Librarian Karen O'Farrell provides an example of the specialist research needed to make elusive sources usable. She tracks down books unavailable through ordinary searches, including an 1880 volume of Battles of the British Navy. The work depends on knowing how to navigate catalogues, holdings, and international access routes. Bibliographic discovery is a skilled part of naval historiography rather than a clerical afterthought.
Notable Point · 4:35-6:32
How research librarians recover obscure naval sources
Specialist librarians help historians locate obscure books when ordinary searches fail.