Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
December 15, 2025
De Gruyter E-Journals – Access Resolved
Access to De Gruyter e-journals has been restored. There are still ongoing issues with their website displaying the correct access rights so it is best to access their e-journals from our library website e-journals page rather than searching on the DeGruyter website directly.
Art Exposed
A chance to experience rarely seen paintings and objects from the University’s Art Collection
Recently we learned that the most searched for term on our brand new Art Collections website was ‘Male Nude’ – we’ve decided to go with the assumption that it’s all the Classics students taking their studies very seriously indeed…
But, in honour of all you weirdos out there, we’re giving you the chance to get up close and personal to the slightly racier side of the University’s Art Collection.
Anna and Jill will be around to talk to you about the items on view, how you can access the artworks yourselves, and also let you know about some of the brilliant volunteering opportunities available to anyone interested in curatorial or wider museum work.
So come along to the Art Collections Library Pop session between 10 and 12 tomorrow, in the 1st Floor reception of the Main Library.
Search the collection: http://collections.ed.ac.uk/art
Follow us: @UoEArtArchives
Engage: #LibraryPop
Full schedule of Pop up Library events published
We do an amazing amount of stuff in the Library and Information Services. The Pop up Library will give you the chance to ask questions and find out more about our services and collections and how we can support your learning and research.
Find out about the Library’s new Exam Papers Online service, What do you do if you can’t find a book in the Library? Pop up Library sessions focusing on Resources Plus will tell you what your options are. There will be opportunities to see up close art work and objects from the University’s world class collections. What is Searcher? How can you use it to find stuff on your reading list? Pop up… ask us!!
The full schedule of Pop up Library sessions is now available. There’s two sessions each day at 10-12pm and 2-4pm. Please keep an eye on this page as the schedule may be subject to change.
Pop up… ask us!!
8th September- 7th November
Main Library
1st floor reception desk
#librarypop
Next week at the Pop up Library
Week 1: 15th September
Monday
(10-12pm and 2-4pm)
Library Pop Introduction – What’s it all about? Watch the 1968 Library film
Tuesday
AM(10-12pm): Centre for Research Collections
PM (2-4pm): Learn and Mobile Learn
Wednesday
AM (10-12pm): MyEd Mobile
PM (2-4pm): Smart Searching with Searcher
Thursday
AM(10-12pm): MyEd Mobile
PM (2-4pm): Special Collections: Referendum special
Friday
AM(10-12pm): Learn and Mobile Learn
PM (2-4pm) TBC
Freshers’ Week – 1870 style
Early portrait of James Cossar Ewart (GB 237 Coll-14/4/2)
This week is one of the busiest times of the year for the University of Edinburgh, and a momentous week for our brand new students – it’s Fresher’s Week!
The ‘Towards Dolly’ collections are rich in detail about the research and careers of Edinburgh’s scientists, but there isn’t so much concerning the early parts of their lives. So I was especially surprised when, cataloguing the archives of James Cossar Ewart (Professor of Natural History, 1882-1927) during an earlier part of the project, I came across a perfectly preserved diary from his undergraduate days. This small volume, filled with Ewart’s flowery but sometimes erratic handwriting, captures precious details from his own first experiences of student life. In some ways, they don’t differ hugely from the experiences of a fresher from today; in others, they reveal a University on the brink of major changes, particularly where the education of women was concerned. Read More
New E-Resources
Media Education Foundation – videos
Following a successful trial on the Kanopy platform, we now subscribe to the Media Education 
Foundation video package. This has been added to our A-Z lists. For further info on this new resource, check out the SPS Librarian blog post.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
We have purchased a further 2 newspaper archives from ProQuest.
The Irish Times (1859-2012) and The Weekly Irish Times (1876-1958)
These are now listed in our Newspapers A-Z list
Crime & Intrigue at the CRC
Today sees the launch of a new Hercule Poirot novel, penned by crime author Sophie Hannah with support from the Agatha Christie estate. As a die-hard Agatha Christie fan, this is a great opportunity to tell you more about the Forbes Gibb collection of crime fiction at the Centre for Research Collections.
Professor Forbes Gibb donated his collection of books, pamphlets and journals to the University in 2001. It contains 1,565 volumes, primarily by Arthur Conan Doyle. The collection includes two first edition Agatha Christie novels:
Ordeal by Innocence (1958) and The Pale Horse (1961) are classic examples of book cover design from the mid-twentieth century, with bold colours, simple yet balanced graphic and typography that reflects the dark content of the books.
The numerous editions of Sherlock Holmes novels acquired by Forbes Gibb are a great example of the development of book cover design during the twentieth century – ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous!
But without a doubt my favourite item is a copy of The Sign of Four produced in Pitman Shorthand. Developed by Sir Isaac Pitman in 1837, Pitman Shorthand is a phonetic method of shorthand based on how words sounds rather than how they are spelt. I challenge anyone to translate this first page of Sign of Four for me (no cheating!).
The Forbes Gibb collection is available to consult at the Centre for Research Collections. Please note it is not on open access. Titles, shelfmarks and catalogue entries:
The Pale Horse (Forbes Gibb 53) http://bit.ly/1pKtATh
Ordeal by Innocence (Forbes Gibb 49) http://bit.ly/1uhqyfJ
The Hound of Baskervilles (Forbes Gibb 77) http://bit.ly/WCptSc
The Hound of Baskervilles (Forbes Gibb 198) http://bit.ly/1rUu3dj
The Sign of Four (Forbes Gibb 339) http://bit.ly/1omWlWH
Fran Baseby, Service Delivery Curator, CRC
Library Pop – Get Library Smart!
Come and meet members of the Library Academic Support team at the Pop up Library at 11am on Tuesday 8 September and find out more about the new Get Library Smart information skills resource. Newly developed from materials written for students by the Library Academic Support Team, this resource aims to help everyone at the University of Edinburgh get the best from the Library. As well as a toolkit to help you get your hands on the library materials you need, you’ll find step by step guides through the library experience of searching, discovering and managing information. What’s more, we’ll regularly be delivering bite-sized chunks in blog form to answer key questions and signpost you to what’s relevant for your subject. https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/infoskills/
Christine Love-Rodgers, Library Academic Support Team
Trial -19th Century Masterfile
We have trial access to 19th Century Masterfile database which contains over 8 million citations and over 60 indexes covering books, newspapers, patents and government documents published during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Further info about the database contents is at http://paratext.com/pdf/2014ncmcontentlist.pdf
Access the database on campus or off campus via the VPN until 4th October.
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.
Pop up Library launches with Library Director and 1968 film
The Pop up Library launched this morning on the 1st floor of the Main Library with John Scally, the Director of Library and University Collections, joining us to help some Freshers on their first day.
This week we’re showing a film taken when Edinburgh University Main Library opened in 1968. There’s some cool sixties haircuts, a very nice handbag and the poshest BBC-like voiceover ever. Believe it or not, not a great deal has changed. The biggest surprise is that there used to be a smoking room in the building – health and safety ??!!!
The film is projecting on to the back wall, and if you have time, sit yourself down on one of the comfy chairs, plug yourself in and listen to the full commentary.
On Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, we’re running two sessions of metadata games (complete with retro space invader graphics) where you’ll be able to help the Library by tagging some of the images in our vast image collections.
Pop over to the Main Library 1st floor desk to say, ‘hello’ and find out more about the sessions we’ll be running at the Pop up Library over the next two months.
Collections
Hill and Adamson Collection: an insight into Edinburgh’s past
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Cataloguing the private papers of Archibald Hunter Campbell: A Journey Through Correspondence
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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
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