OXFORD Brookes University has been given funding to catalogue rare records.

The Special Collections & Archives department at Brookes has received £36,786 from The National Archives.

A collection of blues records accumulated by former Brookes researcher Paul Oliver will be catalogued.

Mr Oliver, who died in 2017, is widely considered one of the most influential blues music scholars.

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The grant will allow a project cataloguer to create an online catalogue for audio reels and research papers.

The project will last for one year, beginning in early 2021.

Dr Helen Workman, director of learning resources at Oxford Brookes University, said: “As well as its significance in relation to the blues as a musical genre, the collection offers a unique commentary on the relationship between the music and African American history, which is of particular relevance as we work to better represent marginalised voices within our collections.

“The funding will enable the reach and use of this significant collection to be considerably extended.”