Facilities and Services

Electric sockets for the use of personal computers are provided in the Rare Books Reading Room, but there is no internet connection provided.

Photocopying is permitted only for post-1800 material, at the discretion of library staff.  Our charges for photography are listed at Photographic Charges.  Copyright must be observed.

Requests for photographic reproduction of library material should be made to the Assistant Librarian. The library reserves the right to refuse to supply photographs in cases where the original object is too fragile to be subjected to photographic work. Please provide:

  • specific references to the material to be photographed (shelfmark or catalogue reference, for instance, STC/Wing)
  • what the image is to be used for (private research, publication, broadcast, and so on)
  • type of the requested image (colour or black and white, digital or print)

We can supply photographs suitable for private study under a certain number of images from the Library camera.  For large orders and publication-standard photography, we use the Bodleian Libraries’ Imaging Services, the Ashmolean Photographic Studio and other professional photographers.   Please note that this work can take from one to eight weeks, depending on the processing required and the photographer.

Worcester College retains the copyright and any publication right in the photographs. If you wish to reproduce a photograph in any form, you will need to apply for permission. We ask for acknowledgment in any publication to ‘The Provost and Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford’.

Photographs of the College taken by Thomas-Photos between 1963 and 2000 are now held at the Oxfordshire History Centre. The Centre provides an index to the negatives as well as a selection of digitized images accessible via Heritage Search. Please note that copyright in commissioned photographs remains with the College and written permission is required prior to access.