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Update 2 February 2012: Due to staff sickness please note that the library will not be open this coming Saturday (4 February).
The RAS Library is open 10:00–17:00 Monday to Friday.
In addition, throughout 2012 we intend to open the Library on the first Saturday of each month, Bank Holidays excepted, as follows: 7 January, 4 February, 3 March, 7 April, 5 May, 9 June, 7 July, 1 September, 6 October, 3 November, 1 December.
Potential visitors are advised to confirm out-of-hours openings with the Librarian before undertaking lengthy journeys.
The RAS Library is a private collection funded by and primarily serving the Fellows and other members of the Society. Enquiries from other sources are dealt with only as far as limited staff numbers allow. Access to the Library itself may be given at the discretion of the Librarian, or of one of the officers of the Society, to those who have a need for information which cannot be fulfilled by public and national libraries.
Access will normally be given to staff members of recognised academic institutions from home or overseas, subject to adequate identification; any would-be reader wishing to use the Library, and particularly if needing special material such as archives or rare books, is requested to contact the staff in advance to avoid wasted journeys.
Special conditions apply for  Filming.pdf in the Library
General enquiries
Many general enquiries may be answered by reference to RAS Library Information Sheets:
Other material available through the RAS astrolinks and education & outreach web pages may be of assistance.
If these sources don't provide sufficient information, other well-specified requests for information, articles, photographs, etc., can often be dealt with by Library staff, subject to availability. (However, vague or open-ended speculations about 'Life, the Universe and Everything' can absorb an unrealistic amount of time of staff who, in any case, do not have any formal training in matters astronomical or metaphysical. Staff cannot discuss, vet, or disseminate enquirers' theories; the normal, indeed the only, way for such ideas to be presented to the scientific community is for them to be submitted as articles to the relevant journals, where they will be subject to expert peer review.)
The RAS will provide assistance to non-members on a 'best efforts' basis, but reserves the right to supply information if, for example:
- the enquiry is beyond the scope of the Library staff;
- the search for information would involve excessive time and effort;
- or the background to the enquiry is judged inappropriate to the aims and function of the Society.
The Librarian
Peter Hingley
Contact details
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