Archive of rock collector's record sheets, giving details of what samples were collected for, petrographic characterisation and storage in the BSG petrological collections. The proformas record what was collected, where, when and by whom. The oldest include records compiled in 1891 by C.T. Clough. The sheets are archived in accession sequence by collector's name. Although most of the sheets refer to samples collected onshore in the UK, there are also sheets for overseas collecting, for instance by A.C. MacGregor in the Caribbean Islands. Paper sample collection record sheets remain in active use in the BGS, a few new sheets are added each year. System has remained essentially unchanged except for change from lat-long to national grid. High proportion have grid references to 10m precision whilst some sheets only have written locality descriptions.

The official BGS photographic archive contains an estimated 300,000 photographs. The archive has been built up systematically since its founding in 1891 and is becoming a very popular educational resource for images of the geology of the UK and overseas. A wide range of topics is represented: field geology, landscapes, oblique aerial photographs, geohazards, marine operations, fossil, rocks and photomicrographs of rocks and minerals in thin section. In addition there are an estimated 225,000 photographs held with former groups, projects and individual geoscientists. The collections hold a diverse range of photographic material which includes black and white or colour negatives, transparencies and prints. The film formats range from 35mm to 10"X8" which includes both film and large format glass plates.