Using Special Collections in Teaching

Wednesday 4 March 2026, 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Delivered via Zoom

Are you interested in using special collections for teaching sessions? Have you been asked to deliver learning activities based on your collections but don’t know where to start? Do you already deliver or support learning sessions and want to connect with others in the sector or be inspired by new approaches?

Join our expert panel for a discussion on teaching with special collections. Discover practical approaches, new methods, and ways to enhance learning experiences.

Speakers:

Angela Newton & Thomas Campbell (University of Leeds) - co-authors of the book ‘Teaching with Objects’ which investigates the use of Object Based Learning as a multi-sensory pedagogical practice and explores how it can enrich teaching.

Joanna Baines (University College London) – academic Librarian responsible for developing academic teaching and engagement with UCL Special Collections. Joanna designs, leads and delivers teaching sessions in collaboration with academics across undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Presented by:
    

    
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The Rare Books and Special Collections Group unites librarians responsible for collections of rare books, manuscripts and special materials, with other interested individuals. The group promotes the study and exploitation of rare books, encourages awareness of preservation, conservation and digitisation issues, and fosters training opportunities related to the maintenance, display and use of collections.
Three or four times a year, a talk and accompanying exhibition or library visit are held in different parts of the country to cater for a geographically diverse membership. These meetings attract an international audience, particularly to the residential study conference held annually in the second week of September. The group also publishes an online newsletter three times a year, including articles, news and reviews, and the texts of papers delivered at the Group's meetings and conferences.

The Group liaises with others in related areas and organisations such as the Antiquarian Booksellers Association with whom it produced advice on the Theft of Books and Manuscripts from Libraries and Bookshops (see Publications section).

The Group gathers and disseminates information about rare book holdings and current acquisition policies, exemplified by a major co- operative effort to map the holdings of rare books and special collections throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. This project culminated in 1997 with the publication of the second edition of The Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections (ed. Bloomfield, LA Publishing, 1997).

The Group is involved in the revision of the MARC fields for rare books and has published Guidelines for the Cataloguing of Rare Books (ed. Hillyard & Pearson, RBG, 1997). The  UK Bibliographic Standards Committee has a remit to take this work forward and improve standards across the UK.

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