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Finding and using LI collections at MERL This short guide is intended to give a brief overview of how to search and

discover the Landscape Institute Archive and Library collections at MERL. Should

you require more information, please contact us on merl@reading.ac.uk

Landscape Institute archive and library webpages These web pages contain background information on the collections as a whole

and on key collections. Here you can find links to handlists and regular updates

on our progress. These pages can be accessed here:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/collections/Archives_A_to_Z/merl-SR_LI.aspx

Follow these links for

information on each

collection (including

biographical information,

handlists etc.)

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These pages form part of our A-Z index of Museum of English Rural Life

collections. These pages can also be accessed from the MERL homepage

(http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/) by using the menu in green on the left of the

page:

1. Go to http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/

2. Using the green menu on the left of the page, click ‘Collections’, then

‘Archives’ from the drop down menu.

3. Click the link for ‘A-Z index of Museum of English Rural Life collections’

on the web page (as below).

4. Select ‘Landscape Institute archive and library’ from the list.

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Searching for archives and books using the catalogue Our Enterprise catalogue allows key word searching across all the archive, library

and object collections held by the Museum of English Rural Life and the

University of Reading’s Special Collections Service.

The catalogue can be accessed here:

https://rdg.ent.sirsidynix.net.uk/client/merl/search/results?te=&lm=UMASCS2

Alternatively you can reach the catalogue from the MERL homepage:

1. Go to http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/

2. Using the green menu on the left of the page, click ‘Collections’.

3. In the ‘Things to do now’ box on the right of the page, click ‘Search the

collections’.

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4. In the ‘Things to do now’ box on the right of the page, click ‘Search our

collections’.

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5. You should now be looking at the MERL Enterprise page. Using the drop

down menu in grey, in the top left of the page next to the house symbol,

select ‘Special Collections and MERL’.

6. You can now use the search box to type in key word searches, such as

‘Brenda Colvin’.

Type in your

search terms

here.

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7. You can then use the menus on the left of the screen to limit the results

further, should you wish to. E.g. search for only archives or books within

your results.

It is also possible to search via collection using the collection reference, should

you know it, e.g. AR COL (for the Colvin collection).

Just type AR COL into the search box to find everything catalogued with this

prefix.

To do a narrower search within a particular collection - e.g. if you were searching

for material relating to Colvin’s work for the Central Electricity Board - you

would put the following text into the search box: “AR COL” central electricity

board.

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Using the Reading Room Once you have used the catalogue to find items

within the collections you would like to see,

make a booking with our reading room by

emailing merl@reading.ac.uk or calling 0118 978

5633.

Further information, including opening times

and registration can be found here:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/visitus/merl-

readingroom.aspx.

The reading room is open to researchers 9am-

5pm Monday-Friday.

The Museum of English Rural Life is located on the University's London Road

Campus at:

University of Reading

Redlands Road

Reading

Berkshire

RG1 5EX

(See http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/collections-based-

research/Directions_to_London_Road_Campus.pdf for direction).

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Library Most of our library book collection is open

access, once you have booked a space in our

reading room and registered as a reader, you will

be free to browse the library and bring books

back to the reading room with you for further

study.

The Landscape Institute library books are being

integrated into the library of the Museum of

English Rural Life, using the MERL classification

system. Most of the Landscape Institute library

book collection in is room G12. Please ask in the

reading room during your visit for assistance

with finding books.

Journals are currently uncatalogued and stored at our off site store.

Pamphlets are being integrated into the existing MERL pamphlet sequence.

Library books will have a call number - you will need this to locate the item.

E.g. MERL LIBRARY OVERSIZE--2860-COL/GIB

Archives Archival collections are kept in

store. They will need to be ordered

in advance of your visit, at the

time of your booking. Much of the

LI archive is held at our off site

store so may take a few days to

retrieve. The archival collections

are currently being catalogued.

During your visit to the reading

room it may be possible for you to

order up more items from store,

please ask in the reading room should you wish to do this.

Archives will have a call number - you will need this to locate the item.

E.g. AR COL A/1/1

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Blog posts

A series of blog posts inspired by the Landscape Institute archive and library

collections at MERL are being published on the MERL blog

(http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/merl/).

This series, entitled ‘Discovering the Landscape’, can be viewed in its entirety

here: http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/merl/category/discovering-the-landscape/

We aim to post once a month.

CW March 2015 (updated September 2015)