Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
December 17, 2025
New E-Journal – North American Journal of Celtic Studies
The Library now subscribes to the North American Journal of Celtic Studies.
The North American journal of Celtic studies (NAJCS) is devoted to the study of all of the disciplines that fall under the purview of the field of Celtic studies, including, but not limited to, archeology, art, folklore, history, law, linguistics, literature, manuscript studies, mythology, and politics. Contributions are welcome for all time periods from the ancient world to the present.
Access this journal via DiscoverEd or our e-journals AZ list.
Scientific Analysis of Heritage Collections using XRF – Employ.ed Internship 2019
This week’s blog post comes from Cameron Perumal who recently began a 10-week Employ.ed internship in the Conservation Studio at the CRC…
Two weeks into my Employ.ed internship, and I have already learned so much about conservation, and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry! I am currently an undergraduate Astrophysics student, and my internship entails me working with Emily Hick, the Special Collections Conservator, to research ways in which XRF can help us understand more about the collections. I’ll also be doing outreach to increase awareness on XRF and how it can be used in conservation to improve the condition and understanding of the collections held by the University of Edinburgh.
By the end of my first week, I had started my radiation training, seen the XRF in action being used by another intern, Despoina, to analyse pigments of a painting on the soundboard of a harpsichord, and been able to see the various (frankly, quite beautiful) collections stored by the University.
Intern Despoina using the new XRF machine to analyse the pigments used on the soundboard paintings of harpsichords made by the Ruckers family
Library & University Collections Journal Club 2019-20
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Library & University Collections Journal Club meetings in 2019. We’ve now planned a further programme of dates for the 2019/20 academic year.
Come and join us to talk about a recently published article each month from the field of Library & Information Science. We’re aiming to keep informed about practitioner research, and reflect on how theory relates to our practice. This is a great way for staff to develop their knowledge of the wider professional context for their continuing professional development.
This is an informal session open to staff from across Information Services Group as well as interns, volunteers and students on library & information related courses. We meet on the first Wednesday of each month, 12-1pm, alternately at Argyle House and the Digital Scholarship Centre, Main Library. You can see the articles proposed for discussion on our Journal Club Resource List, and you can suggest articles to discuss each month. Please come ready with your questions, comments and complaints about the article of the month.
| Dates | Location | |
| 04 September 2019 |
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| 02 October 2019 | Digital Scholarship Centre, Main Library | |
| 06 November 2019 | Argyle House Meeting Room 8 | |
| 04 December 2019 | Digital Scholarship Centre, Main Library | |
| 08 January 2020 | Argyle House Meeting Room 8 | |
| 05 February 2020 | Digital Scholarship Centre, Main Library | |
| 04 March 2020 | Argyle House Meeting Room 8 | |
| 01 April 2020 | Digital Scholarship Centre, Main Library | |
| 06 May 2020 | Argyle House Meeting Room 8 | |
| 03 June 2020 | Digital Scholarship Centre, Main Library |
Baltic, Books and Solidarity: Gdańsk University of Technology (GUT) International Staff Week
Gdańsk University of Technology
I was delighted to be able to participate in the 4th International Staff Week at the Biblioteki Politechniki Gdańskiej recently. I work as the Senior Photographer for Edinburgh University’s Library and University Collections, so when I saw that the programme included a visit to the Pomeranian Digital Library it looked like a great opportunity. Additionally, this was the home institution of one of the delegates on our own Knowledge Exchange Week in 2018, allowing further development of previous Erasmus links.
Edinburgh Research Archive Statistics: May 2019
Edinburgh Research Explorer Statistics: May 2019
‘This Single Song of Two’: Centenary of the Marriage of Edwin and Willa Muir
7 June 2019 marks the centenary of the marriage of Edwin and Willa Muir, one of Scottish literature’s great creative partnerships. Acclaimed in their own right as poet and novelist respectively, they worked together as a translating team to bring the novels and stories of Franz Kafka to an English-speaking audience.
Edinburgh University holds a number of remarkable documents, bearing witness to their long and exceptionally close union.
Read More
Normandy landings: through our digital primary sources
On this day, 6 June, 75 years ago the Normandy landings took place. This was part of a major combined naval, air and land assault on German-occupied France by Allied forces, codenamed Operation ‘Overlord’. The D-Day landings saw around 150,000 Allied troops land on French soil but it was just the start of a much longer operation to liberate France. In this week’s blog post I have pulled together just a small selection of our digital library resources that will help you explore the Normandy landings, the events leading up to it and the aftermath. And you can use many of these to find out more about the many other events happening around this time that contributed to the end of the Second World War.
D-Day For the Second Front, ‘Illustrated London News’, Saturday 10 June 1944, pp. 644-645. From Illustrated London News Archive.
What did the papers say?
Operation Overlord was top secret, so it wasn’t until the 6th June that news of the invasion began to filter through. Reports of the Normandy landings does appear in some late editions of newspapers from that day but it is mostly covered in issues published the next day, 7th June, or on next subsequent publication date.
Front page of the ‘Daily Express’, Wednesday 7 June 1944. From UK Press Online.
The Library subscribes to a large number of digitised newspaper archives that will allow you to see what events were being reported on at the time and how they were being reported. Read full text articles, compare how different newspapers were covering the same issues and stories and track coverage of Operation Overlord from the Normandy landings onwards. Read More
On trial: The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 – 1974
*The Library has access to The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960-1974 until 31st July 2024 as part of ProQuest Access 350.*
Thanks to a request from a HCA student I’m happy to let you know the Library currently has trial access to The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 – 1974 from Alexander Street Press. The Sixties documents the key events, trends, and movements in 1960s America through digitised archive and primary source material.
You can access The Sixties from the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 30th June 2019. Read More
Times Higher Education update
Following a successful first year of a subscription to Times Higher Education Online, we have now renewed it for a further year. Existing subscribers should have received an alert from the publisher that the THE app will be discontinued following the publication of the 6th June issue. For readers who still want to page through the digital version of the weekly THE magazine, the digital editions section of the THE web site allows you to do this, and to download the full weekly magazine for offline reading.
New users, please see our webpage for set up instructions.
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....