Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
March 10, 2026
1984 – The Student’s perspective
Which iconic university building was described by a young student journalist in 1984 as a place “where students go to recover from hangovers”? What did students of the 1980s do when they got hold of their first grant cheque? Which Edinburgh venue hosted gigs by bands as diverse as Kiss, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen and Big Country?
The answers, and much more, are revealed today as part of a new pilot project to digitise microfilmed copies of The Student newspaper from the academic year 1984/85. Copies will be made available in real time at https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/thestudent, starting with the 3 October 1984 edition, which is released today, exactly thirty years after it was first published. The papers will then become available on our site on a weekly basis, with the next one due on Friday 10 October.
The papers offer a fascinating insight into what life was like at the University during the 1980s. While the pages are dominated by discussions of the key issues of the day, such as the Miners’ Strike, ‘The Troubles’ in Ireland and the privatisation of state assets, there is still room for topics more directly relevant to students at the University during this period.
The first issue is a Fresher’s Week special which offers students a light-hearted introduction to the various buildings on campus including King’s Buildings (a “distant, exotic, [and] mysterious … land to the south”) and Pollock Halls (“a pretty ordinary sort of place”).
There is also a comprehensive review and listing of the best places for students to eat, drink and let their hair down, both on and off campus. An outline of the capital’s drinking establishments warns unwitting Freshers that they might have to pay as much as 70p for a pint in some of the city’s more expensive locations while the section on nightclubs recommends old favourites Cinderella Rockerfellas, the Hoochie Coochie club and Coasters Roller Disco.
If you were a student in the 1980s, we would love to hear from you about your experiences. You can comment on individual articles on the website https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/thestudent or continue the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #thestudent84.
Please contact Gavin Willshaw, Digital Curator, at gavin.willshaw@ed.ac.uk for more information or to be added to the project mailing list.
Discover Special Collections from New College Library
Did you know that, out of the 250,000+ books held at New College Library, over a third are Special Collections? Come and join me at the Pop-up Library (on the first floor of the Main Library) on Wednesday 8 October, 2-4 pm, to find out more.
- New College Library rare book collections include the Acta Sanctorum (1643-1794), early printed Bibles in Latin, Greek, English and polyglot versions, incunabula and the Hymnology Collection.
- Archival collections focus on the papers of significant individuals or groups connected with New College and the Church of Scotland or Free Church of Scotland, including Thomas Chalmers, J.H.Oldham, and John McIntyre.
- New College Library also holds a collection of objects and pictures relating to New College and the Church of Scotland.
Explore New College Library’s Special Collections further at: http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/new-college-special-collections
Or read more on the New College Librarian blog: https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/newcollegelibrarian/
Christine Love-Rodgers, Academic Support Librarian – Divinity
Timetable: 6th-10th October
#LibraryPop
Drop in sessions -1st Floor Main Library
6th October- 10th October
| AM | PM | |||
| Monday | Finding/using Chinese library resources | Getting full text journal articles – fast! | ||
| Tuesday |
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Resources Plus: How do I get hold of the book I need? | ||
| Wednesday |
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Discover Special Collections from New College Library | ||
| Thursday | Smart Searching with Searcher | Rare Book Collections | ||
| Friday |
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Meet Joe Marshall (Head of Special Collections) and Jacky MacBeath (Head of Museums) |
Dawsonera – access problem
One of our major e-book providers – Dawsonera is continuing to suffer from technical issues 
relating to logins and downloading e-books.
They will post updates to twitter @dawsonera when they have updates – they have not been able to provide a timescale for resolution.
This issue is now resolved.
Check the comments section for further updates – last updated 17/11.
Trial – Archaeopress
We have trial access to Archaeopress E-books until 28th October. Access on or off campus via the username and password listed on our password webpage (use EASE to access this).
Archaeopress digital subscription service currently includes over 300 archaeology e-book titles, including British Archaeological Reports. Around 10-15 new files are added each month.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this e-book package and platform 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 – Defining Gender, 1450-1910
We have trial access to Defining Gender, 1450-1910 until 23rd October on campus or via the VPN.
Defining Gender includes a broad range of thematically organised documents from 21 libraries providing an excellent opportunity for comparative study and research. Manuscripts, printed works and illustrations combine to address the key issues from both masculine and feminine perspectives. They are indexed to provide ready accessibility for students by person and subject across all five sections.
Please note that PDF download options are not available during trials.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this database 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.
Managing your digital footprint at Pop-up Library (3 Oct)
Managing your digital footprint will be at the Pop-Up Library on 3 October 2014 
(10:00-12:00)
Do you want to find out how to manage your online presence (digital footprint); how social media can be useful; using social media for research & impact; networking and more? If so, then come along to the first floor, reception desk at the Main Library on 3 October (10:00-12:00).
What can you expect from the session?
- Advice
- Demos
- Information
- Activities
- Freebies
Find us on:
- Website: www.ed.ac.uk/iad/digitalfootprint
- Blog: http://uoedigitalfootprint.wordpress.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/UoEDigitalFoot #UoEDF
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/uoedigitalfootprint
Exhibitions site now live!
Development on our collections continues apace! Following on from the successful launch of collections.ed.ac.uk, we’re delighted to announce https://exhibitions.ed.ac.uk, which showcases displayed items from our current, and past, exhibitions.
Building on the same technology as collections.ed.ac.uk (Dspace + Skylight), our intention is to make available objects from the current exhibition (in this case Rashid al-din’s World History, which runs till 31st October), coupled with a look and feel which matches the exhibition’s branding. The site follows the collections.ed.ac.uk structure, which allows searching and facet browsing, and supports video and audio where appropriate.
Our intention is to relaunch the site in tandem with the physical show each time a new exhibition commences, and henceforth, the new material will be illustrated by photography from the people that we feel do it best: our own Digital Imaging Unit. From a development point of view, we like to think that the relatively quick turnaround of this site shows that the architecture we’re using is flexible and reusable; there are more such sites in the pipeline.
As many past exhibitions as possible will be sourced and searchable on the site. Currently, we’ve got data loaded for 50 Years 50 Books (2014), Object Lessons (2003), Collect.ed (2013) and Cradle of Chemistry (2013), with more exhibitions to follow. Watch this space for updates.
Thanks to Emma Smith, Gavin Willshaw and the CRC staff in general for helping make this a straightforward and enjoyable process.
Scott Renton- Digital Library Development
Postscript! The eagle-eyed (or people with absurdly high-performance memories) among you may recall we launched exhibitions.ed.ac.uk some time ago, for the 50 Years 50 Books show. This was a good interim solution which served that particular exhibition reasonably well, but it was hosted by Google, and there were a number of limitations as to how we could present our material. We knew we could take exhibitions to the next level with the in-house Skylight infrastructure, and that’s what we’ve done, but the Google site is still available from the 50 Years 50 Books homepage, should you be particularly fond of it!
Finding a thesis
Visit us today at the Pop Up Library on level 1 of the Main Library to get ideas and advice around theses. We’ll be there between 10am and noon.
- Learn what resources you can use to find out about theses on topics you’re researching.
- Find out how you can read a thesis you know is of interest.
If you can’t make it on the day, have a look a the Subject Guide to Theses or get in touch with your Academic Support Librarian.
Finding and using China-related library resources
Are you curious about China? Do you need to find relevant resources but don’t quite now where to start? Are you looking for primary sources?
If any of these questions have popped up, please come along on Monday, 6 October, 10-12pm to the First Floor of the Main Library for our Pop-up Library session!
We will tell you all about both Western and Chinese language materials available through the Library. We will show you how to use our different databases on China, which contain both English materials (for example, British Foreign Office Files on China, Chinese laws, etc) and Chinese sources (classics, e-books, newspapers, journal articles, etc).
Whether you are just curious about China or need some help with a specific research question: we are there to help, so please ‘pop up’ to the First Floor on Monday!
Engage: #LibraryPop
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