Our collections

We have over 1.2 million books and journals in our libraries and a continually growing range of online resources.

Our modern libraries are spread across our campuses and feature specialist libraries such as architecture, health and science. We subscribe to thousands of electronic journals and books and hundreds of databases.

Our Special Collections preserve, promote and develop our historical and special research resources. They range across topics including Welsh, humanities and social sciences, music, science and medicine.

Electronic collections of note

We offer access to a wide range of electronic resources, eBooks and eJournals, which are available to University researchers, staff and students, including the Economist Historical Archive, Linguistics Collection (Proquest), Digimap Collections, Refinitiv, Migration to New Worlds, Mass Observation Online Archive, MLA International Bibliography, Lyell Collection, Royal Society of Chemistry Gold Collection, SciFinder and Detail Inspiration.

Print collections of note

We have many unique print collections in our libraries in addition to those held in our special collections.

British national daily and weekend newspapers

The Central Square  Library holds at least three months run of physical copies of UK broadsheet and tabloid newspapers not accessible via PressReader, plus the South Wales Argus, Echo and Western Mail. PressReader is available to University researchers, staff and students.

Cochrane Archive

The Cochrane Archive is a comprehensive record of the life, work and achievements of Archibald Leman Cochrane CBE FRCP FFCM (1909-1988). The Archive includes photographs, personal items and professional papers providing a rich resource for research on Archie Cochrane’s life and professional career.

To visit the Cochrane Archive collection, please contact the librarian at the Archie Cochrane Library.

Request a copy of ‘One Man’s Medicine: An Autobiography of Professor Archie Cochrane’, published as part of our celebrations of the centenary of Professor Cochrane's birth.

Architecture Rare Book Collection

The collection includes around 150 pre-1900 volumes. The earliest is a 1682 French edition on ancient buildings in Rome. The core of the collection is a gift of books dating back to the early eighteenth century from the library of Robert Williams FRIBA. The collection also contains a growing number of items relating to the architecture of the twentieth century. A few rare periodicals are held in the collection, including the Journal of Indian Art and Industry (1886-94).

Architecture Rare Books can be discovered via the catalogue LibrarySearch. To consult any item, ask at the enquiry desk; all items are library use only.

Santander Collection of Hispanic Comics and Graphic Literature

This is a unique collection focusing on graphic literature written in Spanish or taking the Hispanic world as its subject matter. It covers materials from both Spanish America and Spain and includes recent in-print titles as well as older materials of an under-explored form of literature. The collection can be accessed via the Arts and Social Studies Library. A complete list of titles is available through LibrarySearch.

Music Score Collections

Our music collection, held in the Arts and Social Studies Library, is the premier source for music research materials in the Southwest. The score collection, organised by the composer, covers the full canon of compositional output and its highlights range from the extremely rare complete Cyrillic edition of Rimsky-Korsakov’s works (edited by Shostakovich) to scores published by the University College of Cardiff Press, many of which are unique in the world.

A complete list of titles is available through LibrarySearch. More in-depth advice on accessing and using the Library’s resources can be provided by the dedicated Subject Librarian for Music.