Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
March 13, 2026
From Plagues to Progress: Looking at A Century of Edinburgh’s Public Health
Over the last few months, our team has been working on digitising the Lothian Health Service Archive’s collection of Annual Public Health Reports for the City of Edinburgh. Comprising of 74 bound volumes of reports recording the public health of Edinburgh’s residents from 1865 to 1973, these documents are an absolute goldmine of information just waiting to be utilised by academics and researchers, covering everything from birth, death and disease rates to specific aspects of public health that were overseen by the City authorities, like infectious diseases or sanitation. Read More
New trial to Oxford Historical Treaties
Oxford Historical Treaties (OHT) is the premier resource for historical treaty research and home to the full text of The 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.
Access Oxford Historical Treaties
The trial runs until 16 June 2023. Please provide any feedback on this trial via our feedback form:
Hello from your new (part-time) Law Librarian
Hi! My name is Anna and I am a new Academic Support Librarian supporting Law. SarahLouise and I are job-sharing – I take the start of the week and SarahLouise the latter but you don’t need to remember that. Just email us at law.librarian@ed.ac.uk if you have any questions.
I am a third-generation librarian (!) and I moved here from De Montfort University in Leicester. Professionally, I am interested in the critical aspects of information literacy, particularly issues of bias and source reliability. I am also interested in how AI will impact all aspects of information literacy. Personally, I love walking and photography and can’t wait to explore all the beautiful Scottish landscapes.
I look forward to working with you all in the coming months.
5 things to remember if using the Library this summer
The summer vacation period officially started this week! And while many of you are probably thinking the last thing you want to do is use the Library over the summer break, there will be a large number of students who will need to (or just want to) use the Library during the summer vacation period to continue with their studies or research.
So if you are one of the many who is planning on using Library facilities or services over the summer then read on. And for those of you who are not planning on doing this, we’d recommend you read on anyway (particularly if you have not returned books you have borrowed from the Library).
1) The Main Library and all our site libraries remain open throughout the summer vacation period.
Opening hours and staffed hours will be reduced in many libraries so check the opening hours website before you visit and follow the Library on social media for any updates – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Read More
Mass Observiation Project – on trial
*The Library has now purchased access to Mass Observation Project. See New! Mass Observation Project, 1981-2009 *
I’m happy to let you know that the Library currently has trial access to Mass Observation Project, 1981-2009 from AM Digital, which allows you to explore the history of Britain through three turbulent decades, written by those living through it.
Access Mass Observation Project via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 24 June 2023.
Mass Observation Project, 1981-2009 provides digital access to a unique life-writing archive, capturing the everyday experiences, thoughts and opinions of people living through the turbulent final decades of the 20th century and the advent of the 21st century. Read More
On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan
The Library currently has trial access to Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 from AM Digital. This resource allows you to discover Japan’s rise to modernity and its relations with global superpowers through British Government documents from the National Archives, UK.
For more information, see the On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan blog post by the Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology.
On trial: Latin American Newspapers, Series 1
The Library currently has trial access to Latin American Newspaers: Series 1 from Readex, which allows you to explore Latin American history and culture during the 19th and 20th centuries.
For more information, see the On trial: Latin American Newspapers, Series 1 blog post by the Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology.
On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan
Thanks to a request from a HCA postgraduate student the Library currently has trial access to Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 from AM Digital. This resource allows you to discover Japan’s rise to modernity and its relations with global superpowers through British Government documents from the National Archives, UK.
You can access the Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 via the E-resources trials page.
Trial access ends 24th June 2023.
Published in three parts, this collection makes available extensive coverage of British Foreign Office files dealing with Japan between 1919 and 1952. Read More
BBC Monitoring – on trial
Thanks to a request from staff in the School of Social and Political Science the Library currently has trial access to the new resource BBC Monitoring: Summary of World Broadcasts, 1939-2001 from Readex. Created in partnership with the BBC and digitised from the physical archives this fascinating resource captures more than 60 years of turbulent 20th century global history, as it unfolded.
Access BBC Monitoring via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 12 June 2023. Read More
Recovering Silent Sounds
In this blog, Veronica Wilson discusses her project working with musical instruments in storage. Veronica started this project as a Thompson-Dunlop Intern and then joined the Conservation & Collections Management team as a Library Assistant (funded by Thompson-Dunlop endowment and the Nagler bequest).
Wolfson gallery at St Cecilia’s Hall
The University of Edinburgh holds a rare and unique collection of musical instruments. Many stand proudly on display in St Cecilia’s Hall, the music museum of the University, visible to the public and played by musicians from around the world. The rest are in storage, available only by request for research, study, or viewing. The collection at the University Collections Facility (UCF) consists of instruments too large to be stored in any of the other locations. Though the time since they were last played can span lifetimes, the collection is anything but silent.
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....