Enquiries and visiting

Email enquiries

To ask questions about our collections, email the Search Engine team at search.engine@nrm.org.uk.

We'll aim to answer research and collections enquiries within 20 working days, but occasionally it might be longer. We log all enquiries so we can ensure good service, and we deal with enquires in the order we receive them (although we'll try to answer booking enquiries as quickly as possible).

Staff can do up to 30 minutes of research for you – if you need more extensive research, see the Inreach section below.

Inreach: researchers working on your behalf

If you need extensive research done (more than 30 minutes), our 'Inreach' team of volunteers can do research in our library and archives for you. In return, we ask for a donation (suggested £20 per day of research), which we'll use to fund improved access to our archive collections. The Inreach team can also copy documents for you, subject to the normal copying service terms and conditions.

Email inreach@nrm.org.uk with as much detail as possible, and allow up to four weeks for an initial response (we'll aim to get back to you sooner).

Visiting in person

You don't need an appointment to visit our library and archive centre, but contacting us ahead of your visit will help us to provide a better service, and save you time when you arrive. Want to look at particular books? Let us know so we can have them ready for you. Want to access actual archive material? Let us know at least 24 hours beforehand, and read the section below.

To make a booking, email search.engine@nrm.org.uk. We recommend you contact us at least 24 hours before your visit.

Accessing archives and original materials while you're here

You can access archive material in the invigilated research rooms in Search Engine, but you'll need to bring one form of identification with you (eg passport, driving license) so we can register you as an archive user. If you haven't pre-booked, seating is first-come first-served, and we'll bring material to the research room at timed intervals. There might be restrictions on how much material you can access in one day: contact us if you want to know more.

House rules for the research rooms:

  • Pencils only
  • You can bring notepads, loose leaf paper and laptops to make notes on
  • No food or drink
  • No flash photography. Photo permission form required for other photography: ask staff
  • No coats or bags (lockers are available: £1 coin deposit)
  • You can use mobile phones for texting or taking photos, but only in silent mode

If you want to photocopy documents while you're here, check with staff: you might be able to use the self-service photocopier, but with some documents we'll need to do it for you, or you'll need to fill in a copying service form. For large photocopying requests (20+ pages), you'll need to pay a £5 admin charge (excluding post and packaging).

You can order photocopies from home: see copying service

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