The NEIMME Library has one of the largest, most comprehensive collections on mining engineering in the world. It includes many early scientific and technical reports relating to the development of the coal industry and associated mechanical engineering especially the early work on safety in mines. The Library includes items relating to mining of all types, worldwide, plus all the related industries such as metallurgy, geology and railway engineering as shown in our Collection Development Policy.
The Library includes over 35,000 volumes dating from 1556 through to the present day, over 600 different periodicals from around the world and over 15,000 pamphlets, technical reports and off-prints. We also have a large map collection including maps from the Ordnance Survey, Geological Survey and underground mine plans covering the Great Northern Coalfield and Northern Pennine Orefield area. There is also a substantial image collection of photographs, slides and negatives.
The Archives Collection documents the work of colliery viewers such as John Buddle and reveals how the coal industry operated through the Industrial Revolution. The collection includes manuscript records, letters, colliery surveys and sketch maps of those viewers and the colliery companies with which they were involved.
The NEIMME Collections are now managed and cared for by The Common Room with online access to the catalogue and digitised images where available. Please contact Jen Hillyard at The Common Room to arrange a visit if you wish to use materials on site or for reuse in publication.
Here are some of our favourite items from the collections:
More information about how to research some popular subjects within our collections is available in our free Resource Guides.
