The collections comprise some 60,000 rare and early printed books dating from 1471 to the present, including a very fine collection of books printed by John Baskerville, and upwards of 2 million manuscript and archive items. Principal among these are the archives of Joseph, Austen and Neville Chamberlain, Lord Avon, Harriet Martineau, and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. They also hold on deposit the archives of the Church Missionary Society and are the custodians of the Archives of the University. One of the largest sound archives in the world. The collections come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound from music, drama and literature to oral history and wildlife sound from the end of the 19th century to the present day.
Specific exclusions are literary and scientific manuscripts and military and local history.
The first stop for information and access to film and television collections in the United Kingdom. The CRER Resources Centre houses unique collections of primarily British non-book materials covering a wide range of issues in ethnic relations. Funding from the British Economic and Social Research Council has made it possible to make catalogues of some of its collections available online. The Data Archive is a specialist national resource containing the largest collection of accessible computer-readable data in the social sciences and humanities in the United Kingdom. In addition to the usual local authority record holdings, holds important local oral history collections.