Access a wealth of Masonic knowledge

The Masonic Digital Library

Would you like to know a bit more about Freemasonry? BAMR members are able to access an electronic library containing thousands of talks, lectures and articles about Freemasonry. Masonic research organisations have produced a wealth of information, with presentations designed to help explain Freemasonry to their members. Unfortunately, until now, most of those presentations have not been easy to access; finding information is now much easier. The Masonic Digital Library contains over 4,000 articles, talks and presentations on many aspects of Freemasonry.

There are many masonic libraries with books available for research – the BAMR has such a library based in Aylesbury. The publications of masonic research organisations cover the whole range of Freemasonry and, that within that huge range of material, are some real gems – information to cover most general enquiries, talks that have inspired, discussions that have clarified uncertainty and topical lectures that illustrate matters of concern to freemasons through the last century.

The problem is that finding material from past transactions has been very difficult – often even to members of respective organisations. The Masonic Digital Library gathers a file for each ‘paper’ or item of Masonic interest, collects these in electronic form and allows the generation of lists by author, title, subject or searches by any word or phrase. It contains files from a number of research organisations from New Zealand, Australia, England and the USA. Over time, past BAMR transactions will also be included. The library provides a growing resource for personal research, knowledge and inspiration. It demonstrates the diversity of members the Craft and is a tribute to a large number of Freemasons who have worked to pass their knowledge on to others.

Started by a BAMR member living in New Zealand, the Masonic Digital Library is promoted by the Australian and New Zealand Masonic Research Council (ANZMRC), and is now available through its website: www.anzmrc.org. The files are fully searchable by any word or phrase and, like a library, many files have a subject assigned. A search on “Apron,” for example, gives more than 25 talks specifically about the apron, with many more including the word.

Joining the BAMR will entitle you to receive a username and password to enable you to access the library.

If you are interested in widening your horizons, and learning more about Freemasonry from home, become a member of the Buckinghamshire Association for Masonic Research.