Search Room

Click Search Room Booking Form to make an appointment

• It is free to visit our Search Room to consult aerial imagery. Click here to see our coverage
• An appointment is necessary to book a workstation and expert staff
• We will confirm your booking by email within 2 working days or provide alternative dates

Opening Hours

Monday - CLOSED
Tuesday to Friday - 9.30am to 5.00pm
Saturday & Sunday - CLOSED

Imagery Retrieval Times

Requests to consult aerial imagery must be submitted using the request form. This may be completed from any Search Room workstation. At any one time, a maximum of 18 microfilm reels or 18 boxes of prints may be consulted at a workstation.

Imagery is retrieved daily, within 60 minutes, at the following times:

• 10:30, 13:00, 15:00

Finding Aids

The finding aids used to find catalogued imagery of Scotland, and places throughout the world, are accessed through a Geographical Information System (GIS), available at each workstation. The finding aids were developed to address the unique challenge of cataloguing millions of historic aerial images. Find out more about what has been catalogued on the Collection Descriptions page.

Scotland GIS - This provides access to digitised sortie plots covering everywhere in Scotland. From those plots it is possible to identify exact footprint information for each aerial image.

Worldwide GIS - This currently provides access to ACIU Archive catalogue information about sorties covering geographical regions throughout western Europe. At the regional level it allows users to view all digitised sortie plots relating to that area. From those plots it is possible to identify exact footprint information for each aerial image.

Research Quality Imagery

In the search room 'research quality' copies of imagery may be created using the microfilm reader scanner or Visualiser. Imagery can be supplied as a low-resolution jpeg or A4 monochrome print outs for: £1.00 (+VAT) each. Find out more about all the copying services available.