Over the summer vacation, I spent two weeks at the British Library (BL) looking at microfilm reels of old Tamil newspapers published in Malaya in the 1930s. This was a memorable trip because the day after I arrived in London, the police had found two cars with bombs set to explode at the West End following which the Security Alert status was brought up!

Anyway, I could only spend two weeks because that was how long my grant could last (London is expensive, in case you didn’t know). I did my research at the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections (APAC) Reading Room. Scholars aside, others who came to use the services of the Library included foreigners who were there trying to look for birth or marriage documents of their parents or grandparents, and there were others trying to trace their family genealogy and history. Some of them have been engaged in this pursuit for up to eight years and come in on Saturdays (their day-offs) with the hope that they might find a juicy piece of information about their family history

Get a letter from the History Department (or the institution you are affiliated with), stating that you are a student / member of institution, the purpose of your visit (e.g. thesis title), how long you plan on researching etc. The letter will help facilitate the process of getting your British Library Reader Pass.

Check which BL branch your materials are kept in. Most newspapers are kept in the Colindale Branch in Zone 4, and not in the main St Pancras branch. However, most of the papers at Colindale are only Western language papers. The Asian newspapers are kept in the APAC at the main branch. Do write in to check if you’re unsure. The BL has excellent customer service and they reply almost within a day.

Check the BL website for seasonal closure dates. You do not want to be there when the Reading Rooms are closed for a period of time.

Use the online integrated catalogue on the BL webpage to check the reference numbers of the materials you want and take them down. This will make your life easier when you get there.

Once you get to the BL:

You need a Reader Pass to use the Reading Rooms in the British Library. Together with a letter from the Department, you need to have two identification documents - one has to be an identification bearing your signature and the other, one showing your home address. You cannot use just one form of identification to prove both. You can use your passport to prove your identity (and signature) and your credit card bill or your national identity card to show your address. Check this link:

http://www.bl.uk/services/reading/admissions.html

You are not allowed to bring your bag/coats into the Reading Rooms. You are only allowed to bring in one transparent plastic bag provided by the BL. All bags can be left at the cloakroom or lockers provided. You can bring your laptop into the Reading Rooms (though not in your laptop case), pencils (no pens, markers etc) and no food/drink is allowed.

Upon getting your Reader Pass, you can go to the Reading Rooms. The APAC Reading Rooms are open from 10 am to 5 pm on Mondays, 9.30 am to 5 pm from Tuesdays to Saturdays and closed on Sundays. The other rooms such as the Humanities and Rare Books Section are open till 8 pm. Go to the person at the Reference Desk at the APAC and tell them that you are new and would appreciate some start up help to get your materials. The people at the BL, particularly Mr Tim Thomas – who taught me how to request for materials – are a helpful bunch.

You have to request for your materials via the computers at the APAC, using the Reader Pass number and your password. It takes up to seventy minutes for your books/microfilm to be made ready for viewing. Once you have your Reader Pass and password (which you set yourself the first time you request for materials), you can reserve materials even the day before you want to use them (as long as it’s before 8pm). Reserved materials are kept on the holding shelves for three days from the date of request.

If you’re using the microfilm readers in the APAC Reading Room, try to get hold of the machines that do not require you to engage in manual fast-forwarding and rewinding. This will save you a lot of trouble and time. You are allowed to only take six boxes of microfilm at any one time. There is only one microfilm machine attached to a printer, so only use this machine when you want to print.

Printing requires you to purchase a copier card, which costs 1 Pound. You can top up the card to any amount, with the minimum being 1 Pound. Before you use the printer, ask for help on how to use the machine since it can get complicated (especially with the settings). Printing an A4 piece costs 20p (about 60 Singapore cents) and an A3 piece costs twice that amount. Make sure you check the settings before you start printing A3 sheets which you don’t need.

When leaving, be ready to have the security personnel check your paper bag/laptop to ensure that you have not taken anything from the room. Do note that there is no free internet connection from the Reading Rooms. You have to pay and subscribe to a service provider. However, you can use your laptops at designated spots in the library to access the internet.

Other Miscellaneous Information about London:

The BL is near the King’s Cross/St Pancras Tube Station. To save you transport costs, it helps to find accommodation near the Russell Square area because it takes you about 10 minutes to walk to the BL from there. I stayed at the Goodenough College Residences at Russell Square and since it was vacation period, I managed to find a student room for 28 pounds a night. This is probably the best rate one could find to stay in Central London. Russell Square is on the Piccadilly Line, and the line takes you directly to Heathrow.

It is also a student’s quarter, with a couple of supermarkets where you can get your milk, cheese, juice and fruits. The Goodenough rooms come with a fridge and that comes in very handy. A good, fairly inexpensive place to eat at the Brunswick Centre at Russell Square is the Asian restaurant called Hare and Tortoise, where you can get rice and Malaysian Chicken Curry for about 5 Pounds. Of course, if you have a sweet tooth and love doughnuts, Tesco stocks up on Krispy Kreme Doughnuts; the plain ones cost 99p.

If you’re Singaporean, you do not require a visa to enter the UK for up to 3 months. Other nationalities should check on visa requirements.

Apart from the cost of living, and the weather (I had autumnal weather even though I was there in summer), London is a great city to be in. The museum culture is amazing (it’s free to almost all the museums), the arts scene is colourful and there is always something fun to do every evening. Oh, and if you enjoy shopping, it might help to schedule your research trip during the London summer sales, which usually start on the last week of June and 1^st July. Trust me; the sales in London are the best! And they never describe their sales as ‘great’ like we do.

Dinesh Sathisan is a M.A. candidate at the Department of History in NUS.