What do they have?
The range of material varies from place to place, but the following should be represented:
 | books ephemera (leaflets, posters, handbills, newspaper cuttings) |
| illustrations, photographs and prints |
| maps and plans |
| local newspapers |
| street and trade directories |
| electoral registers and poll books |
| archives (such as rate books, vestry minutes, records of local government, records of local businesses and families) |
| parish registers (microfilm copies or original documents) |
| census returns (microform and indices) |
Do not assume that each library or archive will have the same material. The survival of archives and printed material depends upon many things. Some important records have been lost through fire, theft, or accidental damage.
Local government jurisdictions in London have evolved and changed over the past 150 years.
Some records relating to the outer London boroughs are still held in county record offices, for example Barnet, now a London Borough, was previously part of Hertfordshire and Middlesex. The Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies holds much material relating to the early history of Barnet.
This is especially true for parish records, although many London boroughs have purchased microfilm copies.