These collections constitute one of Durham's flagship collections and are among the finest holdings of their kind in the British Isles. The pages are designed to help users find out about and get the best from these extensive and specialist holdings. The modern printed collections in this field amount to over 50,000 monograph titles and over 2,500 periodical titles (of which about 700 are current) in both European and Middle Eastern languages. There is additionally an extensive complementary collection of Middle Eastern official documents within the Library's Middle East Documentation Unit; there are also unrivalled collections of official and private papers in the Sudan Archive and other early printed and manuscript items within the Library's Archives and Special Collections.

In addition to information about the scope and history of and access to the collections, the web pages also provide an area studies approach to resources held relating to various countries and regions, including:

• Ancient Near East
  
• Iran and Afghanistan
  
• Middle East
  
• North Africa
  
• Sudan
  
• Turkey