The choice: Catherine Carswell, The Camomile: An Invention (London, 1922). Chosen by: Helen Vincent, Head of Rare Books, Maps and Music Read or download this book from our Digital Gallery. Welcome to this first of a new fortnightly series where we introduce you to some favourites from our collections for you to enjoy reading, all […]
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From the time of Shetland’s first known coronavirus cases on 9 March, something strange happened to time. We’d get to Wednesday and Monday would have seemed like weeks ago. Every service change we tried was overtaken by events. I decided to close the Library on Tuesday 17 March, whereas on the Monday I’d woken with […]
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Hi, Amy here. I work part-time in Reference Services (as well as at Edinburgh University and The National Galleries of Scotland). I’m at my parents’ house in Glasgow. My sister, Eve, who normally lives in London, is also here. We don’t treat the place like a hotel, but we aren’t perfect (see image below). I […]
Lewis Grassic Gibbon: the road to Sunset Song
In August 1932 a new Scottish literary star was born when the novel “Sunset Song” by Lewis Grassic Gibbon was published. An instant critical and commercial success it was reprinted multiple times that year in the UK as well as being published in North America and quickly translated into other European languages. Gibbon’s novel tells […]
Politics, publicity and potatoes: Scotland’s tattie howking films
Dr Emily Munro, National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive Watch our video ‘Tattie Howkin’ Today commercial potato crops are usually gathered by machines but, in the past, the job of lifting potatoes from the soil was done by hand. The Scottish potato harvest once employed thousands of men and women (often migrant workers from […]
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The Library of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh has been in existence since the late 17th-century. Our staff of three look after the clinical information needs of around 27,000 members in over 100 countries. In addition, our archive serves as the College’s “memory”, conserving manuscripts from throughout our 515-year history and answering enquiries […]
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Dear National Library, It’s Lois here. In case you’ve forgotten me, I work in the General Reading Room and can occasionally be found in the Special Collections Reading Room too. Right now, I’m staying with family in the north east of England, and doing various pieces of Library work from home, including answering online enquiries […]
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Week seven of university online and cabin fever is on the up. I’m a full time Information and Library Science student at the University of Strathclyde. Strathclyde shut down and moved all teaching online one week before the official government lockdown started. Now, at the end of the semester with no more classes but many […]
Delivering a bestseller: Culpeper and midwifery
Today we’re celebrating Midwifery Day with a look at its earliest bestseller. Just about 200 years ago, this book was published: Aristotle and midwifery – what’s that all about? And who was Culpeper? Let me take you right back to the 17th century where this story begins. At that time and well beyond, midwifery was […]
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 […]