You can use FindIt@Bham, the University of Birmingham library catalogue to find books and journals, including items in the Research Reserve and Cadbury Research Library. This is freely available but only members of the University will be able to login to the full content of online journals, databases and ebooks.
We recommend that you use FindIt@Bham to find a specific book or to find out which books we have on a topic, before looking on the shelves.
- Books in the Barber Fine Art Library will have the location Barber Fine Art Library Collection
- Books in the Barber Fine Art Library shelved in the quick reference collection in the Small Reading Room will have the location Barber Fine Art Library Reference
- Books in the Research Reserve will have the location Research Reserve [RRART]. You can request these via FindIt@Bham
- Rare books will have the location Cadbury Research Library Art Collection. You must make an appointment to consult these in the Cadbury Research Library.
There are card catalogue drawers in the Main Reading Room. You do not need to use them because all our books are listed in FindIt@Bham but library staff use them for stock checking.
The large room on the right of the entrance holds:
- Books with shelf marks N and to ND
- Large books known as quartos and folios, shelved on the wall opposite the door
- Print only journals, shelved under the windows
The smaller room on the left of the entrance holds:
- Books from ND to NX
- Dictionaries, encyclopaedias, yearbooks and guidebooks
- Printer/photocopier and PCs. One PC is only for searching FindIt@Bham .
Please note that all books belonging to the Barber Fine Art Library are for library use only.
How the books are classified and arranged
The library uses the Library of Congress classification system. The basic categories are:
- N: Visual arts
- NA: Architecture
- NB: Sculpture
- NC: Drawing, design and illustration
- ND: Painting
- NE: Print media
- NK: Decorative arts
- NX: Arts in general
Library guides and resource lists