The AHRC Access for Research Project

At the heart of the MMTC is the extraordinary research archive, containing 1,500 archive boxes of theatre ephemera, and the library of 15,000 books. The boxes, arranged according to Raymond and Joe’s system of classification, are full of playbills, photographs, newspaper cuttings and original documents from the eighteenth century to the present. The collection is particularly strong in holdings on the London Theatre in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and there are also files on regional theatres, on actors and actresses, and on specialist subjects such as circus, variety, puppetry and pantomime. Musicians and dancers of note are also represented.

In 2003, a three-year project of cataloguing and digitisation was enabled by a generous Resource Enhancement grant from the AHRC awarded to Dr Sophie Nield. The project team, directed by Dr Nield, comprised two Archive Cataloguers, Paul Davidson and Kristy Davis. Dr Emily Mitchell also worked on the catalogue in the first year of the project. Dr Rosemary Firman, former Chief Librarian at the Jerwood, and the current Head Librarian Claire Kidwell were key members of the project team, which also benefited from the invaluable advice and day to day support of Richard Mangan. The project was supported by the various contributions of our distinguished advisory panel, which included theatre academics, archive professionals and Trustees of the Collection in the UK and beyond.

The AHRC Access for Research project was able to begin the process of creating an on-line catalogue for the MMTC, covering the holdings of the research archive at collection level (1,850 records). It then focuses particularly on the collection's pre-1890 London theatre records at item level (6,000 items), and also contains a digital media archive of 2,000 images

The project, which began in February 2003 and concluded this stage of its work in January 2006, only represents the first steps in cataloguing the Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection. We estimate that the collection contains over a million items of ephemera.

The project is also the impetus behind an ongoing series of reflections and critical engagements, which will endure beyond this stage of the work. We held, as a key concern, the enhancing of research access and use by what we hope will be a growing range of constituencies and stakeholders. The Collection remains committed to working with undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars in developing ways of using the material it houses, and developing work in the fields of archives, ephemera and object-based learning.