Contact Dr Kevin Halliwell for further information. Modern Printed Collections Under the privilege of legal deposit the Library has a right to claim all materials published in Britain and Ireland, and a number of books from Australasian publishers distributed in Britain are also received. In addition the Library maintains an active purchasing policy for material from Australia and New Zealand. Publications relating to Scotland and the Scots are extensively acquired. Because of the intensity of Scottish emigration to Australia and New Zealand the Library acquires a substantial amount of material of historical and genealogical interest.
Material is acquired more selectively in politics and the social sciences.
Standard works of reference and bibliographies are given high priority. The Library has particular strengths in mountaineering and polar exploration. There are no special collections with exclusively Australasian content and much of the earlier printed material is related to the manuscript collections. There are a number of individual items of interest relating to travel, exploration, mountaineering and Scottish emigration to Australia and New Zealand. There are some microform collections relating to Commonwealth history, for example the Missionary Society Archives , and the Library also holds the Australasian Biographical Archive .