Maughan Library - 07/29/10

King's College London was founded in 1929 at the Strand Campus. There are several other campuses including Waterloo, Denmark Hill, and St. Thomas, most of these are in health related fields. It is one of the top 25 universities in the world and the fourth oldest university in England.

I visited Maughan Library at King's College and got to view the many amenities it holds that serve its students. It is home to many areas of study including Byzantine and Modern Greek, European Studies, English, geography, music, history, and philosophy. The facility provides audio-visual equipment including VHS, DVD, CD, LP, audiocassettes, and minidisc players. There are PAWS stations with large monitors, large print keyboards, disabled parking, deaf alerters, accessible workstations, page turners. Photocopiers, lockers, ergonomic equipment, and wireless networking are also available.

The collection includes over two million books and thousands of journals. The current building was vacant in the 1990's until it was taken as a library. Basically four libraries were brought into one when the collections were brought to this site. The cost savings of combining four libraries has allowed for longer hours of business. It was officially opened in 2001 after all the renovations were complete, and now it serves 11,000 students.

I visited the Foyl Special Collections Library which holds over 150,000 printed items. Here there are many historic medical collections from the King's College Hospitals, Florence Nightingale Collections which include statistical maps of the deaths and disease that occured during the Crimean War, a Treaty on Surgery dated 1514, a medical students manuscript of notes and recipes from 1607, and a booklet made by a Jew who was held in a consentration camp. This individual was expecting the arrival of the Red Cross and drew inaccurate pictures showing life in the camp not as it truly was, but with coffee houses, a butchery, etc. He did not survive. I was also able to see photographs of the bridge where the allies crossed the Rhine River, documents on slavery and the abolition of slavery, many items on botany and natural history, and a 4th edition Gray's Anatomy.

Conservation is not done in house and typical, basic steps for preservation is followed such as use of acid-free papers and boxes. They are currently trying to digitize collections but due to lack of time and money available, the librarians are trying to choose items that are unique to process first.

Link: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/

(Image available at http://www.stonewest.co.uk/)

Windsor Castle - 07/25/10

This is the largest inhabited castle in the world. Now a royal palace, this thousand year old structure originated as a fortress. It is one of the three principal residences of Queen Elizabeth II, the British Monarch. The other two are Buckingham Palace and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The castle was originally built by William the Conquerer who reigned from 1066 to 1087. His original site stood where the Round Tower now stands. It was his son King Henry I who first lived in the castle.

While here I visited the State Apartments, the Drawings Gallery, and Queen Mary's Dolls' House. I viewed King Henry VIII's gate, ate the Queen's ice cream, and took some footage of a marching guard. The apartments were quite ornate but I was most entrigued by the Queen's Dolls' House. The doll house was built in the early 1920's for Queen Mary who was the wife of King George V. It was designed by Lutyens and is a very realistic miniature house. It is filled with many artistic and crafty items of furnishings and many of the items in the house actually work. It showcases the very finest of decor including replicas of items in Windsor Castle, and the curtains, and carpets are also replicas. It is over 3 feet tall, and includes the products of well known companies of the era. The bathrooms are fully plumbed and I was astonished to learn that the toilets flush! Better than all this is the fact that several writers contributed to the display and supplied miniature books to fit the house. Some of these writers include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who specifically wrote a short story, " How Watson Learned the Trick" for the project, J.M. Barie, Thomas Hardy, and Rudyard Kipling. There were also painters who provided miniature pictures.

The Drawings Gallery had many great items on display including some of Leonardo da Vinci's works, Studies on Light and Studies on Water dated 1510. There were lots of Italian artists presented in the drawings, including drawings by Guercino. Views throughout the estate were beautiful, and unfortuneately I was unable to visit St. George's Chapel.


Link: http://www.royal.gov.uk/



(Image available from http://www.mapsofworld.com/)

Louvre - 07/24/10

What's a trip to Paris without stopping in at the Louvre! It seems whenever I go I am extremely short of time and this is not a place to want to skip over things. The original structure was built in the 12th century. This was the main point of my visit and I went down to the lower levels to the Medieval Louvre where you can find the remains of the moats that were dug by Philip Augustus and Charles V in the 14th century. Originally the Louvre was built as a fortress to help the city defend itself against the Anglo-Normans. The Salle Basse or "Lower Hall" is all that remains of the medieval interior of the Louvre. Vaulting and columns are still present that date from 1230 to 1240.

In 1364 it began to change into a royal residence rather than fortress. In 1527 the Grosse Tour which was the medieval keep was demolished and it soon transformed into a Renaissance Palace. Later Louis the XIV would create a palace 500 meters away (Tuileries Palace) and the Grande Galerie would later connect the two buildings.

Also on my visit I strolled the halls and spent some time looking at Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa and tried to get a few good photographs (nearly impossible with the numbers of people crowding these two items). Wandering through the less crowded rooms was a lot more relaxing and enjoyable. Outside the crowds all sat with their feet in the fountain trying to cool off, I took the chance to take more pictures of the pyramid and outside building.

Link: http://www.louvre.fr/

(Image available at http://www.personal.psu.edu/)

Palace of Versailles - 07/23/10

Can you say "grand"? This palace was so large and ornate it is hard to describe how decorative it truly is to someone who has never seen it before. Rooms were enormous and I never knew what color to expect for the next room I walked into. Gold abounded throughout, however, and each room was filled with paintings, beautiful furniture, fireplaces, mirrors, and chandeliers. The windows were beautiful as well and overlooked the estate and gardens below. I don't think there is a "bad" view in the whole place! And the details...each floor, papered wall, moulding, doors, and doorknobs, everything was impecable.

I got a few statistics on the place:

Floor space: 67,000 meters squared
Windows: 2,153
Rooms: 700
Staircases: 67
Paintings in the collection: 6,123
Sculptures: 2,102
Furniture and objets d'art: 5,210

If I was amazed by the size of the chateau, I was even more surprised by that of the grounds. The gardens seemed to go on for miles. There were beautiful fountains and lawns and garden mazes of which I only got a small taste during my time there.

Louis XIV expanded this great estate, making it one of the largest palaces in the world. During the French Revolution in 1789 the royal family had to leave and stay in Paris, furnishings were later sold off. The establishment of a museum at this site was proposed in 1833. Presently political functions do still occur here, including when the Heads of State are regaled in the Hall of Mirrors. Information on the history of the chateau can be found at: www.en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

(Image available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/)

National Archives of Scotland - 07/20/10

The National Archives of Scotland opened to the public in 1788, and is possibly the oldest archive in the world that is still being used for it's original function. The building was designed by Robert Adam and construction began in 1774. In 1787 the records began to be moved into the completed building.

The NAS is a government agency which includes two divisions, the Record Services Division and the Corporate Services Division, overseen by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. There are 3 buildings, 140 staff members, 8 websites, and over 70 kilometers of records. There are around 250,000 records and 12,000 visits every year. Records include church records, wills and testaments, registers and deeds, family estate papers, private records, court and legal records, photographs, maps and plans, railway and government records.

Of the three buildings, the General Register House was the first. It opened in 1789 and includes a Historical Search Room where the public comes to access and request records and Scotland's People Centre used for heritage purposes. There is a statue here of King George III, and the librarian joked with us that he was the king that "you Americans got rid of." The West Register House was the next to be built in 1811. It includes the West Search Room and is a 15 minute walk to the other end of Princes Street. The third building is the Thomas Thomson House which opened in 1994. This is where extra materials are stored and has shelving up to 10 feet high. The Conservation Department is located here, as well.

Recent developments at the NAS includes an online catalogue (OPAC), "virtual volumes", access to Scottish wills from 1500-1901, digitization of the Church of Scotland records, the Registers Archives Conversion Project, and the Valuation Rolls Project. Several websites are affiliated with the NAS including:
www.nas.gov.uk
www.scan.org.uk
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
www.scottishhandwriting.com


I got to take a close look at some applications and registers at sea which showed the dates of births, deaths, sicknesses, and types of work performed. I also saw cookery books, letters home, and other family records.


(Image available from http://www.tartansauthority.com/)

Dunfermline Carnegie Library - 07/20/10

This library is the first Carnegie Library ever built in the world. Opened in 1883, this library would be the first of over 2,500 libraries with contributions by Carnegie. 8,000 pounds were provided to this building and it's collection of books. A reading room was provided for ladies where only "appropriate" material was available. It is the largest and most used library in the county of Fife in Scotland.

Displays are set up like in a bookstore. and the library includes a lending library, children's library, and the Abbey Room. A portrait of Carnegie, by James Archer hangs in this room. For anyone interested in Andrew Carnegie here is a link from a PBS special: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/. There is also the Millennium Quilt which was sewn by a group of ladies known as the Dunfermline Quilting Circle, it shows the history of Dunfermline. A tapestry and other artwork can also be found here. In the children's library, which opened in the 1930's, windows and bright colors decorate the room. There is storytelling, school visits, author visits, and sometimes the local zoo will bring in small insects or animals for the children to view. Baby and toddler "rhymetimes" are also performed. The Abbey Room used to be the music room, but they have now been discontinued. Instead the space is being used as a place for exhibits. It currently has a large Egyptian sarcophagus and previously exhibited a "local heroes" venue.

A local histoy room provides the private collection of Erskine Beveridge, a manufacturer from Dunfermline. Family and Local history research is also available. Maps, books, slides, and pictures can all be found here, as well as newpapers, census papers, and a mining memorial book. There are 28 staff members, who for the last year have been ttrying to get everything catalogued and placed online. This would provide access at home, as the material in this section of the library is for reference only and cannot be borrowed outside of the library.

The special collections department opened in 1922. It holds the Murrison Burns collection and Robert Henryson Collection. I was able to view lots of great items here including works by Thomas Aquines from 1471, a 4th edition of Milton's "Paradise Lost" from 1588, Shakespeare's 2nd folio, as well as some of his poems, and Chaucer's works dated from 1602. There are also several graduals, books of hours, two Wedgewood busts of Burns of which there are only ten in existence, and a pontifical from Florence dated 1520. It was a great collection and the librarian was very enthusiastic about her job!

(Image available at http://www.scotcities.com/)

Central Library, Edinburgh - 07/19/10

This library, located close to the Royal Mile, is quite large. It stores more than 850,000 items including books, periodicals, cd's, and audiobooks. Aside from the main library there is a fine art library that houses information on art, design, and photography to name a few. There is also a reference library, the central lending library, a learning centre where computers are available to patrons, and a resource centre for diabled people. The library has developed an online site for the community where local events, activities, and web resources can be located. Also information on health services, education, and advice support groups are found here.

The Edinburgh Room has a collection of over 200,000 items that deal with the history and life of Edinburgh. You are not able to check this material out of the library, as it is reference only, but access at the library is available. Proof of identification is all that is needed for viewing rare items. The collections include several biographies including Alexander Graham Bell. Manuscripts include letters, diaries, minutes, and recollections of various Edinburgh residents. There are also maps of the city that date from the 16th century to current times and literature that includes works by Arthur Conan Doyle, JK Rowling, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Walter Scott. There is information on newpapers, religion, and theatre, as well as an image collection. The Scottish Library contains information on Scottish lineage, and there is a heritage website that includes the heritage image collection. Any and all information on Scotland in general can be found in this portion of the library as well.

For preservation the librarians try to keep the climate stable. The use acid-free papers and boxes, and any conservation measures are done outside, as opposed to in-house. Typically, spines that have been damaged are redone in a style and color close to the original.

The staff are trying to raise the profile of the library and have created a newletter to which 2,000 people subscribe. There is also a blog, "Tales of Once City" and they try to post daily. Twitter is also used and a "mystery photo" which is posted gets a large response from the community. Author events are scheduled, they try to have one event every month, from both emerging and distinguished authors. There are also many reader groups affiliated with the library.

Interesting link from libraries web page: www.ambaile.org.uk/en/view_partner.jsp?id=19


(Image available at http://www.edinburgh-scotland.net/)