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December 16, 2025
Art Collections go hi-res!
The launch of the collections.ed.ac.uk public interface in May was a big success story in itself, but a bullet point below this was that it featured the first ever web delivered front-end for the University’s rich and diverse Art Collections. We’ve since gone one better; using the LUNA imaging platform, we can now present the best of the Art Collections in high resolution.
We’ve been able to harness photography from the Public Catalogue Foundation for both the University and the ECA, as well as a number of items from our own DIU, to surface 742 quality, zoomable images. The collection is browsable here, but importantly, the items are also linked back to their item records on collections.ed.ac.uk (simply click wherever you see “View high resolution image”- for example here). It’s important to us that the two systems complement and communicate with one another, and we have decided to use this functionality for the Calendars, and upcoming Exhibitions, collections also. I should mention, too, that we did consider the possibility of embedding the LUNA image directly into the collections.ed.ac.uk page, but after some deliberation, we decided that this solution was cleaner.
The other piece of good news about the Art Collections’ discoverability is that we have enriched the collections.ed.ac.uk set with a further 300 items, and 800 images (a lot of these are jpegs, which are generally not considered of sufficient quality for LUNA), to take us to over 3000 items and 1400 images. You can find them all at our site, and we look forward to taking advantage of further accessions and photography to make the collections ever more fascinating and inspiring online.
Thanks to the collections’ custodians (Neil Lebeter, Jill Forrest and Anna Hawkins) for all of their contributions to this piece of work.
Scott Renton, Digital Development
Edinburgh supports trial data publication
I recently read in a Sense about Science tweet that a lone student asked the Principal of the University of Edinburgh if it would join the AllTrials Campaign and it became the first Scottish University to do so. Here’s his story – [Editor]
As a Nurse I frequently talk with patients about the treatments and medications they receive. These are often difficult conversations as it relies on the clinician having a library of background knowledge coupled with the most up-to-date data. Despite the wealth of knowledge that exists within the medical community there is an increasing body of research that highlights the large amount of clinical trial data that has gone unshared for many decades. This is the origin of the AllTrials campaign.
The best estimate is that around half of clinical trials have never been published. Recognising the need for change a group of academics founded AllTrials. AllTrials is an initiative headed by leading academic bodies such as the British Medical Journal, the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine and the Cochrane Collaboration. AllTrials calls for all past and present clinical trials to be registered and their full methods and summary results reported.
As a Nursing graduate of The University of Edinburgh and a current masters student within the Nursing department I felt I should engage with my University about the issue of clinical trial data sharing and about the AllTrials campaign. I wrote to Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea, the Principal of the University, who gave his support for AllTrials. As of July 2014 The University of Edinburgh became the first Scottish University to register its support for AllTrials. This move is inherently positive for Edinburgh, both as a global leader in health care and as an institution with a longstanding Edinburgh Data Library history. The campaign has had nearly 80,000 people sign its petition as well as just under 500 organisations register support.
This is an issue important issue for all of us. Show your support by signing the AllTrials petition.
Adam Lloyd
Nurse
Masters of Nursing in Clinical Research student
The University of Edinburgh
The views expressed are my own and do not reflect the views of The University of Edinburgh, the AllTrials campaign or any of its affiliates.
2015 Calendar: Images from the David Laing Collection
The new Library and University Collections Calendar, 2015: Images from the David Laing Collection, is now available to buy online and from a number of locations across the University.
Featuring newly-surfaced images from the David Laing Collection, including a 16th century petition to the Pope, a burgess ticket from the town of Rutherglen and a stunning gold leaf manuscript fragment from the Darien scheme’s first expedition in 1698, the calendar showcases why the collection is considered one of the jewels in the Library’s crown. To view the images online, visit www.collections.ed.ac.uk/calendars.
Priced £8 and spanning a fifteen month period from October 2014 to December 2015, the calendar can be purchased online at http://www.giftshop.ed.ac.uk/2015-Calendar.html and in person from the Visitor Centre, the Centre for Research Collections and the Main Library helpdesk.
This small collection of images is only the tip of the iceberg: the David Laing Collection includes approximately half a million individual documents and, because of its size, much of the content remains uncatalogued and therefore largely undiscovered. The Library is seeking funds in order to apply modern archival and preservation methods to make the papers available to a worldwide audience: if you are interested in supporting our work to conserve and preserve the entire collection, please email laingcollection@ed.ac.uk.
Policies, Postcards and Prophylactics: Conserving Lothian Health Services Archive’s UNESCO-awarded HIV/AIDS Collections (1983-2010)
My name is Emily and I am Project Conservator at Lothian Health Services Archive. LHSA is based at the Centre for Research Collections, where we share a conservation studio with Emma Davey, Conservation Officer for the CRC, and two private conservators.
Lothian Health Services Archive holds the historically important local records of NHS hospitals and other health-related material. I am currently working on a 12-month Wellcome Trust-funded project to conserve LHSA’s HIV/AIDS collections. This material documents the social and medical response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Edinburgh and the Lothians from 1983 to 2010. The first suspected case of HIV/AIDS in Scotland was discovered in Edinburgh in 1983. The infection rate in the city steadily grew and by 1989 it was seven times higher than the national average, which led to Edinburgh being dubbed the “AIDS capital of Europe” in the national press. This is material of vital importance which comprehensively documents an important part of medical history. In 2011 the collections were inscribed to the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register which emphasises its importance to national documentary heritage.
The collections are made up of a variety of media, mostly loose paper documents, leaflets and postcards but also badges, stickers, photographs, 35mm slides and canvas and plastic bags, as well as rubber and latex items such as condoms and balloons.
An example of the diverse range of materials found in the HIV/AIDS collections.
Many people assume that modern collections such as this do not require conservation, however this is not the case, and there are already items in this collection that are severely damaged. For example, previous storage has led to planar distortion, creasing, tearing and the accumulation of surface dirt on paper documents. Low quality materials used in paper making has also resulted in deterioration of paper sheets.
Paper documents in the HIV/AIDS collections. Plastic paper clips causing planar distortion of the sheets.
Damage to other items is often due to the inherent nature of the object. For example, rubber items such as the balloons have become brittle due to loss of plasticiser and objects have become stuck together due to the migration of adhesives.
A balloon from the HIV/AIDS collections. Loss of plasticiser has caused the balloon to become very brittle.
There is also a collection of digital media such as 3.5” floppy disks, VHS, audio cassette tapes and film reels which have been transferred to modern storage facilities to avoid loss of information due to obsolescence of the viewing equipment.
A screen shot from a video in the HIV/AIDS collection. Shows loss of image quality.
In this project, conservation of paper materials mainly involves the re-housing of paper items in acid-free folders and boxes and carrying out basic conservation treatment such as surface cleaning, tear repair and flattening if needed. Conservation of non-paper materials mainly focuses on re-housing the objects in appropriate archival storage, rather than on interventive treatment.
I really enjoy working with this diverse range of material in this collection. When I graduated last year specialising in paper conservation, I never thought I would be working with such modern materials. So since starting here, I’ve had to research plastic conservation and digitisation methods and develop new ways of storing modern objects with paper collections, which I’ve found challenging and fun! With more and more modern materials becoming deposited in archives, I believe skills gained in this project will be really useful in the future, and I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to work with such a varied and interesting collection.
If you’d like to find out more about this project and the conservation of modern materials, please visit our blog.
Emily Hick Project Conservator Lothian Health Services Archive Emily.Hick@ed.ac.uk
SAE Technical Papers – new e-resource
The Library now subscribes to the full collection of SAE Technical Papers available within the SAE Digital Library. This provides access to over 90,000 technical papers from the Society of Automotive Engineers, ranging from 1906 to the present day. Papers are available in the fields of design engineering, aerospace 
engineering, advanced materials, power and propulsion, transportation, tests and testing, fuels, energy sources, safety etc.
A full list of our databases is available at http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/library-databases/databases-a-z
Accessible Archives – new database
Accessible Archives has been added to our A-Z list of databases – Eyewitness accounts of 
historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical records. Includes archives from African American Newspapers, American County Histories, Civil War archives and many other eighteenth and nineteenth century newspaper and journal archives.
A full list of the collections and coverage is available at http://www.accessible-archives.com/collections/
Making new (3D) plans II
Yesterday I blogged about our exciting plans for the display and interpretation of nearly 1000 historic musical instruments in the new St Cecilia’s Hall, including how we are able to work on-screen on 3D walkthroughs.
Going through the photos taken from various meetings shows that 3D modelling isn’t always high-tech however. Here are Sarah Deters, Audience Development Assistant and Jenny Nex, Curator, deciding on the placement of two fabulous 17th century archlutes from our Collections by taking the place of the musical instruments.
Should we display them facing in or out?
For those who might be interested, here are the instruments in question. On the left is one made by Harz in 1665, and on the right the example by Rotundus, dated 1699.
RASHID AL-DIN 1314 Library Exhibition Time Lapse Film
For the past month or so the DIU have been capturing our first ever time lapse footage of the installation of the current library festival exhibition RASHID AL-DIN 1314. We filmed over several weeks trying to capture the main installation events. This included the prep work by conservation, the delivery of objects from the National Museum, swathes of discussion over the exhibition, hard core carpentry skills and an insane press pack in full flight all leading up to the opening night. What we captured is only part of the story in that all the planning had been completed and work scheduled before shooting began including our own part of supplying the images for the display boards and background supports. It has been a huge revelation to see and document the level of application that goes into creating a Library exhibition. The overriding impression is of a truly massive collaborative effort involving many departments across institutions. Definitely worth a watch if only for the wonderful music by our very own Art Collections Curator Neil Lebeter.
RASHID AL-DIN 1314 Library Exhibition Time Lapse Film from DIGITAL IMAGING UNIT FILM on Vimeo.
Malcolm Brown, Deputy Photographer.
Making new (3D) plans
Although we are very much focused on our ever-closer decant from St Cecilia’s Hall, it by no means takes all of our thinking time in relation to the St Cecilia’s Hall Redevelopment Project. Despite not even having closed the building yet, all staff are busy making plans for the displays that will go into the building once it re-opens.
This is, of course, one of the most enjoyable parts of our jobs.
What we are doing now will very much decide the “feel” of the new museum. There are all sorts of questions we need to consider – how many instruments are we wanting (how dense will the display be), how do we want to arrange the instruments to tell various stories, how do we keep the visitor interested from start to finish, and (we very much hope) still wanting to come back for return visits, how do we appeal to all types of visitor from professional musicians to those who have no detailed knowledge but want to see the old (and in some cases not quite-so-old) objects.
This is not a one-step process by any means – at present it is the layout of the galleries and showcases, this will be followed by designing stands so the instruments can be clearly and unobtrusively seen, backdrops, creating labels, text for guides, publications and so on.
What is it all actually like, and how does it happen in practice, are common questions. Here are a couple of “behind-the-scenes” photos of the team at work. In front of the computer is Iain Coates of our museum design team Studio SP, who has a programme which allows scaled images of each of the objects to be move into 3D showcase “space”, which is projected onto the screen for us all to see. The software also allows us to view showcases from various viewpoints in the gallery, and even have a complete walkthrough!
We are nearing the end of all of the open displays, after which our displayed objects will have all been selected (we have, of course, the possibility of tweaking a little as we progress). The chance for a whole-museum walkthrough is being increasingly anticipated.
New online resource for SPS: Peace Research Abstracts
The Library has recently subscribed to the online database Peace Research Abstracts. This is a comprehensive database for peace and conflict resolution research and is a particularly useful resource for those studying International Relations and Politics.
Peace Research Abstracts includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to peace research, including conflict resolution, international affairs, peace psychology, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. Read More
Collections
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Projects
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Archival Provenance Research Project: Lishan’s Experience
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