Materials Teaching Room on the first floor. 
  • DVDs and Blu-rays of Shakespeare productions and literary adaptations will be in the Multimedia Room. These supplement online access to filmed performances via platforms such as Drama Online and Digital Theatre+. 
  • A selection of audio recordings of plays and poetry will be available in the Multimedia Room. All other recordings can be requested from offsite storage through SOLO.  

Find out more about special collections at the Humanities Library.

Find out more about our audio-visual facilities. 

The English subject guide gives an overview of the English collections and points to useful subject e-resources. It includes the English collection policy (see ‘Books’ tab). There are also links to other guides about online resources useful for specific English Language and Literature papers. 

Databases A-Z: English: browse the Bodleian Libraries’ major e-resources, including collections of archival materials and bibliographic databases. 

The library’s Film Studies book collection focuses primarily on the history of American, British, and European cinema, and on theoretical work in film aesthetics. Books will be on the second floor of the library, mostly in the shelfmark range PN1993 to PN1998.

An extensive DVD and Blu-ray film collection will be in the Multimedia Room, with strengths in American, British, and European cinema, as well as other world cinemas such as Latin America and Asia. 

Find out more about the Bodleian Libraries' Film studies collections. 

Find out more about audio-visual viewing facilities at the library.

Supporting the work of the OCHSMT, the History of Medicine collection at the Humanities Library will primarily provide for the University’s postgraduate students and researchers in the subject area. The core collection comprises approx. 5,000 monographs on various aspects of medical history. It is particularly strong in: national and local public health administration in the UK, hospitals and hospital movements (especially in the UK), infectious diseases (including malaria and anti-malarials), tropical medicine, pharmacology, and biography (medical and non-medical).

The open shelf collection will be on the second floor, under the following key classifications:

  • R (Medicine)
  • RA (Public Aspects of Medicine, Public Health, Medical Centres, etc)
  • RB (Pathology)
  • RC (Internal medicine, incl. infections, neoplasms, tuberculosis, neurosciences, etc)
  • RD (Surgery, incl. techniques, transplantation, prosthesis, military and naval surgery)
  • RG (Gynaecology & Obstetrics); RJ (Paediatrics); RL (Dermatology)
  • RM (Therapeutics & Pharmacology)
  • RT (Nursing).  

We buy new resources to maintain diversity and reflect the research interests of researchers, currently tropical, colonial (particularly African and Indian), military and naval medicine, and the history of nursing. View the History of Medicine collection development policy (PDF). 

Resources

The Internet Studies collection specialises in books and journals relating to the Social Science of the Internet and other ICTs. 

Visit the Internet Studies subject guide. 

The Music collection includes books, printed music scores and audio-visual materials. 

Books on music

Books on music, including music literature and theory, will be on the second floor under shelfmarks M (Music), ML (Music Literature) and MT (Music Theory). Some interdisciplinary subject areas can be found in other parts of the sequence. Most books can be borrowed. Lesser-used material is stored offsite and can be requested through SOLO. More material is available for reference in the Old Library and Weston Library.

Music scores

All scores will be on the first floor close to the help desk, with oversize scores stored flat in the Multimedia Room (first floor). Most scores are arranged alphabetically by composer, in broad categories such as ‘Full Score’, ‘Keyboard Music’, and ‘Vocal Score (Opera)’. The ‘Chamber Music’ and ‘Vocal Music’ sequences will be arranged by scoring, and these shelfmarks include subdivisions derived from parts of the ‘M’ section of the Library of Congress scheme. Unbound music will be stored separately in boxes in largely the same categories, with ‘Sheet Music’ in the shelfmark. 

Audio-visual material

The library will have a large collection of CD and LP sound recordings. These primarily cover the Western classical tradition, but also include jazz, popular music and world music, as well as an extensive opera collection. A selection of CDs will be kept in the Multimedia Room, mostly arranged alphabetically by principal composer. Many CDs are now stored offsite and can be requested through SOLO. You can listen to CDs using the equipment in the Multimedia Room.  

LPs will be stored offsite. They are not yet catalogued in SOLO. If you would like to explore the collection, please speak to library staff.  

A small collection of music DVDs, primarily opera performances, will be in the Multimedia Room (‘M’ section of the classified DVD sequence). Film viewing facilities for physical formats (including VHS) will be available in two four-seat rooms on the first floor. Portable DVD players will be available to borrow from the staff desk. A few video recordings remain in VHS format only and are stored offsite. 

Find out more about audio-visual viewing facilities at the library.

Subject guides 

For more detailed help with finding physical and online resources for your study or research, visit our subject guides:

Collections 

The library will be the University’s main provider for philosophy loans in philosophy to undergraduates, postgraduates and staff. The collection covers the history of philosophy from ancient times to the present, with extensive holdings in aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, gender studies, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of law, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science and political and social philosophy. 

Offprints 

The library has a collection of offprints: mostly small pamphlet versions of articles or lectures by past Philosophy Faculty members, from the 1920s onwards. These are available for reference use by any library member – please ask at the library desk. 

Some offprints are searchable on SOLO, but not all. The PDF catalogue of offprints includes details of items available online or in essay collections that you can borrow from the library. 

Resources 

Collections 

The library will provide a tailored theology lending collection, focused on supporting courses taught by the Faculty of Theology and Religion. It covers all aspects of Christianity, with good collections in biblical studies, translation of texts and studies of patristic and medieval theologians, systematic and dogmatic theology and moral theology. 

The collection will also cover Philosophy of Religion, Science and Religion and the study of religions, and will include material on other world religions, including Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. 

Bible analytical software 

Two library PCs (first floor) will provide access to BibleWorks and Accordance. For help to log in, speak to staff at the help desk. These resources cannot be accessed remotely.

Resources