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This has a great group picture of our class at Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross Station. Very exciting for all of us Harry Potter fanatics!
Monday, 22 October 2007
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Guildhall Library ~ 3 August 2007
The Guildhall Library is a specialist research library that is part of the City Of London Library System. It is a local, publicly-funded authority and is actually the largest of the City's libraries. The first site was built in the 1420's, and of the original collection, only one manuscript remains. The next site was built in the 1820's. This facility set the current theme as a focus on the City of London, its immediate surroundings, and its history. A third site was established in the 1870's to reach a wider audience; it was one of the earliest public libraries in England. The library lost many items during the Blitz in 1940, so they were forced to replace a large portion of the collection. In the process, they ended up acquiring many prints and maps. The new library was constructed in the 1970's.
The Printed Books Librarian was our tour guide, and he informed us of the division of the staff: 10 staff members in Printed Books, 10 in Manuscripts, and 19 service staff. They also employ volunteers in indexing projects. Unlike most of the other research libraries we visited, the Guildhall Library does not have membership restrictions. The library's collection is organized into three sections: Manuscripts, Books, Prints/Maps/Drawings. Each section has its own reading room. The collection holds treasures of London as well as recent publications. They cover legal history, government reports, local studies, family history, collections from 95 trade-guild libraries (the clock and watch-making library is one of the best in the world!), and the London Stock Exchange's historic records and annual reports from 1880 to 1964 (takes up 2.5 miles of shelf space).
The Enquiries desk receives 10-15 letters/emails per day. The librarians give 20 minutes of research time free of charge, but if the request requires more in-depth research, they provide a fee-based service for 50 GBP/hour. I have mixed feelings about this method. Ideally, librarians should provide a free service to the public. But I realize people could and do take advantage of that mentality by asking librarians to perform complex research tasks on their behalf. That could be distracting the librarians from being available to help other patrons and complete other tasks, so I can understand why charging for certain levels of research would be a wise idea.
The library's online catalog uses the TALIS system, which is apparently quite common in British libraries. The library has closed access, meaning the readers find an item on the catalog, then fill out a request form for it. Using a tube system, the librarians are able to efficiently get the materials to the readers at their seat in the reading room (within 10-15 minutes). Like in the National Art Library, readers are permitted to use digital cameras here when photocopying would damage an item. The computer terminals also have access to the Internet and electronic subscription services. I found it interesting that the staff doesn't seem to mind the students who come into the library only to use the Internet. I might have to check my attitude if I were in their position!
The library uses two separate forms of classification: for the London-related materials, they use a uniquely-designed system created by a Guildhall librarian in the 1930's. For the non-London items, they use the Dewey Decimal System, but items are shelved along with others of the same pressmark. In the Prints/Maps/Drawings collection, I thought it was neat to learn that the materials are often subjects of research for film and TV producers and book publishers, in addition to amateur historians. What a fun population to work with! An impressive feature we were introduced to was COLLAGE, a major project that digitized 30-40,000 images from the collection. In the Manuscript collection, readers can view manuscripts in digital form or microfilm and only the original when necessary. That explained why I saw an unusually large amount of microfilm machines.
The Printed Books Librarian was our tour guide, and he informed us of the division of the staff: 10 staff members in Printed Books, 10 in Manuscripts, and 19 service staff. They also employ volunteers in indexing projects. Unlike most of the other research libraries we visited, the Guildhall Library does not have membership restrictions. The library's collection is organized into three sections: Manuscripts, Books, Prints/Maps/Drawings. Each section has its own reading room. The collection holds treasures of London as well as recent publications. They cover legal history, government reports, local studies, family history, collections from 95 trade-guild libraries (the clock and watch-making library is one of the best in the world!), and the London Stock Exchange's historic records and annual reports from 1880 to 1964 (takes up 2.5 miles of shelf space).
The Enquiries desk receives 10-15 letters/emails per day. The librarians give 20 minutes of research time free of charge, but if the request requires more in-depth research, they provide a fee-based service for 50 GBP/hour. I have mixed feelings about this method. Ideally, librarians should provide a free service to the public. But I realize people could and do take advantage of that mentality by asking librarians to perform complex research tasks on their behalf. That could be distracting the librarians from being available to help other patrons and complete other tasks, so I can understand why charging for certain levels of research would be a wise idea.
The library's online catalog uses the TALIS system, which is apparently quite common in British libraries. The library has closed access, meaning the readers find an item on the catalog, then fill out a request form for it. Using a tube system, the librarians are able to efficiently get the materials to the readers at their seat in the reading room (within 10-15 minutes). Like in the National Art Library, readers are permitted to use digital cameras here when photocopying would damage an item. The computer terminals also have access to the Internet and electronic subscription services. I found it interesting that the staff doesn't seem to mind the students who come into the library only to use the Internet. I might have to check my attitude if I were in their position!
The library uses two separate forms of classification: for the London-related materials, they use a uniquely-designed system created by a Guildhall librarian in the 1930's. For the non-London items, they use the Dewey Decimal System, but items are shelved along with others of the same pressmark. In the Prints/Maps/Drawings collection, I thought it was neat to learn that the materials are often subjects of research for film and TV producers and book publishers, in addition to amateur historians. What a fun population to work with! An impressive feature we were introduced to was COLLAGE, a major project that digitized 30-40,000 images from the collection. In the Manuscript collection, readers can view manuscripts in digital form or microfilm and only the original when necessary. That explained why I saw an unusually large amount of microfilm machines.
Jane Austen House Museum ~ 2 August 2007
Nestled in the quaint village of Chawton, the Jane Austen House Museum keeps the memory of Jane Austen alive and beautiful. As soon as I stepped into the house, I felt thoroughly welcomed as a guest of the Austen family in 1810. The museum is an independent institution, administered by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust. The staff was very knowledgeable about Jane Austen's life and history, especially the "steward" I spoke with in the gift shop.
Jane Austen lived there from 1809 to 1817, and it now houses many of the family's belongings. Seeing where she resided and learning about her daily life gave me a glimpse into her character. It shone through everything, every handwritten note, every trinket she saved... Learning about what was important to her and what she held dear, I can now see how her heart shines through her works and the legacy she has left behind.
Some examples of the museum's collection include: first-edition prints from the early 1800s, pieces of furniture from the early 1800's (her father's bookcase!), a timeline of her life with literary and historical landmarks, the family's tea dishes, letters, Bibles and prayer books that belonged to the family, the printer's first proof copies for the illustrations of Pride and Prejudice (1894), a display of a scene (Jane and Cassandra mannequins), and outbuildings.
Some of Jane's personal belongings that were displayed include: her manuscript music book, a lock of her hair, her writing table, her donkey carriage, and a sewing case she made for her niece (signed "With Aunt Jane's love").
The grounds had a beautiful garden with benches, so I could sit and take in the scenery and completely immerse myself in Jane's world. Every aspect of the museum was authentic and genuine, much more so than the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. For example, there were actual objects from her life (many contributed by her nieces and nephews); the exhibits related to her family, in detail; and there was a greater focus on her books, rather than the film adaptations. I also appreciated the atmosphere of walking through the Austen home, and the displays complemented the sense of hominess. For example, manuscripts, letters, and photographs were in picture frames, along with their labels and transcripts, and hung on the wall. Items were displayed in cupboards with glass dividers, to create the appearance of current use. Every room was labeled, which made it especially memorable to actually be in Jane Austen's bedroom! The museum was truly a memorial, very honoring to Jane: there were little sprigs of purple flowers laid across chairs and sofas. And the display about her death was beautiful; in her will, she left almost everything to the care of her dear sister, Cassandra. Jane's relationship with her sister seemed the most important in her life, and its preciousness lingered with me long after I left the museum.
Jane Austen lived there from 1809 to 1817, and it now houses many of the family's belongings. Seeing where she resided and learning about her daily life gave me a glimpse into her character. It shone through everything, every handwritten note, every trinket she saved... Learning about what was important to her and what she held dear, I can now see how her heart shines through her works and the legacy she has left behind.
Some examples of the museum's collection include: first-edition prints from the early 1800s, pieces of furniture from the early 1800's (her father's bookcase!), a timeline of her life with literary and historical landmarks, the family's tea dishes, letters, Bibles and prayer books that belonged to the family, the printer's first proof copies for the illustrations of Pride and Prejudice (1894), a display of a scene (Jane and Cassandra mannequins), and outbuildings.
Some of Jane's personal belongings that were displayed include: her manuscript music book, a lock of her hair, her writing table, her donkey carriage, and a sewing case she made for her niece (signed "With Aunt Jane's love").
The grounds had a beautiful garden with benches, so I could sit and take in the scenery and completely immerse myself in Jane's world. Every aspect of the museum was authentic and genuine, much more so than the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. For example, there were actual objects from her life (many contributed by her nieces and nephews); the exhibits related to her family, in detail; and there was a greater focus on her books, rather than the film adaptations. I also appreciated the atmosphere of walking through the Austen home, and the displays complemented the sense of hominess. For example, manuscripts, letters, and photographs were in picture frames, along with their labels and transcripts, and hung on the wall. Items were displayed in cupboards with glass dividers, to create the appearance of current use. Every room was labeled, which made it especially memorable to actually be in Jane Austen's bedroom! The museum was truly a memorial, very honoring to Jane: there were little sprigs of purple flowers laid across chairs and sofas. And the display about her death was beautiful; in her will, she left almost everything to the care of her dear sister, Cassandra. Jane's relationship with her sister seemed the most important in her life, and its preciousness lingered with me long after I left the museum.
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Barbican Centre Library ~ 2 August 2007
Our visit to the Barbican Library gave me an overwhelming wealth of information and insight into the operation of a public library in England. And, this library is unique, because it is made up of very strong individual sections (Arts, Music, Children's, and Adults' Services), and because of its important integration with the Barbican International Arts Centre. It was the only lending library that we visited, so I treasured this opportunity for its relevance to my career path.
The Barbican Library was opened in 1982 to provide lending services in fulfillment of the 1964 Public Libraries and Museum Act. It lends around 500,000 items a year. An average of 1,200 patrons per day visit the library, and most of the patrons tend to be business people who work in the city, often stopping by during their lunch break. The patron demographics are not what I expected: typically, there are more males than females, and the average age range is between 25 and 45. What an entirely different population than we normally serve in most American public libraries, which is mainly female, and below the age of 25 or over the age of 45.
ORGANIZATION: There are four counters, recently reduced from seven, which is easier on staff and less overwhelming for visitors. There are 44 people on the library's staff, including 10 chartered librarians, 6 senior library assistants, and 12 library assistants. This library is also funded by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport. Under the Opportunities Fund, they have to provide free access to the Internet and "self-booking." There are no limits to what visitors can access on the public terminals, but they are allowed only one hour per day. The catalog, CD-ROMs, and databases are all available on the web, but limited to library users. A neat new feature that the library has installed is radio-frequency identification--tagging each item with a radio-frequency ID, it can be checked out or returned simply by being placed on a mat. With this up-to-date technology, the computers are able to identify the books without having to scan a barcode.
ARTS: The temporary art exhibitions are a high honor, since getting artwork on display there is very competitive. The Arts Library is managed by one of the senior assistant librarians. It has a reference desk, art periodicals, and 14,000 books in its collection. It does face some distinct challenges, however. First of all, it is difficult to organize the materials in a logical sequence, because art books are often varying sizes. Secondly, the arts section still has quite a formal structure, but the staff would like to see some changes in that aspect.
ADULT SERVICES: The Skills for Life collection is a special feature, containing audio, fiction, and non-fiction materials. There is also a large collection of maps and tourist guides. A special collection of finance materials is another popular section. The library's goal is to make sure that every item on the shelves is actually what the public currently wants, not what the public from five years ago wanted. I found it very surprising that the non-fiction collection is actually used more frequently than the fiction collection.
CHILDREN'S SERVICES: The Children's Section serves children from newborn to age 14. The Young Adult section is part of the Adult collection. Apparently, it is difficult to get teenagers involved in library activities, like reading groups, because there is such a small population of them in just the square mile that is the City of London. Within the Children's Section, there are two full-time staff members, the Senior Library Assistant and the Children's Librarian. In addition, there are about 10 staff members who also work there part-time. With 25,000 loanable items, this is the largest children's library in London. The stacks are organized according to age group: 5-10s, 10+, 13+. This section does have filtered Internet terminals, which I was glad to hear about.
Most of the local schools use the library's services, since they don't really have extensive libraries of their own. The Barbican Children's Library supplements the schools' collections with project boxes (40 books in each box) that are compiled and sent out every term. It was interesting to learn about this relationship between the schools and public libraries, since it's completely different from American schools, which tend to rely on their own resources. The Children's Library seems to be doing some great things in its community. For example, it hosts events and workshops for free, once a month. The librarians lead a Story-time three times a week for different age groups (and they get an average of 25 kids each time!). There is a school-age readers' group that gets involved in creative projects, like providing input for the Carnegie and Greenaway awards. I was impressed with the Bookstart program, funded by the National Book Trust. They give out bags with free books, library membership applications, resources, etc. to parents to encourage them to start reading to their children at an early age. I would love to know more about this program, how successful it has been, how it is implemented, etc. Knowing how essential it is for children to be immersed in literature before they start school, I am curious about how a program like this might be applied in the States.
The Barbican Library was opened in 1982 to provide lending services in fulfillment of the 1964 Public Libraries and Museum Act. It lends around 500,000 items a year. An average of 1,200 patrons per day visit the library, and most of the patrons tend to be business people who work in the city, often stopping by during their lunch break. The patron demographics are not what I expected: typically, there are more males than females, and the average age range is between 25 and 45. What an entirely different population than we normally serve in most American public libraries, which is mainly female, and below the age of 25 or over the age of 45.
ORGANIZATION: There are four counters, recently reduced from seven, which is easier on staff and less overwhelming for visitors. There are 44 people on the library's staff, including 10 chartered librarians, 6 senior library assistants, and 12 library assistants. This library is also funded by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport. Under the Opportunities Fund, they have to provide free access to the Internet and "self-booking." There are no limits to what visitors can access on the public terminals, but they are allowed only one hour per day. The catalog, CD-ROMs, and databases are all available on the web, but limited to library users. A neat new feature that the library has installed is radio-frequency identification--tagging each item with a radio-frequency ID, it can be checked out or returned simply by being placed on a mat. With this up-to-date technology, the computers are able to identify the books without having to scan a barcode.
ARTS: The temporary art exhibitions are a high honor, since getting artwork on display there is very competitive. The Arts Library is managed by one of the senior assistant librarians. It has a reference desk, art periodicals, and 14,000 books in its collection. It does face some distinct challenges, however. First of all, it is difficult to organize the materials in a logical sequence, because art books are often varying sizes. Secondly, the arts section still has quite a formal structure, but the staff would like to see some changes in that aspect.
ADULT SERVICES: The Skills for Life collection is a special feature, containing audio, fiction, and non-fiction materials. There is also a large collection of maps and tourist guides. A special collection of finance materials is another popular section. The library's goal is to make sure that every item on the shelves is actually what the public currently wants, not what the public from five years ago wanted. I found it very surprising that the non-fiction collection is actually used more frequently than the fiction collection.
CHILDREN'S SERVICES: The Children's Section serves children from newborn to age 14. The Young Adult section is part of the Adult collection. Apparently, it is difficult to get teenagers involved in library activities, like reading groups, because there is such a small population of them in just the square mile that is the City of London. Within the Children's Section, there are two full-time staff members, the Senior Library Assistant and the Children's Librarian. In addition, there are about 10 staff members who also work there part-time. With 25,000 loanable items, this is the largest children's library in London. The stacks are organized according to age group: 5-10s, 10+, 13+. This section does have filtered Internet terminals, which I was glad to hear about.
Most of the local schools use the library's services, since they don't really have extensive libraries of their own. The Barbican Children's Library supplements the schools' collections with project boxes (40 books in each box) that are compiled and sent out every term. It was interesting to learn about this relationship between the schools and public libraries, since it's completely different from American schools, which tend to rely on their own resources. The Children's Library seems to be doing some great things in its community. For example, it hosts events and workshops for free, once a month. The librarians lead a Story-time three times a week for different age groups (and they get an average of 25 kids each time!). There is a school-age readers' group that gets involved in creative projects, like providing input for the Carnegie and Greenaway awards. I was impressed with the Bookstart program, funded by the National Book Trust. They give out bags with free books, library membership applications, resources, etc. to parents to encourage them to start reading to their children at an early age. I would love to know more about this program, how successful it has been, how it is implemented, etc. Knowing how essential it is for children to be immersed in literature before they start school, I am curious about how a program like this might be applied in the States.
National Maritime Museum Library/ Royal Observatory ~ 1 August 2007
National Maritime Museum Caird Library
The National Maritime Museum is part of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site. The Museum's Caird library is purely a reference library that was established in 1936, designed by Sir James Caird, who was also the library's director. [Cool side-note: The library still uses the original shelving!] Our tour was incredibly comprehensive, as we were guided by several different information specialists, including the curator of manuscripts. Our tour began in the E-Library, which was opened in 2002 as an entrance room that would make the library's resources more accessible to the public. Since visitors to the library must be over 18, the E-Library has children's books and a seating area for reading. It also has computers with access to the online catalog and e-journals. The librarians perform story-time here on the weekends and provide educational visits from school groups, when they bring out some of the treasures of the collection. Also in the E-Library are the enquiry desk (for obtaining reader tickets) and temporary exhibitions (materials related to the Falkland Islands were on display).
Next, we discussed some of the library's features and challenges. Along with books, the library's collection contains ship plans, atlases, photographs, manuscripts, and current journals. They use the Universal Decimal Classification system. The library is funded by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport (which I am noticing is the main funding source for most of the institutions we have visited). A special committee must approve all acquisitions. It's interesting to learn of the relationship between information organizations and their funding sources: I am curious to see if there is greater accountability required, since these libraries/museums are often dependent on the provisions from a state-funded organization. Another common issue is space: there are some storage facilities off-site, since the library's fairly small facility seems to be rapidly running out of room. Another challenge involves the patrons: there is some tension between two different kinds of user groups. The academics want to have a quiet atmosphere for independent research, but the family historians tend to talk and interact with the librarians in order to conduct their research.
The most exciting part of our visit was when the curators showed us some samples from their rare books and manuscript collections. The library holds 4.5 miles worth of manuscripts, from the 15th century to the present, relating to maritime history. These include naval logs, journals, letters, etc. They have many rare books about pirates--for example, the Royal Naval log from 1720, recording the killing of Blackbeard the pirate. There were merchant logs as well, mainly from slave ships. In fact, we actually got to see one of John Newton's ship logs from when he was a slave trader. Among other documents we saw were letters from Admiral Lord Nelson to his wife and mistress and a huge collection of Titanic material (including a dinner menu and original photographs from the rescue of the Titanic survivors). From the printed collection, the samples of rare books that stood out to me were a book from 1478 about astronomy, a Ptolemy atlas from 1562, and a medicine book from the H.M.S. Bounty (1787), with its binding replaced by part of the ship's sail.
I was inspired by the immeasurable value of libraries from this trip, as well as reminded of their power that is too often under-recognized. I also appreciated the opportunity to learn how important special libraries are, because they combine specialized subject knowledge with the skills of preservation and classification, to create an institution that is absolutely priceless to the public.
Royal Observatory
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is the home of the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time. It was founded in 1675 by Charles II in order to "make accurate measurements of the positions of the Sun, Moon, and stars." The Observatory holds several exhibits, including a reconstruction of the apartments belonging to John Flamstead, first Royal Astronomer during the 1690s. The Octagon Room, designed by Christopher Wren, houses a year-going clock. In the gallery, there were several parts of the exhibition that impressed and interested me: instruments of navigation from the 16th century; monitors explaining the concept of latitude and longitude; star charts, timekeepers, old methods of finding longitude; a telescope you could look through and view a tiny video screen; some interactive features (for example, to explore certain documents, the visitor must open the door to find the answer). Especially neat was the huge model of a turret clock (1888) with parts labeled.
The National Maritime Museum is part of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site. The Museum's Caird library is purely a reference library that was established in 1936, designed by Sir James Caird, who was also the library's director. [Cool side-note: The library still uses the original shelving!] Our tour was incredibly comprehensive, as we were guided by several different information specialists, including the curator of manuscripts. Our tour began in the E-Library, which was opened in 2002 as an entrance room that would make the library's resources more accessible to the public. Since visitors to the library must be over 18, the E-Library has children's books and a seating area for reading. It also has computers with access to the online catalog and e-journals. The librarians perform story-time here on the weekends and provide educational visits from school groups, when they bring out some of the treasures of the collection. Also in the E-Library are the enquiry desk (for obtaining reader tickets) and temporary exhibitions (materials related to the Falkland Islands were on display).
Next, we discussed some of the library's features and challenges. Along with books, the library's collection contains ship plans, atlases, photographs, manuscripts, and current journals. They use the Universal Decimal Classification system. The library is funded by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport (which I am noticing is the main funding source for most of the institutions we have visited). A special committee must approve all acquisitions. It's interesting to learn of the relationship between information organizations and their funding sources: I am curious to see if there is greater accountability required, since these libraries/museums are often dependent on the provisions from a state-funded organization. Another common issue is space: there are some storage facilities off-site, since the library's fairly small facility seems to be rapidly running out of room. Another challenge involves the patrons: there is some tension between two different kinds of user groups. The academics want to have a quiet atmosphere for independent research, but the family historians tend to talk and interact with the librarians in order to conduct their research.
The most exciting part of our visit was when the curators showed us some samples from their rare books and manuscript collections. The library holds 4.5 miles worth of manuscripts, from the 15th century to the present, relating to maritime history. These include naval logs, journals, letters, etc. They have many rare books about pirates--for example, the Royal Naval log from 1720, recording the killing of Blackbeard the pirate. There were merchant logs as well, mainly from slave ships. In fact, we actually got to see one of John Newton's ship logs from when he was a slave trader. Among other documents we saw were letters from Admiral Lord Nelson to his wife and mistress and a huge collection of Titanic material (including a dinner menu and original photographs from the rescue of the Titanic survivors). From the printed collection, the samples of rare books that stood out to me were a book from 1478 about astronomy, a Ptolemy atlas from 1562, and a medicine book from the H.M.S. Bounty (1787), with its binding replaced by part of the ship's sail.
I was inspired by the immeasurable value of libraries from this trip, as well as reminded of their power that is too often under-recognized. I also appreciated the opportunity to learn how important special libraries are, because they combine specialized subject knowledge with the skills of preservation and classification, to create an institution that is absolutely priceless to the public.
Royal Observatory
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is the home of the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time. It was founded in 1675 by Charles II in order to "make accurate measurements of the positions of the Sun, Moon, and stars." The Observatory holds several exhibits, including a reconstruction of the apartments belonging to John Flamstead, first Royal Astronomer during the 1690s. The Octagon Room, designed by Christopher Wren, houses a year-going clock. In the gallery, there were several parts of the exhibition that impressed and interested me: instruments of navigation from the 16th century; monitors explaining the concept of latitude and longitude; star charts, timekeepers, old methods of finding longitude; a telescope you could look through and view a tiny video screen; some interactive features (for example, to explore certain documents, the visitor must open the door to find the answer). Especially neat was the huge model of a turret clock (1888) with parts labeled.
Sunday, 12 August 2007
National Art Library ~ 31 July 2007
The National Art Library moved to become part of the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1851. Since then, a love-hate relationship has developed between the library and the museum, because the library's collections are taking up valuable gallery space, yet they are an integral part of the museum.
Our tour guide was part of the collection development department, but she informed us that staff members often move around between the departments, so she is also involved with access. The library consists of a Centre Room for registration and enquiries, a silent reading room, the marshalling areas, periodicals stacks, gallery, special collections materials, West Room, and staff room. I appreciated getting such a thorough tour, as it allowed us to see the library as a whole-- how the departments interoperate and how each section connects with the rest.
The Centre Room holds the registration desk, where patrons may also pick up and drop off books that have been requested. At the enquiries desk, a staff member is always available during business hours to take requests over the phone or in person. The Centre Room also has computers with access to the online catalog (which is indexed by artist and can be accessed from home) as well as some reference books that may be accessed directly by the visitors (organized by the Dewey Decimal system). To maintain security, the library requires that all visitors use clear bags for their belongings. That, however, is the only measure of detection they enforce.
In the marshalling areas, the behind-the-scenes activity is happening. There is a photocopier available for patrons, as long as they abide by copyright laws. Also, I learned of another option that surprised me: visitors are allowed to take digital photos of the materials they use in the library. Also in the marshalling areas, there are two teams of paper-keepers. When readers request books, they fill out a blue slip, which is sent through a system of chutes to the paper-keepers. They fetch the books and hold them in cubbies organized according to seat tags from the reading room. There are book lifts to transport materials back and forth between the stacks and the marshalling areas.
Next, we ventured up to the periodicals stacks, where 8,000 titles are held (2,500 current). Many of the titles are for Victorian journals, and there is a large international collection, as well. The library binds older journals for conservation purposes, which is actually included as part of the budget. In regard to the library's conservation practices, they only conserve books that will go on loan or on display. The rest are simply preserved, which means they prevent the books from becoming further damaged.
In the galleries, we saw the library's collection of theses from the Royal College of Art, a representation of the collaboration between the two institutions. The collection also holds everything published by the Victoria and Albert Press, in three copies (one for the general collection, one for the crypt/archive, and one for special collections). This area is tight for space, so the books are organized by size. The space issue also means that some items must wait to be catalogued, leading to a large backlog of incoming items. I am noticing that this is a common theme among all the libraries we have visited. It is dealt with in various ways, but it is never fully resolved-- it seems like limited space will always inevitably be a challenge that libraries must face.
Some examples of the special collections materials that our tour guide pointed out include exhibition catalogs (organized by country, city, gallery, and year, dating back to the 1700s); sales catalogs (for art auctions); and price catalogs (documenting "who bought what and for how much"). Apparently, the library also has a large collection of items that one would not immediately associate with art, such as children's books and Charles Dickens manuscripts. I found this most interesting... I'm learning that libraries have the surprising ability to draw connections between things in less obvious ways than you would normally expect. What a desirable skill! A nice feature in the special collections area was the findings list for staff members to consult when they don't know where an item is located.
In the West Room, the collection of fine bindings is displayed, and it is actually part of the curatorial department. The library includes this collection for the books as objects, not for their content. It was neat to see the staff room; it looked like a comfortable and stimulating work environment. Cataloguing, accession, and collection development are all taken care of in the staff room, which is where librarians are working when not at one of the counters (four at registration and one at enquiries, at all times).
My favorite part of the visit was seeing some examples of "book art," parts of the collection that represent how books can be made into pieces of art. One was called a tunnel book, which was actually a Victorian concept. Drawings in a Nutshell was a charming piece-- the front and back covers of the book were the two sides of an actual nutshell, which opened to reveal a tiny book with a small drawing of a nut on each page. There was a book for which the reader becomes the creator: different strings make shapes when "read" in a certain light, almost creating a photographic scene with the shadow of the strings on the page. Other books took the concept of "pop-up" and expanded into a whole technique of paper engineering. It was fascinating to see how artists have explored creatively with the "bookish" concepts of binding, text, and graphics, and how these concepts can interact to add complex levels of depth to the narrative.
Our tour guide was part of the collection development department, but she informed us that staff members often move around between the departments, so she is also involved with access. The library consists of a Centre Room for registration and enquiries, a silent reading room, the marshalling areas, periodicals stacks, gallery, special collections materials, West Room, and staff room. I appreciated getting such a thorough tour, as it allowed us to see the library as a whole-- how the departments interoperate and how each section connects with the rest.
The Centre Room holds the registration desk, where patrons may also pick up and drop off books that have been requested. At the enquiries desk, a staff member is always available during business hours to take requests over the phone or in person. The Centre Room also has computers with access to the online catalog (which is indexed by artist and can be accessed from home) as well as some reference books that may be accessed directly by the visitors (organized by the Dewey Decimal system). To maintain security, the library requires that all visitors use clear bags for their belongings. That, however, is the only measure of detection they enforce.
In the marshalling areas, the behind-the-scenes activity is happening. There is a photocopier available for patrons, as long as they abide by copyright laws. Also, I learned of another option that surprised me: visitors are allowed to take digital photos of the materials they use in the library. Also in the marshalling areas, there are two teams of paper-keepers. When readers request books, they fill out a blue slip, which is sent through a system of chutes to the paper-keepers. They fetch the books and hold them in cubbies organized according to seat tags from the reading room. There are book lifts to transport materials back and forth between the stacks and the marshalling areas.
Next, we ventured up to the periodicals stacks, where 8,000 titles are held (2,500 current). Many of the titles are for Victorian journals, and there is a large international collection, as well. The library binds older journals for conservation purposes, which is actually included as part of the budget. In regard to the library's conservation practices, they only conserve books that will go on loan or on display. The rest are simply preserved, which means they prevent the books from becoming further damaged.
In the galleries, we saw the library's collection of theses from the Royal College of Art, a representation of the collaboration between the two institutions. The collection also holds everything published by the Victoria and Albert Press, in three copies (one for the general collection, one for the crypt/archive, and one for special collections). This area is tight for space, so the books are organized by size. The space issue also means that some items must wait to be catalogued, leading to a large backlog of incoming items. I am noticing that this is a common theme among all the libraries we have visited. It is dealt with in various ways, but it is never fully resolved-- it seems like limited space will always inevitably be a challenge that libraries must face.
Some examples of the special collections materials that our tour guide pointed out include exhibition catalogs (organized by country, city, gallery, and year, dating back to the 1700s); sales catalogs (for art auctions); and price catalogs (documenting "who bought what and for how much"). Apparently, the library also has a large collection of items that one would not immediately associate with art, such as children's books and Charles Dickens manuscripts. I found this most interesting... I'm learning that libraries have the surprising ability to draw connections between things in less obvious ways than you would normally expect. What a desirable skill! A nice feature in the special collections area was the findings list for staff members to consult when they don't know where an item is located.
In the West Room, the collection of fine bindings is displayed, and it is actually part of the curatorial department. The library includes this collection for the books as objects, not for their content. It was neat to see the staff room; it looked like a comfortable and stimulating work environment. Cataloguing, accession, and collection development are all taken care of in the staff room, which is where librarians are working when not at one of the counters (four at registration and one at enquiries, at all times).
My favorite part of the visit was seeing some examples of "book art," parts of the collection that represent how books can be made into pieces of art. One was called a tunnel book, which was actually a Victorian concept. Drawings in a Nutshell was a charming piece-- the front and back covers of the book were the two sides of an actual nutshell, which opened to reveal a tiny book with a small drawing of a nut on each page. There was a book for which the reader becomes the creator: different strings make shapes when "read" in a certain light, almost creating a photographic scene with the shadow of the strings on the page. Other books took the concept of "pop-up" and expanded into a whole technique of paper engineering. It was fascinating to see how artists have explored creatively with the "bookish" concepts of binding, text, and graphics, and how these concepts can interact to add complex levels of depth to the narrative.
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Writers' Museum ~ 25 July 2007
The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh is a collection of items that focus on the lives and works of Scottish writers, specifically emphasizing Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Established in 1907, it is located in a historic 17th-century home. In the introductory area, there are busts of all three writers and an informative video about printing and publishing.
Robert Louis Stevenson: This exhibit contains a large collection of photographs of Stevenson as well as some of his original manuscripts and some artifacts related to his travels. It was especially neat to see a book that belonged to him with his personalized bookplate on it.
Sir Walter Scott: Once again, in this exhibit, there were photographs, manuscripts, letters, and some of Scott's belongings. A highlight of the exhibit was a model of Scott's dining room with figures representing Scott and his publisher and the accompanying feature of an audio conversation between the two gentlemen. It was neat to see Scott's writing desk there in the dining room display.
Robert Burns: Along with photographs and belongings, Burns' exhibit displayed his writing desk and a newspaper account of his death from 1796. A feature of this exhibit that I really enjoyed was the audio interpretation of some of Burns' letters and songs that played in the background as we browsed.
Some additional areas in the museum include a reading area and a display dedicated to the Makars' Court, which is essentially a "literary commemoration in stone." In the Makars' Court, stones are etched with quotations in honor of contemporary Scottish writers and added to the courtyard outside the museum. Makar is a Scots term and it refers to the role of poet/author as a skilled worker in the craft of writing. Beautiful! The funding for the Makars' Court comes from individuals and organizations such as Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise, Ltd. and the City of Edinburgh Council.
I appreciated the design of the museum, because I felt like I was actually walking through an old home, creaky spiral staircases and all. Every part of the displays sets the writers in context of the world in which they lived and worked and why they were so influential. I learned a lot about these three particular writers, and I liked that there was more to learn about than just what they wrote. Instead, visitors are able to see these men in the light of their greater political and social surroundings.
Robert Louis Stevenson: This exhibit contains a large collection of photographs of Stevenson as well as some of his original manuscripts and some artifacts related to his travels. It was especially neat to see a book that belonged to him with his personalized bookplate on it.
Sir Walter Scott: Once again, in this exhibit, there were photographs, manuscripts, letters, and some of Scott's belongings. A highlight of the exhibit was a model of Scott's dining room with figures representing Scott and his publisher and the accompanying feature of an audio conversation between the two gentlemen. It was neat to see Scott's writing desk there in the dining room display.
Robert Burns: Along with photographs and belongings, Burns' exhibit displayed his writing desk and a newspaper account of his death from 1796. A feature of this exhibit that I really enjoyed was the audio interpretation of some of Burns' letters and songs that played in the background as we browsed.
Some additional areas in the museum include a reading area and a display dedicated to the Makars' Court, which is essentially a "literary commemoration in stone." In the Makars' Court, stones are etched with quotations in honor of contemporary Scottish writers and added to the courtyard outside the museum. Makar is a Scots term and it refers to the role of poet/author as a skilled worker in the craft of writing. Beautiful! The funding for the Makars' Court comes from individuals and organizations such as Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise, Ltd. and the City of Edinburgh Council.
I appreciated the design of the museum, because I felt like I was actually walking through an old home, creaky spiral staircases and all. Every part of the displays sets the writers in context of the world in which they lived and worked and why they were so influential. I learned a lot about these three particular writers, and I liked that there was more to learn about than just what they wrote. Instead, visitors are able to see these men in the light of their greater political and social surroundings.
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