Searching for items in Special Collections or Archives

It is possible to search Unicorn for some items held in some of the University's Special Collections of archives and rare books, including the MERL Library. Consult the Finding Special Collections page for information about collections covered on Unicorn.

The Online Card Catalogue also includes details of some items in Special Collections.

Searching across all the Special Collections on Unicorn

To limit your search on Unicorn to items held in the Special Collections select "Search Special Collections Service " from the pick-list of libraries.

Searching for items in a specific collection

Follow these steps to limit your search to items held in a specific collection, including the MERL Library.

1. Click on Advanced search on the Quick search screen.
2. Type in your search words in the appropriate boxes.
3. Scroll down the screen to the search limits options at the bottom.
4. Select the Collection you want from the Collection picklist by clicking on the arrow to the right of the box.
5. Click on Search.

Example:

To find items in the Publishers Archive relating to Samuel Beckett:

1. Go to the Advanced search.
2. In the Words or phrase search box type:  samuel beckett
3. Scroll down and select Publishers archives from the Collection pick list.
4. Click on Search.

If you wanted to find an item by a specific author in a specific collection just put their surname in the author box and pick the appropriate collection.

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