Oxfordshire History Centre searchroom booking.

Opening Hours

Our searchroom is open to the public Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 09:30-16:30 and selected Saturdays. We are closed on Mondays, Fridays and Bank Holiday weekends.

Booking

We recommend advanced booking of a Searchroom session for consultation of all History Centre collections, including access to open shelf volumes and public computers / microfilm readers and printers.

There are two bookable sessions per day, 09:30-13:00 and 13:00-16:30. Bookings can be placed up to three hours in advance of a session, if available. You are welcome to arrive anytime between the start and end of your booked session.

Each person who is visiting should book a seat. There are no limitations on how many sessions you can book. If you are unsure what type of seat you will need, please contact us at oxhist@oxfordshire.gov.uk. (https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/contactus/contact-oxfordshire-history-centre)

Archives Card

Visitors consulting original documents from Archives collections will be required to present their Archives Card. This has replaced the CARN ticket, which we are no longer accepting. No card is required for accessing Local Studies material (including newspaper /microfilms), open access material or public computers, but we encourage all visitors to apply for an Archives Card (https://archivescard.com/)

Planning your visit

To help you plan your visit you can check our catalogues online through Heritage Search (https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/heritagesearch) or Discovery (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk). A guide to our online catalogues can be found here (https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-culture/history/oxfordshire-history-centre/search-our-catalogues)

Oxfordshire Health Archives (https://oxfordshirehealtharchives.nhs.uk/)catalogues are not currently available online. These catalogues are in hard copy (volume) format and can be consulted in the Searchroom.

Photographic collections: Our photographic collections are catalogued online at Picture Oxon (https://heritagesearch.oxfordshire.gov.uk/images). Thousands of photographs are available to view online, but not all are currently digitised. If you wish to consult any undigitised images, please contact us a week in advance of your visit at oxhist@oxfordshire.gov.uk. (https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/contactus/contact-oxfordshire-history-centre)

Accessing documents: All documents from our strongrooms (archives, library materials and microfilms / fiches) must be ordered in the Searchroom, on arrival or during your visit. We are unable to accommodate advance requests.

More information about visiting Oxfordshire History Centre (https://bit.ly/ohc_visit)

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