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December 16, 2025
Ban Dainagon Ekotob : a premium replica of the late 12th-century Japanese emakimono (picture scroll)
The Library has just purchased a beautiful reproduction of a late 12th-century Japanese emakimono (絵巻) – a set of 3 illustrated narrative picture scrolls called Ban Dainagon Ekotob (伴大納言絵詞 The Tale of Great Minister Ban). The full-colour painting depicts the events of the Ōtemmon Conspiracy, an event of Japan’s early Heian period. The painting, attributed to Tokiwa Mitsunaga, is over 20 m (66 ft) long and about 31.5 cm (12.4 in) tall. The original art work is considered to be Kokuhō (國寶, or a Japanese national treasure) among six such rare and invaluable picture scrolls. Information about their replica can be found here.
The reproduction was published by Chikuma shobo (筑摩書房) in 1971-1974 in a limited edition of 1000 copies. Our Library copy has the set number ’84’. The 3 hand-scrolls are placed individually in 3 wooden cases, each accompanied with a booklet. The set has been catalogued for the Centre for Research Collections. See the bibliographic record in DiscoverEd here.
The material has been purchased in response to needs for a Japanese Studies course called “Supernatural Japan: doing Japanology through Yokai”. As the course takes a ‘learning by doing’ approach, allowing students to experience Yokai in art, literature to discover the historical and cultural value of Yokai in Japanese society, this set of 3 hand-scrolls will give a rare opportunity of authentic reading experience for students of Japanese Studies or anyone interested in Japanese art, history and culture.
The Edinburgh School of Social Study and Training
Foundations:
Social work training at the University of Edinburgh has gone through several guises since it was first taught in 1918. Initially it was established as the Edinburgh School of Social Study and Training, under the auspices of the University of Edinburgh. The School was established to meet the increasing need for trained social workers, in the broad sense of the term, which had been highlighted during the First World War. A number of civic minded citizens, including several University of Edinburgh lecturers, came together to form an Association for the Promotion of Social Study and Training in 1917. The School began teaching students in 1918. The School operated as a separate body until it amalgamated with the University in 1928 to become the Department of Social Studies and Training. Archival material gives us rich insights into these early years, and the work that was done to keep the School running and demonstrate that training for social work was both feasible and worthy of association with the University.
Theoretical and Practical training:
The first lecture of the Edinburgh School of Social Study 
and Training was given by Miss M. T. Rankin on the subject of ‘Social Economics’ on 8th January 1918 at 4.15pm in the Mathematical Institute, 16 Chambers Street (shown opposite).
The lecture series for the term also included ‘Social Ethics’ and ‘Personal and Public Hygiene’. Students could enrol for the full 2-year Diploma Course or attend individual classes, with public lectures also being given on topics such as ‘The Nature and Duties of Citizenship’ and ‘The Co-operative Movement in Edinburgh’. By 1927 the curriculum had expanded to include, among others, courses in Elementary Anatomy and Physiology, Social Psychology, Office Work and Moral Philosophy. As well as attending theoretical courses students undertook practical training for 3 days each week working in a variety of settings for example day nurseries, juvenile and adult courts, the Craiglockhart Poorhouse, and the Welfare Department of the North British Rubber Works. Additional visits were organised to factories, hospitals and public health departments.
Student and their career prospects:
Initially numbers enrolling in the School were small, but they gradually grew from 11 full time students in 1918 to 34 in 1927. The School was training its students for social work, but at this time the field encompassed much broader roles that it does today, including jobs such as Factory Inspectors, Welfare Workers, Labour Organisers and House Management Workers. Archival material notes that former students went on to have careers in a variety of roles such as the Maternity and Child Welfare Visitor, Stockton-On-Tees; the Industrial Secretary of the YMCA, China; the Police Court Missionary and Probation Officer at Marlborough Street Police Court, London; and the Assistant Welfare Worker in Fry’s Chocolate and Cocoa Works. As well as providing training for social workers the School offered a Health Visitor’s Probation Certificate, which was awarded to 132 students. Archival material also shows that the School was also approached to offer various forms of training and lectures to other groups including disabled officers following the First World War, Women Police Officers and the Edinburgh Women Citizens’ Association.
Amalgamation with the University:
The Director of the School, Miss Nora Milnes, and the wider Executive Committee of the School were keen that the School and its students be afforded academic recognition on a par with the other social studies courses being run at Universities around the UK. The School quickly began setting out its case for its relationship with the University to become more integrated. This was achieved in 1928 when the University Court agreed to the proposed amalgamation and the School became the Department of Social Studies and Training. Announcing the amalgamation in the 1928 Annual Report Nora Milnes notes that:
“the change which is now to take place is the best proof of the success of the School. Social Study has won for itself a recognised position not only in the University, but also in the City of Edinburgh.”
Edinburgh Research Explorer Statistics: July 2019
Dealing with Data 2019- Call for Contributions *Deadline Extended*
*We have had several requests for an extension to the submission deadline, so, we have decided to extend it until 12 noon on Friday 11th October!*
Dealing with Data 2019 will take place on the 27th of November in the Informatics Forum. This year our theme is “Collaboration Across the Nations: Managing, sharing and securing research data across space and time” and we are now inviting contributions from research staff and students at the University of Edinburgh.
In previous years DwD has attracted over 100 attendees from across the university to hear contributions by research staff and students at all stages of their careers and from diverse disciplines. You can view the presentations from 2017 & 2018 now on MediaHopper (https://media.ed.ac.uk/channel/Dealing+With+Data+2017+Conference/82256222)
The full Call for Contributions is below. If you have any questions please get in touch using on dealing-with-data-conference@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk
Dealing with Data Conference 2019 – Call for Contributions
Date: Wednesday 27th November 2019
Location: Informatics Forum, George Square, Central Area
Theme: Collaboration Across the Nations: Managing, sharing and securing research data across space and time
Possible Contributions: Presentation; Lightning talk; Poster; Demonstration of a tool or method supporting collaboration; Stall or exhibit, panel.
Call for contributions:
Collaboration is vitally important to academic and commercial research in all areas as it enables the pooling of resources to answer increasingly complex, or interdisciplinary research questions.
The effective collection, processing, and sharing of research data is integral to successful collaborations, but it can also present many challenges. In particular the practicalities of co-ordinating data management across large multi-centre collaborations, sharing large data, or handling sensitive data, can present difficulties if not planned for appropriately.
Dealing with Data 2019 is your opportunity to share with the UoE research community how you have addressed these issues to build successful collaborations, or the lessons you have learned which will enable you to be more successful in the future.
Contributions should be aimed principally at an academic audience, but the programme will seek to represent a wide range of scholarly disciplines.
Possible themes may include (but are by no means limited to):
- Data sharing within research groups or labs;
- Challenges of data sharing across the University or with external partners;
- Managing and securing sensitive data across distributed research projects;
- Interdisciplinary issues;
- Tools for enabling or simplifying collaborative data collection, management or analysis;
- Data sharing at scale;
- Interoperability of (meta)data;
- Legal and licensing issues;
- Credit and contributions for data use and reuse, including after a project has ended.
For all contributions please send an abstract detailing the content and proposed format (maximum 500 words) to dealing-with-data-conference@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk by Friday 11th october. Posters should be A0 in size, portrait orientation.
Proposals will be reviewed, and the event programme announced by Friday 25th October 2019.
Dealing with Data is an annual event sponsored and organised by the Research Data Service to provide a forum for University of Edinburgh researchers to discuss how they are benefiting from, or experiencing struggles with, the fast-changing research data environment.
Kerry Miller
Research Data Support Officer
New to the Library: Archives of Sexuality & Gender
I’m really pleased to let you know that the Library now has access to the Archives of Sexuality & Gender. Spanning the 16th to the 20th century it is the largest digital collection of primary source materials relating to the history and study of sex, sexuality and gender. Documentation covering social, political, health and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world is included, as well as rare and unique books on sex and sexuality from the sciences to the humanities.
You can access Archives of Sexuality & Gender via the Databases A-Z list and the Digital primary source and archive collections guide. You can also access it via DiscoverEd. Read More
New to the Library: Women’s Magazine Archive
I’m happy to let you know that the Library now has access to the Women’s Magazine Archive, Collection I and II from ProQuest, a searchable archive of leading women’s interest magazines, dating from the 19th century through to the 21st.
You can access the Women’s Magazine Archive via the Databases A-Z list or the Newspapers, magazines and other news sources guide. You can also access the individual magazine titles via DiscoverEd.
Consumer magazines aimed at a female readership are recognised as critical primary sources through which to interpret multiple aspects of 19th and 20th-century history and culture. Archival issues, however, have previously been difficult to locate and navigate. Read More
‘Body Language’ exhibition launches to resounding gong!
Project archivist, Elaine MacGillivray, dances us through the magic of the ‘Body Language’ exhibition launch.
‘Body Language’ Exhibition opening times
A sudden booming and magical gong hushed invited guests. Its exotic timbre reverberated throughout the polished black granite, double-height, library foyer. Chatting paused…drinks suspended. All eyes turned to the small company of ‘MSc Dance Science and Education’ student dancers as they weaved their way through the standing audience to centre stage. Simple costumes of black leotards and tights were the perfect portal to an emotive and hypnotic choreography. The audience was transported, invited to come along on a wonderful journey of movement in space and time, as the dancers responded to the percussive gong. Finally, as the vibrations of the last gong strike gradually faded away, the audience applause occupied the vacancy. This is how to launch an exhibition.
Last Thursday (25 July 2019) students past and present, academics, professional support staff, volunteers, senior university staff and project partners came together to preview and celebrate the launch of the Wellcome Trust funded archive exhibition ‘Body Language’. Guests, from all over Scotland, were welcomed by Head of Special Collections and the Centre for Research Collections, Dr Joseph Marshall. This was followed by opening speeches from Wendy Timmons, Programme Director, MSc Dance Science and Education at the University of Edinburgh, and then from Professor John Ravenscroft, Chair of Childhood Visual Impairment at Moray House School of Education.
The exhibition was declared open and dancers continued to move throughout the exhibition space, responding to percussive instruments, as guests enjoyed their preview exploration of the exhibition. We were treated to a visual feast of contemporary dance inspired by learning from the (very) tangible past. The dance students choreographed their work as a creative response to the film ‘The Gong’. ‘The Gong’ film illustrates dance teaching at Dunfermline College of Physical Education in the 1960s (which included aesthetic and dramatic forms) and is featured in the exhibition.
University of Edinburgh Main Library Exhibition Gallery: ‘Body Language’ exhibition
The ‘Body Language’ exhibition offers a unique insight into the work and life of Scottish female pioneers in movement, dance and physical education. We discover this through the archive collections of Dunfermline College of Physical Education (one of the first training colleges for female physical education teachers); Scottish Gymnastics (and its predecessors), and Margaret Morris (1891-1980). The exhibition features film, photographic images, textiles, printed works and manuscripts from across these three archive collections. The archive collections of Dunfermline College of Physical Education and Scottish Gymnastics are held at the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh. The Margaret Morris collection is held by our project partner, Culture Perth and Kinross, at their Fergusson Gallery in Perth.
The University of Edinburgh’s Main Library Exhibition Gallery buzzed with the chatter of guests, as members of Dunfermline College of Physical Education Old Students’ Association mingled with archive cataloguing project volunteers, current students with professional and curatorial staff, and academics with dancers. Guests chuckled and nodded in agreement as Professor Ravenscroft compared a visit to the archives to that of a visit to Narnia. We agree that the archives are magical: a treasure chest, full to overflowing, with knowledge, ideas, learning and inspiration. The curation and staging of this exhibition is the culmination of months, if not years, of collaborative work involving archivists, curators, academics and project partners. But it is really only the beginning. The seed has now been planted, from which will grow a range public engagement activities with a variety of communities; academic research, and an enhanced student experience. It is a shining example of how archive collections can inform, inspire, encourage and facilitate inter-disciplinary working, research and creative engagement.
Disclaimer: whilst we agree with Professor Ravenscroft that like Narnia, archives are magical, we must make absolutely clear that they are not fictional, and you definitely cannot access them via the back of your wardrobe. We know, we checked. You can however, get yourself along to the University of Edinburgh’s Main Library Exhibition Gallery to experience for yourself the magic of the ‘Body Language’ exhibition. It’s free and you don’t even need a ticket!
‘Body Language’ runs from 26 July – 26 October 2019 at the University of Edinburgh Main Library Exhibition Gallery, George Square, Edinburgh. The exhibition is open from Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm, with Sunday opening included in August. The exhibition forms part of the University of Edinburgh’s Exhibition programme as well as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme. You can view the student performance from the exhibition launch event here.
Elaine MacGillivray, project archivist.
New to the Library: The New Republic Archive
I’m pleased to let you know that through the Saunders endowment for North American history the Library has been able to purchase The New Republic Magazine Archive from EBSCOhost. This digital archive offers a searchable full-text backfile of all issues of The New Republic from 1914 onwards.
You can access The New Republic Magazine Archive via DiscoverEd. You will also soon be able to access it via the Databases A-Z list or the Newspapers, magazines and other news sources guide. Read More
New to the Library: Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865
I’m happy to let you know that the Library now has access to Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865 from British Online Archives. This database contains a wide range of documents concerning the African slave trade during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The papers focus primarily on Jamaica and the West Indies but also cover the experience of other nations and regions.
You can access Slavery: supporters and abolitionists, 1675-1865 via the Databases A-Z list and the Digital primary source and archive collections guide.You can also access it via DiscoverEd.
Through a combination of statistics, correspondence, pamphlets, and memoirs, Slavery: supporters and abolitionists offer insights into the commercial and colonial dimensions of slavery and the views of its advocates and opponents. Read More
New! Tanzania and Malawi in records from colonial missionaries, 1857-1965
I’m pleased to let you know that the Library now has access to Tanzania and Malawi in records from colonial missionaries, 1857-1965 from British Online Archives. This database gives you access to 54,550 digital pages from the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) archives including correspondence, journals, magazines, books, reports, etc.
You can access Tanzania and Malawi in records from colonial missionaries, 1857-1965 via the Databases A-Z list, the Digital primary source and archive collections guide or the African Studies databases list. You can also access it via DiscoverEd.
The UMCA was founded in the late 1850s, after the return of Dr David Livingstone from the region in 1857. This high church Anglican society drew its missionaries initially from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and Dublin. Under its motto “A servant of servants”, from its main centres of Zanzibar and Nyasaland (now Malawi), the UMCA began from an early date opposing the slave trade and promoting the education of the indigenous people and the training and ordination of African priests. Read More
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
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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
Presentation My name is Lishan Zou, I am a fourth year History and Politics student....