Tag Archives: new college library

Science and religion : a natural history

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R. Brookes. A new and accurate system of natural history, containing, 1. The history of quadrupeds …London : Printed for J. Newbery at the Bible and Sun in St. Paul’s Church Yard, 1763. New College Library Nat. 109

Today’s Opening Lecture for the 2012-13 academic session at the School of Divinity will be given by Professor Wentzel van Huyssteen of Princeton Theological Seminary, and will launch the new MSc in Science and Religion.

New College Edinburgh’s history of teaching Science and Religion goes back to the original Chair of Natural Science that was occupied at New College until 1934. The books in New College Library’s Natural History collection, now part of its Special Collections, reflect this academic past.

This volume,  A new and accurate system of natural history, containing, 1. The history of quadrupeds … contains striking animal illustrations, and is part of a series covering the whole of the natural world.

A bookplate and stamp marks the item as originating from the United Presbyterian Library. The 1900 Union of the Free Church and the United Presbyterian Church prompted the amalgamation of their library into New College Library, and many volumes in Special Collections bear these marks.

Welcome to New College Library

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A big welcome to all students starting and returning to the University of Edinburgh today, at the beginning of Freshers week 2012. We’re looking forward to meeting you. To help you get started at University, check out this guide  for new students to Library & IT services.

If you want to get ahead with using New College Library, you could start with the Virtual Tour.

There will be a programme of tours for students at New College Library – students please watch your email for details. There will also be events happening all over the University Library to help you get connected with your IT and Library services.

New books at New College Library – September

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New College Library has a regular display of new books at the far end of the Library Hall, close to the door to the stacks. We also acquire some titles as e-book versions when these are available.

New book of the month for September is the Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence  (Oxford : Wiley-Blackwell, c2011)

This book has been purchased as an e-book and is available via the Edinburgh University Library Catalogue. Access is restricted to University of Edinburgh users. It was purchased to support the course Religion, Violence and Peacebuilding, a Year 2 undergraduate course at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.

You can see an regularly updated list of new books for New College Library on the Library Catalogue – choose the New Books Search and limit your search to New College Library. Here’s a quick link to new books arriving in the last few weeks. A word of caution – some of the books listed here may still be in transit between the Main Library (where they are catalogued) and New College Library, so not on the shelf just yet. Please ask at the New College Library Helpdesk if there’s a book that you are interested in and can’t find.

Once in a blue moon? Surprises in the New College Library stacks …

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The Romance of Modern Astronomy by Hector MacPherson. New College Library Stack II C4/a2

The 31st of August is scheduled for a ‘blue moon’ over Scotland. A blue moon traditionally occurs whenever two full moons happen in a single month – an unusual occurence, hence the saying ‘Once in a blue moon’.

Dedicated users of New College Library may have made their way down to the depths of Stack II at basement level, and discovered the sequence of older monographs known as the ‘unclassified sequence’.  These books date from the pre-1930 existence of New College Library, and the variety of the content covers a much wider scope than the theological curriculum of the time. I was surprised to find this one :  The Romance of Modern Astronomy (1911), by Hector MacPherson.

This collection is currently part of an online cataloguing project funded by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh.

Here comes the rain again …

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Prayers written at Vailima, by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1910. New College Library Z.2233.

The rain is pouring down this afternoon in thundery showers.

Here’s a rainy day item from New College Library’s collections. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote this prayer in time of rain as part of a collection of prayers written in Vailima, Samoa where he made his home in the 1890s. It was later published in this 1910 illuminated edition, designed by Alberto Sangorski.

This item is held in New College Library’s Special Collections, in the ‘Z’ Collection.

Planned changes to New College Library photocopying services

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The University is introducing a new system of copying and printing over the summer of 2012.

Pushing start button on printer

New Xerox multi-function devices (MFDs) are due to be installed for the beginning of semester in September. University users will continue to be able to charge their University smartcards with credit for photocopying.  However, for external users, the old prepaid copy cards will cease to function. Instead, the New College Library helpdesk will be able to charge visitors cards with credit to enable external users to copy. After the new machines have been installed, New College Library will no longer be selling the prepaid copy cards.

We are still selling the prepaid copy cards but advising users to only buy for what they need right now. If you have a copy card, please try to use up any prepaid copy card balance now while you can. If you do have a balance on your prepaid copy card, after you are no longer able to use it in the Library, you will be able to have this balance checked at the Main Library Helpdesk, and receive a refund on the balance, until 31 December 2012.

Full article on the University website :

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/about/news/copy-cards-cease

New College Library Archives

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An image from the New College Archive of New College Library as it appeared in 1946

Did you know that New College Library holds significant collections of archives and manuscripts?

These  collections include the papers of Thomas Chalmers, J.H. Oldham, James S. Stewart and Norman W. Porteous.  Hidden among the older archives are gems such as the  last speech and testimony of the covenanter James Renwick (1662-1688).  The Archives also include a New College Archive which includes group photographs of students and staff, and of the New College buildings.

Recently added to our collections are the papers of Rev Tom Allan (1916-1965), Rev. Professor Alec Campbell Cheyne (1924-2006), Rev. Professor John McIntyre (1916-2005), and the Very Rev Professor James Whyte (1920-2005). The listing of these papers was funded by a generous bequest from the estate of Rev. Professor Alec Campbell Cheyne .

See the New College Archives web page to find out more.

New books at New College Library – August

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New College Library has a regular display of new books at the far end of the Library Hall, close to the door to the stacks.

Currently in the display is Why there almost certainly is a God : doubting Dawkins, by Keith Ward. This book was purchased to support the Atheism in Debate course at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.

You can see an regularly updated list of new books for New College Library on the Library Catalogue – choose the New Books Search and limit your search to New College Library. Here’s a quick link to new books arriving in the last few weeks. A word of caution – some of the books listed here may still be in transit between the Main Library (where they are catalogued) and New College Library, so not on the shelf or in the display just yet.

A nineteenth century view of Islam at New College Library

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In this month of Ramadan, I thought I would feature this recently catalogued item from New College Library’s Z-Collection that gives a nineteenth century Western view of Islam.

An history of Muhammedanism : comprising the life and character of the Arabian prophet, and succinct accounts of the empires founded by the Muhammedan arms : an inquiry into the theology, morality, laws, literature, and usage of the Muselmans, and a view of the present state and extent of the Muhammedan religion / by Charles Mills. London : 1818. New College Library, Z.1180

The item is inscribed Ex Libris Bibliothecae Theologicae Edinensis, indicating that it came from the Edinburgh University Theological Library. This library was absorbed into New College Library when New College merged with the University in the early 1960s.