ABSTRACT
The local studies collection is constantly being renewed. It is a contemporary resource, not purely a retrospective one, in which current and historical materials are of equal value. This chapter provides an overview of the range of materials that are to be found in most local studies collections. The scope of its materials reflects an evolving interdisciplinary focus encompassing geography, economics, social science, planning, commerce, politics and culture. In form, as well as content, local studies materials are extremely diverse. Printed books and pamphlets are still at the heart of the collection, but maps and plans, prints and photographs, visual and sound recordings, and increasingly electronic forms, are all part of the rich resource which exists to meet the needs of users, and enable staff to answer every kind of enquiry about the local area.
