Support

What is British Online Archives?

British Online Archives contains a range of historical collections. These are relevant to university students and researchers. Our collections focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Who is your audience?

We target universities and national libraries around the world. Researchers are also welcome.

What areas do you specialise in?

Our collections are relevant to Atlantic studies, African studies, social and political history, colonial rule, warfare, revolution and the history of slavery.

Who are your existing clients?

Our current clients include some of the finest academic institutions, mainly within the United Kingdom and North America. These include members of the Ivy League and Russell Group.

Where can I learn more about British Online Archives?

Please feel free to explore British Online Archives through our suite of online videos freely available here here..

How are your collections fit-for-purpose?

We use the help of experts to assist in this process as well as our in-house team of editors to ensure our collections are accessible and relevant.

Where are your collections sourced from?

We typically work with some of the finest UK libraries and archive holdings. These include the National Archives, British Library, National Library of Scotland, and many more.

Where can I find details on pricing?

Our pricing is largely determined by the number of university staff and students. Please contact our sales team at boa@microform.co.uk for a quote and/or further information.

Where can I find your license terms and conditions?

Our institutional terms and conditionals can be found here.

Can we have a trial?

Yes, absolutely. We can offer institutional trials for up 30 days across any of our collections completely free.

What pricing models do you offer?

We offer one-time purchases which will grant you unlimited access to the collection(s) purchased. In all cases, a small, annual access management fee will be charged.

How can an existing client add to their collections?

Please contact our sales team at boa@microform.co.uk who will be happy to supply you with a quote.

What methods of access do you offer?

Our methods of access include federated access via Shibboleth, IP address(es) and individual username and password.

How do I know I have access?

You should see the name of your institution appear in the top right-hand corner of the screen. This happens once you log in.

How many users can access your content at any given time?

There is no limit to the number of users.

Is there a limit on simultaneous users?

No.

How much content can be downloaded?

For one-time purchases, there is no limit to the number of downloads made. We can also provide the ability for entire documents to be downloaded. Please note, this only applies to university purchases.

Are MARC21 records available?

Yes, for the majority of our collections. These can be found here.

Does British Online Archives offer COUNTER compliant usage statistics?

Yes, British Online Archives is COUNTER compliant and we can provide usage statistics for the following three database reports: i) DBR1: Total searches, result clicks and record views by month and database. ii) DBR2: Access denied by month, database and category. iii) MR1: Number of successful full multimedia content unit requests by month and collection.

How can I get access to our usage statistics?

Upon request, we can set up an administration account. This will allow the university's own staff to access these statistics.

Are usage statistics available for trials?

Yes, upon request, although these statistics will not be COUNTER compliant.

Does your content cater to the needs of the visually impaired?

British Online Archives works toward the Level Two recommendations made by the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). It also meets a number of checkpoints from Level Three. Moreover, we meet much of the criteria outlined in the Web Accessibility Initiative - Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA).

How is British Online Archives structured?

What is a series?

Each series is a range of collections covering one subject area, such as colonial rule in Africa. In terms of finding information in a library, a series is the same as finding the subject section you need.

What is a collection?

Each collection is an assortment of papers, reports, books or other texts which cover a specific topic such as colonial rule in Nigeria. In terms of finding information in a library, a collection is the same as finding the shelf of books you need.

What is a volume?

Volumes are groupings of papers that are similar in nature. They might all share a theme or they might have been written during the same time period. In terms of finding information in a library, a volume is the equivalent to finding the shelf of books that you need.

What is a document?

Pages scanned from original texts are found in our documents. Volumes are usually divided into documents by the years they cover. Each document will usually cover between one and five years. In terms of finding information in a library, a document is the same as finding the chapter of a book you need.

What is an image?

Images are digital copies of pages from one or more original item(s). The document description says what these images cover. Broader descriptions can be found at the volume and collection level. In terms of finding information in a library, an image is the same as finding the page inside a book you need.

How does British Online Archives implement full-text search?

When you perform a search, your query is applied across all four levels of a given resource: collection, volume, document and page. Once your search request has been performed, a relevance score calculates against each collection or document. This will determine the most relevant match for the query.

Are there structured search options?

Yes. On the search results page, on the left-hand side you will find a list of filters that can be applied to refine your search. These range from particular keyword subjects and countries to specific collection titles.

Is there an advanced search feature?

Yes. The advanced search page can be found here. For help on using advanced search, please refer to our advanced search guide and video walkthrough.

Do you support operators when full-text searching?

Yes. We support various operators to help you refine and tailor your search to find the content you are looking for. A short-hand list of available operators can be found here.

Can I perform a 'wildcard' search?

Yes. To perform a wildcard search, you simply need to an asterisk (*) directly after a stemmed word. For example, mis* would match 'mission', 'missile', 'miscellaneous' etc.

How so I perform an exact search?

Also known as phrase matching, an exact search can be produced by wrapping a search query in speech/double quotation marks, for example "international conflict". Exact phrase matching does exactly that. We do not match any other search terms even if they are related.