The Library has organised three events for Academic Book Week this year. Places are limited, so be sure to sign up soon!

Academic Book Week celebrates the academic book, with events happening around the country looking at the influence and future of the form. For more information, take a look at the Academic Book Week website: Academic Book Week

23 January: Does the Academic Book have a Future? (Dr Tom Mole, UoE) – event for all staff, 1230-1330, G.05, 50 George Square http://edin.ac/future-academic-book

This year’s Academic Book Week coincides with the completion of the AHRC project on the Academic Book of the Future. In this talk, Tom Mole, Director of the Centre for the History of the Book at the University of Edinburgh, will bring a book-historical perspective to bear on debates about the future of academic books.  Examining the academic book as a socially-embedded media artefact, he will ask how our current moment of media change produces challenges for the academic book and creates both threats and opportunities for the future.

24 January: – Close-up on collections: behind the scenes at the Centre for Research Collections (CRC) – event for postgraduates, 1200-1300, CRC, 6th floor Main Library http://edin.ac/collections-close-up

During this session, you will have a rare chance to go behind the scenes at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Research Collections (CRC), home to the University’s historic collections, spanning rare books, museum objects, musical instruments, fine art and archives. Alice Doyle, Access Officer at Lothian Health Services Archive (LHSA), will let you know how the CRC can help in your studies and lead a tour of the places researchers don’t normally get to see.  You’ll have the opportunity to see some star collection items ‘up-close’ and visit an archive store and conservation studio, learning how staff preserve the treasures of the CRC. In a visit to the Digital Imaging Unit, you’ll see University collections reaching global audiences and technology helping evidence of the past be understood in new ways.

27 January: The Truth About Publishing? (Professor Alistair McCleery, Napier) – event for undergraduates, 1230-1330, LG.06 DHT http://edin.ac/truth-about-publishing

Alistair McCleery, Director of the Scottish Centre for the Book at Edinburgh Napier University, offers, as part of Academic Book Week, to uncover the Truth about Publishing. He begins with popular perceptions of publishing, as found in a number of media representations from The Substance of Fire (1996) through 13 Going On 30 (2004) to The Post Grad (2009) and others, before looking at the nature of contemporary publishing. He will examine the scope of the industry as well as looking to its future prospects.

Please direct any queries to sarah.ames@ed.ac.uk