Photography in British Library Asian and African Studies Reading Rooms

Those of you that visit the British Library Asian and African Studies Reading Rooms to carry out some of your research  will be pleased to read the below message I just received the from the British Library Reader Services:

Following the initial roll-out of self-service photography in several of our Reading Rooms in January, we are pleased to tell you that this facility will be extended to the following Reading Rooms in March 2015:

• Asian & African Studies
• Business & IP Centre
• Manuscripts
• Maps
• Rare Books & Music

Our curators have been working hard behind the scenes to identify material that can be photographed. With over 150 million items in our collections this is a huge task that will take some time to complete. From 16 March 2015 a significant amount of additional material will be available for photography for personal reference purposes and curators will continue to identify more material appropriate for inclusion.

Items which cannot be photographed include (but are not limited to): those that have not yet been assessed as appropriate for photography; restricted or special access material; items at risk of damage; and items where there may be data protection, privacy or third party rights issues. This will be a small proportion of our overall collections. Of the material ordered across all of our Reading Rooms in 2014, more than 95% of those items would now be available to photograph.

You may use compact cameras, tablets and mobile phones to photograph material and any copies made must not be used for commercial purposes. As with our current copying services, copyright, data protection and privacy laws must always be adhered to.

Before using your device to take photographs, we kindly ask that you view our Self-service Photography Video. This video outlines the new policy, along with information on copyright, data protection and collection handling.

A handout, available in the Reading Rooms, explains this facility and if you need further advice or assistance, please speak to our Reading Room staff.

Best wishes,
Reader Services