Physical Collections
We have a lot of physical material in the Haddon Library, both in our open areas as well as in our locked storage spaces. Almost everything can be found through searching on iDiscover and filtering by "Haddon Library".
If you can't find something, let us know!
For more information about what you can borrow and for how long, check out our Borrowing and Renewing page.
Undergraduate resources
We try to get as much of what is recommended on taught courses through reading list as we possibly can. Often this is a single physical copy (because we don't have a lot of space) backed up with an electronic version where available.
We manage Reading Lists Online for undergraduate teaching run by the Departments of Archaeology and Social Anthropology, so if its on one of those lists, we will try to buy it.
If something is recommended by a supervisor, we may not always hear about it so if you think we've missed something important, feel free to use our Suggest a Purchase recommendation form.
Research resources
As with our undergraduate courses, we endeavour to purchase as much content as possible to support our postgraduate taught courses and research-focused activities.
We often try to get a physical copy of everything (again, we don't have a lot of space) and try to get electronic versions as well.
As research can be very specialised, we also collaborate with colleagues in related collections to purchase and store particular resources. For example, if something is focused on African Studies, it might be better suited to being kept in the Centre of African Studies Library rather than the Haddon Library.
Ancient Near East Collection
Acquired in 2012 from the University's Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the Ancient Near East Collection is housed on our second floor in the McBurney Room. This collection has its own historic classification scheme, more of which is described on our Classification Schemes page. We are continuing to add to this unique and important collection in collaboration with colleagues specialising in teaching and research in these areas.
Special Collections
We have an array of other Special Collections within the Haddon, ranging from the old to the new, with more information available on our dedicated Special Collections page.
Related collections in Cambridge
As already mentioned, we work collaboratively with other libraries across the Cambridge University Libraries community to support our interdisciplinary subject areas. Other physical collections which may be of interest include:
- Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Library (ASNC) - housed in the English Faculty Library, this collection focuses on resources related to ASNC studies and research
- Biological Sciences Libraries - spread across the University, these libraries cover many relevant topics including plant sciences, zoology, anatomy, and genetics
- Centre of African Studies - this library support the undergraduate and postgraduate study of Africa, with a specific focus on Africa south of the Sahara
- Faculty of Classics Library - covers the Classical world of Ancient Greece and Rome, including classical archaeology
- The Seeley Library - covers History, Land Economy, Latin American Studies, POLIS and Sociology
- University Library (UL) - the collections in the UL overlap with and complement the Haddon Library's collections such as our Ancient Near East collections, as well as housing specialist materials such as the Royal Commonwealth Society's collections