There has been provision for local studies in Sheffield
for over 100 years. The current Local
Studies Library forms part of Sheffield Central Library, while the Archive
service is housed in a separate building on Shoreham Street. Each year, we build on the work of our
predecessors to make the city’s collections more accessible.
In the days before computers, research was significantly
harder. If you wanted to find something,
your first port of call would have been the card index drawers full of
thousands of cards compiled by the Librarians. Each book or document would have had at least
three different index cards: one for author, one for topic and one for Dewey
reference number, although in reality there were usually many more.
One of our biggest ongoing tasks is the
transfer all of this information into searchable online databases. Researchers still have to use the old card
indexes for some searches, but we are busy adding new things to our online
catalogues weekly.
Sheffield Local Studies Library online catalogue: http://library.sheffield.gov.uk/uhtbin/webcat
Sheffield Archives online catalogue: http://www.calmview.eu/SheffieldArchives/CalmView/Default.aspx?
For more online content see our webpages which are
updated weekly: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/SCC-Home/libraries/archives-and-local-studies
Pictured: (top) Local history and archives
department, Central Library, 1950s (Picture Sheffield: s06699); (bottom) index
card showing the level of detail and methodical approach our predecessors took –
however, spot the typographical errors!