Volunteers working in Collections Audit

Volunteering in the Collections auditing department at National Library of Scotland: a testimony By Imogen Fitzpatrick and Jeevan Sanghera Imogen and Jeevan’s time volunteering in the Collections auditing department has been a fun and rewarding experience.  We have gained valuable insights into the heritage and conservation sector, providing us with possible career pathways and industry […]

Read More

Early photographic attempts; investigating a rare photograph from the collections of the National Library of Scotland

Ioannis Vasallos, Stephanie Jamieson The pioneers of photography, Fox-Talbot and Daguerre, revealed their photographic processes, the salted paper print and the daguerreotype respectively, in the year 1839. However, photographic practice and experimentation had long preceded that year, as the 19th century was a period of much photographic experimentation. The National Library of Scotland holds in […]

Read More

Project Update: #RescueMe

“Ready, rock-steady, go!” – (Conservation of the geological charts) By Shona Hunter, Library conservator   The National Library of Scotland is committed to safeguarding the country’s cultural heritage so that future generations can enjoy it. The Collections Care team is responsible for preserving and treating the Library’s collections (from medieval manuscripts to modern magazines… and […]

Read More

Removing an outdated treatment: ABF

My name is Anna O’Regan and I have recently completed the MA Conservation of Fine Art (Works of Art on Paper) at Northumbria University in Newcastle. Before starting the course, I volunteered with the National Library of Scotland, doing basic conservation work on books, maps and pamphlets, including surface cleaning; surveying and auditing; re-housing collections; and […]

Read More

The Eternal Courier trip

I am the Library’s Exhibitions Conservator and some people might say I have the best job in the Library, travelling the globe and taking our collections with me, to let the rest of the world see what we have here in the National Library of Scotland.   A recent trip couriering items to Rome – […]

Read More

Researching the ‘Chimney Map’

From March 2016 to March 2017, the Library’s Conservation Unit undertook an ambitious project to conserve an extremely fragmentary map, resulting in unprecedented amounts of publicity. The map, known as the ‘Chimney Map’ because it was originally thought to have been found inside a chimney, was discovered during renovations at a house in Aberdeenshire, and […]

Read More