We have a new Special Collections Website
Our new website was launched in 2010, and allows searching across all our collections and view records for all our items. You can access the site at the following address: .
These pages are available for reference and are no longer being updated. They may contain out of date information.
Academic Sevices
Many of the Collections that we hold lend themselves to being used as teaching tools. For example the Mass-Observation Archive provides an accessible resource for work with primary historical materials for the period 1937-1950 and 1981 to date. It can also be used to teach aspects of research methods such as qualitative analysis using examples from the Archive for students to practice on.
Tutors may find visits useful not only for students who plan to do projects on twentieth century British history (for which the Mass-Observation Archive is a directly relevant source) but also for all students who may need to work with primary materials.
Group Visits
Teachers may find visits useful not only for students who plan to do projects on twentieth century British history (for which the Mass-Observation Archive is a directly relevant source) but also for all students who may need to work with primary materials. We use the opportunity of the group visit to talk about archival sources generally and the use of historical evidence in research. For sociology students, we have been able to offer sessions on sociological methods using examples from the work of Mass-Observation.
Special Collections is happy to host group visits for up to 15 students at any one time. Sessions can be taken either by the tutor or by a member of Special Collections staff and can include an introduction, discussion and hands on work with the material. Staff will engage in preliminary dicussions with tutors before the visit to customise the seminar accordingly and it may be possible to offer special sessions, or to include particular exercises designed to be relevant to the students' studies.
We can also use the opportunity of the group visit to talk about archival sources generally and the use of historical evidence in research. For example, we have been able to offer sessions on sociological methods and qualitative analysis methods using material from the work of Mass-Observation.
Contact us
To arrange a group visit, or to discuss possibilities for research, please email library.specialcoll@sussex.ac.uk or telephone 01273 678157. Bookings for group visits must be made at least one month in advance of the intended visit date.