Prefixes
The prefixes of some collections have changed one or more times in the past. For instance, the prefix of the Eddington papers, now EDDN, was formerly Eddington. These older prefixes will of course be found in older publications and in some cases are still written on the documents themselves. However, if you have a reference with an old prefix it will usually be clear which collection is referred to, and it will be easy to identify the item or items you want, since it is rare that references have been changed beyond the prefix. Please ask us if you have a reference you can’t identify.
Punctuation
The system on which our online catalogue is based introduces a forward slash (/) at each cataloguing level. Some of these slashes do not appear in the references we have historically used, and in many cases we ourselves prefer the simpler form of reference, e.g. O.13.1 instead of O./13.1; Add. MS a. 5/1 instead of Add. MS a/5/1; and MCKW A1/1a instead of MCKW/A/1/1a. However, either form can be used in citations and searches.
Identifying the Repository
In citing references this repository can be identified as Trinity College Library, Cambridge, or TCL for short: e.g. TCL, ONSL 3/1. If preferred, the ARCHON code, GB 0016, can be used.