Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
June 20, 2025
Fieldwork Internship Journey
Written by Katie Shepherd
As the RESP continue to add to their collection of oral history archival material, Ailsa and I were commissioned as fieldwork interns to conduct interviews with a community group based at the John Gray Centre in Haddington. Our internship project intended to record a series of interviews with the ambition of producing a publication based on the audio recordings content.
The last six months has been a whirlwind of interviews, writing, editing, and of course, lots of meetings over tea and coffee. As the internship draws to a close, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the goals we have surpassed since November 2024 and the processes involved in an oral ethnography project.
One of many meetings over coffee!
Ailsa and I developed a skeleton plan for the publication but were encouraged be flexible in our approach, so the interviewees felt able to discuss their own interests. With this guidance, we decided to theme the interviews around ‘working life’ – a broad topic that allowed participants to speak about their careers and industries, social lives in and out of work, alternative streams of income and even unpaid labour.
Having been prompted to consider possible outputs for the recording content, Ailsa and I decided on creating a publication similar to Jumpers for Goalposts – the publication created by the group in 2016 – in its structure but also to create some digital content to increase accessibility and awareness of the project. This hybrid approach has proved successful so far, as the publication gives the group members a tangible product of their interviews, and their relationships, but the digital products are engaging to a wider audience through social media, web pages and in person presentations.
Jumpers for Goalposts, the groups first publication (2017).
After an initial few weeks of planning in the office at the Centre for Research Collections, Ailsa and I’s first meeting with the group occurred at their Christmas party which involved a competitive quiz and plenty of refreshments. This informal introduction set the tone for what was to be an extremely fruitful series of interviews that are vernacular and informative, and at times emotional and poignant as memories left untouched for years are rekindled.
January involved a fieldwork training session from the EERC’s senior research fellow Mark Mulhern, prepping us for the following weeks of interviews. Between late January and early March Ailsa and I interviewed 12 group members – with some assistance from Caroline Milligan and Ruth Fyfe, who interviewed group members who reside in a local care home – mostly at the John Gray Centre in Haddington, although one or two took place on university grounds. Alternating roles as sound technician/active listener and interviewer, Ailsa and I efficiently curated over 14 hours of interview recordings.
Vikkie, Dick, Ailsa and Katie (left to right) looking at some photographs provided by Vikkie and Dick.
Much of March was absorbed by the task of reviewing interviews, taking notes and transcribing passages for potential use in the publication, and organising this information on a thematic basis. Inputting interview quotations and time stamps into a spreadsheet accelerated this process and although it was an – unexpectedly – intensive task, it deepened our understanding of the groups individual and collective histories and allowed us to more accurately represent their spoken testimonies in prose.
Pic of spreadsheet/planning (no GDPR breaches :D)
In due course, Ailsa and I began to write the main body of the publication by splitting the book into seven chapters: Careers and Industries, Politics, International Interactions, Sporting Life, Social Life and Festivities, Family, and Reflections on Change and Continuity. Entrusted by the group members to interpret their oral reflections into the written word was an honour, and a responsibility that I took seriously. I enjoy this part of the internship immensely; watching the group’s memories unfold and intertwine in the book as it was written was enthralling.
During this time, I led team liaisons with internal and external colleagues from RESP, East Lothian Council and an independent designer commissioned to create the publication. As the group had already been involved in the publication Jumpers for Goalposts, we wanted All in a Day’s Work to feel like another instalment in the same series, thus we worked with the same designer and used a similar design. Ailsa also got to work on creating a short film with snippets of the interviews to showcase some excerpts spoken by the group themselves – you can watch that here.
The editorial process was another rigorous stage; one that I undertook with enthusiasm powered by a desire to acquire copy-editing and proofreading skills. After completing a first draft, Caroline and Lesley reviewed the content and suggested edits on a hard copy. I then implemented the majority of these edits into the digital copy, further tweaking, correcting and re-writing as I went. Issues of style and consistency are inevitable in a co-authored book, and by compiling a style sheet with all discrepancies, I worked through this with Caroline to ensure the book read in a cohesive and accessible manner. The nature of oral ethnography requires a specific ‘editing voice’ to balance the readers comprehension while staying as close to the spoken word as possible.
A sneak-preview of All in a Day’s Work!
At the time of writing (28th of May 2025), All in a Day’s Work, the fruits of this rapid, fantastic internship, is due to be launched next week. The publication will first be presented to the Haddington Active Memories and Sporting Memories Groups at their meeting on the 3rd of June, and then to staff at the Centre for Research Collections later that afternoon.
Watch official RESP channels for digital copies of the book and more!
Digitising the Bulletin
“The University of Edinburgh Bulletin (EUA IN1/PUB/4) is the institution’s internal magazine, covering news from around the University. It was established in 1964, succeeding the University of Edinburgh Gazette which had been running since 1952. Since 2009, it has been available in digital form and is now a wholly digital publication.” Grant Buttars, University Records Archivist
Protecting University Repositories from Aggressive Web Scraping – Using Database Rights to Retain Control Over Academic Content
Universities have long served as custodians of knowledge, investing heavily in infrastructure that ensures research outputs are preserved, discoverable, and freely available to all. Institutional repositories, designed to host open access publications, embody this ethos. They support transparency, reproducibility, and public accountability in science and scholarship. But today, that infrastructure is under silent siege.
The rapid growth of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) has created insatiable demand for high-quality text data. Academic repositories – open by design and rich in peer-reviewed research – have become prime targets for automated scraping by commercial actors. These entities often extract content at scale without permission, transparency, or attribution, repurposing it for proprietary model training. This phenomenon undermines the ethical foundations of open access and leaves repository managers in an impossible position: maintain openness, or protect against exploitation?
At the University of Edinburgh, this dilemma has become tangible. Automated scraping activity has been detected targeting DSpace-hosted repositories, while similar content on the Elsevier-managed Pure platform has seen no such traffic. The likely explanation lies in technical and legal asymmetry: commercial platforms benefit from robust infrastructure, gated access, and formal licence agreements, whereas open-source systems tend to lack such safeguards. As a result, repositories maintained by public institutions – those most committed to the ideals of open science – are paradoxically the most vulnerable to abuse.
This blog post proposes a legally grounded, technically feasible solution to this challenge. By asserting database rights – an often-overlooked intellectual property tool under UK and EU law – universities can regain agency over the reuse of their repository content. Importantly, this strategy does not undermine openness for legitimate scholarly users. Rather, it introduces enforceable conditions that deter commercial exploitation, demand accountability, and promote ethical reuse.
The Limits of Copyright
Many institutions assume that copyright will provide sufficient protection against unauthorised scraping. In practice, this is a misconception. UK law permits non-commercial text and data mining under Section 29A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This exception allows users to mine copyright-protected works without needing a licence, provided the purpose is non-commercial research and the user has lawful access. Contractual terms attempting to override this exception are unenforceable.
Yet most web scraping for AI training is not non-commercial research. It is often undertaken by commercial entities with minimal transparency and no academic oversight. Still, enforcement is difficult. Many repositories host works under open licences – typically Creative Commons – that explicitly allow reuse. Furthermore, universities frequently do not own the copyright in deposited articles, especially if authors have signed publishing agreements assigning rights to third parties. In such cases, institutions cannot lawfully impose additional restrictions.
Compounding the problem is jurisdiction. Scraping bots often originate outside the UK or EU, complicating enforcement of domestic copyright law. Even where copyright is potentially infringed, pursuing action requires a claimant with legal standing – typically the copyright holder – and a clear, attributable violation.
All of this makes copyright, while important, an unreliable instrument for protecting repository infrastructure from automated harvesting. Universities need a different legal lever – one rooted not in the authorship of individual works, but in the stewardship of the repository as a curated dataset.
Database Right: A Strategic Opportunity
Under UK and EU law, creators of databases enjoy a sui generis “database right” if they make a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying, or presenting the contents. This right protects the structure and contents of the database, regardless of whether the individual items are themselves protected by copyright.
Institutional repositories almost certainly qualify. Universities dedicate significant staff time and technical resources to the ingest, verification, metadata creation, and ongoing maintenance of their repositories. These systems are curated with care, often over decades, and represent a considerable investment in public infrastructure. Accordingly, universities are well-positioned to assert database rights over their institutional repositories.
This right is powerful for several reasons. First, it is separate from copyright and not subject to the non-commercial TDM exception. Second, it allows rights holders to impose access conditions, including click-through licences, as a prerequisite for reuse. Third, infringement occurs not at the level of individual documents, but through the extraction or reuse of a substantial part of the database. This makes enforcement more practical against actors engaging in large-scale scraping.
Database right thus offers universities a new legal basis for governing access, especially by commercial AI developers. When paired with licensing, metadata, and technical safeguards, it can form the backbone of an ethical and enforceable access framework.
A Practical and Ethical Framework
To make this legal strategy operational, institutions must adopt a layered approach. The first step is to formally assert their database rights. This can be done through policy statements on repository homepages, in metadata schemas, and within publicly available documentation. Such declarations do not create rights but affirm existing ones and signal intent to enforce them.
Next, universities should introduce access licences. These agreements, ideally implemented as click-through terms or API conditions, should specify acceptable uses. For instance, they might permit free reading and non-commercial research, while requiring separate permission for AI training or other commercial uses. Critically, these licences should reference the university’s database right and clarify that unauthorised mass reuse constitutes infringement.
To ensure that licences are understood and respected by automated agents, metadata must be made machine-readable. Standards such as schema.org, Dublin Core, or SPDX can be adapted for this purpose, enabling bots to detect and interpret the terms of access. This will counter claims of ignorance and strengthens institutions’ legal position in the event of disputes.
Technical deterrents are also essential. Rate limiting, IP monitoring, CAPTCHA, and token-based authentication can reduce the feasibility of mass harvesting without affecting genuine users. Providing structured API access – with terms of use, authentication keys, and logging – offers a controlled alternative for those with legitimate research needs.
Finally, universities should collaborate. A shared registry of rights-asserted repositories, standardised licence taxonomies, and coordinated enforcement mechanisms would amplify impact. Just as Crossref and ORCID have transformed scholarly metadata, a collective infrastructure for licensing and access governance could fortify the open research ecosystem.
AI Training and Open Content: What Can Be Licensed and for What Purposes?
Enabling access to repository content for commercial AI training is complex – but not beyond reach. The key is ensuring that any such use is lawful, ethical, and based on valid permission. Institutions should assess their legal position carefully and decide if this route is appropriate in their particular context.
Under UK law, the text and data mining (TDM) exception apply only to non-commercial research. Commercial AI training by for-profit developers falls outside this scope and therefore requires a separate licence. However, most universities do not hold the copyright in the scholarly works deposited in their repositories – rights typically remain with authors or publishers. This means institutions cannot authorise commercial reuse, including for AI training, unless they control the rights or have obtained explicit permission. In practice, securing such permissions is often unfeasible, especially where publishers may have existing deals with generative AI companies.
That said, two categories of content remain viable: (1) works for which the university holds the copyright – such as internal reports, policy documents, certain funded project outputs, or staff-authored works created in the course of employment – and (2) works made available under open licences, particularly Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY).
On 15 May 2025, Creative Commons published updated guidance confirming that CC BY–licensed works may be used for AI training, provided copyright law permits it and proper attribution is given. Attribution can be fulfilled by linking to datasets or using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) technologies that surface original sources – now widely implemented in commercial AI tools.
More restrictive licences present limitations. CC ND prohibits derivative uses and is generally incompatible with training. CC NC and CC SA may permit training, but only under specific conditions that could prove difficult to operationalise at scale.
This could be a potential foundation for developing responsibly licensed, cleverly advertised AI-ready datasets – particularly in collaboration with other institutions. As open licensing continues to grow under rights retention and policy incentives, so too does the opportunity to shape ethical, transparent models for AI engagement that preserve academic values while enabling innovation.
Looking ahead, it is not inconceivable that UK universities – facing mounting financial pressure and increasing demands for accountability – may reconsider their long-standing policy of waiving copyright claims over scholarly works authored by employees. While this deference has supported academic freedom and ease of publication, it has also enabled publishers to assert broad rights over publicly funded research, often through exclusive contracts. With the rise of commercial AI training as yet another form of value extraction, institutions may begin to question the logic of handing over copyright – only to see content monetised again and again, through publishing fees, access charges, and now data licensing for machine learning. A policy shift asserting institutional copyright ownership, at least in specific contexts such as AI training, could allow universities to retain a stake in the downstream use of the knowledge they fund, support, and steward. Such a move would not be without controversy, but it would reflect a growing awareness that the current model may no longer serve the interests of researchers, institutions, or the public they aim to benefit.
Strategic Alignment and Future Readiness
This legal and technical approach aligns with broader national and international goals. The UK Government’s National Data Strategy, the proposed National Research Data Cloud, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s recent policy statements all emphasise the need for trusted data custodianship. Similarly, the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and EU initiatives like the Data Governance Act highlight the importance of legal clarity and ethical stewardship in digital research environments.
By asserting database rights, universities can position themselves as active participants in these agendas. They can help shape how AI interacts with scholarship, build public trust, and defend the principles of openness without becoming passive data sources for opaque commercial systems.
Perhaps most importantly, this strategy requires no legislative change. The legal tools already exist. What is needed is awareness, coordination, and the political will to use them.
Conclusion
The open access movement was built on generosity, cooperation, and a belief in the public value of knowledge. But generosity without boundaries invites exploitation. As AI systems grow more powerful and data-hungry, universities must act to protect their repositories – not by locking them down, but by making access conditional, transparent, and fair.
Database right provides a powerful foundation for this effort. It allows universities to assert ownership of their repository infrastructure, impose access conditions, and take meaningful action against unauthorised mass reuse. When paired with technical safeguards and collaborative licensing models, it offers a path to resilient, ethical, and sustainable open access.
This is not a rejection of AI or innovation. It is a call to define the terms under which academic knowledge is used in machine learning systems. With care, clarity, and coordination, universities can uphold their values while embracing the future – on their own terms.
Cataloguing the private papers of Archibald Hunter Campbell: A Journey Through Correspondence
My name is Pauline Vincent, I am a student in my last year of a Master’s degree in Archives Management at the University of Haute-Alsace, in France. This year, I got the incredible opportunity to spend five months as an intern at the Centre for Research Collections, at the University of Edinburgh. I’ve always been interested in Scotland for its landscapes, culture and history and I was eager to discover more on Scotland through archives. I specifically wished for my internship to be at the University of Edinburgh because of the wide range and diversity of its collection in terms of time period, subjects and materials. I was also curious to see how Archives are considered and handled in the UK and how different, or similar, it is to the way Archives and heritage are seen in France.
During this internship, I have been cataloguing the private papers of Archibald Hunter Campbell (1902–1989), a professor of Law at the University of Edinburgh.
Pauline at her desk.
Who was Archibald Hunter Campbell?
Born in Scotland in 1902, Archibald H. Campbell had an interesting academic journey. He was educated at George Watson’s College in 1919, at Edinburgh’s University, before heading to Oxford, where he pursued the Literae Humaniores course (also called ‘Greats’) then completed a Law degree from 1925 to 1927. His intellectual prowess earned him a fellowship at All Souls College in 1928. Later, in 1936, he became Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Birmingham before taking up a role as Chair of Public Law at Edinburgh University. In 1958 he became Dean of the Faculty of Law. Beyond his academic life, Campbell contributed to history with his involvement during World War II, as he served as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. There, he was decrypting non-Enigma signals from German, Italian and Japanese Air Forces and producing intelligence reports.
Undated photograph of Archibald H. Campbell.
The papers and their richness
Campbell’s private papers housed at the University of Edinburgh are wonderfully diverse, ranging from papers relating to his personal life (letters, photographs, genealogical documents, postcards collection and diaries) as well as documents relating to his professional life (notes on classes of Roman Law, Civil Law, International Law, Jurisprudence and juristic cases, literature studies booklets and publications on Law and Jurisprudence from himself and his European colleagues). Given the scale of the collection and the limited timeframe of my internship, I focused primarily on cataloguing the correspondence, a very diverse and interesting mission.
A window into History
Spanning from the 1920s to the 1980s, Campbell’s letters offer a peek not only into his personal and professional life but also into significant moments in history: Political movements (Hitler and Mussolini’s whereabouts in the 30s as well as the ascension of fascism), historical events in the UK (like the UK’s general strike of 1926 and UK’s general elections) but also in East Asia (such as the Shanghai International Settlement and the Second Sino-Japanese War), cultural shifts (for instance the progress of medicine and surgery in the 60s, artificial insemination in the UK and its practice in the USA in the late 40s or homosexuality in the eyes of the Law in the 60s), and Edinburgh during the war (shortage in butter, cigarettes, cups and sweets; police activities such as rounding all the Italian ice cream merchants; occasional raids and bombing). His correspondence also reflects rich discussions on music, fine arts, travels across Europe (with a particular fondness for Italy, France, and Germany), and on literature (mostly French and English Literature). These discussions on literature offer a good window into who the famous writers were in France and the UK at the time, and offer interesting views and opinions on the books and their authors.
One of the most striking aspects of his letters is the extraordinary network he maintained. Campbell was in touch with a variety of influential figures: politicians, doctors, artists, historians, writers, philosophers, scholars and barristers. Some of his more commonly well know friends and correspondents include W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood. The intellectual exchanges between these individuals are a much interesting glimpse into the literary and academic circles of the time.
My favourite ‘discoveries’
While cataloguing Archibald H. Campbell’s correspondence, I had my personal favourites among his correspondents. Here are the three who stood out the most to me:
John Blomshield, a painter and portraitist who, though relatively unknown today, was well-regarded in his time. His work has been exhibited in leading galleries and museums in the major cities in the USA as well as in Paris, Rome, Oslo, the Far East and South America. He has painted portraits of various authors such as Ernest Hemingway or Scott Fitzgerald. What made his correspondence fun is the drafts of his portraits attached to the letters
Drawings by John Blomshield, dated somewhere between the 30s and the 40s.
Keith Newman, a pathologist at the County and City of Oxford Mental Hospital. His letters revealed friendships with members of European royal families — including those of Liechtenstein, Great Britain, and Austria. In his letters, Newman refers to the Prince Albrecht Schaumburg-Lippe as “his friend”, and mentions being invited by Prince Omar Halim, cousin of the king of Egypt, to fly to London with him. Keith Odo Newman was a rather influent person in the field of medicine and we know from a cutting from The Daily Mail dated May 1930 included in this correspondence that in he devised a blood-test whereby general paralysis may be detected in its early stages, which was a “remarkable advance” from the previous methods. This discovery represented, at the time, a new hope to find a cure for the disease.
Letter from Franz Joseph II, prince of Liechtenstein, regarding Newman’s passing
Catherine Gilmour, a friend of Archibald Campbell’s mother (Mary Campbell, fl 1881-1954) whom the correspondence includes a dozen of her poems that were published in newspapers at the time. These poems were very pleasant to read and offered a different format from the letters.
Poems by Catherine Gilmour
Poems by Catherine Gilmour.
I also enjoyed cataloguing the 2 boxes containing the ‘Correspondence of possible juristic interest’. These professional letters focus on discussing and reviewing various publications (books, essays and articles) on Law and Jurisprudence with other European professors and researchers. These letters offered a break while cataloguing the usual personal letters (which can sometimes be monotonous) as they contain a great deal of knowledge regarding Law and Law Studies. Such correspondence could be very useful and enriching for Law students as they gather intellectual thinking and opinions and provide several bibliographical references.
My experience with cataloguing the Campbell’s letters
While cataloguing Campbell’s correspondence, I came across a few difficulties such as reading certain letters with poor handwriting, identifying the authors of the letters and identifying the letters containing personal data and sensitive personal data. Despite these occasional struggles, the cataloguing process was very smooth! I learned a lot on general history and sometimes witnessed very captivating discussions between highly intellectual people on various subjects. The letters offer deep insights into both personal and intellectual history, and it was very enriching to catalogue these papers in a way that will help future researchers.
Summer hours at Old College
Chrysi Chrysochou, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the warm weather recently means we’re already in the middle of summer, but as the semester is only just reaching its conclusion we do need to alert you to some changes coming up in Old College as of Monday 26th May.
The Law School is moving to Summer Hours which means that the building will close at 6pm each day from now until September. Unfortunately this means the Quad Cafe will also be closed for the summer, so you may have to travel further afield for your caffeinated study breaks!
The Law Library will now be open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Please note that the Helpdesk will close at 4.50pm each day to allow our staff sufficient time to enact our closing procedures.
The Main Library will still have study space available at the weekends throughout the summer, check the Library Opening Hours website for more information.
Library staff will be available throughout the summer to answer any queries you have so if you need to get in touch please drop us an email.
Archival Provenance Research Project: Lishan’s Experience
Presentation
My name is Lishan Zou, I am a fourth year History and Politics student. As I enter my final year of undergraduate history, I have come to appreciate the importance of physical archives for historical research, especially for history beyond ideals and representations. My research interests lie in 20th century global history, with a particular focus on gender, sexuality and East Asian ethnic subjectivities. Finding archival material for my research is, by the nature of my interests, thematically and geographically difficult. I later realised that they are held in institutions all over the world, in Europe, America and Asia, with only a small proportion digitised and available for my research. This inspired me to learn more about archives and digitisation, and perhaps to contribute to the process. With a desire to touch some physical manuscripts, this Archival Provenance Research Assistant internship appealed to me.
Lishan at her desk.
Paleography
At first, I was quite nervous about my never-learned palaeography skills, apart from a talent for chaotic writing, as this position requires reading and transcribing handwriting, mostly from the early 20th century and occasionally from the 16th to 19th centuries. As a non-native speaker of English, my biggest challenge is the name of places and people. While I can make sense of the rest with contextual interpretation, many English and Scottish names (especially as they have variations in older forms) are completely foreign to me. Fortunately, my line manager Aline has been very warm and supportive, seeing through my nervousness and encouraging me to practice bit by bit. I have learnt to look up to confirm the spelling of names and to become more familiar with certain words related to the archival catalogue.
Provenance information creation
One of the main tasks of this internship is to comprehend the provenance information for two of the University’s legacy sequences, “Dc” and “Dk”, based on the information contained in an early twentieth-century registers, and to do further confirmation with the physical manuscripts. Provenance refers to the original source of an item and its history of transactions, which is important for historians to understand why an item was created and in what context. The collections typically contain items such as letters from intellectuals and aristocrats, lecture notes on medicine, law and philosophy, newspaper cuttings and manuscripts of books. Most of the people involved were either Scottish or concerned with Scotland in some way. Several times, as I tracked down the information of the related individuals, I found out that they lived on the very streets I passed in Edinburgh. I feel like a detective in locating the identities of these people. For example, I was checking the identity of an author of several letters who called himself “John Brown,” and later it turned out that there were four “John Brown” co-authors of these letters! Because Dr John Brown (1810-1882), shared the same name with his cousin, John Brown of Burnley (1842-1929), his son John Brown of Balquancal, and his father, Professor John Brown (1784-1858). It’s fascinating to see interactions between well-known figures back and forth on paper, revealing unexpected connections in the past. However, this documentation of certain subjects and the correspondence of certain individuals in the archives also highlight the socially constructive nature of historical preservation. That is, it is usually the more privileged social class, gender and ethnic group who were able to create and preserve their prints in visible forms.
Physical items
Perhaps the most enjoyable part of this internship is being able to touch the physical manuscripts. I have learned about their temporality through their fragility and the “encoding” of words that time has naturally created: labour for historians, beyond the more visible work of interpretation and presentation. It is also beautiful to have a visual representation of the intellectual labour of the past, and how it differs from that of the present. The following photographs, for example, are of a commonplace book by the Scottish astronomer James Ferguson, a form of noting and recording knowledge that was common in the eighteenth century.
Coll-2222, Volume entitled “James Ferguson’s Common Place Book”, c 1775 (Dk.7.33)
Coll-2222, Volume entitled “James Ferguson’s Common Place Book”, c 1775 (Dk.7.33)
Wider work and learning
The workplace is the University of Edinburgh’s Heritage Collections Office on the fifth floor of the Main Library, overlooking the beautiful Meadows. As a trainee, I am warmly welcomed by archivist colleagues. I am also offered the opportunity to attend a variety of training sessions and events. These include introductions to the storage and conditions of different types of archives, handling manuscripts, and visits to study centres with other archival resources. For my future studies I feel more familiar with finding and contacting the archives, which will be important for historical research at postgraduate level.
Card indexes at the School of Scottish Studies Archives.
View from the office.
An Afternoon with Esther Inglis: Event Summary
This post was written by Jaycee Streeter, Outreach and Communications Intern for the Esther Inglis Project. Jaycee is a History MSc student at the University, with research interests in early modern Scottish literary and religious history.
Event poster for An Afternoon with Esther Inglis (c. 1570-1624)
On Saturday, April 26th, St. Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh hosted “An Afternoon with Esther Inglis (c. 1570-1624)”, marking the end of the Esther Inglis 2024 Project, coordinated by Anna-Nadine Pike and Jaycee Streeter. The project has been running at Edinburgh University Library for the last eighteen months, marking 400 years since Esther Inglis death through new research, an online exhibition titled “Rewriting the Script”, and a program designed to bring Esther Inglis story to wider audiences in Edinburgh and beyond. That program included concerts, an international colloquium, a physical exhibition in the Centre for Research Collections, and now, a grand finale with this final public event.
The event aimed to bring Inglis, with her work and context, to the public through a variety of forms—a panel discussion, poetry performance, and musical performance—and a mix of media both contemporary to Inglis and modern but inspired by her.
The panel featured two Esther Inglis experts, Anna-Nadine Pike and Jamie Reid-Baxter, as well as two acclaimed authors who have featured Inglis in their works, Sara Sheridan and Gerda Stevenson. Their discussion was extensive and varied, touching on Inglis’ context in Edinburgh, how we can better tell the stories of Scottish women in this period, their research processes and how they manage/utilize silence in the archives, and the role we can play in commemorating women today. The audience was able to ask questions of the panel, and were curious to know more about Esther Inglis and her story.
Esther Inglis, Octonaries upon the vanitie and inconstancie of the world, 1607. Washington, DC: Folger Shakespeare Library, V.a.92
Then, Gerda Stevenson and Jamie Reid-Baxter brought poetry to life with readings from Inglis’ manuscripts, words written by Inglis herself, and contemporary poetry written praising Inglis and her skills. Reciting in French, English, and Scots, their performance brought the audience closer to Inglis’ life and work.
This was followed by a modern composition, Gerda Stevenson’s own “Nine Haiku for Esther Inglis” which is featured in her poetry collection, “QUINES: Poems in tribute to women of Scotland.” She discussed her inspiration for the poem and the emotional connection she felt with Inglis, and the other women featured in the collection.
Then, the White Rose Ensemble took the stage. The Ensemble, founded in 2017 by soprano Sally Carr and clarinetist Calum Robertson, is an Edinburgh-based duo known for their innovative chamber music rooted in Scottish and contemporary traditions. They were joined by pianist Ailsa Aitkenhead. Together, they played psalms featured in Inglis’ manuscripts and two songs written by contemporary Scottish women, showing the audience the music that Inglis would have engaged with in her lifetime.
The White Rose Ensemble
The event concluded with a modern composition by Sheena Phillips, set to the text of Gerda Stevenson’s “Nine Haiku for Esther Inglis,” which Phillips describes as, “marvellous vignettes of key aspects of Esther’s life and work, and full of musical possibilities. The musical setting of the haiku deliberately echoes aspects of Esther’s work.”
This blending of Inglis’ work and work contemporary to her and modern art inspired by it embodies the goal of this event, and in a greater sense, the whole Esther Inglis Project. If the panel posed the question, “How can we commemorate women like Esther Inglis today,” then the rest of the program gave a resounding answer: Celebrate them, remember them and speak about them, and continue to let their stories inspire future generations through art and memory.
Sally Carr, Calum Robertson, Anna-Nadine Pike, Ailsa Aitkenhead, Gerda Stevenson, and Jamie Reid Baxter
…
On a personal note, being the Outreach and Communications Intern for this Project has been not only an honor, but a joy. Through the events hosted this spring, I got to know a community passionate about learning and celebrating early modern Scottish women. I learned valuable lessons about engaging with the public in matters of history (and broadened by perspective on what “the public” even means), and to not underestimate the amount of interest that exists in even niche historical people and events. I am immensely grateful for my time with the project.
Anna-Nadine Pike, Project Curator, and Jaycee Streeter, Outreach and Communications Intern
VE Day: through our online resources
Today, 8 May 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) when people in Britain and Allied nations across the world celebrated the unconditional surrender of Germany in the Second World War. While it was not the end of the conflict (it was August 1945 before the war against Japan ended) the sense of relief for people who had been living under total war for 6 years was huge. In Britain VE Day was declared a national holiday and people took to the streets to celebrate and commemorate in a huge release of collective tension. This blog posts pulls together just a small selection of our digital library resources that will help you find out more about VE Day, the events leading up to it and the aftermath.
What did the papers say?
Mentions of VE Day or Victory in Europe Day start before the 8th May, as people were aware of and anticipating the likely German surrender. So some preparations were already underway and some people began to celebrate early, on the 7th, when in Britain it was announced on the radio that the war in Europe was over.
From “This was VE-Day in London.” issue of Picture Post, May 19, 1945. Picture Post Historical Archive, 1938-1957.
“Happy Notebooking”; reflections on the Lyell Access and Engagement Programme (LAEP)
Over the past five years, the University of Edinburgh has undertaken a transformative programme to catalogue, preserve, and enhance access to the Charles Lyell Collection. This final blog marks a key milestone—sharing outcomes, showcasing the new catalogue and website, and offering tips for using this vast resource, while also pointing ahead to future discoveries.
Lyell in 1842 as featured in ‘Lyell in America : transatlantic geology, 1841-1853’ by Leonard G. Wilson, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. Our research has not been able to confirm the whereabouts of the original image.
In The Antiquity of Man, Lyell investigated the meaning of prehistoric flint implements, using them to authenticate ground-breaking arguments about humanity’s deep past. We’ve used our own set of tools – archival methods, state-of-the-art digitisation equipment and digital infrastructure – to unlock the full scope of Lyell’s legacy.
AI has offered some useful and interesting tools. Transkribus provided a scaffold for students learning to decipher Lyell’s handwriting, while ChatGPT has at times supported the non-scientist Archivists. In fact, the title of this blog, ‘Happy Notebooking,’ originated from an AI-generated parting, during an early discussion about the Lyell collection. Just as flint tools helped Lyell uncover ancient stories, our digital tools have helped us illuminate his world—transforming his notebooks, correspondence, and discoveries into something accessible for future generations.
A basic overview, by provenance, of the composition of the Lyell archive collection.
Charles Lyell is never referred to as an Archivist, but his collection serves as both evidence and documentation of the history of the Earth, and, of his role as its information manager. He’s assisted in this work by his team – George Hall, wife Mary Lyell, and Arabella Buckley, maybe even other people we’ve not identified yet. For our project, the decision was taken to respect the provenance of the different accessions of Lyell material held at the University, but, the history of information management is writ large across the collection, and we’ve also used the original organisation created by Lyell and his team, to arrange series.
Our work to develop a comprehensive online catalogue has:
- Expanded the list of correspondents from broad alphabetical categories to over 400 named individuals, providing a clearer picture of Lyell’s extensive network
- Worked to catalogue the Scientific notebooks. This work will be ongoing, with skilled volunteers meticulously adding details for each one
- Mapped the records related to Lyell’s Lectures, uncovering how these early materials, which also illustrate the development of his science communication skills, criss-crossed the Atlantic
- Revealed Lyell’s practice of recording his reading and thoughts in the Index notebooks, and, confirmed the connections with the recently rediscovered Offprints held at the University, and which had previously been challenging to interpret
- Highlighted Lyell’s writing process, through the annotated copies of his books, original manuscript notes, edits, and the publishing activities recorded in the notebooks
- Strengthened the understanding of the connections between Lyell’s geological specimens – rocks, minerals, and shells – and the archive, establishing a clearer provenance for many, with evidence of Lyell’s direct involvement in their acquisition.
Reflecting back, we can confirm we’ve thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of deciphering Lyell’s handwriting! Along the way, we’ve encountered the complexities of outdated scientific terminology, historical – and indeed multiple place names across Europe, the UK, and America – as well as Lyell’s spelling. Lyell is actively listening to what other people are saying, which sometimes leads to misspelling. Please forgive any of our own mistakes you might come across; and don’t hesitate to contact us if we can make corrections.
A big thank you to all the volunteers, who have worked with us over the last 5 years, but especially to Drew Coleman and Beverly Gordon – who have worked diligently since 2023 to add detail to the notebooks, allowing us to work to fulfill our aim of a consistent, rich, level of detail for all 297. We’re particularly proud to have added several women – Mary Anning and Jeanne Villepreux-Power amongst them – to our catalogue, helping highlight their contributions to Lyell’s work.
The Lyell Website: A Digital Gateway to His Legacy
All of this work has contributed to a new website designed to make Lyell’s legacy more accessible to the global audience it truly deserves. The website is organised around Lyell’s principal tools; his archival papers – an inclusive term reflecting the breadth of the material held within – as well as the notebooks, Offprints, and specimens.
Lyell’s books can be a useful starting point for any research, as the archive ultimately informs his published works. In addition to providing links to Lyell’s books published by John Murray online, we are proud to make available the late Stuart Baldwin’s comprehensive bibliography. Do make sure to access this, as it provides an excellent start to understanding the extent of Lyell’s output. Other key sources are Life Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell by Katharine Lyell – also available via on the website – and the works of Leonard G. Wilson.
Of particular note on the website are the images of Lyell’s treasured 297 notebooks, which document his observations from 1818, on a European tour with his family, through to November 1874, just three months before his death. You can access IIIF-compliant images of these notebooks via the “Search the Notebooks” button.
The website offers users an easy way to navigate through the vast collection of materials, creating an interactive experience that aims to preserve and expand upon the legacy of one of the most influential Geologists in history.
Our work has revealed the depths of Lyell’s archive, but there’s more still to be explored. Some series of correspondence and a selection of specimens held at the Cockburn Museum have been photographed, providing exciting opportunities for further research. The voluminous Offprints have been box listed only, but its a start. The research potential is immense – many of the geological features Lyell studied are now important heritage and tourism sites. If you live near one, it’s likely that Lyell visited (and possibly documented it more than once!). His advocacy for using physical collections and his involvement in nineteenth century museum development also merit further study.
Felicity at the official opening of the project exhibition, taken by photographer Neil Hanna 07702246823
Finally, we can introduce you to Felicity Mackenzie, the University of Edinburgh’s newest Lyell enthusiast. Felicity’s PhD will explore Lyell’s legacy, and we’re excited to pass the baton to someone so passionate. Her research promises to utilise the archive to reassess and deepen our understanding of Lyell’s lasting impact. In fact, Felicity is continuing with her own Through Lyell’s Eyes blog – please do subscribe to keep on this epic journey!
US Government Data: Lost and Found
Actions by the current US Trump administration (and others, including Trump’s first term) have spurred archivists, librarians and activists to archive, capture, collect, crawl, hoard, mirror, preserve, rescue, track and save datasets produced at taxpayer expense and until recently made available on government websites.
For example, just as US federal research into climate change, or even mentioning climate, has been paused and government agencies defunded, so the datasets produced from these activities have been removed from public reach or disappeared. The same is true for health data around vaccine research (National Institutes of Health, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention), human subject data deemed to be furthering EDI – equality, diversity, and inclusion – (USAID), and longitudinal educational data measuring attainment and social mobility (Department of Education). In some cases, as on this US government web page from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there are both items that are being decommissioned and archived, and others that are simply being decommissioned and deleted.
Particular challenges to archiving such data are capturing whole databases from scraping techniques, metadata loss, loss of provenance tracking (audit trail of changes), and the inability to add records or collect further data without massive government investment. Also, isolated efforts mean the data cannot easily be discovered.
Fortunately, the Data Rescue Project is coming to the rescue (along with other initiatives). It is a coordinated effort among data organisations and individuals, including librarians and data professionals. It serves as “a clearinghouse for data rescue-related efforts and data access points for public US governmental data that are currently at risk.” The web page provides a host of pointers to current efforts, resources, a tracker tool, and press coverage – including the New Yorker and Le Monde.
Researchers at University of Edinburgh who find that data they require for their research is being removed from publicly available sites may contact the Research Data Support team to discuss potential actions to take.
Robin Rice
Data Librarian and Head of Research Data Support
Library and University Collections
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