Teaching with our Collections

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Advice and Support

If you are interested in using SCHA’s collections in your teaching, please contact us  at lib-special@sheffield.ac.uk to discuss your requirements. We hold materials relating to a very wide range of subjects, of potential interest to STEM courses as well as Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities. We can also offer skills-based sessions, which need not be subject-specific. 

While we primarily offer support to teaching within the University of Sheffield, we are also happy to discuss providing sessions for other institutions and schools. 

Teaching Sessions

In-person sessions

Being able to see and touch original materials from the collections in person enriches students’ learning experience. It hones observation and analysis skills, gives opportunity for communication and collaboration, and can bring a subject to life, increasing motivation and inspiring creativity. We can accommodate groups of up to 20 students for hands-on interactions with our collections in Western Bank Library.

Remote/hybrid sessions

While experiencing the collections in person can offer the greatest benefit to students, we can facilitate remote/hybrid classes to deliver online content if required. This may be a good option for larger groups or those on distance learning courses. 

Content of sessions

Sessions can be tailored to the needs of each course, focusing on relevant topics or material, with different levels of support from SCHA on offer. We can simply provide specific items from the collections for the academic to show, discuss, or otherwise incorporate into their teaching. SCHA staff can assist in selecting materials in a particular subject area or a specific format in consultation with the academic to support their teaching. 

SCHA staff can participate directly in the delivery of sessions: giving presentations on the content available, demonstrating how to find and use items from the collections for independent study, and providing handling guidance to participants. 

Members of the SCHA team also regularly teach sessions in areas of their professional expertise, such as information organisation, archival practices, and making history public. An introduction to using special collections and archives in research is also offered as part of the Library’s doctoral development programme. 

Curator-led tours of the current exhibition can also be arranged. 

Booking sessions

To discuss or book a session email lib-special@sheffield.ac.uk. If you have fixed timetabling requirements, please contact us as far in advance as possible to avoid disappointment, as room availability may be limited. All hands-on sessions using library collections are held within Western Bank Library. 

Bespoke Digitisation

We can provide high quality digital scans of content from our collections for academics to use in teaching materials.  Digitisation requests can usually be fulfilled within 15 working days. If documents require significant interventive conservation work in order for them to be able to be copied safely, it may not always be possible to provide images, or the work may take significantly longer. Material which is restricted under Data Protection or copyright legislation cannot be supplied. If you have specific requirements for teaching, please contact us in advance to discuss before submitting a digitisation request. 

Material already digitised and available on Special Collections Digital and NFCA Digital can also be used in teaching.   

Other Student Opportunities

Each year SCHA offers a number of student placements to enable students to gain work experience, undertake projects, and learn valuable skills. These are advertised by the relevant departments, and are usually very popular. We currently work with English, History, and Philosophy to offer placements working with Special Collections, the National Fairground and Circus Archive, and the Heritage Collections. While the number of students that we can support at one time is finite, we are open to approaches from other departments, and to discuss potential projects involving students. We are also happy to offer one-to-one advice to students interested in pursuing a career in the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) sector.