DR575: Victorian and Edwardian Theatre FAQs

The Bad Girl of the Familt publicity postcard

Publicity postcard for Fred Melville’s melodrama ‘The Bad Girl of the Family’, c.1909

We’re really looking forward to welcoming students on the DR575: Victorian and Edwardian Theatre module to Special Collections & Archives this term! It’s always tremendous fun for both our team and everyone studying.

To help everyone settle in, we’ve collated a list of the most commonly asked questions we get about using Special Collections & Archives during the module. This list is by no means exhaustive, and we’ll try and update it throughout the term. However, if you have a question please do have a look through this list to see if the information you need is here.  As ever, we encourage you to get in touch with any queries you might have. See you in our Reading Room!

Accessing Special Collections & Archives

How do I find material to use from Special Collections & Archives?
How do I book an appointment to view material?
Can I book in to the Reading Room with a group of people?
How can I access the playbills you hold?

Contacting Special Collections & Archives

When is the Reading Room open?
I’ve emailed you with a query – when can I expect a reply?

Handling material in Special Collections & Archives

Do I need to wear white gloves?
How do I handle this item?
What can I bring into the Reading Room?

Accessing Special Collections & Archives elsewhere

How do I find other archives for my research?
Where can I find [X] archive?
How do I contact [X] archive?

Exhibition queries

I need a scan of this item! What do I do?
How long will it take you to scan items for me?
Can I use this image for my exhibition?
What should I get my exhibition material printed on to?
Where can I get material printed?
When do I need to get items sent to the printers by?
How much does [X] cost? Can I reclaim this money? How?

Accessing Special Collections & Archives material

How do I find material to use from Special Collections & Archives?
The majority of Special Collections material can be found on LibrarySearch. There are two main ways of finding material:

You can either select ‘Special Collections’ (or ‘British Cartoon Archive’) from the drop-down box on the right-hand side of the search bar, then enter your terms…

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…Or you can enter your search terms as usual, then scroll down and select ‘Collections’ from the right-hand side of the screen. You can then select ‘Special Collections’ from the list:

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Some Special Collections & Archives material is currently only catalogued on our own website, so it’s worth checking both. Our catalogue can be accessed on the first page:

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Enter your search terms, and then you can narrow down the results by collection/type of material/subject…

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Once you’ve found an item you’d like to see in our reading room, note down as much information as possible (especially the identifier) and drop us an email.

If you’re interested in searching the British Cartoon Archive, you can search for books using LibrarySearch as above…or you can use the British Cartoon Archive catalogue to search for cartoon artwork:

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You can search using the box on top right-hand side of the screen, or click Advanced Search (cartoons) to locate more specific material. By using Advanced Search, you can narrow down results by several terms (such as artist and date). Once you’ve found something you’re interested in viewing, click the image thumbnail to view a bigger version of the image or click the artist’s name to find out more information about the artwork.

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If you want to view higher resolution images, or see any original artwork, please do get in touch. It’s worth noting that artwork from the British Cartoon Archive is currently stored offsite due to the Library Refurbishment so we need at least two weeks’ notice to get any material for you. Additionally, some material from the British Cartoon Archive is very fragile, so if we have a digital copy we’ll likely ask you to use that for your research instead.

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How do I book an appointment to view material?

The main way of booking an appointment to view material is as follows:
When you find Special Collections & Archives material through LibrarySearch, you’ll see an option to request the item from Special Collections:

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Once you click on the link, a pop-up window will emerge. Fill in the form using the details of the item on LibrarySearch, then scroll down to fill in the date you’d like to see the item (remembering that you need to give us at least two working days notice – and that we’re closed on Wednesdays):

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Special Collections & Archives staff will then respond to your email to confirm the time of your appointment.

If you can’t make your appointment, or don’t need the material any more, please do let us know as soon as you can – it takes time to retrieve items from the stores and we’re limited on space for holding items in the Reading Room for you.

You can also email your request over to us at specialcollections@kent.ac.uk (giving as much information as you can about what you want to see) or pop in the office to see us.

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Can I book in to the Reading Room with a group of people?

You can, but please let us know in advance (how many people and what material you need) so we can check who else is booked in for that day. The Reading Room is often used by other researchers, and it tends to be a quieter space, so you’ll need to bear this in mind if you’re working as a group! If we have a lot of researchers booked in, we may need to ask you to come back on a different day.

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How can I access the playbills you hold?

Our playbills are currently being stored offsite during the Library refurbishment. The majority of them, however, have been digitised so we can generally supply you with a digital image of items via email or in the Reading Room. You can also view them online via searching our MODES catalogue. If you let us know the classmark (which will generally begin with UKC-POS), we can check if there’s a digital copy available. If there isn’t, we’ll need at least two weeks’ notice before we collect them from our offsite stores.

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Contacting Special Collections & Archives

The SC&A Reading Room

The SC&A Reading Room

When is the Reading Room open?

The Reading Room is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 9.30am and 4.30pm. We are closed on Wednesdays and at weekends! Although we require 48 hours’ notice to retrieve material, you’re very welcome to drop in with any questions about using our collections during these hours.

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I’ve emailed you with a query – when can I expect a reply?

We aim to answer any queries about booking appointments within one working day, but more specific queries about your course/reprographics for your course will be answered on Tuesday afternoons. Please send any requests or questions over to us by Monday morning.

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Handling Special Collections & Archives material

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Viewing an item in the Special Collections & Archives Reading Room

Do I need to wear white gloves?

Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to wear white gloves to handle archival material – except in very special circumstances with certain items. White gloves generally don’t fit your hands exactly, and by wearing them you lose dexterity which can make turning fragile pages much more difficult. As long as your hands are clean and dry, and you haven’t used anything greasy on them beforehand like hand lotion, then touching material without gloves is fine. The British Library have some excellent guidelines that we all follow here.

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How do I handle this item?

The short answer to this question: ask us! We’ll always advise you on how to handle the items you’re looking at, but there are some general guidelines that apply to all our material:

  • If the item is on a book rest, it needs to stay on the book rest
  • Many of the books we hold require you to use snake weights to keep the pages open – this is to avoid putting excessive pressure on an area of the book in order to read it
  • Some of our material is in plastic (melinex) wallets for protection. Occasionally it’s possible to take items out of these wallets to view them, but if this is the case we’ll do that for you. If it’s in plastic, assume it stays in plastic
  • Treat every item (regardless of its age) carefully, even if it looks in great condition – it’s likely in such good condition because we’ve been so careful with it before!

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What can I bring into the Reading Room?

Before entering our Reading Room, you’ll need to put your coats and bags in one of our (free) lockers/on a coat hook and get out the items you need. You can bring in pencils, paper and laptops/tablets into the Reading Room. Ideally, any devices you bring in need to be charged up as we don’t have many plug points easily accessible at the moment. You are also welcome to take photos of material using your phone, as long as flash isn’t turned on. You can’t bring food, drink or pens of any kind into the Reading Room – doing so runs the risk of damaging the items out on display.

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Accessing Special Collections & Archives elsewhere

How do I find other archives for my research?

There are lots of other databases now that will help you find relevant material – here are a few of the main websites…
Archives Hub searches over 300 UK institutions, mainly from the UK education sector:

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Discovery at The National Archives searches over 2500 archives in the UK (and, of course, the National Archives themselves):

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Europeana searches archives across Europe to help you find what you need:

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If you’re interested in finding theatre resources, the Association of Performing Arts Collections is a great place to start:

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As ever, if you need extra help please do ask us – we’re here to help you with any aspect of using archives, not just our own lovely collections!

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Where can I find [X] archive?

Most archives are 21st-century friendly and have their own websites, so searching for them online generally yields results. If not, try using either Discovery or Archives Hub to find the collection you’re looking for.

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How do I contact [X] archive?

Once you’ve located the website of the archive you’re looking for, there should generally be a ‘Contact Us’ page with email or phone details. Like us, most archives will require you to make an appointment in advance to view material; the amount of notice you’ll need to give the material varies. Many archives will require you to fill out a form to register as a user, either online or in person when you arrive, and show proof of ID (passport or driving licence, generally) as well. Some may also require a letter of recommendation from a tutor – they should let you know this before you visit, so it’s always worth getting in touch.

Most archives will have similar rules about us regarding what you can bring in to their reading rooms – so always ensure you have a pencil with you!

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Exhibition queries

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Objects and captions on display during the DR575 exhibition from 2016

I need a scan of this item! What do I do?

Please email specialcollections@kent.ac.uk and mark your email for the attention of Joanna, the Special Collections & Archives contact for this course.

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How long will it take you to scan items for me?

If you email your request to us by Monday, we’ll have a reply sent your way by Tuesday afternoon (along with the images). However, if your request is large (or you email us after Monday) this may take longer – we will let you know.

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Can I use this image for my exhibition?

Special Collections & Archives material (including British Cartoon Archive items) often has very strict regulations attached to it about who can use it and what for – sadly there’s no single rule about it, and you need to ask us before you use any images. Give us as much information as you can and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You can also check with your tutor.

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What should I get my exhibition material printed on to?

The quick answer: check with your tutor! In previous years, students have either had their captions and images printed onto Foamex boards (5mm), which is a little more expensive but tends to look really professional, or print out their own images and stick them onto Foamex by hand, which requires being rather adept with rulers and glue. It’s up to you!

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Where can I get material printed?

We recommend that you use the Design and Print Unit on campus, giving them as much notice as you can. You’ll need to send your items over to them via email in PDF format (no JPGS or DOCX files). In previous years, students have also used Omicron Reprographics in Canterbury – if in doubt, ask your tutor.

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When do I need to get items sent to the printers by?

The exhibition launches on Tuesday 4th April this term, and our Reading Room will be reserved for you to prepare your material on Monday 3rd/Tuesday 4th. We recommend checking with your tutor and the printers for specific deadlines, but please do allow time before these days to check your material has been printed correctly.

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How much does [X] cost? Can I reclaim this money? How?

If you’re using the Design and Print Unit on campus, they will be able to give you a quote before they print your work. All other budget-related queries go to your tutor, please!

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A busy new year

Another year comes to an end already…I’m not sure where 2014 went, but once again it’s been full of excitement and events for Special Collections & Archives.

Along with our regular lecture series, and the annual teaching of Victorian & Edwardian Theatre history, 2014 witnessed the publication of the first part of a biography of Sir Howard Kingsley Wood, by historian Hugh Gault, based heavily on the scrapbooks held in our collections. Alongside this, and our normal duties, we have been preparing to move all of our collections: next spring, we will be setting up the service in the new Templeman extension. This has really been taking shape over the last few weeks, and we have been lucky enough to pop over to see the new reading room, offices and stores. We can’t wait to be in there, but first there’s just the small matter of moving all of our collections from one end of the building through to the other, over 3 weeks, along one corridor. Look out for more news about this in the new year!

The so-called 'zebra book'; or, an example of the difference a clean makes.

The so-called ‘zebra book’; or, an example of the difference a clean makes.

In preparation for the move, we have been working closely with a stalwart team of 15 volunteers who have been cleaning our rare and special book collections, packaging the fragile bindings and helping with collections care. This means that the books, which take up several hundred metres of shelving, can be carefully moved without risking any damage. On Wednesday 17 December, we had a special volunteers’ event to mark the end of this project, but I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of this term’s volunteers for their hard work, enthusiasm and commitment, which has enabled us to get over 150 metres of books clean and ready to move.

Also this term, we’ve delivered more than 20 taught sessions and workshops with members of the University community and beyond, including a hugely popular event at the Marlowe Theatre to mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. As ever, it’s been great to see people getting so enthusiastic about archives – whether it’s a book signed by Alfred Russell Wallace, acting out the thrilling conclusion of the melodrama Maria Marten or discussing Shakespeare’s Welsh connections.

We’ve had several new members join us the team this year: our new archivist, Ann MacDonald, who is curating the University of Kent Archive, and Rachel Dickinson, Metadata and Special Collections Assistant, who has been cataloguing materials right across the broad spectrum of the collections. You can take a look at Rachel’s thoughts about her experiences getting started in the collections on the blog. Another exciting development has been the appointment of an archivist and a digitisation assistant to the nascent British Stand Up Comedy Archive for a year; again, more news to follow in 2015! Finally, stalwart member of the British Cartoon Archives Team Jane Newton has gone part time, so we now have Joy Thomas working as the other half of the post of Special Collections & Archives Curator.

So as we look forward into 2015, we know there will be some major changes and a considerable amount to organise. But we’re looking forward to settling into our new spaces and continuing to work with researchers to discover rare and exciting materials in the unique Special Collections & Archives here at the University of Kent.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas and a happy 2015!

Victorians, assassinations and monsters

Here we are at the end of the first week of term – and would you believe, it’s almost exactly a month since Christmas. With so much of January behind us already, we’re looking forward to the rest of the year and I’d like to take the opportunity just to mention some of the excitement we’ve got to come in the next few months.

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Playbill from Theatre Royal, Hull, 1850

On Monday, we had our first taught session with the Victorian and Edwardian Theatre students in the reading room. It’s always great to get to meet and talk to researchers, as well as providing materials to inspire them and help them with their discoveries. One of the great things about this module is that each time we’ve run it, all of the second year Drama students are swept up with enthusiasm for the materials and being able to use them in creative ways to explore a topic of their choice. Of course, we’re in the early days so far and tutors Ken Pickering and Mark Woolgar still have plenty of sessions left – covering topics as diverse as pantomime, Henry Irving and votes for women. We’re very much looking forward to getting to know the students and to support their work which leads to a public exhibition in April.

If you’d like to learn more about this module, or see examples of past exhibitions by students of this course, take a look at our Exhibition pages on the website. If you’re interested in setting up teaching opportunities with the collections, please do get in touch with us.

While we’re on the topic of exhibitions, we have a brand new exhibition in the Gallery this term. ‘The Bullet is Stronger than the Ballot‘ is built around the unique holdings on the British Cartoon Archive, and explores the theme of political assassination. This ties in with the Beaney’s season on the theme which features Manet’s ‘The Execution of Maximilian’ and John Opie’s eighteenth century painting, ‘The Murder of Thomas Becket’. More information about our exhibition, which will run until 2 March, is available on our website as well.

The Devil rides again...come and discover the monsters hidden in the library

The Devil rides again! Discover monsters hidden in the library

If you’re more interested in some mystery and the odd spine-chilling tale, the second lecture in our annual series could be the event for you! Monsters in the Library: M. R. James and bestiaries at Canterbury Cathedral will be presented by Diane Heath, who is an assistant lecturer in History at the University of Kent and also teaches at Canterbury Christ Church University. She will be telling us about her research into mythical monsters and beasts in the Cathedral’s collections, drawn together through the work of scholar and author Montague Rhodes James. I have been told that we may discover, as part of this lecture, the medieval methods for finding unicorns. In any case, it will be an intriguing evening which we hope will not result in any nightmares!

The talk will take place at the AV Theatre, Cathedral Lodge, in the Cathedral Precincts at 6.30 on Wednesday 12 Febuary, with refreshments from 6pm.

And that’s all we have time for this week, although I’m sure I’ll be updating you about all kinds of exciting and interesting aspects of our collections in the next months. I hope that we’ll see you at some of these events, and please do let us know what you think of them!

An unforgettable year: 2014

A very happy new year; on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives, I’d like to wish you a successful, peaceful and happy 2014. We finished 2013 in celebratory style, with two book launches for the ever talented students of Simon Smith’s The Book Project module, and a festive get together for our volunteers. Now back at the Templeman Library, we’re getting back into the flow of things, with the reading room back to our normal opening hours, ahead of the start of term on 20 January.

And what a term it’s likely to be! To start with, we have our first exhibition of 2014 opening in just a week’s time, on Friday 17 January. ‘The Bullet is Stronger than the Ballot‘ will explore cartoons of political assassinations, in collaboration with The Beaney, who are 15884 croppedhosting Manet’s ‘The Execution of Maximilian’, as part of a season looking at political assassination, as far back as Thomas Becket. Drawing on a wide range of cartoonists’ work since the Second World War, ‘The Bullet is Stronger than the Ballot’ will be on display in the Templeman Gallery until the end of February. Dr. Nick Hiley, Head of Special Collections and Curator of the British Cartoon Archive, will be giving a talk about British cartoonists and political assasinations at the Beaney on Thursday 20 February.

Exhibition launch 2013We’ll also be heavily involved in teaching this term, particularly with the Drama department, whose ‘Victorian and Edwardian Theatre‘ module has become a huge success. This involves intensive teaching in Special Collections, encouraging students to analyse the rare and unique performance materials we hold, and culminates in an exhibition curated by the students in the Templeman Gallery in April. I’m sure I will be blogging much more about that as we get closer to the time.

With the Templeman Development Project now well under way (foundations and ground floor level now visible), we’re starting to see our planned changes coming into effect. The first impact is going to be the closure of the Templeman Gallery space in the summer of 2014. This means that our final major exhibition, for the time being, will also be our first public presentation of the Kingsley Wood papers, in May 2014. The exhibition will open with the launch of historian Hugh Gault’s new book Kingsley Wood: Making the Heavens Hum. We can’t wait to see the results of all Hugh’s hard work, and many hours spent poring over cuttings in the reading room!

Section of Kingsley Wood's election poster for 1918.

Section of Kingsley Wood’s election poster for 1918

In addition, we still have two talks to come in this year’s Special Collections & Cathedral Library Lecture series – in February, Diane Heath will be telling us all about the monsters and beasts in medieval books, followed by Olly Double guiding us through the giggles of popular comedy, from music hall to standup in June.

Of course, we’ll also be doing all of our normal work cataloguing, processing and caring for collections, helping you with enquiries and research and in particular preparing for the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations next year. And that’s not to mention the start of the 4 year World War One centenary commemorations, or the exciting prospect of watching the Templeman extension – and the new Special Collections basement, offices and research and teaching space – take shape.

All in all, I think it’s going to be a very exciting and busy year!

New exhibitions – Harry Bloom and DocExplore

Harry Bloom (1913-1981)

Harry Bloom (1913-1981)

This year marks the centenary of human rights and anti-apartheid campaigner Harry Bloom’s birth. Harry was a founding member of the Law School at the University of Kent and a key part of the teaching staff. To celebrate his life and the service he gave to the University, Special Collections has put together a small exhibition in the Harry Bloom Room of the Templeman Library, which will be open until 19 November.

Harry was born in South Africa and graduated with a degree in law in 1937. He worked as an advocate in Johannesburg until emigrating to London with his first wife, Beryl, in 1940, where he worked as a war correspondent. After the war, the Blooms moved to Czechoslovakia until the increasing power of the Stalinist regime led them to return to South Africa. There, Harry campaigned against apartheid, advocating equal rights for all. He worked alongside Nelson Mandela during the 1950s. Because of his campaigns, Harry was detained without trial in 1962, after which he returned to London, to work as an academic and journalist. He joined the University in 1966 as a key part of the nascent Law Department.

harrybloomposterOne of Harry’s key interests in the development of the interdisciplinary School of Law was the role of the media and of technology; indeed, he was a leader in this field long before the age of the internet brought the topic to prominence. His teaching also put an emphasis on practical experience as well as passive learning, through research projects. In 1973, Harry was integral in setting up the Unit for Legal Research on Computers and Communications at the University.

The opening of the Harry Bloom Room, 20 December 1991

The opening of the Harry Bloom Room, 20 December 1991

After a long illness, Harry Bloom died in 1981. To celebrates his contribution to Kent and to his uniquely advanced work on computers and communications, Harry’s widow, Mrs Sonia Bloom, gave a generous donation to the Library for the equipping of an IT Suite in the library for students.  The Harry Bloom Room no longer houses computers, but still offers a designated study space for students to work in and to be inspired.

The University organised a celebration to mark the Centenary of Harry Bloom’s birth on November 5th 2013 with a Seminar for his academic friends and colleagues who had worked with him at Kent. This was an opportunity for experts in the field and colleagues to discuss Harry’s work and celebrate his life.  Praise of his work was led by Professor Igor Aleksander, Emeritus Professor at Imperial College and holder of a lifetime achievement medal for contributions to informatics by the UK IEE in 2000.   We are delighted to be able to contribute to these celebrations with this small display. Do pop in to take a look at it if you can.

Not content with just the Harry Bloom display, we are also hosting a new exhibition for the DocExplore project, which has worked to bring digital versions of rare and fragile historical manuscripts to a wider audience. Combining expertise and materials from the University of Kent, the Universite de Rouen and Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archives, the project seeks to:

empower…citizens on both sides of the Channel to engage with, explore and study their cultural heritage, as embodied in written and printed documents, in meaningful, informative, accessible and entertaining ways

With interactive touch screen technology and a wealth of information, this exhibition is one not to be missed! Why not pop in when you’re in the Library – it’s in the Gallery, just to the left of the Templeman’s cafe.

And, of course, we do have more exhibitions and displays in the pipeline – but more on those as next time!