COVID-19 Response - Library Update
To ensure the wellbeing of everyone who uses the building, our premises in Burlington House are set to remain closed for the time being. We will provide further updates when we have more information.
Thank you for your support and understanding.
Continuing Support
Most types of enquiries can be answered including: collection enquiries; historical / genealogical research; remote access enquiries, including ScienceDirect account requests.
Copies and loans are currently not possible but please continue to submit any non-urgent requests.
Enquiries can be submitted using the webform or by e-mailing library@rsc.org. Allow 2 working days for a response.
Digital Collections
Please make use of the digitised collections including the Library catalogue, the Historical Collection, RSC Publishing and the Virtual Library (click the tab above for access).
Discover what the Library collections have to offer or start using the Library catalogue now to browse the collections or find a particular item.
When a small group of chemists met in 1841 to form the Chemical Society, one of the original objects for the society was 'the formation of a Library of scientific works'. From a small collection of books, the Library rapidly grew to become one of the finest single collections of works on the chemical sciences in Europe.
Today's collections consist of the virtual (accessible via our Virtual Library) and the physical. The physical collections house loanable books and journals and reference items. The Historical Collection is available both physically, in Burlington House, and online, through our Publishing Platform.
The Image Collection
Including a diverse range of formats and subjects, the Image Collection comprises many photographs, prints, paintings and glass slides. Some of the subjects included are Vanity Fair cartoons, caricatures and drawings of laboratory equipment and processes but the bulk of the collection comprises photographs of individual chemists.
Many of the images in the collection came to the Royal Society of Chemistry as donations; one unique group of images that was donated to us is the Rose Collection donated by Sir Harold Rose. This is a collection of ‘artistic photomicrographs’; the subject of this collection are crystals that Rose himself grew and photographed, magnified many times their original size, through a microscope.
Many thousands of the images in this collection have been digitised and are available for purchase, please contact the Library for further information. In order to give you a more accurate quote, we will need to know which images you require and how to intend to use them.
Advice on how to search for (and see a preview of) an image is available on the Library catalogue’s Advanced Search page.
If you are able to visit the Library at Burlington House, we provide a Members' Room with four computers as well as free wi-fi and tea & coffee. Please ensure to check our opening times prior to your visit.
The majority of services are for members-only but if you are not a member, we may still be able to assist so please ask.
Historical enquiries
One of our most widely accessible enquiry services, not solely for the use of members, is the historical enquiry service.
As more people are keen to research their family history, they sometimes come across information to suggest that an ancestor was a past member of the Chemical Society or Institute of Chemistry; if this proves to be true, we can often provide some information.
Not limited to genealogy, we can also help with a wide range of biographical enquiries of scientists and more general history on the chemical sciences.
The Royal Society of Chemistry's Library Catalogue can be used to search for information on individual chemists and other scientists.
Technical enquiries
Whilst unable to provide a detailed or technical search for information, we have many resources available to assist you. The main resources can be found in the Virtual Library) or you could search the Library catalogue or the Publishing Platform.
We would also recommend looking through the Directory of Consultants to locate someone with the expertise to help you.
M25 access scheme
The M25 access scheme allow members to visit and borrow library material from other participating institutions.
Under this scheme, members can access the collections of other academic institutions and in return their members have access to the collections of the Library of the Royal Society of Chemistry (some restrictions may apply).
If you wish to take advantage of this scheme, please contact us for further information or visit the M25 website for conditions of access and a list of participating libraries.
The Virtual Library provides members with free access to a range of chemical resources from several different publishers.
Service Update 29 April 2021
Please note that access to EBSCO is currently unavailable, other services may be affected also. We are working to resolve these issues asap. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.
Problems logging in?
- Ensure you are accessing via the sign-in button (and not via any direct links to the resources)
- Enter your username as your 6 digit RSC number. If you have forgotten your ID or password, you can reset them on the Members' area sign-in page
- Clear the cookies from your browsers’ cache
- Try using a different browser
- ScienceDirect requires a separate account that you can request from the Library (accounts expire at the end of each year)
EBSCO eBooks
Access to over 100 titles on the chemical sciences, including many on the history of chemistry, and more than 3,000 general interest titles.
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
Features over 1,300 regularly updated articles on chemical substances: their properties, manufacturing, and uses.
Also includes information on industrial processes and unit operations in chemical engineering, as well as fundamentals and scientific subjects related to the field. Environmental and health issues concerning chemical technology are also addressed.
Knovel eBooks and Databases
Engineering data resource including eBooks & Databases on a range of related topics. Other research tools include:
- Material property search
- Interactive equations
- Periodic Table
- Engineering unit converter
ScienceDirect eJournals and eBooks
Over 300 eBooks and 18 journal archives (c. 1995 to 2016). Journal titles include Analytica Chimica Acta, Journal of Chromatography A and Tetrahedron Letters.
Springer eJournals and eBooks
Access to over 400 eBooks and the journal archives of over 100 titles, e.g. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry; Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology; Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine.
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
Complete coverage of the science and technology in all areas of industrial chemistry containing over 1,000 major articles by some 3,000 authors.
The Presidents of the Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry (1841-2024)
This booklet contains profiles on every president of the Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry since 1841.
Find out about some of their many professional achievements as well as other interesting facts about them; which president played in the second ever FA Cup Final? Who was the inspiration for the White Knight in ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’? Who are the presidents that have craters on the Moon named after them?
Download the President's BookletThe Story of Burlington House
For a century and a half, the London premises of the Society have been within Burlington House in Piccadilly. Prior to it being the home of six learned societies, Burlington House was a private residence; this booklet charts the history of the building from 1664 to present day.
Pro Patria: Remembering the First World War
To commemorate the centenary of the First World War (1914-1919), this booklet profiles each of the 82 members of the Chemical Society and the Institute of Chemistry who died on active duty and who are named on the two war memorials within Burlington House. Additionally, there are sections on some of those members who survived the conflict, and the role of women chemists.
The Historical Collection
The Library cares for an extensive collection of items on the chemical sciences, part of which is the Historical Collection. This booklet describes each of the component parts of that collection and showcases some of the more notable and unique items within it.
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