Archive of the University of Nottingham: Student and Staff Life

The material found here has been preserved because of the valuable information it contains about what it is like to work and study at the University of Nottingham. Some series contain official records (such as the Derby Hall archive) while some consist primarily of ephemera and others bring together communications which were issued digitally, such as web pages or blogs. There are some official records relating to student administration but very little of this type of material has been transferred to the University Archive.

Manuscripts and Special Collections are actively collecting material for this collection so the catalogue will be updated periodically as new content is added.

Nottingham's first civic college, University College Nottingham, was opened in the city centre in 1881 and in 1928 the College moved to what is now known as the University Park campus. The college was awarded the Royal Charter and became The University of Nottingham in 1948 and since then has established: a Medical School (1970); Jubilee Campus (1999; Semenyih, Malaysia (2005 - the University first opened a campus in Malaysia in 2000); King's Meadow Campus (2005); Ningbo China (2006 - the first foreign university to establish an independent campus in China, though it had started taking students in 2004).

The principal series developed so far are as follows:

UL/H Halls of residence: a major archive for Derby Hall; a video and some papers relating to Wortley Hall Association and Trust Fund 1969-1998; papers from a former warden of Lincoln Hall; a major archive for Nightingale Hall which was transferred along with papers of former warden Audrey Beecham.

UL/F Ephemera collected by staff at Welcome/Freshers fairs, the archive collection box in the Portland Building, etc., or donated by alumni and former staff.

UL/A Student administration files some of which relate to individual students, 1949-1970s (access to student records less than 80 years old is restricted).

UL/E Events: papers and webpages relating to events at or affecting the University of Nottingham including student sit-ins in the early 1970s, the University College Union strikes of 2020, Brexit, the Black Lives Matter protests, and the coronavirus crisis of 2020, Nottingham University's centenary in 1991, the University's Golden Jubilee in 1998.

UL/S The records of support services and facilities (chaplains, sports centre, etc.)

The bulk of the collection is accessible to all readers. However, access to some items is restricted under current Data Protection legislation. Please see our Access Policy or contact us for further advice.

This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright in the description belongs to The University of Nottingham.

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in writing on our Permission to Publish form (see the Reprographics Services part of our website or email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk)

Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

Material has been collected by library and archive staff over a number of years in order to document life at the University, or transferred by members of staff for inclusion in the University Archive.

This collection is just one part of a larger set of records relating to the University of Nottingham. The University of Nottingham archive has been divided into separate collections as follows (please note that collections marked with an asterisk * are still being catalogued):

UAC: Records of Midland Agricultural College, pre-1948

UCN: Records of University College Nottingham, pre-1948

UA: Archive of the University of Nottingham: Academic Faculties, Departments and Research Institutes

UF: Archive of the University of Nottingham: Estate and Resource Management, including Libraries *

UG: Archive of the University of Nottingham: Governance

UL: Archive of the University of Nottingham: Student and Staff Life *

UP: Archive of the University of Nottingham: External Relations *

US: Archive of the University of Nottingham: Strategy, Vice-Chancellor's Office and Registrar's Department papers *

UU: Archive of the University of Nottingham: Student, Staff and Alumni Societies

UMP: Archive of the University of Nottingham: Photographs

NUP: Photographs relating to the University of Nottingham and the earlier University College, Nottingham, donated by alumni, former staff and other individuals

UONC: The University of Nottingham Collection, printed and published material about the University of Nottingham and its predecessor University College, Nottingham

Search for the reference number on the Manuscripts Online Catalogue to retrieve records from any other catalogued University collection.