The Library Blog

Edinburgh Napier University Library blog. Filled with useful and fun blog articles on using the Library, the University, Edinburgh and many other fun topics.

Page 18 of 48

Festive tradition

Lost Days and old Christmas

17/12/2024 / / 0 Comments

Lost Days and Old Christmas

We are nearing the end of this leap year, a year when we have one extra day in February. If you are celebrating Christmas on December 25th spare a thought for the residents of the Shetland island of Foula who will not celebrate Christmas until 6th January. Why would they do this?

It all stems from the changes made to the calendar used in the UK in the 1700s. Up until 1752 the calendar used in Britain was the Julian Calendar. It was based on the solar year (the time it takes for the Earth to rotate around the sun) which meant it was 365.25 days in length. Fractionally too long, over time the calendar fell out of line with the seasons. Nowadays we use the Gregorian Calendar named after Pope Gregory XII who introduced it in 1582. The year corresponds closely with the astronomical year which is 365.24219 days long and this gives us a leap year once every four years. Not all countries of the world adopted the calendar at the same time, in fact it took more than 300 years for the change to be complete.

When the Gregorian calendar was adopted Britain “lost” 11 days as the date jumped from September 2nd to September 14th. There were protests in the streets as people thought that the government had robbed them of eleven days of their lives.

Before the calendar was changed, Christmas was celebrated on the equivalent of the 6th of January according to the Gregorian calendar. That is why in some places people still call the 6th January Old Christmas Day. Today, Foula in the Shetland Islands is one of the last places to celebrate Christmas and New Year on the old calendar dates. While they don’t live by the Julian calendar on a daily basis, the Foula community takes advantage of these special dates to celebrate their strong Norse tradition of folklore and music, with islanders traditionally gathering in one house to celebrate the Old Christmas with traditional music, songs and play guidicks – Shetland dialect riddles.

Old Christmas or Yule takes place on 6th January and New Year on 13th January. In the past Yule celebrations would last 24 days with barn dances and traditions such as playing ba’ – a form of football but seemingly without rules – using a ball made from a pig’s bladder. This was a feature of Yule celebrations until the early 20th century in Shetland. Today in Orkney, the Ba game is still an integral part of the festive celebrations.

Now many Foula residents head to the Shetland mainland to spend “New Christmas” with relatives there, then head back to Foula for their traditional Christmas and New Year in January. Former residents return to the island too. Many Foula emigrants still celebrate Old Christmas where they now live.

Wherever and however you are celebrating we hope you all enjoy the festive break.

By Vivienne Hamiliton

Image by Mariana B.

Get in the festive period with more Christmas blog posts 

Publishing Archive Day

12/12/2024 / / 0 Comments

Publishing Archive Day

Last month, together with Avril Gray of the Publishing Programme and Laura Cooijmans-Keizer, Senior Curator of University Heritage Collections, I was able to celebrate Book Week Scotland by showcasing treasures from the Edward Clark Collection, held in Merchiston Library.
This unique resource illustrates the development of book printing processes and changing styles from the earliest years of letterpress printing in Europe in the 15th century. In addition to the printing of text, items in the collection show the evolving techniques used for illustration. Woodcuts were the most commonly found in the earlier period, and the method predates the use of movable metal type. The wood blocks in the collection were used for printing playing cards, but date from the nineteenth century. By this period, other techniques were in use for book illustration, perhaps the best known being the copperplate engravings found in 18th century titles. A lesser-known highlight includes an edition of Thomas Bewick’s Birds (1825): the wood engraving of puffin proved particularly popular with visitors to the event. The introduction of the new technique of lithography in the early 19th century led to developments in colour printing of which The Poultry Book, printed by Leighton Brothers in 1853 is a splendid example.
The collection was originally gathered together for the use of apprentices in the printing industry, attending day- and block-release courses at Heriot Watt College during their training. Bringing it to life for another generation of students and staff at Napier is such a pleasure. It was transferred to Napier College, as it then was, when it took over responsibility for apprentice training in 1964. 
Abstract by  Dr H. Williams.

Edward Clark Collection: History Of Publishing

Edinburgh Napier University has been home of the Edward Clark Collection since the 1960s.  The collection showcases the history of publishing in the Western World. Edward Clark was a prominent publisher in Edinburgh in the late 19th century. The collections show the development of typography, binds and illustrations.  There is around 5000 items, some of which dates back to the 15th century.

Along with the Edward Clark Collection, our Heritage Collections encompass five other collections, and you can find more information on their webpages. 
And don’t forget, tours of Merchiston Tower, birthplace of our namesake John Napier are available.  If interested in seeing the 500-year-old tower, email heritage@napier.ac.uk or library@napier.ac.uk.
Best online resources for finding news: Times Digital Archive & NexisUni

Dewey Decimal System Day

10/12/2024 / / 2 Comments

Dewey Decimal System Day

Today is Dewey Decimal System Day, which honours the creation and establishment of the Dewey Decimal Classification System and American librarian Melvil Dewey (1851-1931) who invented it in 1876. The Dewey Decimal Classification system is a numerical sequencing system which organises primarily non-fiction books and publications into ten main categories to increase findability. It is the most vastly and frequently used library classification system across all libraries, including our very own campus libraries at Edinburgh Napier University.

A bit of History of  the Dewey Decimal System

The Dewey Decimal Classification System has been utilised widely since 1876 and over 200,000 libraries globally in 135 countries have adopted this library classification system to organise their non-fiction stock and publications. Whilst working at the Amherst College Library when he was 21, Melvil Dewey designed the proprietary classification system which was then eventually published in the year 1876. With the 10th of December 1851 having been Melvil Dewey’s date of birth, this calendar date was adopted as Dewey Decimal System Day to annually honour his creation of this widely used system. Its 20th edition was published in the late 20th century after several other editions having been released prior to this.

Dewey Groups

The Dewey Decimal Classification System categorises different genres of mostly non-fiction publications into one of ten classes and works as both a navigation and shorthand identification tool. These classes consist of specific topics and subject areas such as psychology, history or the arts to give a few examples. They are organised and shelved in alphanumerical order depending on which class the resource falls into from numbers 000-900. Each Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) number will also have the first three letters of the author or organisation’s surname noted at the very end of it. You can find the call number classification and their classes listed below.

 

000-099: Computer Science, Information and General Works

100-199: Psychology and Philosophy

200-299: Religion

300-399: Social Sciences

400-499: Language

500-599: Science

600-699: Technology

700-799: Arts and Recreation

800-899: Literature

900-999: Geography and History

These classes are usually divided into subclasses as well. For example, the numerical category 300 covers social sciences, but since a significant number of topics exist within this individual subject area, numerical subcategories can be used to divide and distinguish them all. To illustrate, 320 call numbers cover political science, 340 call numbers cover law and 360 call numbers cover social problems and social services. These categories can be subdivided even further into existing topics within these topics – for example, 327 call numbers cover international relations, 346 call numbers cover private law, and 364 call numbers cover criminology.

All of the books within our campus libraries are organised and shelved in accordance with the Dewey Decimal Classification system. If you sign into LibrarySearch and search for any book within our collection you will find it’s Dewey Decimal Classification number here:

Dewey Decimal System

Acknowledgements…

The Dewey Decimal System significantly revolutionised library science. Findability is at the core of this system’s primary objectives. It was invented with the purpose of being easy to use, simplified and an effective navigation tool for patrons to easily locate and identify specific categories of books and publications for their research or other purposes. The system is also kept up-to-date and progressive through consistent revisions and expansions year to year and is maintained by libraries today using current technologies and library management systems.

 

How we can assist with navigating the DDC system…

 

Some patrons may feel overwhelmed when they first come across the Dewey Decimal Classification system and when using it to find the resources they require. Our library staff are here to assist you with this – you are always more than welcome to ask any of us at our library helpdesks for help with finding a specific book, or books within a specific numerical sequence and genre. Additional information about how to navigate our campus libraries can be found here in the My Napier Library webpage.

 

Recommended Reading…

 

By Rachel Downie

We have a previous blog post on finding books on LibrarySearch

Academic Skills and Study Support

CAB Abstracts Database

27/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

CAB Abstracts Databases

Introducing CAB Abstracts…

CAB Abstracts is one of the many databases we are subscribed to. It offers academic literature and publications on subject areas such as forestry, agriculture, human health and nutrition, animal health, veterinary sciences and conservation and management of natural resources. It was established by the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, originally the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux. The number of documents within its repository is ever-growing and currently reaches a total of over 770,000. These featured publications are from approximately 120 countries worldwide and can be accessed in 50 different languages. This means global representation is particularly prevalent within this database, including for developing nations. The database itself is produced by CABI and is the leading English-language information service.  It provides easy access to hard-to-find academic and research material on subjects such as agriculture, health, and life sciences.

Conducting Searches with CAB…

 

One of the many beneficial features of CAB is its comprehensive subject indexing within the CAB Thesaurus. This is the database’s controlled vocabulary tool. Conducting searches through CAB is therefore easier than in most databases. It allows for more precision when trying to gain access to all relevant research on a particular subject area or topic.

 

For example, imagine yourself being assigned a research project on cardiovascular health, focusing specifically onNext risk factors for cardiovascular disease and how cardiovascular health can also be improved overall. Now imagine you intend to focus on how nutrition can improve cardiovascular health. The first step in the search process may be to input “cardiovascular health” as shown below. This search query does of course bring up a significant and wide variety of results. However, the thesaurus tool can be used to greatly narrow down this overwhelming list of results.

 

CAB database

As you can see here, this search has generated 71,224 results in total! Now let’s narrow down the results by going to the  ‘Subject: Thesaurus Term’ section, then ticking one of the terms listed. Here, we will go with ‘risk factors.’

cab subject

As you can now see below, the search results have narrowed down to 20,436 – a much less overwhelming and more relevant base of results overall!

CAB refine results

We will now see if we can narrow these results down even further by going back to the ‘Subject: Thesaurus Term’ section and clicking on ‘Show more.’ This brings up even more terms, one of which is ‘nutrition.’ This will facilitate the generation of journal articles which cover all areas we intend to focus on regarding cardiovascular health and the research project at hand. As you can see below, we have now managed to narrow down the search results from a total of 71,224 results to 1,723 – a very significant drop!

 

CAB

Under the ‘limit to’ section, you can also narrow down the search results to journal articles published only within a specific period to  reduce the  results even further, or ensure that they are more recent publications with more current research conducted on a specific subject area or issue.

 

Benefits of using the CAB Abstracts database…

 

There are many advantages when using CAB abstracts for research.

  • It fulfils user expectations by allowing them access to the full text of material they are searching for in the CAB abstracts index.
  • Materials which are otherwise difficult to find and had prior been lost to the scientific community are archived and preserved within the CAB abstracts database, making them easily findable within this database.
  • The ease and efficiency of searching for texts and documents within the CAB abstracts database saves users a great deal of time and expense when trying to locate otherwise hard-to-find texts.
  • Invaluable texts which are otherwise hard to find are placed among main-stream literature to allow guaranteed access to all relevant documentation and texts so that search results are not just limited to those which are more readily available. Also ensures that researchers can access the most current research, studies and literature on specific subjects and subject areas
  • Any information and knowledge presented at within reports and at conferences is shared widely within the scientific community as well.
  • Full-volume sets are included, along with archival material from an ever-evolving number of journals. Whilst some material covered is free to access on the internet, CABI’s full-text database ensures that the article is never lost or access to a text is disrupted by broken links.CAB abstracts can be accessed through our A-Z Databases in our Libguide. Along with various other advanced databases and searching tools.

     

    By Rachel Downie

Read about other databases on the library blog here.

Cycle to campus

World Sustainable Transport Day

26/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

World Sustainable Transport Day

You would hardly know it as you try to negotiate your way around Edinburgh’s potholes and roadworks, but it’s World Sustainable Transport Day. It’s a new venture, created last year by the UN and will be celebrated annually on 26th November. This is a day for reflecting on how we can make transport safer, more efficient and greener.

How can we integrate transport options into our natural environment? How can we plan to move people around more quickly, comfortably and reliably while preserving habitats, migrating to cleaner fuel systems and causing the least disruption to our communities?

These are taxing questions, to be sure. Here at Edinburgh Napier, we’re committed to answering them. Our Transport Research Institute has been teaching, consulting and researching since 1996, and in the last few years has included low-carbon transportation and new technology solutions for the future of UK transport and city solutions as part of its thematic focus. If you’d like to know more about our TRI, see here: Transport Research Institute

On a wider level, Edinburgh Council has ambitious plans to commit to their general sustainable transport options. These include encouraging residents, by 2030, to increase their walking by 3% per week, cycling by 35%, journeys by bus or tram by 26% and rail by 12%. This assumes, of course, that residents will be happy to ditch their cars, and that the alternative transport options will be attractive ones. You can monitor the stats and gauge the results here: Targets for a sustainable transport future – The City of Edinburgh Council

Meanwhile, we would encourage you to move around our campuses by foot, bike or bus. We have a wealth of information on bike access and safety, bus timetables and route planning here: Cycling to campus. 

Have a look at the research and innovation that our School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment on their blog.

By Lesley McRobb

 

Photo of trees for National tree Week blog post

National Tree Week

25/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

National Tree Week

National Tree Week begins on November 25 and continues until December 3. It marks the start of the tree-planting season, providing a wonderful opportunity to celebrate trees. If possible, volunteers can join tree-planting activities organized by local groups and conservation organizations. If planting isn’t an option, consider finding some “Tree Time” to connect with nature in other ways.

Trees play essential roles in ecosystems around the world. They offer food, shelter, and habitats to many species while stabilizing eroding riverbanks. More importantly, as climate change remains a major issue, trees help mitigate it by capturing carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, in their tissues and releasing oxygen.

Background

After the last Ice Age ended about 9,000 years ago, Scotland’s native trees and shrubs began to populate the landscape. Ancient oaks, Scots pines, and Caledonian pines once covered the region, but various events have reduced tree numbers over the centuries.

More than 4,000 years ago, cooler and wetter climates limited tree growth on higher ground. At the same time, woodlands were cleared for farming, a trend that has continued for centuries to make space for housing and infrastructure. In the early 20th century, World War I led to further deforestation, though the Forestry Commission, founded in 1919, aimed to restore Britain’s woods. While large pine plantations were created, conservation efforts now focus on diverse species to provide better habitats for wildlife.

In recent years, severe winter storms like Storm Arwen in 2021 caused significant tree loss in Scotland. Disease has also taken a toll, including Dutch Elm disease, which has destroyed many elms across the country.

The Future

Following devolution, the Scottish government assumed responsibility for forestry and established Scottish Forestry, focusing on native woodlands and conservation. Across Scotland, volunteers, conservation groups, and private estates are planting trees to increase biodiversity. For example, Project Laxford on the Reay Forest Estate in Sutherland aims to boost salmon numbers in the River Laxford by re-establishing trees along riverbanks. This project plans to plant one million trees to improve biodiversity and habitat health in the area.

Famous Trees

The Glen Affric Elm – The Last Ent of Affric: Known as “The Last Ent” after Tolkien’s tree creatures, this lone elm stands in Glen Affric, surviving Dutch Elm disease likely due to its remote location. Thought to be the last remnant of an ancient forest, it won Scotland’s Tree of the Year in 2019.

The Fortingall Yew: Estimated to be 5,000 years old, this yew tree in Fortingall churchyard is one of the oldest in the world. Once used in funerals, the tree is closely linked with life and resurrection, as its branches can re-root to grow anew. Over time, it has suffered damage from rituals, fires, and cuttings. In 2015, part of the tree even changed, sprouting red berries and showing signs of stress.

These trees reveal the complex ways humans impact nature, underscoring the importance of ongoing conservation efforts.

Find out more

You can find books and articles about trees and conservation using Library Search.

By Vivienne Hamilton

Image Source: Photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash

Book Week Scotland 2024

Book Week Scotland 2024

20/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

Book Week Scotland 2024

Book Week Scotland 2024 is an annual celebration of reading which takes place from 18- 24 November throughout Scotland.  It is a way of bringing together people of all ages and from all walks of life to celebrate the joy of books and reading.

There are many events and activities taking place across the country to celebrate the power of reading. And look how it can change lives. Many of Scotland’s authors, poets, playwrights, storytellers and illustrators participate in events and activities, bringing them to life for so many people. You can find out more about these events on the Scottish Book Trust website. You can also follow on social media via Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

The theme of Book Week Scotland 2024 is Hope. People from across Scotland are invited to share their stories, all of which are available to read on the Scottish Book Trust website along with stories from previous years’ themes including Adventure, Scotland’s Stories, Celebration, Future and others. A selection of these short stories are published in a free book issued specially for Book Week Scotland every year. The books are widely distributed at venues throughout Scotland. Free copies of the book are available to students and staff from each of our campus libraries and student accommodation buildings so be sure to collect your copy before they are none left!

Happy reading!

Links:

Scottish Book Trust

Book Week Scotland

Book Week Scotland Events

By Sharon McMichael

Don’t forget our virtual bookshelves. 

Heritage collections

Explore our Heritage Collections

19/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

Explore our Heritage Collections

You can now explore our Heritage Collections in one place with the launch of our Heritage Collections Discovery page!

Heritage Collections on Library Search

From this page you can:

  • Search by keyword across all our Heritage Collections items.
  • Follow the links to each individual collection to find out what the collection is about.

Library search war poets

On each individual collection page, you can:

  • Browse all the items within one collection.
  • Search by keyword within one collection – just use the search box on the individual collection page.

 

Searching tips

  • Want to use more than one keyword?

Use OR between your keywords to find records that include any of your keywords. Remember to type OR in capitals for this to work, e.g. Scotland OR Ireland.

  • Looking for more advanced searching?

Within each individual collection, follow the Advanced Search link to begin an advanced search for that collection. Then click the expand arrow in the search box to open the advanced search criteria options, where you can add further parameters to your search.

Through these pages you can now more easily discover the unique items which make up our Heritage Collections. There is plenty to explore, from the historical development of printing in the Edward Clark Collection, to the works of Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen (who met at the Craiglockhart War Hospital) in the War Poets Collection, or the history of Merchiston Tower in the John Napier Collection.

Including rare books, manuscripts, letters, photographs, printed ephemera, and objects, ranging from the 15th century to the modern day, our Heritage Collections offer the opportunity to delve into the cultural history of our campus buildings, the city of Edinburgh, and beyond.

For more information, or to arrange to view any items from the collections, please contact heritage@napier.ac.uk.

By Liz Dyer

Interested in touring a 500-year-old tower at Napier, we offer tours of Merchiston Tower. 

British Library Cyber Attack one year on

British Library Cyber Attack one year on

18/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

British Library Cyber Attack one year on

It has now been a year since a cyber attack impacted nearly every aspect of the British Library’s (BL) public services. Over the past 12 months, BL has worked hard to restore as many services as possible.

On December 20, 2023, the British Library Board approved a new Rebuild & Renew program. This program, designed for an 18-month period, will coordinate the Library’s long-term recovery efforts across three focused phases:

  1. Respond: Immediate crisis management.
  2. Adapt: A six-month phase focused on identifying and implementing interim solutions to restore services, internal processes, and partnerships.
  3. Renew: An 18-month phase dedicated to creating a resilient infrastructure and delivering lasting solutions, either by upgrading or adapting current systems or implementing new ones as needed.

BL is now deeply engaged in planning the next recovery phase, which will continue into the new year. This phase will prioritize the restoration of key resources, including the Sound Archive and the popular Ethos database of 600,000 digitized theses.

Stay updated on restoration progress via the Knowledge Matters blog. For available services and access details, visit the BL webpage.

Impact on Edinburgh Napier

Inter Library Loans

Currently, we cannot use our institutional account to request books and articles through the inter-library loan form on Library Search. We continue to rely on other libraries and institutions to supply these items. Although book deliveries vary in timing, articles generally arrive within a few days. Our inter-lending team is also managing requests from other universities, supplying books and articles promptly.

Digitisation

Requests for Digitised items are now available once again. However please be aware that it will take longer for the British Library to process them. University staff can request digitised items from our web pages.

If you have a personal BL account and plan to visit the reading rooms, you can now order items online for consultation at either Boston Spa or St. Pancras.

BL remains committed to restoring all services, with a goal to modernise and enhance its operations. Meanwhile, we will do our best to source materials for you from other institutions. Remember, the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge also offers extensive resources that may be helpful.

By Vivienne Hamilton

Read more about Inter-Library Loans here

John Napier bronze bust at Merchsiton.

Framing the Past: A work placement photographing the Heritage Collections.

16/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

 Framing the Past: A work placement photographing the Heritage Collections.

 

From February to May 2024, the Heritage Collections welcomed Rebbecca Cram, a third-year student from the BA (Hons) in Photography, for a trimester-long work placement. As part of the placement, Rebbecca photographed unique objects from the University’s collections and took images to help promote the department’s wider work. Here, Rebbecca talks about her experience of her placement.

A work placement photographing the Heritage Collections.

 

I worked with the Heritage Collection department from February to May as a placement for my third year studying photography at the university. After taking part in an archive-based module the previous term and interviewing prominent members of the heritage collection scene in Edinburgh I became fascinated with the industry but desired a more hands-on approach rather than an interview or a one-time thing.

Therefore, with the help of the placement team I reached out to the Heritage Collections department to enquire about a position. After exchanging emails back and forth and arranging a meeting to chat over the intentions for the placement, the Heritage Collections department welcomed me with open arms despite it being a busy time for them. Our main goals for the placement were to photograph the initial items that were to be recorded in the department’s new digital catalogue and take promotional material for the items that were to be used for student and community engagement. We met once a week for a full working day throughout the term alternating between the studio, editing and research days.

 

Studio day for HeritageStudio day Heritage

Above photos: Studio days

My most memorable part of the placement was working alongside Ian (Special Collections Manager) and Laura (Senior Curator of University Heritage Collections), their in-depth knowledge and passion for history were infectious. They shared many anecdotes about the collection items, which helped with the promotional side of the placement as I was actively learning about the items, so although I was only taking and editing the images, I believe every step was a collaborative effort. I’d often get excited about certain items that we’d be photographing in a few weeks just so I could see them in person after hearing so much about them.

The placement was a true test of my technical skills and often my patience whilst having to sift through an abundance of images that look almost identical. If I missed any signifier of the angle, the item would be recorded incorrectly. However, knowing the importance of heritage collection photography and heritage collection service as a whole and why it’s such an integral part of education and history gave me a sense of accomplishment and confidence in my work.

Organ found in Craiglockhart campusItems being transported back to collection

Framing the past

Stepping into the world of Heritage Collection photography is definitely a step in the right direction for me and my career, but it was less like a step and more like a fall into a never-ending rabbit hole. One week I was doing research at home on the origins of the department and the next I was handling a taxidermied rooster in the studio or finding hidden rooms in the campus I’ve been going to for three years.

The team was always very quick to adjust to any changes in the schedule needed for me to complete my other modules, or anything new that came to fruition whilst working in the studio or editing. Prior to the placement I had no knowledge of any methods of working in a department like this other than knowing a few things about other institutions’ methods, so the team providing me with plenty of research days in the early days and frequent check-ins throughout the placement to aid this was very helpful and overall, it was a great learning experience for not just me but the department also. Through these methods and our frequent check-ins, I really got a sense of some of the realities opportunities that working in a smaller, newer department like this can offer, so I’m very pleased to have been the first of hopefully many to complete this placement with such a lovely team.

If you would like to know more about the Heritage Collections or are interested in seeing some of the items discussed above for yourself, do get in touch! All the information you’ll need to plan your visit can be found on our website.

 

Read more about the Heritage collections and remember you can tour Merchiston Tower 

By Rebbecca Cram

 

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