Find treasure in New College Library

We’re welcoming Divinity postgraduate students today for library treasure hunt activities to help them get to know New College Library.

Follow the clues to discover New College Library's treasure

What is this? Biblical Studies students can follow the clues to discover New College Library’s treasure

Students on the five postgraduate programmes have already had access to brief video tutorials for Biblical Studies, Religious Studies, Science and Religion, Theology in History and World Christianity.

Further programme specific treasure hunt activities aim to encourage students to find material relevant to their courses in a variety of print and online locations.

Christine Love-Rodgers, Academic Support Librarian, Divinity

 

Thinking of donating books to New College Library?

New College Library bookshelf

New College Library welcomes donations of recent publications that support the current teaching and research of the School of Divinity. And donations of books which record the intellectual output of the students, staff and alumni of the University of Edinburgh and / or incorporate research using New College Library’s collections are also welcome.

Donations of books to New College Library are accepted by prior arrangement with the Academic Support Librarian, Christine Love-Rodgers. Please get in touch to discuss your donation, with information about the extent of the collection and the type of material it contains, such as a list of contents. Due to restricted storage space and staffing resource, we have to be selective about what we can accept and may decline donations.

In line with policy elsewhere in the University of Edinburgh Library, we will no longer be accepting donations over the New College Library helpdesk.  Please contact the Librarian about your donations before you bring them to the library.

Christine Love-Rodgers
Academic Support Librarian – Divinity, University of Edinburgh
*Working Mondays to Thursdays*
Christine.Love-Rodgers@ed.ac.uk
http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/new-college-library

Divinity Approaches to Research – Top tips for finding Bibles

 

Geneva Bible, 1599. New College Library B.r.417

Geneva Bible, 1599. New College Library B.r.417

The University of Edinburgh Library holds extensive and rich collections of Bibles. At New College Library, you will find of early Bibles from the Scottish Reformation, Bibles in languages from all over the world and current editions of study Bibles used for course teaching. However the sheer number of items we have in the collection can make finding details of the specific Bible you want on DiscoverEd seem challenging. Here’s 3 tips to help you:

  1. If you have the full details of the version and edition you want (e.g. New Oxford Annotated Bible (2010)) use the Advanced Search on DiscoverEd to narrow down your search using as many details as possible.
  2. A search for ‘Holy Bible’ will bring up many results from our digital collections of pre-1800 early books. To exclude these digital versions, refine your search down by ‘Books’ or ‘Physical item’
  3. You can also refine down a large result set by library location (New College Library), date and language.

Today’s question for postgraduate students on the Divinity Approaches to Research course is :

“At what shelfmark would you find the principal collections of Greek New Testaments at New College Library? Use DiscoverEd to help you find the answer, or come into New College Library to explore.”

[Example : BJ is the shelfmark for Ethics]

Tweet me your answer at NewCollegeLibrarian@cloverodgers or email me on Christine.Love-Rodgers@ed.ac.uk

A winner will be drawn on Friday 2 Oct from all correct answers received and they will receive a mystery prize!

Christine Love-Rodgers – Academic Support Librarian, Divinity

Divinity Approaches to Research – Library Resources for Islam

View of pages from the Qur'an of Tipu Sultan. Shows text in the centre, surrounded by gold and blue illumination. Tipu Sultan was the Muslim ruler of Southern India's Mysore province (now part of Karnataka) during the late eighteenth century. Edinburgh University Library Or.Ms 148
View of pages from the Qur’an of Tipu Sultan. Shows text in the centre, surrounded by gold and blue illumination. Tipu Sultan was the Muslim ruler of Southern India’s Mysore province (now part of Karnataka) during the late eighteenth century. Edinburgh University Library Or.Ms 148

New College Library holds book collections to support the current courses and research by the School of Divinity in the area of Islam. A wide range of online resources is also available, such as Early Western Korans Online, the Encyclopaedia of Islam and Oxford Islamic Studies Online.
For a full introduction to the range to Library Resources for Islam at the University of Edinburgh, please see the Subject Guide for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/subject-guides/islamic-middle-east

Today’s question for Divinity postgraduate students on the Divinity Approaches to Research course is :

“At what shelfmark would you find the principal collection of books on Islamic Law at New College Library? Use DiscoverEd to help you find the answer, or come into New College Library to explore”

[Example : BJ is the shelfmark for Ethics]

Tweet me your answer at NewCollegeLibrarian@cloverodgers or email me on Christine.Love-Rodgers@ed.ac.uk.

Questions are also posted on the Learn course for Approaches to Research.

A winner will be drawn on Friday 2 Oct from all correct answers received and they will receive a mystery prize!

Christine Love-Rodgers, Academic Support Librarian – Divinity

New Books at New College Library – August (recommended by students)

Oxford Handbook of the PsalmsspeakingStudent recommendations are in at New College Library! The recently purchased Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, edited by William Brown, is available as an ebook via  DiscoverEd.   Other student recommendations in the library include is Speaking of God : theology, language and truth,  by D. Stephen Long, at BT40 Lon.
Continue reading

Divinity student book recommendations now available

 

All these books (and more) were recommended by Divinity students and are now available to University of Edinburgh Library users – more details on the library catalogue. 100+ book recommendations from Divinity students have been received over since August 2014, via the student recommendation form on the Library website.

Christine Love-Rodgers, Academic Support Librarian – Divinity

 

Back to the future : New College Library’s history today

New College Library was pleased to host a visit from the Friends of Edinburgh University Library last week. As well as looking at a selection of Special Collections and touring the Library, the Friends listened to a presentation about the history of New College Library, and how this is relevant to work in the Library today.

Evidence for New College Library’s history is found in the library building, its shelves, shelfmarks and books, and in the New College Archives. Photographic records from the archives provide evidence of the changing library environment and the changing expectations of library users – there’s not a computer in sight in these images of New College Library from 1946 and 1970.

Library history helps us today in making collection management decisions.

The sacred and profane history of the world ... / by Samuel Shuckford, . ; Revised, by James Creighton, Published by William W. Woodward, 1824. New College Library  Z.2152

The sacred and profane history of the world … / by Samuel Shuckford, . ; Revised, by James Creighton, Published by William W. Woodward, 1824. New College Library Z.2152

For instance, this ambitious work of history was written by Samuel Shuckford in the eighteenth century, with this nineteenth century edition published as the first American edition of this work. The label inside the book indicates that it was donated to New College Library as part of the first appeal for books that came with the founding of New College after the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843.  The donor, Thomas Aikman, who had emigrated from Stirling to America in 1794, was clearly following religious affairs in his homeland closely and decided  that the principles behind the founding of New College were close enough to his heart for him to donate this book. While this work exists in multiple editions across the University, library history unlocks this copy’s uniqueness as evidence of donation to New College Library as an act of faith and the engagement of the Scottish Presbyterian community across the world.

SuggestionsBook1844

New College Library Suggestions Book, 1844

We can also learn from New College’s library history of collection development. As we continue to develop student-led acquisitions at the University of Edinburgh Library, back in the earliest days of New College Library students were recommending books in this manuscript volume preserved in our archives.  Now of, course, students can make recommendations online at http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/book-recommendations.

In recent years the Funk Cataloguing projects have transformed access to Special Collections at New College Library, with over 30,000 items handled so far. But they are only one of several cataloguing projects to be carried out at New College Library. Back in 1893, a  team of student cataloguers who helped the Librarian, Dr Kennedy, produce the 1893 printed library catalogue. There are some fantastic photographic images of them in the New College Archive – here they are looking very decorous :

Dr Kennedy's Cataloguers, 1893

Dr Kennedy’s Cataloguers, 1893

 

 

 

 

 

And here they are, presumably finished the cataloguing!

Dr Kennedy's Cataloguers, 1893

Dr Kennedy’s Cataloguers, 1893

 

Christine Love-Rodgers, Academic Support Librarian – Divinity

 

Welcome to arriving students at New College Library!

HelpdeskA big welcome to all our new students arriving today. New College Library holds over 250,000 volumes, including rich and unique Special Collections, making it one of the leading theological libraries in Britain.  In addition to the books there are online collections – electronic journals, electronic books and databases which the University subscribes to support your studies and research. As the Academic Support Librarian, my role is to help students get the most out of using the Library. Freshers Week is a good opportunity to take a little time to get to know the Library – do this now and you’ll be paid back later on in your studies.

Here’s my top tips for arriving students to get to know New College Library:

 1. Come to the Library

  • Bring your University card to get into New College Library
  • From next week the Library is open 9am-6pm-10 Mon-Thurs, 9am-5pm Fridays, 12noon – 5pm on Saturdays. Remember that you can also use the Main Library which is open longer at weekends.

2. Take a tour

  • I’m running Library Tours on Wednesday 11th for postgraduate students and on 17, 22 and 24 September at 1.15pm for undergraduates – and anyone else who would like a tour.
  • You should have received a New College Library Guide leaflet in your welcome pack  – it’s also available online.
  • Or have a look at the Virtual Tour

3. Check out what’s online

And don’t be afraid to ask us for help !

Christine Love-Rodgers – Academic Support Librarian, Divinity

Congratulations to our Divinity Graduates and Dr Rowan Williams

New College Library staff would like to congratulate all the Divinity students who will be graduating today, Friday 4 July, and wish them well for the future.

Rowan WilliamsCelebrating with them will be Dr Rowan Williams, formerly Archbishop of Canterbury, who will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree on Friday 4 July. We have a selection of Dr Williams’ publications on display in the entrance to New College Library. To see more of Dr William’s extensive publications, have a look at the resource list we have created using the Talis Aspire Resource list system.

Christine Love-Rodgers, Academic Support Librarian – Divinity