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British Library of Information collection
XX214  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Arrangement Statement

  • Title: British Library of Information collection
    Date (inclusive): 1920-1921
    Collection Number: XX214
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: In English, German and French
    Physical Description: 1 manuscript box (0.4 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: The collection includes clippings from American newspapers in English, French, and German, collected by the British Library of Information in New York City. The clippings focus on American sentiment towards Great Britain and the British Empire in 1920-1921.
    Creator: British Library of Information (New York, N.Y.)
    Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Access

    The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

    Use

    For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], British Library of Information collection, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Biographical / Historical

    The British Library of Information was a branch of the British Foreign Office News Department created in 1919 to improve relations between the United States and Great Britain. This was done in two ways: firstly, by dispensing officially approved information about Britain's domestic, imperial, and foreign affairs through the Library's reading room in New York city; and secondly, by monitoring American public opinion through newspaper clippings, which were collected and sent to the Foreign Office.
    The Library proved to be an adequate dispensary and collector of information for the Foreign Office during peacetime, but with the onset of World War II, it could no longer meet the goals or demands of wartime foreign policy. Consequently, it was absorbed into the larger British Information Services in 1942.
    Further information on the British Library of Information can be found in David Lincove's article, "The British Library of Information in New York: A Tool of British Foreign Policy, 1919-1942." in Libraries & the Cultural Record 46.2 (2011) p.156-84.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The collection includes clippings from American newspapers in English, French, and German, collected by the British Library of Information in New York City during 1920-1921. The clippings focus on American sentiment towards Great Britain and the British Empire, especially in relation to the establishment of the Irish Free State, the anticolonial movement in India, the Versailles peace settlement, and the Anglo-Japanese alliance.

    Arrangement Statement

    The collection is organized into 3 series of clippings, arranged by language: English, French, and German.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Japan -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain
    Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- Japan
    Journalism -- United States
    World politics
    World War, 1914-1918 -- Peace
    India -- History -- British occupation, 1765-1947
    Ireland -- History -- 1910-1921