Introduction
The National Army Museum (NAM) encourages everyone to conduct research for themselves and welcomes readers into the Templer Study Centre (TSC). Prior appointment is advised for consulting archive material as restrictions exist on collections which require conservation, contain personal data, or are closed to external access for other reasons.
Handling guidelines
Please familiarise yourself with our handling dos and don'ts. Following these guidelines will help us preserve our unique collections for future use.
Please do not:
- bring any food or drink into the TSC reading room.
- lick your fingers when turning pages.
- use your finger to follow the text; acid free paper is available to use as a guide.
- let materials hang over the edge of the desk or place them on the floor or chairs.
- remove material from transparent sleeves.
- make any annotations or alterations to the material.
- remove any bindings or fastenings from the material.
- lean on or trace over material.
- use flash photography.
Please do:
- ensure your hands are clean and dry before handling material.
- use pencils when making notes.
- ensure you have enough desk space.
- handle documents carefully and turn the pages from the edges.
- use the foam wedges and book cushions to support bound volumes and the snake weights to hold open pages.
- consult only one file at a time, keeping the file in original order, and never removing individual sheets from the file.
- use the map table in the corner of the TSC reading room when consulting maps or outsize material.
- use the weights available to hold down corners of large or curled material.
- let a member of staff know if any material is mislabelled, damaged or missing.
- ask a member of staff if you have any queries or require assistance; we are here to help.