Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
April 7, 2026
Education at Alexander Street Press – new e-resource
We have added Education at Alexander Street Press to our catalogue and A-Z list.
UK-based Teachers TV has been producing instructional videos since 2008 and was government funded until the site closed down in 2011. Alexander Street Press has licensed this material and is pleased to make it available free to all libraries in the UK and Ireland.
Education at Alexander Street Press focuses on the development and training of teachers. Content includes primary-source footage of students and teachers in actual classrooms, demonstrations, lectures, and documentaries to help both new and experienced teachers develop their abilities to teach, mentor, understand, and communicate with students of all levels of need and a list of the titles available in this collection is available here.
Further information about our databases can be found at http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/library-databases
Trial – Oxford Historical Treaties
We have trial access to Oxford Historical Treaties until the 24th December.
Oxford Historical Treaties (OHT) is the premier resource for historical treaty research and home to the full text of Parry’s Consolidated Treaty Series, the only comprehensive collection of treaties of all nations concluded from 1648 through 1919. Available via the Oxford Public International Law platform, OHT is cross-searchable with Oxford’s leading public international law resources and benefits from a modern, intuitive interface and sophisticated functionality. This trial also includes access to the Oxford Law Citator and we are also currently trialling the Oxford Reports on International Law until the 28th February 2015.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this e-resource as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Trial – Mental Measurements Yearbook
We have trial access to the Mental Measurements Yearbook until the 21st December. The Mental Measurements Yearbook is a guide to over 3,000 contemporary testing instruments. Produced by the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska, entries contain descriptive information (e.g., test purpose, publisher, pricing, population, scores) and edited review(s). To be included, a test must be commercially available and published in the English language. 1938 onwards.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this e-resource as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Trial access to PsycINFO and PsycARTICLEs via Ebsco platform
We have trial access to psycINFO and psycARTICLES via the Ebsco platform until the 21st December. We currently have access to both of these databases via the Ovid platform, we are interested in gaining feedback on using these databases on the Ebsco platform.
PsycINFO – 1806 onwards. Abstracts, citations and controlled vocabulary for contents of approximately 2,500 journals publishing behavioural science and mental health.
PsycARTICLES – Full-text from APA journals (mostly volume 1 onwards) and related imprints. Indexed in PsycINFO.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this platform to access these databases as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Musical Instruments in Hi-Res
MIMEd and LDD can report on a bit of workflow closure! There is now a LUNA collection up for Musical Instruments Museums at Edinburgh, which can be accessed through the Images Online landing page, or from the individual record page at collections.ed.ac.uk (simply click on the icon under ‘zoomable images’). The MIMEd high resolution images come from a number of sources, including older website and MIMO photography by esteemed photographers Dominic Ibbotson and Antonia Reeve, as well as a smattering of publicity shots by our own DIU. We hope you enjoy getting a chance to see the instruments up close, not least because a lot of them won’t be publicly on show again for a while! Scott Renton – Library Digital Development
Trial access to Digital Theatre Plus
We have trial access to Digital Theatre Plus until the 20th December. This resource offers 54 high-definition films of acclaimed British theatre productions, 100 interviews with UK’s leading actors and directors revealing how theatre professionals transform text into live performance, as well as study guides written by experts in drama providing in-depth analysis and interpretation of dramatic writing and language.
A list of the productions on Digital Theatre Plus and a preview clip is also available.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this platform and content as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Book Week Scotland 2014
Today marks the start of Book Week Scotland; the annual celebration of books and reading, as organised by the Scottish Book Trust. Part of the activity for 2014 includes the writing of love letters to libraries. Well, I’ve worked in libraries for seven years, and I can’t quite imagine doing anything else, so I think it’s safe to say that I love libraries. The world of library professionals is ever changing, and you are like as likely to spend your time digitising obscure texts to be uploaded on-line these days as you are to find yourself shelving dusty volumes onto creaking shelves. However, like most people I meet, I was initially drawn to the strange allure of a room full of words and ideas, each sealed with a binding, and the incomparable magic of losing yourself inside their pages.
This week, why not use your local library services. If you are a student or a researcher, make sure you take full advantage of the University’s resources:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/library-museum-gallery
And, please, visit the Scottish Book Trust website and see what else is going on:
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-scotland
There are events happening all over Scotland throughout the week, including this “festival of books” at the Edinburgh College of Art:
Carl Jones, Library Annexe Supervisor
Trial access to Gunsho Ruiju
We have trial access to Gunsho Ruiju until the 19th December.
Gunsho Ruiju is a collection of old Japanese books published from the ancient times to early Edo era. Subjects cover history, literature, religion, language, customs, art, music, cultivated arts, education, morality, legal codes, politics, economy, society and many other topics. Many textual sources are only available in this collection. This is an important primary resource for the study of classical Japanese culture.
The collection consists of three parts: Gunsho Ruiju, Zoku Gunsho Ruiju, and Zoku Zoku Gunsho Ruiju. The number of volumes for each part is as follows:
Gunsho Ruiju: 133 volumes, 1276 digitally compiled books and sources.
Zoku Gunsho Ruiju: 86 volumes, 2,128 digitally compiled books and sources.
Zoku Zoku Gunsho Ruiju: 17 volumes, 350 digitally compiled books and sources.
For further description, please see http://japanknowledge.com/en/contents/gunshoruiju/index.html
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this platform and content as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Book Week Scotland – vote for your favourite character
As part of Book Week Scotland the Scottish Book Trust are holding a vote to discover the most loved characters in Scottish fiction. From Begbie to Miss Jean Brodie, from Inspector Rebus to the Gruffalo the choice is vast.
The poll closes at 5pm on Wednesday 26 November 2014 so you still have nearly 3 days left to vote. Make your choice by going to the Scottish Book Trust website.
Find out tomorrow which characters staff at the Main Library Helpdesk voted for.
Rong Flynn & Margaret Redpath, Main Library Helpdesk
The decant is complete
We have finished emptying St Cecilia’s Hall after a great deal of hard work and have left the building in the extremely capable hands of our Project Manager. Now the surveyors can get to grips with the fundamentals of the building so that we know exactly what needs to be done before the serious building work begins. Things look a little sad, but its exciting to think about the transformation which will happen in the next 2 years.
We have all been rehoused in the main Library and the Library Annexe as well as the Reid Concert Hall and Museum, and are getting used to our new locations. Now that the central MIMEd team is in three different locations, we will have to work much harder to arrange our usual coffee and cake ‘meetings’! It feels odd not going to St Cecilia’s every day, but we will get used to it and its great to be at this stage of the project.
Collections
Hill and Adamson Collection: an insight into Edinburgh’s past
My name is Phoebe Kirkland, I am an MSc East Asian Studies student, and for...
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...
Projects
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...
Archival Provenance Research Project: Lishan’s Experience
Presentation My name is Lishan Zou, I am a fourth year History and Politics student....