What is in the Catalogue:

The online catalogue allows you to find descriptions of unique documents from the archive collections which are available for research. The level of detail of catalogue entries will vary - sometimes a series of thousands of photographs may have just one entry, sometimes individual photographs will be described. You will also see where the document fits into its collection. Clicking on the reference number (RefNo) displays a diagram of the whole collection of which the document is a part, similar to a family tree.

The online archive contains descriptions of corporate records of the Guardian and Observer, details of oral history recordings, lists of photographic files available in our picture library archive, and details of personal collections of papers and photographic material of individuals associated with the papers. Overviews of these records are available on our website.

What you won’t find in the Catalogue:

Not everything held by the archive is catalogued as this is an ongoing process and our collections are growing all the time. At present about 30% of our archive collections are catalogued. If you can’t find the material you are searching for, we may still be able to help so please contact us.

The catalogue is not designed to provide online access to digital images of documents within our collections. You may be able to find a small number of images of documents along with their catalogue records but most will simply have a description to enable you to decide if you wish to come in and consult the material or enquire further about it.

Please note that the catalogue does not contain published articles from the Guardian or Observer. These can be accessed online on the Guardian and Observer Digital archive