Printed material and ephemera

The National Library of Wales is the copyright library for Wales. It can claim one copy of any book or periodical published in Britain. As a result a large collection of books relating to politics is available for use by researchers. There are also long series of newspapers and periodicals.

Leaflets, pamphlets and other ephemera - part of what librarians call "grey literature" - are more difficult to collect. Few libraries, for example, can boast anything like a complete set of general election leaflets but this has been the aim of the Welsh Political Archive since 1983. During the 1983 general election campaign contacts were made in each of the Welsh constituencies and as a result almost all election addresses and associated leaflets were collected. A similar successful project has been undertaken during each general election campaign since then.

The leaflets collected during the National Assembly of Wales elections 1999 have been digitised.

The Archive continues to collect political pamphlets and leaflets covering earlier years and has also been able to purchase microfilm copies of rare ephemera held at other libraries.

Visual and audio-visual material

The Library's audio-visual unit, now known as the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, was set up in 1980. One of its main functions is to record television and radio programmes relating to Wales. It has now built up a substantial collection of video and audiotapes which include a wide range of news and current affairs programmes.

The Library holds a large collection of posters and photographs, which may also be of interest to historians.