One of the delights of the New College Library archives is that it contains information on an array of subjects not just theological or religious topics. This is thanks in part to the original composition of New College Library from donations of libraries, which were given more often than not without worrying too much about content.

There are several places where records relating to the study and understanding of languages other than English can be found. This image is from a volume of polyglot vocabulary (ref.BIN5) written by Robert Blair Munro Binning (http://www.docs.is.ed.ac.uk/docs/lib-archive/bgallery/Gallery/records/eighteen/binning.html). According to the catalogue the languages represented are English, Arabic, French, Hebrew, Persian, Greek, Sanskrit, Latin, Turkish, Telugu, Gaelic and Hindi.

Aside from being a useful tome, I thought that the mix of scripts gave it a certain beauty. The page I have chosen, struck me as appropriate for this time of year, containing as it does the words ‘year’ and ‘yawn’.

Happy New Year! Bliadhna Mhath Ùr! A Guid New Year! Bonne Année! etc etc…

Kirsty M Stewart, New College Collections Curator
Further information: catalogue of items in the Binning collection.

Christmas is coming and, while the goose is getting fat, the Edina elves will be sharing some of the festive traditions described in the accounts on twitter and Facebook. As we head into the festive season, we’re also pleased to be able to share here some of our plans for the redevelopment of the Statistical Accounts online service. Our engineers have been working hard over the last few months, and behind the scenes we’ve made great progress on developing a robust technical framework and organising the metadata. We’ve also made significant headway with what will be the new interface. Users of the refreshed service will benefit from:

• an improved search mechanism, which will be much more flexible than the current search tool, include new features such as ‘related terms’, and offer more efficient ways of filtering and sorting results
• new map features which allow alternative navigation to and through the accounts, and which help readers to geographically locate the parish they are reading about
• new modes of presenting contextual information, such as introductions to counties and parishes, and new modes of showcasing the content of the accounts through changing exhibitions
• revised help texts and case studies that help you get the most out of the service
• improved citation assistance

We’re currently working on a prototype, which will allow for user testing over the next six months, and we hope to launch the refreshed service in the late summer of 2016. If you’d like to give us feedback on the current service, or to be involved in the user testing of the new service, then please drop us a line at edina@ed.ac.uk.

So with that good news, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hogmanay!

The aim of the Melbourne_MANTRA project was to review, adapt and pilot an online training program in research data management (RDM) for graduate researchers at the University of Melbourne. Based on the UK-developed and acclaimed MANTRA program, the project reviewed current UK content and assessed its suitability for the Australian and Melbourne research context. The project team adapted the original MANTRA modules and incorporated new content as required, in order to develop the refreshed Melbourne_MANTRA local version. Local expert reviewers ensured the localised content met institutional and funder requirements. Graduate researchers were recruited to complete the training program and contribute to the detailed evaluation of the content and associated resources.

The project delivered eight revised training modules, which were evaluated as part of the pilot via eight online surveys (one for each module) plus a final, summative evaluation survey. Overall, the Melbourne_MANTRA pilot training program was well received by participants. The content of the training modules generally gathered high scores, with low scores markedly sparse across all eight modules. The participants recognised that the content of the training program should be tailored to the institutional context, as opposed to providing general information and theory around the training topics. In its current form, the content of the modules only partly satisfies the requirements of our evaluators, who made valuable recommendations for further improving the training program.

In 2016, the University of Melbourne will revisit MANTRA with a view to implement evaluation feedback into the program; update the modules with new content, audiovisual materials and exercises; augment targeted delivery via the University’s LMS; and work towards incorporating Melbourne_MANTRA in induction and/or reference materials for new and current postgraduates and early career researchers.

The current version is available at: http://library.unimelb.edu.au/digitalscholarship/training_and_outreach/mantra2

Dr Leo Konstantelos
Manager, Digital Scholarship
Research | Research & Collections
Academic Services
University of Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia