RNS/BNS Library Update

Currently the Warburg Institute, where the RNS/BNS Library is located, is closed in response to the government guidelines during this COVID-19 event. No date has been given for when it will reopen.

But work on re-cataloguing our library continues.

The RNS/BNS Numismatic Library holds over 19,000 items – and items are being added all the time. Our current electronic library catalogue is only accessible using an old computer in the RNS/BNS Library.

Over the past year all the books have been re-catalogued to provide more bibliographical information about each title held.Off-prints are now catalogued. New shelf marks have also been added, which are clearly labelled on the spine of each book – making it easier for you to find items on the shelves.

The next step, when the library re-opens, is to get our new catalogue added to an online academic library website (jisc.ac.uk). This will allow our library collection to be easily searched from the internet at any time.

As jisc.ac.uk also holds the catalogues of many UK academic institutions, if we don’t hold an item you are looking for, you will be able to see who does.

The process to add our information on to jisc.ac.uk is complex and will take time, so there will be an update once this has been completed.

In the meantime, a searchable spreadsheet of all the books held in the RNS/BNS Library is now available on the BNS website. Please note: It does not include the periodicals or sales catalogues, which still need re-cataloguing

Finally, for anyone interested in looking for archived auction catalogues from the comfort of home, there are several excellent online resources:

• The Newman Portal at Washington University in St. Louis, has thousands of scanned auction and sales catalogues from the U.K. and U.S.A.
• Issuu has hundreds of more recent auction catalogues from the U.K. around the world

And, most auction houses now have archived catalogues that can be searched online from their own websites

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