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National Library of Scotland

Annual Review 2004-2005

Introduction by the National Librarian and Chairman 3

Listening to Customers 4

Improving Access 5

The Collections 10

The John Murray Archive 18

The Digital Library 21

Organisational Development 23

Partnerships and Collaboration 25

Acknowledgements 29

© National Library of Scotland 2005ISBN 1 872116 37 X

Design: OneWorld Design, Edinburgh

Photography: Peter Iain Campbell

National Library of ScotlandGeorge IV BridgeEdinburghEH1 1EW

www.nls.uk

Cover pictures:

Top: Visitors to our Summer 2004 exhibitionRead All About It!

Centre: A member of staff amoung the stacksin our George IV Bridge building

Bottom: Interactive kiosk at George IV Bridge

Opposite:Ground floor reading room at George IV Bridge

National Library of Scotland Annual Review 2004-2005

DeliveringExcellence

Our relationship with the wider worldremains central to our future successand we have explored partnershipswith organisations in virtually everyrelevant sphere of learning, research,culture, heritage and public serviceover the past year.

Our mission to enrich lives throughcelebrating and preserving therecorded culture of Scotland andScots, here and abroad, continues tobe reflected in the varied and uniquematerial collected during the year andthe creativity and insight of our staff infinding fresh and interesting ways ofsharing it with the people of Scotlandand beyond.

Offering excellent collections, servicesand expertise for all remains at theheart of everything we do. Theinitiatives of the past year detailedwithin this year’s Review give ourselves,the National Librarian and theChairman of the Board of Trustees,every confidence that this aspirationremains a reality thanks to ourcolleagues, supporters and partners.

This has been the first full year sincethe National Library of Scotland’s newstrategy, Breaking Through the Walls, waslaunched in March 2004 and it hasbeen a period of tremendous change.These changes have been customerdriven, informed by vigorous researchand evaluation, and focused towardsdeveloping our collections, services andthe ways in which NLS reaches out tothe wider world.

We would like to take this opportunityto express our gratitude to staff bothnew and long serving, not only for theconsistent excellence and expertisewith which they have performed theirroles, but also for their commitmentand positive response to the challengessuch change brings. Our colleaguesremain pivotal to achieving theambitious strategic goals the Libraryhas set itself.

This review reflects this by profilingstaff in a cross-section of roles, bothpublic facing and ‘behind the scenes’,which demonstrate the range of skillsneeded to serve a national library withchanging customer needs andcontinually growing collections.

The year has seen a dramatic increasein outwardly focused activity such asexhibitions, events, outreach andconsultation. This is due to the energyand efforts of multi-disciplinary teamsworking across the Library. We havealso formulated a new strategy for theDigital National Library, which aims toimprove access for the many peoplewho are unable to come to Edinburgh.For those who can visit the Library, wehave been developing plans to createmore welcoming public spaces in ourbuildings, reflecting the changing face ofthe Library as it continues to evolve inthe coming years.

3

Introduction by the Chairman and the National Librarian

Martyn Wade, National Librarian

Professor Michael AndersonChairman of the Board of Trustees

Pictures opposite:

Top: Four O'clock Friends exhibition

Bottom left: Representation of the Highlandersfrom Rare Book Collections

Bottom right: Conservator working withphotographic material

Martyn Wade, National Librarian

Professor Michael AndersonChairman of the Board of Trustees

The market research results led tothe development of a new corporateidentity for NLS. As a visualexpression of the new open directionthat NLS is taking, our new logo hasbeen well received by both internaland external stakeholders.

Research into the expectations ofthose searching the website fordigitised content has influenced theNLS digitisation strategy.

We are committed to a continuingprogramme of market research andstakeholder consultation. AnnualOmnibus Surveys will measure ourprogress in raising awareness.

We completed a comprehensiveschedule of market research and userconsultation for the first time during2004-2005. Our primary focus wason the views of both existing andpotential users about the Library, itsservices and activities. The results ofthe research are now being used tohelp plan activities, and to setmeasurements for futureachievements.

The research looked at customersatisfaction, perceptions, websiteusability and web feature content.We also drew results from a NationalOmnibus Survey, which gives astatistically balanced representation ofopinions from across Scotland togauge awareness of NLS and ourrange of services.

The market research results led tothe development of a new corporateidentity for NLS. As a visualexpression of the new, open direction

4

Listening to Customers

The Issue Hall in our George IV Bridge building


Improving Accessevents, exhibitions and activities takingplace inside.

The entrance area will eventually betransformed into an informationgateway, with an open-access suite ofcomputer terminals and a morerelaxed environment. Visitors will thenbe able to browse our catalogue andother services, prior to actually applyingfor a reader’s ticket. The security deskwill be moved out of the entrance areaand a readers’ café area is also plannedto convey a more inviting impressionfor visitors. We will also improvephysical access for disabled readers andincrease reading room capacity for allusers.

During the year a project team ofdesigners, architects and planners wasestablished to oversee the first phaseof this vital project, which is planned forcompletion by mid-2006.

Reader Services

Alongside the advances made by ourDigital Library and online services, weare also making significant stepstowards modernising the systems andtechnology available to reading roomusers.

One major development in improvingthe delivery of reader services was theintroduction of the online bookrequest system in September 2004.This facility means that users can checkavailability in advance of their visit andhave their materials ready to consultupon arrival. More than 60% of allrequests for material consulted in theGeneral Reading Room are now madethrough the online system.

Further improvements planned for2005-2006 include a self-registrationscheme for readers, the introduction ofsmartcard technology and wirelessbroadband internet.

Physical Facilities

Breaking Through the Walls, the newstrategy we unveiled in March 2004,stressed the importance of increasingaccess to our collections by removingbarriers, both physical and perceived.One immediately apparent barrier isthe design and lay-out of our physicalfacilities, in particular the front hall ofour George IV Bridge building, the sitewhich houses the majority of ourreading room services.

Plans have been made to redevelopthe ground floor of the building, tomake it a more open, informative andwelcoming space for all visitors.Thebuilding’s imposing façade will beimproved with special lighting andbacklit window displays to give a better indication of the scope of

Interior designer’s illustration of the new

look issue desk area at George IV Bridge

every bookWe are a legal deposit library, with the right to claim

published in the UK and Ireland

5

6

Improving AccessExhibitions

Our task to promote understandingof the significance of the John MurrayArchive began in earnest in April2004, with the launch of the publicexhibition, Four O’Clock Friends. TheArchive’s rich spoils of manuscriptsand private correspondence of manyof the 19th century’s mostaccomplished writers, scientists,explorers and politicians were used asthe basis for this exhibition. The workof influential figures such as JaneAusten, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott,Charles Darwin and DavidLivingstone, to name but a few, wereshowcased.

By contrast, our summer exhibitionturned the spotlight on altogether lessliterary themes. Read All About It!uncovered the story of the press overthe past four centuries, demonstratingto thousands of fascinated visitors justhow much-and how little- the presshas changed over the years. Thiscovered everything from the 17thcentury Scottish broadsides (tabloidstyle street handbills) dealing insensational and often bawdy tales ofbody-snatching, wife-selling, robberyand executions, to the Sunday Sport’sreporting of the ‘discovery’ of a buson the North Pole. Interactiveelements such as the ‘create your ownheadline’ board were a popularinnovation, affirming our policy toengage and educate visitors in avariety of inventive ways.

Education and InterpretativeServices

Our continuing mission to widenaccess and reach out to communitiesoutside our traditional audience sawsignificant developments in 2004-2005, with the establishment ofa year round exhibition and eventsprogramme for the first time in theLibrary’s history boasting a 34%increase in visitor numbers to the four seasonal exhibitions.

Right: Visitors at a printing workshop connected toour Read All About It! exhibition

Bottom left: Visitors at our Read All About It!exhibition

Bottom right: Stuart Cosgrove and The Scotsman'sSports Editor, Donald Walker at our SportsJournalism event


Scholarly audiences were also cateredfor with The Private Lives of Books andIan Hamilton Finlay exhibitions. ThePrivate Lives of Books explored bookprovenance (the history behind theownership of books), drawing onmaterial from classic literary figuressuch as Robert Louis Stevenson topopular contemporary figures such asJK Rowling and Sir Alex Ferguson.The exhibition caught the imaginationof both visiting school children andinternational research librarians, whomthe Library entertained while hostingthe annual Consortium of EuropeanResearch Libraries (CERL) conferencein November 2004.

Ian Hamilton Finlay: of Conceits andCollaborators was part of a widercelebration of the great poet andartist’s 80th birthday, focusing on hiscollaborations with other artists andcraftspeople.The exhibition gave usthe opportunity to make connectionsbetween the material in our owncollections and stunning visual artmaterial such as the photography ofhis landscape idyll, Little Sparta, givinginterpretative insights into his workingpractices with other establishedartists.

7

13millionOur collections comprise more than items

Below:Ian Hamilton Finlay: Of Conceits andCollaborators exhibition

8

Improving Accessproduction with students from QueenMargaret University College’s dramadepartment.

Other highlights included a historicalnews quiz chaired by MagnusMagnusson, printing workshops andeven the arrival of spiders and snakesthrough the Library’s doors, via ourinnovative Zoo Lab project, as part ofthe Glasgow Science Festival.

The diversity of our eventsprogramme has been instrumental innot only boosting event visitornumbers to over 3,000 a year, butcrucially in reaching groups who donot normally use our services.

Topical events that sparked theimagination and stoked debateachieved equal prominence to thosethat reflect the Library’s mainstaythemes of scholarly literature andhistory.Topics included StuartCosgrove on sports journalism,former Foreign Secretary, Robin Cookon the Iraq War, historian Tom Devineon European migration and writer LizLochhead and singer Carol Laulabringing poetry and passion to theLibrary on Valentine’s Night.

Education and Outreach

The exhibitions provided inspirationfor a variety of engaging educationworkshops for all levels of learnersthis year, with hundreds of schoolpupils from across Scotland visitingthe Library. Teachers' packs andresources designed specifically tosustain involvement with younglearners were produced for Read AllAbout It! The foundations for aneffective outreach programme werelaid during the year, with plans towork closely with under-representedgroups from all parts of thecommunity, including children andyoung people, older people, thosewith a disability and others who mightbe socially excluded.

Events

The Library has also strengthened itsreputation as a place for debate andcultural learning with a broadprogramme of events, in terms ofboth subject matter and format. Inaddition to the roster of lectures, talksand debates visitors have come toexpect, we have hosted events asvaried as an internationally flavouredBurns Night of music, song andcelebration and a street theatre

Pupils from across Scotland took part in ourcompetition to design the annual NLS Christmas card,inspired by themes drawn from the digital libraryFraser Meikle (10) from Stenton Primary School inEast Lothian is pictured with his winning entry

Young visitors at our Zoo Lab event

Below: The late Robin Cook MP, picturedhere with the Chairman of the Board ofTrustees, delivered the 2004 Donald DewarMemorial Lecture at the EdinburghInternational Book Festival

Right: Journalists Roy Greenslade and JohnLloyd at The Media We Deserve, a discussionevent at the EIBF which was sponsored bythe Library


The Bookfetcher"I’m on my feet all day,

often moving heavy materials, so you need a high level of physical fitness to do this job, as you can imagine. But it’s rewarding to be playing a part inpreserving Scottish daily life and delivering it into the hands of our readers."

Eddie Craighead is a Senior Bookfetcher working at both Causewaysideand George IV Bridge sites, presently on Newspapers and Serials. Ourcollection of Newspapers stretches far back into the 19th century, so far backthat if you were to line them all out they would span a distance of 20 miles!Bookfetchers like Eddie ensure that these reams of print get to readersquickly and safely and then back into the their allocated spot in the stackswith the minimum of fuss for future customers to enjoy. Our bookfetcherswalk an average of 10 miles a day in the course of these duties.

‘I’m on my feet all

day, often moving

heavy materials, so

you need a high level

of physical fitness to

do this job, as you

can imagine. But it’s

rewarding to be

playing a part in

preserving Scottish

daily life and

delivering it into the

hands of our

readers.’

9

produced by William Morris'Kelmscott Press, which completed ourcollection of Kelmscott publicationsintended for public sale.

Items from our Rare Book collectionswere used in The Private Lives of Booksexhibition, which complemented theprovenance (book ownership) themeof this year’s Consortium of EuropeanResearch Libraries (CERL)conference.

Rare Book staff were engaged withpromotional activities throughout theyear, working with education groupsat all levels, delivering workshops andorganising displays for a wide varietyof visiting groups.

Rare Books

An interesting variety of rare printeditems were acquired this year,indicating the international influence ofrenowned Scottish writers andphilosophers. This included the firstItalian translation of David Hume’s Ideaof a Perfect Commonwealth from 1752,a Swedish translation of Adam Smith’sWealth of Nations from 1804 andpamphlets by Colonel AlexanderBeatson, the Governor of St Helena, asmall island in the South Atlantic from1812 which indicates the long historyof Scots’ influence abroad.

We purchased a copy of Robert LouisStevenson’s copy of Burns’ PoeticalWorks illustrated with woodcuts byBewick, which stirred interest whendisplayed at The Private Lives of Booksexhibition.As a result of the Read AllAbout It! exhibition, an extremely rareGreenock newspaper of 1850, printedon calico, was donated by a reader.Highlights from our illustratedacquisitions included Representation ofthe Highlanders from 1743, a handsomeBible from 1772, The Poster:An IllustratedMonthly Chronicle and two titles

10

The Collections

Below: Detail from Greenock newspaper,printed on calico

Bottom left: Robert Louis Stevenson’spersonal copy of Robert Burns’ PoeticalWorks, with inscription

Bottom right: Beowulf by the Kelmscott Press

The Poster: An Illustrated Monthly Chronicle


Other key accessions included papersof the poet WS Graham, includingpictorial items, as well as two lettersfrom Jacob Wainwright, David Livingstone’s African servant who accompanied the explorer’s body backto England. The papers of AlastairReid, the Scottish literary critic on thestaff of The New Yorker, were alsopurchased. We also received as abequest the papers of former NLStrustee, Dr Janet Adam Smith (1905-1999), which reflect herposition at the centre of British literarylife over many decades.

The Manuscripts Division was heavilyinvolved in the Library's preparationsfor the implementation of theFreedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, which came into force on 1 January 2005, as well as undertakingsubstantial work towards the HeritageLottery Fund bid for the John MurrayArchive (see pages 18-19). Materialand ideas were provided for severalexhibitions including The Private Lives ofBooks and Four O'Clock Friends. Incommon with other divisions, therewere promotional activities throughoutthe year, including workshops,seminars, displays and visits.

11

Above: James Thin Archive items

Jacob Wainwright letters

Manuscripts

Principal accessions included substantialadditional material from Dame MurielSpark, adding to our already extensivecollection of the author’s papers,letters, diaries and photographs.Thismaterial is very recent and includesresearch papers for her latest novel,The Finishing School.

A major donation came in the form of the archive of James Thin from 1848to 2004.The records of the Edinburghbookselling firm are an importantaddition to our holdings of printing,publishing and bookselling archives.Although this world-famous business isno longer trading, its records are nowavailable to those researching Scottish book-trade history.

rectify a fishing dispute of the time andsome early coastal charts of Britain,Scandinavia and mainland Europe fromthe 1660s.

A notable acquisition was made of aPerthshire estate plan by ThomasWinter from 1751.This vast mapdocuments the land belonging to thegreat-grandson of George Mackenzieof Rosehaugh, the founder of theAdvocates’ Library, on which theLibrary’s historical foundations are built.

This year has also seen the arrival of avariety of maps pertaining to the widerworld, including detailed maps of manyeastern European countries released inthe post-Soviet era, as well as NorthKorean atlases, all of which are of greatpotential interest to those researchingglobal politics.We have also acquiredmaps of remote reaches such asBurkina Faso in west Africa, as well as amid-19th century map published inScotland to encourage and informemigrants to New Zealand.

Maps

Celebrations for the 350thanniversary of Scotland’sfirst atlas, by Joan Blaeu,were a focal point for theMap Division’s outreachactivity this year. Theanniversary inspired awinter exhibition: Scotland’sFirst Atlas:The NationDisplayed by Joan Blaeu,which was accompaniedboth by a host of public

talks and the particularly well attendedScottish Maps Forum seminar Look atScotland and Enjoy a Feast For the Eyes,which was organised in collaborationwith the Royal Scottish GeographicalSociety.

Significant progress was made towardsmodernising the Map Library’scatalogue, with over 40,000 recordsconverted from paper to onlinerecords, allowing readers to find theseitems with greater ease and speed.

Major donations included a plan of the River Tweed from 1774, used to

12 National Library of Scotland Annual Review 2004-2005

Below: Thomas Winter estate map

Above: A selection of international maps and atlases

The Curator"I’m on my feet all day,


Olive Geddes is a Senior Curator in our Manuscript Collections Division. Thework of our curators is more wide-ranging than you might think. Many curators are long-serving, which has allowed them to acquire an intimate knowledge of theircollections and to interpret this material for the benefit of readers and others.

The curator’s role is largely ‘hands-on’ and public serving. In addition to acquiring and cataloguing material for their collections, their expertise is often called on toselect and interpret material for exhibitions and displays and to administer (and even accompany) items loaned to other organisations. Interaction with customers is an essential part of the role and curators spend a great deal of time with readers,advising and assisting them by drawing on their specialist knowledge of both thecollections themselves and an array of archival sources worldwide.

‘ It is rewarding to be able to guide readers,to suggest material they may not be aware of or know wehave. The great joy of working here is that, with the range and scale of our collections, even after25 years, I still come across new and fascinating items. There’s always something new to learn.’

13

We were pleased to host the Scottishlaunch event for the Oxford Dictionaryof National Biography, which joinedour collection. This set of 60 volumesdocuments the stories of more than50,000 people who contributed toBritish life in any remarkable way andwho passed away before the end of2000.

An innovative system for requestingand receiving local Scottish materialdirectly is being implemented whichwill help us to identify any gaps in ourcollections, thus making them morecomprehensive for our users.

Electronic Legal Deposit

Following the implementation of theLegal Deposit Libraries Act in 2003,work continues towards extending theregulations to include electronicpublications with the setting up of thestatutory Advisory Panel. This willgovern how we will collect electronicpublications in the coming years, fromCD ROMs and electronic journals towebsites and databases. In themeantime, we continue to collecthand-held electronic material underthe Voluntary Code agreed withpublishers, and to investigate voluntarycollection of online materials incollaboration with publishers and theother legal deposit libraries.

As a member of the UK WebArchiving Consortium (UKWAC), weare responsible for collecting andarchiving websites of Scottish culturalinterest, while investigating solutions tothe challenges of preserving thismaterial in the longer term as thesoftware and technology deteriorateand become obsolete.

14

320,000Every year we receive aroundnew items

Above and below:A typical selection of modern books acquiredthrough Legal Deposit

Legal Deposit

As one of six legal deposit libraries inthe UK and Ireland, we have the rightto claim a free copy of all UK and Irishpublications. Although we have aspecial responsibility to acquirematerial of Scottish interest, thisprivilege has enabled the Library tobuild an extensive general collection(over 13 million items) on all subjects.A full lorry load of material (roughly6,500 items) arrives weekly frompublishers and a wide range oforganisations and individuals,representing many different sectors ofthe community.

This year we acquired nearly a quarterof a million items by legal deposit,including books, pamphlets, periodicalparts, maps and music. Deposited titleswere as diverse as Kim Johnson’sgraphic novel Superman:True Brit, ChrisClarke’s The Science of Ice Cream, theWestern Isles Local Biodiversity ActionPlan and the Auchterarder Local HistoryNewsletter.


15

Right:Items from the Roberton Collection: concert and tour programmes, a photograph showingHugh S. Roberton conducting members of theGlasgow Orpheus Choir in an Oslo railwaystation, an early test print shellac record andmusic published by Roberton Publications

Official Publications

Our collection of OfficialPublications representsaround a fifth of our totalholdings, receiving over40,000 printed items peryear, plus an increasingamount of "born-digital"publications. We are arepository for both theWestminster and ScottishParliaments and not onlyhouse publications from

UK Government departments but alsothose from Eire, Northern Ireland,Jersey, Pakistan, Australia and the USA.Additionally, this collection includespublications from major internationalorganisations such as the UnitedNations and the World HealthOrganisation.

With support from NLS ForeignCollections, which has reinstated thepurchasing of South Asian materials, wehave concentrated our efforts on

promoting and developing ourIndia Papers Collection,

which comprisespublications fromthe Imperial

government andmany Indian states.

This collectiondocuments an

important chapter ofcolonial history,

containing items from the post-Mutiny

period to Indian Independence in 1947.A display in 2004 highlighted thediversity of this collection.

Music The Music service continued to acquirematerial through legal deposit, purchaseand donation. A notable donation wasreceived from the granddaughter ofHugh S. Roberton, founding director ofthe Glasgow Orpheus Choir.Thedonation includes material relating tothe Choir as well as music from theRoberton music publishing house.

We are contributing to an Arts andHumanities Research Council (AHRC)funded project to catalogue collectionsof concert programmes and relatedephemera held in institutions in the UKand Ireland. Since our earlyinvolvement with the initial scopingstudy, NLS has played a lead role in theScottish project.We have alsocontributed more widely to a relatedinternational working group, notablythrough a presentation at this year’sInternational Association of MusicLibraries conference in Oslo.

The service was active on the outreachfront throughout the year, contributingto our Valentine’s Night event, ThePrivate Lives of Books exhibition,mounting a display in the entrance hallof our George IV Bridge building onthe 19th century Scottish composer,John Thomson and giving tours of themusic collections, as well as a workshopfor music students.

Above:Government Reports from our OfficialPublications collection: Shipman Inquiry 3rd report,Dr David Kelly, Foot and Mouth Disease

Below:Items from the India Papers collection: Kashmirwhat now?, The Kashmir Liberation Movement,Census of India 1921, v. XVII Baroda State pt. 1report; A short account of the Siege of Delhi,President Ayub on the crisis over Kashmir,TheKashmir Dispute through neutral eyes, Pakistanwelcomes constitution

Our extensive market researchcollection (over 14,000 holdings) isnow not only the largest collection ofits kind outwith the British Librarybut, in the case of some specificreports, we are the only publiclyaccessible library in the world to holdsuch data. The wide range of ourprinted business collections andelectronic resources, including theannual reports of all Scottish quotedcompanies and over 1,000 tradejournals and trade directories, canbenefit start-up enterprises or anygrowing company seeking up-to-datemarket data and analysis.

Science Information

A wide range of scientific andtechnical material can be accessedthrough our Science InformationService. In addition to printedcollections, we subscribe to severalelectronic databases, such asScienceDirect, ISI Web of Knowledge,Journal Citation Reports and EiCompendex. One area of stockfrequently consulted is our collectionof British Standards. We are one ofthe few libraries to hold a completeset of both current and supersededprinted Standards.

The Science Service continued tosupport promotional activities thisyear. This included involvement withthe Edinburgh International ScienceFestival with a display exploringGenetics Then and Now, providingopportunities to link contemporaryknowledge to historical material.Alongside recently published materialon GM crops, DNA fingerprinting andthe Human Genome Project was afirst edition of Darwin’s On the Originof Species, papers on the work ofGregor Mendel, and the 1953 Naturearticle by Watson and Crick on thestructure of DNA.

16

Business Information

SCOTBIS is our national businessinformation service, used by Scottish,UK and international businessesranging in size from sole traders tomajor companies. Researchundertaken during the period as partof a Best Value Review confirmed that SCOTBIS has an important role toplay in supporting economicdevelopment and enterprise andcontributing towards the ScottishExecutive’s vision for a smart,successful Scotland.

Thorough research among thebusiness community with both usersand non-users revealed that theservice had a crucial role in providingnational business information for thepeople of Scotland and beyond. It alsosuggested that there was scope toraise the profile of SCOTBIS and as aresult a detailed marketing strategywas devised which will beimplemented by Spring 2006.

Another key recommendationsuggested opening access to areas ofthe SCOTBIS website currentlyrestricted to subscribers to reflect ourstrategy of widening participation.

Enquiries to SCOTBIS rose by 34%this year, showing the obvious demandfor this unique collection which is thelargest of its kind in Scotland. Newadditions include the complete set of

reports published by MSI Marketing Research for Industry.

A selection of titles displayed at ourCreepy Crawlies event for children


‘ The business service is

fantastic. We have been able

to get information quickly

that would have taken us

months on our own. We are

a small, growing business

and this service has really

helped us with market

intelligence and access to

databases.’

MD of a Scottish business

Above: John Coll, head of SCOTBIS

Donations

The Library has benefited from thegenerosity of more than 540 donorsthis year. Our donors range fromprivate individuals to corporate bodies,providing us with a wealth of variedand often startling material. Wereceive material in all types of formatsfrom print to electronic, and in manylanguages including Hebrew, Arabic,Japanese and Russian.

The year has seen some unusualdonations, such as a pattern andsample book of crests, companyletterheads, typefaces and fontsproduced by the firm of printers TRDale, dating from ca. 1950,accompanied by one box of 11engraved plates and 79 printing blocksand plates.

Major donations included the JacksonCollection of 600 Faroese books, theElizabeth Clark Collection amountingto ca. 1,000 books of mainlymountaineering and related subjectsand the Naismith Collection of 52maps, manuscripts and architecturalbooks.

17

Foreign Collections

The Library continued its commitmentto purchasing publications fromoverseas. A number of acquisitionswere made from the USA andCommonwealth countries dealing withthe Scottish diaspora, for exampleScottish Immigrants in Hamilton, Ontario,Canada:Their Onomastic Legacy by W.Watson Buchanan and a morepersonal account, From Scotland to theEnglish River : An Account of theCarmichaels, Craigs, McKells &Templetons, by Jean Furcall and DonnaTempleton. Notable reference worksacquired included the 4 volumeHawaiian National Bibliography 1780-1900.

We have continued to develop ourSouth Asian collections, renewing ourcommitment to extending andpromoting our collection of materialsfrom India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Alarge number of current titles coveringcolonial and post-colonial history andliterature of the subcontinent wereadded to the collections. The provisionof South Asian dictionaries,encyclopaedias, sacred texts, andreference works in general was alsoincreased.

Above:Items from our Foreign Collections

Above:100 Years Of Football, donated by the Deputy General Secretary of FIFA and AnLeabhar Mor -The Great Book of Gaelic,donated by the City Art Centre in Edinburgh

Left:This pattern book is an example of the more unusual items the Library receives bydonation every year

18

The John Murray ArchiveAbout the Archive

The John Murray Archive is one of the most globally significantcollections of literary and cultural

material from the past 250 years.It comprises over 150,000

letters and manuscriptsfrom an enviable roll-call

of eminent figures fromthe worlds of literature,

science, exploration, politics,philosophy and the arts.The Archive contains private

letters, manuscripts andother correspondencefrom Jane Austen, LordByron, Sir Walter Scott,Benjamin Disraeli,Herman Melville,Charles Darwin,David Livingstone,Thomas Carlyle,Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edith Wharton,among others.

Financing the Archive

The Archive has been independentlyvalued at £45 million but has beenoffered for sale to the NLS at areduced price of £31.2 million inorder to keep the collection in theUnited Kingdom. Of these funds, £3.2million is to go toward creating a trustto secure the preservation andmaintenance of the historic building at50 Albemarle Street as a place forvisitors and researchers.The remaining£28 million will endow the John RMurray Charitable Trust. One of themain purposes of this trust will be tosupport access to and preservation ofthe Archive, as well as enablingadditional, related material to bepurchased. The Trust has alreadypledged £3m to cover the day-to-dayrunning costs of the Archive.Additionally, the Trust has committedup to £200,000 annually forcataloguing, digitisation, conservationand widening access to the Archive,including exhibitions.

The Scottish Executive havedemonstrated theirsupport by committing atotal of £8.3m towardssecuring the Archive. Ourbid for £17.7m from theHeritage Lottery Fund(HLF) met with Stage 1approval in January 2005.


Below: Letter and photographs byIsabella Bird

Left: Register showing sales of Byron’sChilde Harold

Development Plans

In 2004 specialist fundraisingconsultancy Brakeley Ltd produced afeasibility study for filling the fundinggap and we have set to work onimplementing their recommendations,most notably the establishment of aDevelopment Department for thefirst time in the Library’s history,comprising a director and asupporting team.This department willbe tasked with helping the Library toraise the additional £6.5m towardsthe cost of the Archive, while alsoproviding us with a foundation onwhich to generate funds for our wideractivities and collections.

The story of our bid to acquire theArchive was a source of intensemedia interest and has contributed toraising the profile of the Library as awhole. The Stage 1 HLF approval wasgranted following a lengthyassessment period and muchpreparatory work during the year.Following the HLF fundingannouncement we appointed aProject Manager who will help toprogress our bid towards the

outcome of the HLF Stage 2 decisionin March 2006. We also appointed aProject Curator who will undertake athorough audit of the Archive andhelp us uncover items of particularinterest.

Bringing the Archive to life

Interpreting the material from thisvast Archive and making it accessibleis vital to the success of the bid andsignificant effort has been dedicatedtowards how the material ispreserved, displayed and interpreted.Towards this end, we organisedexhibitions and displays which drewheavily on material from the Archiveand work has begun on an audiencedevelopment plan.

Additionally, we have employed theservices of award-winning, UKspecialist museum and visitorattraction consultancy, EventCommunication, who willcomplement our efforts to bring tolife the many stories and peopledocumented in the Archive, throughdesigning creative and accessibleexhibitions and displays.

19

Visualisation by Event Communication

showing a proposal for the permanent

John Murray Archive exhibition

Above: Passport of Sir Austen Layard,19th century British author anddiplomat

The Digitiser"I’m on my feet all day,


Betty Neil is the Digital Camera Operator in our Digital Library Division. Bettycreates digital images from our collections of printed material, maps andmanuscripts for use on the NLS web site, while also helping to preserve theoriginal items. Betty works on a number of concurrent projects, digitisingeverything from complete volumes of books to assorted items for exhibitionsor displays.

Items are scanned to the highest possible quality (400 dpi), reproduced to scaleand then prepared for use online. Our three-year programme for digitisation isbased on research with website users and non-users and in close consultationwith Library curators. The programme is rigorous and continual - in 2004-05we exceeded our target for the number of items scanned by nearly 40 per cent.Many of the items scanned have never been previously available online.

‘ It’s very satisfying to see the end result of my work being accessed all over the world. With the level of detail our technology provides, you can zoom in and see what the naked eye could not possibly see, so you can also get some fascinating glimpses into all sorts of historic photographs, maps and manuscripts.’


website more accessible to a widerrange of people, will also guide thedecisions we make about selectingmaterial from the collections fordigitisation.

As a result of this research and testing,a number of improvements havealready been made to our onlineservices. Changes include making thewebsite more accessible to users withvisual impairments as well as to thosewith slower PCs.

Our vision is to provide an experiencefor the online user which matches asclosely as possible that of a visitor toone of our buildings, in terms of therange of content and services available.We have also improved our onlinedelivery systems to ensure our digitalcontent is exposed to search engineslike Google.This will allow people todiscover us easily through subjectsearches and, having discovered ourrange of online resources, return touse our site as a research tool infuture.

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The Digital LibraryResearch and Strategy

A key element of the Library’s strategyis the development and expansion ofthe Digital National Library ofScotland. Much of the past year hasbeen occupied with the preparation ofthe Digital NLS Strategic Plan for2005-2008. By March 2005, theStrategic Plan had reached a draftstage, and the strategy will ensure thatthe customer is placed firmly at thecentre of what the Digital Library aimsto achieve.

The strategy recognises that allScottish citizens are entitled to haveaccess to our resources and services,and that these should be tailored tomeet our users’ needs. Accordingly,much of the strategy is based uponthe findings of market research carriedout during the last year.This researchlooked at the website as a whole,including analysis of how easy it is touse and how users interact with it.

This information, as well as helping usto understand how to make the

Below: NLS website homepage

Below right: Interactive kiosk at George IV Bridge

Muriel Spark

An important project launched in theperiod was a web feature devoted toDame Muriel Spark, which containsbiographical information, images andextracts from Dame Muriel’spublished work as well as othermaterial donated by the authorherself.

Web Mapping

Meanwhile, the digitisation of our mapcollection continues apace, with theimplementation of prototype web-mapping.This is a facility which allowsusers to click anywhere on a map ofScotland and access all of the digitisedmaps in our collection that pertain tothat area. We hope to apply thisinnovative means of searching to alldigital content in future.

Bathymetric Survey

The variety of applications for ouronline maps continues to develop inexciting directions. In April 2004, theScottish Environmental ProtectionAgency agreed to fund the digitisationof bathymetrical maps, a uniqueresource which shows the depth anddimensions of freshwater lochs. Theresults of this survey of over 500lochs, originally conducted over 100years ago, are now freely availableonline for the benefit ofenvironmental researchers and thosetasked with assessing water quality.

The Word on the Street

Our mini-site The Word On The Streetis one of the most visited areas ofwww.nls.uk and it offers a goodexample of the kind of audienceinteraction at the heart of our digitalstrategy.This was launched inconjunction with the Read All About It!exhibition and featured digital imagesof over 1800 ‘broadsides’, single sheetnewsletters, which were in effect thetabloids of their day, often posted onwalls in houses and ale-houses.

The feedback from users has beenvery positive, with people from allover Scotland and beyond vividlyresponding to the opportunity toengage with these slices of local socialhistory.

22

‘ I sat back in my chair,

dumbstruck. I punched the

air with both arms and

shouted ‘Yahoo!’. It was

there recorded in the

National Library of

Scotland’s website. As I

read it, line after line came

flooding back, familiar

once more.’

Website user


Above right: Muriel Spark website

Below: Computer terminals at ourGeorge IV Bridge site

Organisational DevelopmentEquality & Health

The Library continues to set andmaintain high standards for providinga safe, healthy and fair workingenvironment. The British SafetyCouncil awarded us five staraccreditation this year in recognitionof our continuing maintenance offacilities which were substantiallyupgraded several years ago.Additionally a number of our cleaningstaff have successfully completed aScottish Vocational Qualification(SVQ) training programme this year.

The Library completed the Scotland’sHealth At Work Bronze Award thisyear. Staff had already instigated aHealth at Work group before makinga formal application to enter thenational scheme. Numerous healthyliving initiatives were enthusiasticallyembraced by staff, including activitiessuch as a corporate fun run, regularyoga classes, drop-in visits fromdieticians and occupational nurses anda coffee morning to raise funds andawareness for Macmillan CancerRelief. Work towards achieving theSilver Award is well under way in2005.

Our development of a progressiveequalities policy was demonstrated bythe Disability Rights Commission(DRC) adopting us as a best practicecase study, inviting our HumanResources team to speak atconferences and write in the DRCjournal, Eight Point Six, on the Library’spositive experience of employingpeople with a disability.

Technology

A significant investment was made inthe Library’s Information andCommunications Technology (ICT)infrastructure, resulting in improvedperformance and reduced systemdowntime. Systems were significantlyupgraded to further support staff inserving customers and to keep upwith the growth in corporateinformation and digitised content.

ICT continued to develop importantpartnerships outside of NLS, includingworking with the Legal DepositLibrarians’ sub-group, which is lookingat the infrastructure and technicalrequirements of implementing theLegal Deposit Libraries Act 2003.Staff in ICT have been elected to siton international committees,highlighting our expertise in thesesubjects. Closer working relationshipswith counterpart ICT functions inother national cultural bodies provedto be valuable and a shared servicesreview was undertaken in light ofEfficient Government initiatives.

NLS receives the Scotland’s Health At WorkBronze award

23

The Educator"I’m on my feet all day,


Laura Murphy is an Education and Outreach Officer in our Education &Interpretative Services Division. Laura's role is new - and not without itschallenges - as it requires working with people outside of our traditionalaudience who often have little or no prior awareness of the Library. She workswith a diverse range of learners of all ages, from nursery school children to adultswith special educational needs, delivering workshops to visiting school andcommunity groups. She also ventures out across Scotland visiting communitieswho, for whatever reason, cannot get to the Library. On any given day she maybe running a schools’ workshop, visiting a community group in the Highlands,producing a teacher’s pack or developing online educational resources.

‘ It’s a real pleasure to work with people whoare new to the Libraryand to see just how much it means to them to experience theriches of our collections first-hand. Learning at the Library is increasingly becoming a two-way process. We’re building some great long term relationships with community groups which often stimulate ideas for developing exhibition content or our collections.’


Partnerships and CollaborationCollection. Chapbooks are smallpaper-covered booklets, which madefor cheap and popular reading fromthe 17th to the 19th century. Theproject to catalogue 3,200 chapbooksbegan in November 2004 followingconsultation with Glasgow UniversityLibrary (who manage the ScottishChapbooks Catalogue), EdinburghCentral Library, Stirling UniversityLibrary and the Advocates Library.Staff have been working onprocedures for copying data from theNLS online catalogue to Glasgow’sdatabase, thus providing additionalaccess and material for chapbookresearchers. NLS continues to take anactive role in other collaborativegroups such as the ScottishConfederation of University ResearchLibraries, the Consortium of EuropeanResearch Libraries and theCollaborative Academic Store forScotland.

Newsplan

The year has seen the successfulcompletion of the Newsplan Scotlandproject. Newsplan is a major UK-wideproject centred around preservinglocal newspapers by reproducingdamaged, fragile or rare papers inmicrofilm form. NLS took the leadrole in Newsplan Scotland, overseeingthe conversion of nearly 4 million pages spanning a 250 yearperiod. The project also gave us theopportunity to build the mostcomprehensive archive of Scottishnewspapers worldwide, dating as farback as the early 18th century.Researchers in Scotland can nowaccess local newspapers that are longout of circulation, with many titlesavailable outside of the British Libraryfor the first time since their publication,including the Aberdeen Shaver, Piper O’Dundee, Glasgow Clincher, GreenockElection Squib, Scottish Prohibitionist andSaturday Smile.

NLS staff meeting counterparts in Moray Libraries

25

Library Partnerships

The Breaking Through the Walls strategylaunched last year stressed theimportance of building relationshipswith partner organisations and this yearhas seen significant progress in doingso within the public library sector.

NLS has taken a leading role indeveloping pilot projects with libraryauthorities in Moray, Glasgow andAberdeen.The aim of thesepartnerships is to raise awarenessamong public librarians of the depthand breadth of our collections, as wellexploring the scope to link to theirown local collections, with a view toresearching digitisation priorities, jointcatalogue searching and visits for localcommunity groups. The ultimate aim isto offer library users a more joined-up service and hence stimulatefurther uptake of services across theboard.

Scottish Chapbooks

We were awarded £10,000 by theBritish Library’s Full Disclosure Fund inJune 2004 to catalogue all the Scottish chapbooks in the Lauriston Castle

This event attracted nationwideinterest from university staff andstudents and the general public.Topicsincluded architecture, art, literature,religion, history and issues such asJihad and crusades, with materialdrawn from our evolving Spanishcollection.

Ordnance Survey Project

The Map Division have continued towork with partners such as the RoyalCommission on the Ancient andHistorical Monuments of Scotland andHistoric Scotland on a projectinvolving early Ordnance Survey mapsof Scotland from the 19th century.This project involves geo-referencingand edge-matching the maps in thecollection, creating a seamless pictureof the wider area and ensuringmodern coordinates are applied tothese historical documents.

Scotland and MedicineCollections

Staff from several Collections divisionsare participating in Scotland andMedicine Collections andConnections, a partnership led by theRoyal College of Surgeons ofEdinburgh to promote medical andhealth collections in Scottish Museumsto local, national and internationalaudiences. Ourrole will be toshare expertiseand resourceswith themuseums sectorand helpdemonstrate theworldwideinfluence ofScots writers andthinkers onmedical matters.

26

SUNCAT

NLS is pleased to be participating inthe UK National Serials UnionCatalogue (SUNCAT) pilot initiative,which launched in January 2005. Thepilot pulls together journal cataloguerecords from 22 research libraries.There are over 3.5 million records sofar, and these can now be searchedand accessed from a single source tothe great benefit of researchers.Theproject aims to ensure that the highestquality records are maintained andeventually shared by more than 80participating libraries.

Academic Partnerships

We have continued our involvementwith the Carnegie-funded Scotland’sTransatlantic Relations (STAR) project,hosting a postgraduate seminardedicated to the poet, John Burnside.We also take an active role in theteaching of Transatlantic Studies inScottish universities, hostingbibliographical seminars at the Library.

Islamic influences on Spanish culturewere explored with a study-dayentitled al-Andalus: Legends andLegacies, jointly organised by theHispanic Studies and Islamic andMiddle Eastern Studies departments atEdinburgh University in January 2005.


Below:Manuscript Curator Kenneth Dunn with John Higgitt,a Reader in History of Art at Edinburgh University,working together on the Learning and TeachingScotland project

movement to revolutionise the worldof academic publishing and widen theavailability of such material.

Our involvement with the DigitalPreservation Coalition continues todevelop, with NLS taking fullmembership and representation on itsboard. The Coalition is an importantinternational movement whichconcerns itself with the capture andpreservation of the increasing amountof digital material being publishedworldwide.

In addition, we have joined the theCommon Information Environment(CIE). The CIE is a cross-sector groupof public sector organisations workingtogether to overcome barriers toaccess by ensuring online informationis easily available to all in theappropriate formats.

Marketing Partnerships

The depth and breadth of ourcollections offers vast potential forcollaboration with other organisationsinvolved with culture and learning, andthis year we have begun to exploresuch possibilities in earnest.Exploratory meetings took place withScottish Enterprise Digital Inclusion,Learn Direct Scotland and the ScottishFurther Education Unit.

A significant partnership was forgedwith Learning and Teaching Scotland(LTS), who have invited us to becomea national digital content provider.Being able to add digital content toexisting communication and teachingnetworks is an efficient method ofbreaking down the geographicalbarriers to accessing our collections,while simultaneously raising awarenessof NLS across the country.

Additionally, we have been workingwith LTS to provide digital content foruse in their Schools Out project, whichaims to re-engage those whoselearning has been interrupted.

27

Shakespeare Quarto Project

The Rare Books team has beenworking with Octavo, a company whichspecialises in producing digital facsimilesof early printed books. Octavo digitisedour holdings of early quarto editions ofShakespeare's plays published before1642, when the theatres were closedby the order of the Puritans. Thirty-one quartos have been digitised so far,which will help preserve the originalprinted items and allow them to beaccessed by anyone with an internetconnection. These books are a vitalresource for anyone studyingShakespeare, English drama, theatrehistory or Elizabethan and Jacobeanhistory. They are the closest we haveto a working manuscript ofShakespeare’s output and thus offermany fascinating insights into hisprocesses and thinking. The quartosform part of the Bute Collection, anextensive collection of English plays,dating from the 1580s to the early19th century.

Digital Partnerships

NLS was proud to become a signatoryto the Declaration of Open Accessalong with a number of otherorganisations in October 2004. TheDeclaration marked the launch of a

Below:The Digital Preservation Coalition

The Cataloguer"I’m on my feet all day,


Deborah Marsden is an Authority Control Curator in our Authority ControlUnit.The unit’s key task is to ensure that readers can easily find what they arelooking for when searching our electronic catalogues. As the databasecomprises several millions of entries, added to on a weekly basis, a clear andconsistent reference system is crucial. Deborah allocates standard headings toevery one of these entries, allowing customers to access all relevant material.

As with most cataloguing functions, the work of the unit is virtually infinite.It requires constantly developing expertise, which might entail, for example,keeping up to date with the changing names of government and corporatebodies across the world as well as building a comprehensive knowledge ofhistoric literary figures such as Sir Walter Scott.

‘ I help to standardise records on our electronic catalogue, which makes it easierfor our readers to find what they are looking for. The constant expansion ofour collections meansthat this is a never-ending task, but the work we put into cataloguing saves ourreaders’ time and effort.’


AcknowledgementsDr Vincent Guigueno The late Broderick Haldane Barry Hamford John Holliday Ursula M Hooff Dr Alexander Hutchison M E Jackson Ruth Jennings W T Johnston Christine Kermaire Nancy Langmaid John Lee Lochgoil Community Trust A H Macdonald Lockhart Professor A McCall Smith Dr Margery Palmer McCulloch June McDowell Sheila McGregor K McGuire Ruari McLean Mhairi McNeill Don MacAskill Domhnall MacCormaig Lady Lucinda L Mackay Malcolm and Charlotte Mackay Mary E Mackenzie Fiona Macpherson Manitoba Historical Society James Mair Alastair Martin Margot N Massie R M Maxtone Graham D R Morrison Trevor Morrison Dr W E S Mutch National Archives of India National Library of China Lee I Niedringhaus Marcello Novaga Audrey Perkiss J B Pick J Pressburger Dr Lucida Prestige John A PackerRobert Rankine Professor Alan Riach Sir Lewis Robertson Meg Roberton Helen Anne Ross and the Ross family Russian State Library for Foreign Literature Douglas M D Scott Paul Scott Scottish Liberal Club

29

We are extremely grateful to themany individuals and organisations,who, in donating a wide range ofmaterial, have uniquely enriched thecollections. While space allows only aselection to be listed, the Libraryvalues all of its donors (over 500) fortheir generosity in the past year.

DonorsAccademia dei Rozzi, Siena, Italy Professor David Ambrose Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Guy de Bihan Nicky Bird Professor Christopher Blake Dr K S Bovey British Council, Lviv, Ukraine Aonghas P Caimbeul Niall Campbell Stuart Campbell Jan Camps Joseph Carlyle The late Deirdre Inches Carr Clan Gregor Archive Centre Elizabeth A Clark Craigmount High School, Edinburgh Cora Cuthbert Dr A Fraser-Darling Richard Fraser-Darling John J Downie Lord James Douglas-Hamilton Owen Dudley Edwards Ninian Dunnett The Rt Hon The Earl of Dundee Hillian Durell Sheila Elder Professor Margaret Elphinstone James Finlayson Murray Forest Sangha Trust for Scotland Anne Frackiewicz Dr B Franolic Bashabi Fraser Sir Charles Fraser French Embassy, London Peter B Freshwater Yvonne Fuller Robin FultonClaire Geddes Glasgow University, Archive Services Rawdon Goodier Professor Ian A Gordon Robert Maxtone Graham

Sponsors

P Borthwick Norman Butcher Mary Cameron Mrs Elizabeth A Clark's Fund Charles Dundas The Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust Paul Gorman Linda Henderson Ben Jolly Evelyn Mackenzie Murdo Maclean The W M Mann Foundation Michael Marks Charitable Trust The Menzies Group Colin Merrony The Millar Foundation The Sir James Miller,(Edinburgh) Charitable Trust Moat Park Heritage Centre Jean Murray David Norton Scotsman Publications Ltd Michael Taylor

The Board of TrusteesChairman

Professor Michael Anderson,OBE, MA, PhD, FBA, FRSE

Ex-officio

The Lord President of the Court ofSessionThe Lord AdvocateThe First Minister, Scottish ParliamentThe Member of the ScottishParliament for Edinburgh CentralThe Dean of the Faculty of AdvocatesThe Minister of the High Kirk (St Giles'), EdinburghThe Crown AgentThe Lord Provost of AberdeenThe Lord Provost of DundeeThe Lord Provost of EdinburghThe Lord Provost of Glasgow

Appointed by the Crown

Professor Michael Anderson,OBE, MA, PhD, FBA, FRSEA Lorraine Fannin, BA, DipEd

Appointed by the Faculty ofAdvocates

Angus Stewart, QCMalcolm G Thomson, QCThe Hon Lord Coulsfield, QCMalcolm C N Scott, QCStephen Woolman, QC

Appointed by the Universities

Professor Graham D Caie,MA, PhD, FRSA, FEA, FRSEIvor G Lloyd, BA, DipLib, MLib, ALAPeter Kemp, MA, PhDDr Judith Vincent, BA, PhD

Appointed by the Convention ofScottish Local Authorities

Councillor Bill LambCouncillor Joy Mowatt

Co-opted

Lady Balfour of Burleigh,MA, DPhil, FSAScot, FRSE

Ishbel Maclean, MAMoira Methven, MCILIPProfessor Jane Ohlmeyer,MA, PhD, FRHistS

Donors (continued)

The Scottish Sculpture Trust Dr Mark Shaw Shetland Oil Terminal Environmental Advisory Group James Simpson Colonel G R Simpson Patrick W Simpson Dennis Smith The late Mrs Hazel Goodsir Smith The late Dr Janet Adam Smith Robin Buchanan-Smith Adèle M Stewart Lady Stewart Lady Emma Tennant D Ainslie Thin John Thomson P D Thomson Murray Tosh Robert Trotter Jill Turnbull Penney Turnbull Professor Yoshisuke Ueda Universala Esperanto-Asocio Victorian Fiction Unit, University ofQueensland, Australia Professor Andrew G Watson Helen Ogden Widener Dr Herbert Zemen

Depositors

British Records Association Board of World Mission,Church of Scotland Clan Mackay Society Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lord Selkirk of Douglas) Mrs L Millar North Angus Co-operative Society Saltire Society Stair Society Mrs A Stamp


The Conservator"I’m on my feet all day,


Giordana Santoro is an Assistant Conservator in our Preservation andConservation Division. Conservators play an essential role in carrying out remedialtreatment of our more important collections that stretch back into the 9thcentury. Giordana has moved from Italy to join us after studying at The EuropeanSchool for the Conservation of Books and Library Material and is undergoing aprofessional accreditation scheme as part of her training in the Conservation Unit.

As part of a team of six, Giordana works on all parts of the Library’s vast and varied collections including rare printed books, manuscripts, photographs and maps.Conservators use traditional and modern techniques such as de-acidification, paperrepair, leafcasting, parchment and vellum repair, encapsulation and re-sewing booksin original format. Treasures that have received some form of treatment in theConservation Unit include the Last Letter of Mary, Queen of Scots andThe Murthly Hours.

‘The National Libraryis an excellent place to start my career as a conservator. It gives me the opportunity to work with an interesting variety of historic items and materials, not to mention the professional prestige of developing my craft in a national institution with a strong international reputation.’

31

32

2k 4k 6k 8k 10k 20k 30k 40k 50k

Total reading roomvisitors

56,244

General Reading Room 47,403Microform Reading Room 2,084North Reading Room: Manuscipts 3,760North Reading Room: Rare Books 2,997

2 million

10 million

20million

Website user sessions

1,299,214

Website user sessions 1,299,214

Website page views 15,012,944

20k 50k

Total Enquiries

73,642Enquiries Correspondence/Telephone 30,067Enquiries dealt with in person 43,575

1k 5k 10k 50k 80k 100k

Total items receiving conservation treatment

87,503

Volumes bound or conserved 580Other printed items conserved 7,572Photographs conserved 893Volumes cleaned 78,458

Annual Statistics 2004-2005

national library of scotland annual review 2004-2005 · research libraries (cerl) conference in...

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