Whilst the origin of the oft-quoted proverb “may you live in interesting times” be somewhat obscure, nonetheless, we are living in very interesting times indeed, as will become evident as you read through yet another bumper edition of HeadLines! We will shortly be opening a lovely new museum, and the new library is visible not only for miles around but also in the diaries of many colleagues from across the university! If you want to learn how to make a book from a cow then Word11 is the place for you (or, rather, your children) and there’s a Night at the Museum event too. This issue brings more Doric Delights from Mrs Pirie (this time she focuses on the new museum). We bring an intriguing bit of research relating to King’s College and banknotes, updates on new enhanced digital images from some of our finest photograph collections, an explanation as to why Pixels mean Power. You can also read information on our partnerships with other Scottish Universities, and information on some important interface updates to electronic resources, including the fact that we can now provide walk in access to non-members of the University. There are exhibitions of works from our collections as well as of art inspired by them and information on the many ways in which you can contact us and, specifically, one way to help avoid dissertation stress. As always, we welcome your comments and contributions. If you’ve been taking photographs of the new library then we’d love to hear from you – we’ve established a flickr group to enable the sharing of images.

Today, the University of Aberdeen’s museums are among the largest and most important in Scotland, having been awarded the status of a ‘Recognised Collection of National Significance’. The collections reflect the activities of generations of students, staff, and friends of King’s College, Marischal College and University throughout its history. They include hundreds of thousands of specimens collected as a result of scientific research, such as those in the geology, anatomy, pathology, herbarium and zoology collections, many of which are on show in the university’s Zoology Museum. Likewise, scientific instruments have been preserved, ranging from late 18th century demonstration apparatus made by Professor Patrick Copland to those associated with 20th century electronics research.

Other items reflect the interest that scholars had in local history and natural history, alongside collections amassed by those who travelled much more widely. Among these are the collections of medical graduate Robert Wilson who travelled in Egypt and the Near East in the early 19th century, and those of another medical student, William MacGregor, who rose to become colonial governor of Fiji, New Guinea, Nigeria, Newfoundland and Queensland. He donated his collections to the university in the hope of encouraging other students to be equally adventurous, declaring that there was ‘more to the world than ‘Aberdeen and twal’ mile roon’.

As King’s Museum will be far too small to show more than a minuscule fraction of these collections, it will instead have a programme of exhibitions that will change every few months. This will also enable students and university staff to collaborate with museum professionals to curate exhibitions that will bring the results of recent research to a public audience. With an educational programme for schools, the museum’s evening lecture series and other events such as the annual ‘Night at the Museum’, this new exhibition space will become a place where objects and ideas can be explored in many ways that would have been inconceivable to those who have collected and curated the collection over the past centuries. We hope that the museum will become a friendly place, where passers-by – students, staff, tourists, anyone - can drop in for a break and look at something interesting; a place of stimulation and reflection in the middle of the busy campus.

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Foo’r yi deein? Noo, ah wis winnierin if yi kent thit wir gin ti be openin a new museum on I High Street? It’ll bi in I aal Clydesdale Bunk, jis across I road fae Kings, in it’ll bi caad Kings Musuem.

It's gin ti be afa graan – nae big mind you – bit afa bonny. Yi see wi hiv a greit big museum it Marischal College bit et’s bin shut for twa eers or mair see-ins it i Cooncil is taakin ower maist o I it fir ther new offices. Wee aa I bildin work, ere wis nae wai it quid bide opin so naebiddy his bin ere fir ages.

Neil, the boss-mannie, wis afa pit oot it naebody quid see aa I afa rare stuff it wi hiv, in ony wy, he wis aye hopin it he’d git a shottie it hae-in somewye in Aal Aiburdeen, aside a i students, fir an “on-campus resource” it wid maak it easier fir fowk tae git richt in aboot tae aaa o I treasures. So aats fit I first show’ll bi aaa aboot – ets caad 100 Curiostes, in et’ll hae a richt conglomeration o rare things.

In annither thing, Neil’s bin workin wee some students in laatin im Curate thir ain exhibitions: nae jist wee I 3-D stuff, bit thiv bin workin wi archival papers its aboot I same stuff in aaa, so aats fit the neest exhibition’ll be. Nae aabiddy gits tae dee aaat kin o thing in ither places, so wir students is fair chuffed thit they can.

Noo if yir wantin tae ken mair aboot wir museums, yi quid hae a look it wir website it ess address http://www.abdn.ac.uk/museums/

Or if yir needin ti hae a news, jist gees a phone (Tel: +44(0)1224 274301 · Email: museum@abdn.ac.uk).

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The last decade has seen a phenomenal shift in the delivery of information from print to electronic format, especially in the area of journals. This has helped academic libraries save space by removing print runs from the shelves. However, it has disadvantaged members of the public as they have been unable to access the electronic version due to licensing restrictions imposed by the database providers. This is gradually changing and we can now offer a selection of our databases to non-members of the university.

The University of Aberdeen Library is one of the first in Scotland to offer a Walk-in Users’ Service. From a dedicated PC in Queen Mother Library, members of the public, school pupils, retired staff and students from other universities can now access databases like JSTOR, ScienceDirect and many other major academic publishers. Books from the 15th century onwards, the 19th century Press & Journal, parliamentary papers and international bibliographies are now accessible to anyone who registers for this free service.  Registered users can book an hour slot in advance and download articles onto a memory stick.

The service is available to within 1 hour of the library closing, 7 days a week. For more information contact the Queen Mother Library (Tel: +44 (0)1224 27-3600 · Email:library@abdn.ac.uk).

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The University of Aberdeen has made available online over 35,000 high resolution digital versions of images originally taken during the latter half of the nineteenth century by the Aberdeen photographic firm George Washington Wilson & Co*.

Born in the North East of Scotland, George Washington Wilson (1823-93), became established in Aberdeen in the 1850s as an 'artist and photographer'. Wilson's camera ranged all over Britain and the colonial townships of South Africa and Australia, as well as the western Mediterranean.

The collection was first digitised in the mid-1990s, but advances in web delivery since then have allowed these high resolution images to be made available online for the first time. These images allow the examination of details previously hidden from the naked eye, opening up extraordinary possibilities for new research.

The new online George Washington Wilson collection is part of an ongoing enhancement of access to the Library’s extensive digital image resources. The database will soon be enriched by the addition of the Aberdeen Harbour Board Photographic Collection, which contains around 6,000 images from the 1880s to the 1930s.

*The stock of G. W. Wilson & Co. was auctioned off in 1908. The plates passed into the possession of Fred Hardie, and then to the photographer, Archibald J. B. Strachan, who, on moving to new and smaller business premises in 1954, offered them to the University Library. The University is pleased to acknowledge the foresight and beneficence of Mr Strachan.

To view these collections and more click here.

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Chris Banks, the University Librarian, recently received a query from America which set off a train of research within Library and Historic Collections. Jeff Schneider, a member of the International Bank Note Society, is an avid collector of world paper money. In his collection he has three Scottish notes which feature King’s College. The three notes are dated 1947, 1955 and 1961. The eagle eyed collector noticed that the earliest image from 1947 showed King’s College with railings at the front but the later two did not. Mr Schneider had searched the internet for images of King’s College with railings but had been unable to find any. His next step was to contact Chris to see if she could shed any light on the matter.

Chris forwarded the query to Special Libraries and Archives where Michelle Gait, Reading Room Manager, took up the challenge. She searched the George Washington Wilson Photographic archive and managed to locate several images which depicted King’s College with the railings (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/gww/index.htm - search for images E4210, F0136 and E0646 - ed.). These images, two dating most likely from, or before, the 1870s, and a third listed in a later catalogue, show quite a tall railing extending the length of the lawn at King's College along in front of the chapel and the Divinity buildings to the right of the archway. Like the railings, the Professor's House on the lawn now also no longer exists.

The assumption of course is that the railings were removed during World War 2 as part of the war effort, along with railings from throughout the UK (the metal being re-used for ship-building and wapons manufacture, for example). The 1947 North of Scotland Bank note showing railings is part of a series which started in 1938, whilst the 1955 Clydesdale & North of Scotland Bank note is part of a series first produced in 1950. Any pictures used for the 1938 issue would have been pre-war whilst the engravings used for the other two would probably have been post-war. Unfortunately it hasn’t been possible to trace any photographs taken during the war period which might have shown exactly when the railings were removed.

In his communication with us Mr Schneider referred to a book by James Douglas entitled Scottish Banknotes (London: S. Gibbons Publications, 1975). We were pleased to discover that we have this book in our own library collection (on Floor 1, Queen Mother Library at 33253 Dou s), and it has a wealth of information on the development and design of Scottish banknotes. Mr Schneider himself wrote an article on collecting Scottish banknotes, "Oh Those Beautiful Scotties", published in 2005 in the Journal of the International Bank Note Society, vol. 44(1). The article title refers to a quote from the 1939 American movie "Gunga Din".

Mr Schneider would be delighted to hear if anyone has photographs of Kings in the immediate pre-war era which might show the existence of the railings then. If you are able to help please contact L&HC Documentation Team at factsheet@abdn.ac.uk

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Making the full text of your research available on open access is simple. Most publishers (not just open access journals) will allow some version of articles to be made available through AURA. We’re working to make it clear what version can be used when you record research outputs in Pure, and the AURA team are checking those already in Pure and adding messages in the database asking for the appropriate version. However as Pure allows you to add multiple files to each research output why not add your first submission, final peer-reviewed submission and published version as they’re completed? The AURA team will then make the appropriate version available, taking care of any embargos and ensuring the correct rights statements are included.

Making your research available on Open Access is a great way to reach new audiences and increase impact. You can use AURA to make sure your research reaches everyone. We always provide links to the published version so your download and citation counts increase.

And for the romantically inclined the title of that 100th piece of research: " The clinical effectiveness of transurethral incision of the prostate".

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Are you going to be working on your dissertation over the summer?

Why don’t you give yourself a head-start by signing up for information skills workshops on using some of our major electronic databases to search for journal articles and books?

A few hours invested in brushing up on your searching skills at the beginning of your research will save you heaps of time!

Book in April for workshops starting after exams in June at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking/

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RefWorks has been modernised and a new interface (RefWorks 2.0) is now expected to come out of beta testing in May 2011. Then, during the summer, the new interface will be applied to the Write-N-Cite (WNC) utility.

We’ll be offering refresher sessions on the spruced up RefWorks service and fully updated workshops in the new academic year. However, you can experience the new screens at the moment by logging in to your RefWorks account and clicking on the RefWorks 2.0 option in the top right of the screen to move from the current/classic interface to the new one. To click back to the current screens select RefWorks Classic at the top of the new interface.

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Elsevier’s Sciverse interface for the Scopus and ScienceDirect databases was upgraded in late February, resulting in a number of changes: for more details click here or just access Scopus and try out a search!

Improvements have been made to the results display: no need to ‘Add a Category’ to find out about document types as this is now the default option. And if you are interested in trying out the beta version of the SciVerse Hub facility you’ll find that there have been a number of improvements there too, with de-duplication of results and new icons to identify document types.

So, there’s a changed look to some of the screens with intuitive and easier to use options. Library workshops on the SciVerse database interface will be on offer soon but, in the meantime, try them out and if you have any queries just get in touch.

iPhone owners can install apps that will search SciVerse ScienceDirect and Scopus and can download peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Search for Sciverse Sciencedirect and Sciverse Scopus alerts in the App Store. iPhone user guides for ScienceDirect and Scopus are available to help you too.

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Twitter – follow us here for brief and timely updates (tweets), including any news about resources or access issues. Our account is called aberdeenunilib

Facebook - visit the L&HC Facebook group for news, links, photos and discussions. Become a member and join in the discussions

Instant Messaging (IM) – Have a question? Contact a librarian using the Ask a Librarian (Meebo) Instant Messaging service on the L&HC homepage

InfoLinks, the Library Blog – this is where we tell you about general library news, resources (old and new), and so much more!

Flickr – check out our Flickr account to see our photostream of the building of the new library

YouTube – watch our videos on treasures held in our Special Libraries & Archives, and on the new library                                     

Links to all of these networks are on the Library & Historical Collections homepage.

If you have any questions or comments you want to make about any aspect of the Library & Historical collections, why not contact us on one of the above networks?

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Have you noticed the strange pixellated squares which are beginning to appear everywhere? They are Quick Response 2 Dimensional barcodes or QR 2D barcodes for short. They serve much the same function as the striped barcodes we are all so familiar with but they can hold much more information. Taking a photo of the image with a barcode reader on your smart phone enables you to connect directly to a web page. Some nice little programmes such as bit.ly and Beetag mean that any URL can be converted to a QR 2D barcode.

A bit of local research has shown that within the past week, you could have pre-ordered a Call of Duty game for your Xbox 360 from Tesco, obtained details of houses for sale and checked in at the Belmont Cinema. Have you had a look at your boarding pass and flight tickets recently? You’ll find the codes there too. Even the Channel 4 programme Big Brother’s Little Brother used QR Codes on screen throughout the final series, teasing viewers with additional ‘secret’ content only available from the show’s QR Codes.

Increasingly these barcodes are making their way into libraries. The Universities of Bath, Bedfordshire and Huddersfield are all using QR Codes in their library catalogues as a way to save book or journal title details. At Bradford College Library they even set up a murder mystery workshop for library staff. Loosely modelled around an episode of CSI, the delegates had to uncover the true identity of the murderer through a series of clues in the form of QR Codes! Now there’s an idea for summer training!

Library and Historic Collections is ahead of the game and we have been using QR codes since last year. You will find them in the heading of every library guide and we are gradually expanding their use throughout the library as we think of new applications. You will find all the library guide display boxes have codes on them and there are posters in the libraries linking to appropriate guides for that library. The latest step is the creation of posters enabling users to connect directly to the DIT factsheets on setting up laptops to connect to the wireless network.

One DOES have to be careful though. Apparently a QR barcode was used on a British Library poster in the London Underground where, unfortunately, there is no internet service!

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On Tuesday 1 March, Professor Alister McGrath delivered the first in a series of lectures to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. Commissioned by King James I, this Authorised Version, as it is sometimes known, was published in 1611, and has had a profound and widespread influence on the English language and on British society and culture over the last four centuries. This lecture series, comprising six lectures throughout March, April and May, aims to honour and commemorate this seminal text while placing it in its wider context.

Professor McGrath is Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture at King's College London, and is no stranger to the University of Aberdeen, having delivered the Gifford Lectures in 2009. He is a prodigious author of many leading texts, including In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible (Doubleday, 2001). Subsequent lectures will be given by Dr Eyal Poleg and Professor David Fergusson of the University of Edinburgh, Professor Naomi Tadmor of Lancaster University, Professor Adrian Thatcher of the University of Exeter, and Professor Gordon Campbell of the University of Leicester. For full details of the forthcoming lectures, please visit www.abdn.ac.uk/king-james-bible.

Aberdeen holds several early editions of the Authorised King James Version in its Special Collections. The King James Bible was originally printed solely by Robert Barker, the King’s Printer, as a large folio designed for public use in churches, but smaller formats followed. We hold a particularly fine quarto copy from 1613 from Barker’s press. The ornate title page features a heart-shaped text panel flanked by the four Gospel writers, one on each corner. They are bordered by crests representing the twelve tribes of Israel on the left, and by depictions of the twelve Apostles on the right. In common with other early editions, the main text is printed in two columns and characterised by a black letter typeface. This Bible belonged to Dr James Melvin (1795-1853), graduate of Marischal College, a distinguished Latinist and rector of Old Aberdeen’s grammar school. It was presented to the University Library by its then-librarian, W. Douglas Simpson, in 1957.

This copy will be on display in the foyer of the King’s Conference Centre auditorium for the final lecture in the series on the 12th of May where it can be viewed until the close of the Word Festival on the 15th.

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Plant Memory, an exhibition of works by artist Victoria Crowe, which take their inspiration from preserved plant specimens is currently showing at the Old Town House.

While Crowe was painting a portrait of Professor David Ingram of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, talk turned to new collaborative research concerning the use of living and preserved specimens in Botanic Gardens, Libraries, Museums and Herbaria. Assisted by Professor Ingram, Victoria immersed herself in research, initially working towards a new suite of etchings and a book of mixed media prints.

Exploring scientific preservation and recording through artistic means, Crowe’s work provides a new record of original material. The exhibit has been displayed at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, and has toured through the North of Scotland as part of the Highland Council’s winter exhibition calendar.

Alongside Crowe’s art the exhibition also showcases some of Aberdeen University’s own Herbarium specimens, including some that have been catalogued as part of an on-going project to not only provide online access to the University’s collection of 120,000 pressed plants but also to offer insights into the lives of field collectors.

The exhibition also contains the print entitled Real and Imagined World which developed from one of Crowe’s paintings. In this work the reality of a Northern winter is juxtaposed with images relating to The Garden of Eden. In this original print, specially produced and gifted to the University, elements of images and writing from the Aberdeen Bestiary relating to creation have been incorporated into the mysterious and glowing background. The print is a limited edition of 100 and can be purchased for £350 P&P. All proceeds from the sale of Real and Imagined World will go to the University's Sixth Century Campaign.

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The opening exhibition to be held in King’s Museum will be titled ’100 Curiosities’, inspired by the ‘History of the World in 100 Objects’ project of the British Museum and BBC, but also by the title of an early 19th century catalogue of ‘the principal curiosities natural and artificial preserved in the museum’ at Marischal College.

Rather than being selected by a single curator, this exhibition has relied on a hundred of its friends to select the objects to be displayed. Each person has chosen an object that has a personal resonance and has written a caption of 100 words to explain its significance. Contributors include scholars who have selected an object that relates to their own research, such as a historian who chose a Renaissance coin minted in Aberdeen; a zoologist who picked a set of shark jaws; and a geologist who chose a trilobite fossil. The importance of working across disciplines is seen in a number of cases: for example a geologist and a historian jointly selected a fossil fish collected by the 19th century geologist Hugh Miller, and his publication about the fossil, entitled ‘The Old Red Sandstone’. Others have shown different ways of relating to objects, including the designer who has chosen some examples of wooden typefaces and the father who chose a coffee pot, reflecting on the necessity for caffeine when raising a small child.

Not all have found a prose caption to be the only way of interpreting an object. A former artist-in-residence has displayed a painting alongside a Maori treasure box which was its inspiration, while other labels read more like short poems. The connections between some objects and the people who selected them are not immediately obvious, such as a postgraduate student who picked an Aberdeen-made cheese dish, a primary school class who chose a 17th century silver beaker, a local resident who chose a wood-working tool and an author who chose a prehistoric flint. To find out why, you will have to visit the exhibition!

The exhibition is therefore a contemporary version of the Early Modern idea of a ‘cabinet of curiosities’, but instead of being open only to a privileged few, this exhibition is the creation of a range of people with different perspectives. It hopes to challenge the idea of curiosity by exploring how objects can inspire wonder, imagination and personal meanings. As visitors look at objects from many times and places, they will come to understand more about themselves and their own culture as much as gaining an insight into the lives of other people.

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Family historians flocked to the February Friends of Aberdeen University Library talk, held in the Old Senate Room, to learn about the eclectic collections on offer for genealogical research. Our resident expert Andrew MacGregor, Deputy Archivist, gave a lively and informative overview of the wealth of fascinating and often surprising documents available from the University’s 500-plus years of hoarded history, followed by the chance to look through a selection of original documents from Aberdeen’s amazing archives.

The University’s collections are especially strong in five main areas: University Records, Business Collections, Family and Estate Records, Institutional Records and Local Printed Material. With a bit of investigation you could be picking out family faces in the University’s football team photos from the 1870s; leafing through P&O Ferries’ salary books to see how much your great-grandfather earned, or the records of Duff House to see what servants there were up to in the 1760s; finding baptisms, marriages and burials in local church records, or reading about your news-worthy relatives in local papers from centuries gone by.

In addition to our printed documents, there is an increasing number of instantly searchable archives now available online. Special Libraries and Archives have set up the In Memoriam database to commemorate staff, students and alumni of the University who laid down their lives during the wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. If you have any stories or additional biographical information to add, particularly images of the servicemen who died in WW2, then please do get in touch with Deputy Archivist Andrew MacGregor to add your contribution to our records. Also, two significant digitisation projects are underway for the George Washington Wilson Photographic Collection and Harbour Board Collection, which will help bring the lives and landscapes of the past to life in extraordinary detail.

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Having lurked on our shelves for quite long enough it was time to blow the dust from the trusty microfilm reader and set about cataloguing a donation from our Music Department.

The collection of microfilms contains works mainly from the 1700s onwards and includes excerpts and pieces from such relatively well known composers such as C.P.E. Bach through Joseph Haydn to the more obscure, such as Wagenseil. Often the hardest part was deciphering the ancient fonts and handwriting; these often being in a foreign script, thus adding to the challenge!

There were a few gems along the way, for instance the beautiful *Lambeth Choirbook, notable for its age and stunning illuminated content. So it was definitely a useful donation from our music department and will be more accessible now that it is available to find on our catalogue.

* The Lambeth Choirbook can be found on Floor 4, Queen Mother Library at Coll 780.82 R.R.M.R. 69

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I’ve long had a fascination with the Queen Mother Library Basement, or rather the Lower Ground Floor as I still sometimes struggle to remember it is now called. Even from my position in the Cataloguing Room on Floor 1, I still find myself drawn to those shelves which are opened by means of handles. Perhaps it is the slight risk element of being trapped somewhere in the old history stacks; perhaps it’s the sense that almost anything could be found on these shelves (including someone’s sandwich from 1953) but I have always treasured most what can be found in the QML dungeon.

I therefore was pleased when Robin (Armstrong-Viner, Cataloguing Manager) and Keith (O’sullivan, Senior Rare Books Librarian) suggested another opportunity for me to wheel my trolley down into the depths so as to catalogue the works which would be moving to the New Library’s Reading Room. Here were rows and rows of dusty calendars, pipe rolls, great seals, lesser seals, walruses, and various clubs set up to publish obscure pieces of prose. Among them was the club set up by my favourite author - Sir Walter Scott, the greatest ever Scottish writer - named after his home in Abbotsford.

I was in heaven, and what a fitness opportunity the whole project turned out to be; piling books on trolleys, wheeling trolleys, putting the books back. I found out what the Great Pipe was: something to do with accounting in the Middle Ages and nothing at all to do with tobacco, nor with drains.

The cataloguing was interesting and at times quite tricky. It was mainly a matter of turning periodical records into book records, merging what should not have been separated while separating what should not have been merged. Now I’m hoping that the readers in the new Reading Room will be able to find exactly what they are looking for, not only by browsing the shelves but also by looking on the catalogue. But what am I to do without my beloved basem..., sorry, Lower Ground Floor?!

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I imagined their creator to be a Barbara Cartland-esque writer of romantic fiction and was intrigued to learn how wrong my assumptions had been. Catherine Gavin may have written historical sagas which came packaged as romantic epics but her work drew on a background of academic excellence and professional achievement strongly linked to the University of Aberdeen.

From Fraserburgh, Catherine Gavin (1907-1999) began her studies at the university at 16, graduating M.A. in History and English literature in 1928 and subsequently Ph.D. in French History in 1931. She was active in numerous student organisations such as the Dramatic Society, The Debater, and The Literary Society and was well-known as a public speaker, raising the profile of female students within the university community. She was a vocal member of the Unionist Association and this political activity was notable at a time when women’s suffrage remained a contentious issue. After graduation, Catherine Gavin held posts with the Scottish Unionist Association and stood as a candidate for parliament at the age of 24. Although she was unsuccessful at election, her campaign skills were praised and her youth and gender was frequently the subject of comment.

Dr Gavin returned to the university as an assistant in History in 1932-1934 and 1941-43, finally leaving to pursue a distinguished career in journalism. This saw her become the first women leader writer at a London publication before putting her expertise in French history and politics to great use as a British war correspondent in Paris. Present at the German surrender at Rheims in May 1945, Dr Gavin was decorated for her contribution to the war effort.

After marriage to an American man, she moved to the US and wrote several historical novels based on her deep knowledge of European history. Catherine Gavin maintained a life-long interest in the university. She was honoured with a D.Litt and served as a member of the Committee of the University Development Trust. A room in the King’s College Conference centre bears her name and it is appropriate that her fascinating career and connection to this institution is commemorated.

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Our library is currently involved in a number of innovative initiatives under the SCURL banner, including a Walk-in Access Project Group which has been set to investigate and provide recommendations that will help visitors to university, college, and public libraries in Scotland connect to licensed e-resources.

Another important SCURL initiative in tough financial times is the collaborative procurement of e-resources for the Scottish Higher Education Digital Library. SHEDL increases value for money and availability of e-content: in 2011 staff and students at Aberdeen and throughout Scotland will notice access to additional e-journal titles from the publisher Intellect, and through Project Muse, which provides access to full-text journals in humanities and social science subjects.

SCURL was recently presented with a shared services award for the SHEDL initiative at an event at the Scottish Parliament hosted by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) and MSP Peter Peacock.

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On 26th August 1992 a fire destroyed the national and university library of Sarajevo and the bulk of their collections following shelling by first the Yugoslav and then the Serbian armies.

An initiative is now underway to rebuild the library. The request to individuals and libraries is modest: send two books.

In their words:

... the first book you send us to be a contemporary publication in one of the world languages, related to common knowledge in social or natural science (Philosophy, Law, Medicine, Literature etc...), which can benefit our students in many ways (please see the list of suggestions on our webpage)

... the second book to be in your own language, related to your city, culture, history, geography, architecture etc... so that our library users can benefit from this multilingual and intercultural exchange

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In Issue 5, I had acquired a painting of Lincoln’s Inn Fields by ‘Sickert Girl’ Christina Cutter, and I’ve been lucky to find another rare work by a ‘Sickert Girl’, (Edith) Wendela Boreel (1895–1985); a nocturnal oil entitled 'Exchange Station Hotel, Liverpool' (where poet Siegfried Sassoon often stayed, and where he wrote his 'A Soldier's Declaration' in 1917). Although undated, I have used a selection of Queen Mother Library books to attribute a date of 1922 to the work, which is the date of an exhibition at Liverpool’s Walker Gallery by the three ‘Sickert Girls’: Wendela Boreel, Marjorie Lilly (1891–1976) and Christina Cutter (1893–1969). They met in 1917 as part of Sickert's Fitzroy Street circle, and Boreel was one of the most talented pupils. Sickert was impressed by Boreel’s natural artistic gift and established her in a studio in Mornington Crescent, where she would paint each morning, then visit him for instruction the following afternoon.

Marjorie Lilly authored * Sickert: the Painter and his Circle (1971), quoting the prospectus Sickert published in 1917 in relation to his classes and his selection of students:

“Unlikely to benefit would seem to be: (i) painters whose practice is already thoroughly set in methods its continuance in which Mr Sickert would be unable to encourage and indisposed to check; (ii) students who have already studied with him long enough to have absorbed—or failed to absorb—the little he has to teach. An intelligent student who cannot learn whatever is to be learnt from a teacher in three years will learn no more in thirty. Mr Sickert prefers not to be a party to the creation or perpetuation of what may be called the professional or eternal student, with no other aims than to haunt the art schools as an occupation or distraction in itself.” (Lilly, p63)”

* This book is available on floor 4 in the Queen Mother Library at 759.42 Sic

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The physical removals from the Queen Mother Library have started early, in that our Bindery team moved out of QML in early February. They are now sharing refurbished accommodation at 23 St Machar Drive, across the road from the Hub, with their UniPrint colleagues, giving us the chance to enhance further the cross-training that has been in place since these services merged at the end of 2009.

All contact details for the Bindery remain as before, and work can still be delivered and discussed with the staff in the QML Copy Shop.

For further information please see the recently revised UniPrint web pages.

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One Friday morning in January a group of those of us, who will be working on the first floor of the new library, were given the chance to go and have a look round our new home. First stop was the Pihl office to get kitted out with hard hats, hi-vis jackets and somewhat nicer-than-expected work boots (some of us were reluctant to give them back at the end…) With a few stray snowflakes twirling around us we set off to explore the unknown, with George Johnston and Chris Banks to lead us. The building was very busy with workmen, and it was interesting to note that they obviously take the “courteous construction” line that you see on the boards around the building seriously, since several of them said hello, or spoke to us in the passing, which was rather nice.

The building was nowhere near complete then, so it involved quite a lot of guess work to imagine what it will look like when everything is in place, but the immediate things that strike you are the light which floods in through all that glass, the fabulous views as you go higher up the building, and how much nicer the windows are from the inside! The green bits just look clear, while the “white” bits are solid, and create interesting shapes which frame different views everywhere you look (actually getting any studying done might be a problem for students sitting next to those windows).

Floor 1 didn't have any wall partitions in place, but the size and shape of the rooms could be seen by the divisions in the roof, so you could start to imagine the spaces as they will be. The hole of the atrium was covered on the ground floor, so it was not possible to look up through the gap, but it was interesting to see how the shape changes and moves as you go up the building – it’s huge on the first floor, but shrinks as you climb, and it travels from one side of the building to the other.

We got to climb all the way up to the 7th floor, which warmed us up quite considerably. The views from up there are breathtaking (supposing you have any left after those stairs!) From the sea at one side, over the town, and to hills I didn’t even realise were there, you can see for miles, especially on such a cold and brilliantly sunny day. Looking over towards the sea you can see the whole of the campus, which should serve as a constant reminder of who we’re here to serve, and also perhaps make us feel more part of the University community.

Getting to see inside the building was quite inspiring, and definitely worth the hat-hair!

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An exhibition of medieval manuscripts and books was displayed at the National Library of Scotland between 5th December 2010 – 19th January 2011 to mark the 500th anniversary of Bishop Elphinstone's Aberdeen Breviary.

It is 500 years since the completion of the Aberdeen Breviary - the book for which printing was introduced to Scotland. This service book for the pre-Reformation church in Scotland was compiled under the direction of William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, who founded King's College, Aberdeen, and was counsellor to James III and James IV. It was produced in Edinburgh by Chepman and Myllar, Scotland's first printers. To mark the anniversary, NLS teamed up with the University of Aberdeen to put together a display of illuminated manuscripts and incunables (books printed before 1501) to celebrate Elphinstone's achievement and to set the breviary in its context of the Renaissance in Scotland during the reign of James IV. Two copies of the breviary went on show - one from NLS collections and one from the University of Aberdeen Library.

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On the evening of 15th February, Keith O’Sullivan, Senior Rare Books Librarian, addressed the local branch of the Saltire Society at Rubislaw Church Centre, Aberdeen. The theme of his illustrated talk was Aberdeen’s special collections, both archival and printed: from the medieval Aberdeen Bestiary to twentieth-century gems such as the library of John Bisset Chapman. Emphasis was given to the fact that our special holdings continue to grow to this day, as witnessed by the donation of a fabulous collection of 18th and 19th century satirical prints and associated books by Loretta Glucksman in 2008. Keith also spoke about access to and promotion of these rare and unique holdings, and the likely opportunities of the New Library upon the delivery of services to a much wider audience.

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In February, Siobhán Convery, Head of Special Libraries and Archives, attended the 11th Annual NPF North Sea Decommissioning Conference in Bergen, Norway, and delivered a paper to an audience of over 200 oil and gas professionals on the University’s oil and gas archive and the Capturing the Energy project, which aims to promote wider awareness of the technical and cultural importance of the offshore industries which have had such significant impact on the North-east of Scotland, and help to preserve their records for posterity.

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Welcome

Congratulations and welcome to new colleagues who are joining us or moving to new positions in the next few weeks.

Eleni Boromboka (Senior Information Assistant, Taylor Library)
Jill Barber (Departmental Finance Person)
Georgia Brooker (Communications Coordinator)
Sarah Edwards (UniPrint van driver /Custodian)
Emma Fowlie (PA to University Librarian and Director)
Janet MacKay (Information Advisor)
Claire Partouche (Senior Information Assistant, Medical Library)
Mark Perry (Chief Custodian)
Federico Luzzi, Lisa Nitsche and Emily Retkiewicz (Evening/Weekend Information Assistants, QML)
Judy Krzeczek, Kieran Rothnie, Ruth Wilson (Evening/Weekend Information Assistants, Medical Library)
Emma Endean, Marinella Johnston, Nabi Moaven-Hashemi and Erika Nilsson (Evening/Weekend Information Assistants, Taylor Library)

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We bid farewell

We would like to say cheerio to colleagues who left the University in recent months. We extend our grateful thanks for their contribution to the work of L&HC, and we hope they are enjoying their well-deserved retirement.

Helen Merchant
Liz Mackie
Hilda Gauld
Susan Gibson
Jeanette MacDougall
Ann Milne
Helen Stevenson
Barry Wiffin
Bill Wisely
Margo Wright

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