In 2000, I became the first ever Special Collections Librarian at the University of Bradford, UK. I took charge of collections that were truly hidden: little known, uncatalogued, unused, neglected and vulnerable to damage. Thanks to a great deal of help from colleagues at Bradford and in the profession, I have been able to make many of these materials available for the first time. I was thrilled to be asked by Facet Publishing to write this book to share my experience and knowledge of developing Special Collections from scratch with few resources. Five years on, this fully revised edition brings the busy student or practitioner up to date on the many new developments across our sector.

Far too many people have helped directly or indirectly in the creation of both editions of this book to begin to thank them all, notably colleagues in the CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Group, Research Libraries UK, and The National Archives. I would particularly like to mention here my colleagues at Bradford who gave me the opportunity to manage and transform a wonderful set of Special Collections, and above all the Special Collections Assistants, John Brooker and his successor Martin Levy. On a personal note, many, many thanks to Simon and to my parents for all their support.