Manuscript transcripts of radio communications created by members of the British North Greenland Expedition (BNGE) while in Greenland. The messages cover communication between individual expedition members, units of the expedition, and external parties such as American and Danish military bases and the expedition's main external point of contact and control which was referred to as Pakice and located in London.

The expedition took place over two phases between 1952 and 1954 and undertook a range of work on the North Greenland Icecap including glaciology, seismology, geology, gravitometry, radio wave observations, and mapping of the ice sheet. The expedition also provided an important test bed for British polar research capabilities more broadly, including logistics, communication and medicine. Members of the expedition team were predominantly members of the military, but it included several members who would later have notable careers in academia and research, including Hal Lister, James Simpson, Stan Paterson and Peter Wyllie.

The communication include reports of progress and scientific measurements, discussions regarding expedition plans, records of incidents and their resolution, and communications between expedition members and family.

Transcripts cover most of the period of the expedition, and include messages sent and received. However, the archive is not a full and complete set of transcripts. There are no transcripts in the archive covering the first 2 months of the expedition, nor for between January and April 1953.

19th Century printed ephemera, much of which originates from North East England.

The Burman-Alnwick Collection was brought together by Dr. C.C. Burman and presented to Alnwick U.D.C. by his son, Joseph Burman, to later be deposited in the Library on long-term loan.It consists of books, pamphlets, broadsides and other material printed in Alnwick 1700-1917 and is chiefly a local history collection, containing such items as An address to 'the four and twenty' of the borough of Alnwick: on certain improvements in the plan of education, pursued in the borough school [1839], The Alnwick Mercury, Northumberland Advertiser, and entertaining miscellany (1854-1859), The Journal of the Northumberland Agricultural Society (1850) and the Alnwick Mechanics' Institute's Annual Report [18--]. It is also something of a literary collection, containing Alnwick printings of well-known tales such as The babes in the wood [18--] and The ballad of Chevy Chase (1800) as well as children's literature and educational tools like The child's battledore [c.1830], works by James Beattie and Thomas Percy and various chapbooks and ballads. Published sermons and letters also appear.

The Burnett Collection of children's literature was presented by Professor Mark Burnett (Queen's University Belfast) and contains books and annuals which were mostly published in the early to mid-Twentieth Century. It includes such titles as: Timothy's quest (1900), The boy's adventure book (1935), The Flying Five and other stories of adventure and school life (1936), and Girl's fun annual (1952).

This collection comprises copied, and some original, photographs, papers and documents relating to the architect Robert Burns Dick (1868-1954) who had substantial influence in the north-east of England, particularly in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The collection includes photographs of personal documents relating to land conveyance and partnerships with Cackett and Mackellar; architectural drawings and photographs of 'Millmount' and 'the Wedge', both designed by Burns Dick; and newspaper articles and other cuttings relating to him and his work. There is also material relating to an exhibition on Burns Dick held by the northern region of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1984.

The Butler Collection is a collection of children's literature which had been created by Mary Thwaite and further developed by Joan Butler, both librarians for Hertfordshire Library Services. It was jointly acquired by the Robinson Library and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books.The collection includes eighteenth-century pamphlets and books such as Young, Rev. J. The perils of Paul Percival or the Young Adventurer (c.1841), Ballantyne, R.M. The gorilla hunters: a tale of the wilds of Africa (1897), Banks, A. Cheep and chatter or lessons from field and tree (1884) and works by such well-known children's writers as Hans Christian Andersen, J.M. Barrie, Frances Hogson Burnett, James Fenimore Cooper and Daniel Defoe as well as books illustrated by Randolph Caldecott.

Material relating to Michael Chaplin's education, career and other involvements throughout his life, as well as material relating to his father Sid Chaplin. Predominantly consists of typescripts, notes, outlines, editorial correspondence and publicity material relating to work for the theatre, radio, television, as well as pieces of prose, which Michael Chaplin wrote or produced. Also consists of publications relating to Michael Chaplin's involvement with cultural institutions in Newcastle including The People's Theatre, the Live Theatre and The Literary and Philosophical Society.

Papers relating to Sid Chaplin's writing career and other involvements throughout his life. Typescripts of published novels, short stories, poetry, plays and articles; typescripts of unpublished novels, short stories, poetry, plays and articles; working drafts of typescripts, published typeset copies; television and radio dramatisations; diaries 1930-1985, notebooks 1930-1984; newspaper cuttings; correspondence 1939-1990, in particular correspondence with David Higham Associates 1949-1989, BBC 1947-1987, various publishers: Phoenix House 1946-1962, Eyre and Spottiswoode 1959-1978, Pergamon Press and Ben Owen 1950-1984, Alan Plater 1963-1985, Alex Glasgow 1970-1982, Stan Barstow 1961-1984, Basil Bunting 1983-1984, Norman Nicholson 1950-[1982], John Bate 1944-1985, various Russian and French correspondence, particularly with Professor Valentina Ivashova 1964-1985; material relating to the English Speaking Union of America trip to USA, 1955 and subsequent correspondence with Dorothy Goodfellow 1960-1985.

The Chorley Collection, presented by Sarah Chorley, comprises children's literature chiefly from the Nineteenth Century and first decades of the Twentieth Century. Highlights include Kate Greenaway's Almanack for 1884 (1883) R.M. Ballantyne's The Coral Island (1876) and The Giants and How to Fight Them (1904) by the Rev. Richard Newton. There are also several works by the highly influential children's book illustrator Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886).