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The Main Catalogue

This catalogue allows you to search and order material from across our collections to view in our Reading Room. Remember that you must register with the Library before you can order material. You'll find more information about the process on our Reader's Ticket page.

Our collections are vast, so you can refine or limit your searches in order to reduce the number of results. The Main Catalogue is a good starting point if you have a general search.

You'll find help on our Main Catalogue help page.

Search the Main Catalogue


Specialist Catalogues

We have a number of specialist catalogues which allow you to search specific types or sets of collections. 

Many of these catalogues allow you to see the collections online eg Welsh Newspapers, Welsh Journals and Places of Wales. 

To order material to view in the Reading Room, you must either use the Main Catalogue or NLW Archives and Manuscripts (listed on the specialist catalogues page).

See the Specialist Catalogues

NLW Archives and Manuscripts

This Catalogue is for searching and ordering items from the Library's archives and manuscripts collections. While you can access these collections on the Main Catalogue, this catalogue confines your search, and so makes it easier to find individual items quickly. You can also view the archival tree which shows how each item relates to others in the collection.

Please note, you must use the Main Catalogue to search the wills and marriage bonds collections and the Theses Collection Wales.

Search NLW Archives and Manuscripts

Other Resources

While we have numerous internal search resources which allow you to search across our collections, we also contribute digital images of our collections to external websites and projects. It's important that we share our collections as widely as possible, and that the fact that they can be seen alongside collections from other places contributes to the interpretation of the story of Wales.

Browse NLW on other resources


Using the Reading Room

Anyone over 16 can register to use our Reading Room.

  • You must register as a reader to gain access to our Reading Room
  • You need to show 2 forms of identification (one including your current address) to get a full reader's ticket

You can only order items from the collections to view in the Reading Room on the Main Catalogue and NLW Archive and Manuscripts.

Register and use the Reading Room
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