Visit to the British Museum Libraries - 27th April 2017

Our latest library visit brought us behind the scenes of the British Museum. Not many people realize that the museum houses not only around eight million objects but nine libraries as well. We had the opportunity to visit four of them.

Starting in the Great Court we first were pointed towards the remainder of the library which is usually most famously associated with the British Museum, the Reading Room. It used to be the main reading room of the British Library until both institutions were formally separated in 1973, and the library moved to its new purpose-built location near St Pancras. Currently the Reading Room's future is still being determined but there are plenty of other functioning library resources within the museum offering alternative spaces to read and study.

The first stop on our tour was the Anthropology Library and Research Centre, located near the museum's north entrance. Formed through the amalgamation of the British Museum's Ethnography library and the library of the Royal Anthropological Institute, it is now one of the world's major specialist anthropology libraries, containing over 120000 volumes. The collection is particularly strong in material culture and its global outlook. With holdings stretching back to the sixteenth century, the collection developed roughly in sync with the evolution of the field of anthropology in Britain during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and continues to be expanded with current publications. It features many books of collectors for the museum, including original travel accounts by European explorers and settlers in Africa, North and South America, Asia and Oceania. Among them, you can find curiosities such as a little book titled: "The hairy giants: or a description of two islands in the South Sea, called by the names of Benganga and Coma [...]" from 1766 narrating a (possibly imaginary) discovery by Henry Schooten. The library will also assist in upcoming projects in the collaboration between and British Museum and the Google Cultural Institute, so check back in future for further updates. 

Next we were led to the Asia Library, which is only accessible to museum staff and managed by only one librarian. We were given some valuable insight into what it is like to the the sole librarian in a museum library. The position involves a lot of overlap between library and archival work with a high focus on research and collection curation. Although the job is usually quite secluded, the librarian also serves museum curators and at times external researchers who utilize the library to support their research. At the end of the presentation, we were challenged with a very useful cataloguing exercise, in which we had to spot mistakes in catalogue records using examples from the collection ranging from Chinese lacquer to East Asian propaganda posters.

We were then escorted to the Coins and Medals Library, one the world's leading numismatic libraries with over 20000 books, 600 journals and a wide range of pamphlets and sales catalogues. Running over three floors is covers numismatics and economics from across the globe. Access is by request only for numismatic researchers and the library is also used by the staff of Coins and Medals department to consult the books alongside the coins in the collection. How this simultaneous consultation of both textual and material collections works in practice was demonstrated to us by one of the curators of the department, specializing in coins from the Middle East. Combining the historic coin collections from early Islamic times with a modern book of engravings documenting Middle Eastern coinage from different periods, we were able to identify matches between the two. 

The library of the department of  Greece and Rome was the final stop on our tour. The main function of the library, as with the ones before, is to hold books relating to the museum's collections to aid its curators. At the same time though, we could also see a strong glint of institutional history in the items we were shown. For example, the library holds extensive correspondence from previous collectors, curators, librarians and researchers, which show a history of the library's and the museum's collection development and its interactions with the public.

My main thought when we had completed the tour was that it is a great shame that these libraries are not more well known. They are an important resource and support service to one of the UK's major cultural institutions and form an integral part of its institutional history. The visit made me appreciate another layer of the British Museum beyond its objects and exhibitions. There are multiple important services behind the scenes that we often don't even consider. I was prompted to think differently about how libraries are used too. In my mind (and possibly in most other people's) the library user is someone who mainly consults textual materials and reproductions of non-textual materials. Museum library users are able to view textual and material cultural items in one space to increase their understanding of what they study, creating a more intimate relationship between the text and object than is usually found in most humanities disciplines. This is part of the great benefits of our visits: being able to consider and compare our experiences as new librarians in relation to the vast landscape of all kinds of ways libraries can be used and how librarians adapt to that.

If you would like to know more about the British Museum and its libraries, the museum offers information on its page for its libraries and archives and you can consult all of the libraries' collection via their catalogue.

Visit to the Guardian - 14th December 2015

On Monday 14^th December, a group of the trainees were fortunate enough to visit the headquarters of the Guardian Media Group and meet with both the library and archive teams.

The Manchester Guardian was founded in 1821 by John Edward Taylor and gained national and international acclaim under the editorship of C P Scott who held the post of editor from 1857 to 1914. In addition, Scott bought the paper in 1907 following the death of Taylor’s son and as we learned during the course of our visit, the Scott Trust still maintains ownership of the paper today. The paper moved to its current building in King’s Place near to King’s Cross station in 2008, with the glass-fronted, open plan office space and modern design marking a significant shift for the newspaper.

Upon arrival we were met by Philippa Mole, Acting Head of Archive, who led us on a tour of the building, including the exhibition space, reading room and the photographic and print archive stores. During the tour of the archive, we were able to view a selection of the incredibly eclectic objects kept within the stores. These ranged from negatives of the Beatles, notebooks of renowned Guardian cartoonists, an early example of a ‘laptop’ (the Tandy portable computer from 1983), Betamax film rolls and photographs of an array of famous historical figures. The archive also contains, somewhat surprisingly and initially rather alarmingly, an array of miniature coffins used to mark significant moments over the course of the paper’s history (for example, Philippa explained that a mock funeral was held in 1987 to mark the end of hot metal printing at the newspaper. Crowds of staff turned out for the event, with the pallbearers even donning top hats!)

In addition, Philippa also took time to explain the day-to-day tasks involved with the running of the archive service. The archive holds official records of both the Guardian and the Observer newspapers, as well as acquiring material from people who have been associated with the papers. As Philippa explained however, the archive does not actually contain the newspapers themselves. She noted that the archive deals with a broad swathe of inquiries both internally and externally from private researchers and students. Additionally, the role of the archive team includes creating web resources, writing blog posts, organising tours of the archive for staff and arranging outreach activities.

The archive’s trainee Helen and Information Manager Richard Nelsson, also took time to speak with us and explained their respective roles within the archive and library teams. Richard provided a fascinating insight into the role of the library department, explaining how the team conducts background research for interviews, collates reports for publication departments, produces content for both the print newspaper and online edition, create timelines, attach corrections to articles in the newspaper’s internal database, and compile the daily birthdays column.

Al three kindly answered several questions from the trainees, with topics ranging from if there was a need to justify the existence of a library team within a news media organisation, to electronic data subscription services and the number of research enquiries the team receive. Philippa noted that we were welcome to contact her with any further queries we might have and kindly provided us all with a free copy of the day’s newspaper!

Many thanks once again to Philippa, Richard and Helen for devoting so much of their time to helping us get to know both a fascinating archival collection and understanding the role of libraries and archives within the media sector. The insight we gained was truly invaluable and will be of great assistance as we all begin to embark on our careers into the sector.

For further information about the Guardian Archive and the work of the Library Team see:

http://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/2002/sep/02/2

http://www.theguardian.com/membership/2015/dec/03/reach-into-history-with-the-guardian-and-observer-archives

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/14/how-we-correct-the-record-in-the-guardian-archives-as-well-as-on-our-pages

Canada Water Library Visit 19th November 2013

Image copyright http://craigsheppard.photodeck.com/ 2013

Nestling close to the water of the old dockyards, above the underground station is the rather imposing bronze ‘inverted pyramid’ of Canada Water public library. We were lucky enough to be taken on a tour behind the scenes of this ‘super library’. Set for a huge regeneration plan  Southwark council started, perhaps surprisingly, with commissioning a new library to be the centrepiece of the community they are building. Certainly one can see the current transition all around with the quaint wooden bridge across the water starkly contrasting with the crumbling architecture beyond. A few years from now it is planned that even more modern flat blocks will have been built and shopping centre expanded so it will need a central place for its new residents to gather; in this case it is hoped to be the library and the (currently empty) plaza it occupies.

Richard took us on a tour of the building which, on such a sunny day, benefits hugely from the light pouring in through large windows gazing out on the water. The central staircase creates a sense of occasion when entering the library; echoing the awe inspired by grand older libraries. We went up into the main reading room where it was children’s Rhyme Time then onto the second floor mezzanine where many readers were escaping the noise with laptops and headphones. We were lucky enough to go out onto the roof where there were some incredible views out across the London skyline. 

Photos by Alex Giles

The Green Roof

Intentionally built into the ground floor is a performance space with capacity for an audience of 150. Management of this space has been outsourced to The Albany group who organise productions throughout the year. It also gives the library a place to hold book launches and related events away from the main collection negating the need traditional libraries face of hastily rearranging the bookcases. In addition to the performance space, there are several meeting rooms of various sizes leading off the top gallery of the library. These are open to bookings from anyone leading to a diverse spectrum of activities (Yogameister anyone?). The performance space and the meeting rooms are great examples of how purpose-built new libraries can fulfil all of the changing roles of libraries within modern society. Thankfully books remain prominent, but it is also important to have other spaces which the community can utilise for other ends. In enabling this Canada Water library has placed itself at the centre of the community which is rapidly growing up around it ensuring its use and survival. Additionally revenue created by private bookings and ticket sales can go back into the library resources.

Membership is free and which includes use of the free wifi and pcs scattered about the library and the building is fully accessible to everyone. The collection itself comprises of 40,000 volumes ranging from children’s books and general fiction to reference materials on local history. Designed as a community library rather than an academic one their acquisitions policy focuses strongly on what will be popular among their readers which seems to have led to a rather large Manga collection. On the ground floor there is an independently run café, several computers and some book displays containing either new or popular books and themed displays suggesting related works people might enjoy (while we were there the theme was time travel). There are also self-service check-out machines enabling people to borrow books incredibly quickly if their schedule doesn’t allow for browsing. There is also a selection of audio-visual materials allowing users to borrow new films and cds etc. at a small cost. With many of the rental giants collapsing  it is sometimes easy to forget that there are still many people in the UK without internet access and therefore unable to access new popular services such as Netflix. This allows people to pop into the library (handily located above the tube station) on their way home and select something to watch/read. Furthermore the small fee charged by the library again allows them to make this process sustainable.

Top of the spiral staircase in the main reading room

It was quite refreshing to hear that Southwark do not (unlike many libraries) require that their staff are fully qualified before hiring them. Instead they interview people and hire them based upon whether or not they are suited to the job, which can at times differ radically to traditional library practises. Considering the competitive nature of librarianship at present and the rising costs of University fees it is always reassuring to know that there will be further opportunities for work beyond our traineeships even if we cannot go forward with a library course at present. Or indeed, if we decide to pursue one part time or even distance-based. It is a further comfort to see that, with constant threats of library closures, with a little innovation even new libraries can still thrive.

Thanks again to Linda and Richard for arranging such a great visit for us!

Visit 15/01/13- Westminster Reference Library

 

On Tuesday a group of us went on a visit to Westminster Reference Library. The first striking thing about the library is its location directly behind the National Gallery and yet one would not even know it was there unless told, making strengthened awareness of it imperative to its survival. To begin the visit Peter talked us through the history of the building which was built on the site of a house once owned by Sir Isaac Newton and thus rebuilt in a matching style. He then began the tour with the dark and bare basement; the only remaining part of the original structure. In contrast to this the tour moved up a floor to the modern business hub where Eveleen explained the variety of users it attracts and how the library has adapted to meet their needs. We were also shown the general work space and the bookable study space on the mezzanine which gives members the option to arrange meetings, study groups and more in a more formal environment. The second floor is the main area for exhibitions and also houses the Arts and Design collection which has been designated as a collection of ‘outstanding national significance’ claiming over 45,000 reference works plus 4,000 for lending. Many of these books are, by necessity, housed out of the reach of the public but there are numerous signs encouraging readers to ask for anything they cannot find on the shelves and the amount of people filling the desks during our visit was a testament to the importance of work space in such a busy building.

Staff have managed to utilise the prime location of the library to their advantage by creating a comprehensive business hub to draw in the large numbers of commuters who pass through the city each day. There is a wealth of information available to both established businessmen and women and to those wanting to start up their own businesses. In addition to books and periodicals available within the library, membership also offers 24 hour remote access to websites such as COBRA making it an invaluable resource to anyone in the business world. Several of us joined up on the spot and I for one have already made use of some of the extensive online resources available for members. In addition to the business databases there is also access to newspapers, encyclopaedias etc. Having been in London for several months I am slightly ashamed that until this point I had not made the most of some of the resources available to me which in itself highlights the growing importance of social outreach; something that this library is at the forefront of promoting.

Probably the most innovative strategy for raising awareness of the library is their programme of events throughout the year. Rossella showed us a variety of posters and videos from previous events and discussed how popular they have been; indeed their spaces tend to booked over a year in advance. Far from being a detached use of the space after the library has shut, many of them tie in with the library’s focus on arts and performing arts such as play readings and lectures. In addition to this Peter explained to us how they display relevant items from the library’s holdings to compliment the art exhibitions held on the second floor. In this way they are able to both attract new readers to the library and also to extend their involvement with the subjects they specialise in. In a time when the future of public libraries is looking somewhat bleak it was wonderful to see a library adapting and solidifying its place within the community; certainly not an easy task in central London!

Whilst the specificity of the two main collections do certainly set Westminster aside from a typical public library it was great to be able to speak about the common problems they encounter such as homeless people seeking shelter and young people wanting a space to socialise and how they try to manage such issues. Far from encouraging exclusivity as a preventative measure, membership is easily attained and resources such the free legal advice hub, and the Life in the UK practice tests ensure that everyone is represented and provided for, not just the academics and businessmen who pass through. Indeed as a recent graduate it was good to see the staff encouraging membership for students, allowing them somewhere permanent to work even after their studies have finished. Also, although primarily a reference library, there are books for loan on the top floor enabling users to take their research home with them when the library closes. Not only this but membership enables readers access to all lending libraries in Westminster. Overall it was an incredibly enlightening visit which myself and the other trainees are extremely grateful for so many thanks again to everyone at the library for their time and hospitality!

N.B. For more information about events on at the library visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/timeforchanges/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Westminster Reference Library

Westminster Reference Library is tucked away behind the National Portrait Gallery but it is one of the busiest public libraries I have ever been in.

Image via Flickr user Jamie Barras.
It is a hidden gem in the West End that not only houses an incredible collection of print and electronic resources, but it is also a hub of culture and innovation with rolling exhibitions, installations and live events. As a reference library it has had to think on its feet to keep people coming through the doors in recent years, due to the availability and dependence on increasing online resources. It offers free WiFi for laptop and smart device users, and PC’s to connect to the internet for anyone else who wants to get online. Its core subject areas of Art & design, Business, Law, Performing Arts and UK Official Publications are comprehensive and the whole collection is used imaginatively to support the many live events that also take place. The library hosts group study space that can be booked, a suite of PC’s that allow access to a wide range of online databases, in-house only resources and mailing lists that would be otherwise inaccessible to small businesses and people starting up on their own. The library has moved on from being strictly reference only and has a collection of around 10,000 loanable items and has an incredibly knowledgeable staff who are on hand to advise and help with queries.

This is the library I remember of my youth in terms of feel and staff that instil you with the confidence that they can find a solution to any query. Nostalgia is often the word used when people discuss their love of libraries or indeed the reason people will fight to keep them running. If nothing else this library is a testament to how public libraries should adapt for the future and the attitude they should adopt when trying to demonstrate how a community will suffer without it. The library answers to its user group which is truly eclectic and I would imagine, demanding with a footfall averaging 1,000 people a day to use the range of services it offers; it cannot be denied that this is a public library that goes above and beyond expectations.

Image via Flickr user Jamie Barras. 

Anna (Courtauld)

National Archives

On December 1st, I attended a tour of the National Archives at Kew, organised by the M25 Consortium of Research Libraries. The National Archives is the official archive of the UK government, which manages and preserves over 1,000 years worth of records and which works with 250 government and public sector bodies, helping them to manage and use information more effectively, as well as ensuring that the general public can access these records. They hold government, military and court records, as well as maps and historical documents. They also provide online access to resources kept elsewhere, such as births, marriages, deaths, census records, more recent military records, medical practice records, wills and parish registers.

The tour was conducted by the Librarian of the National Archives, Helen Pye-Smith. We began by sitting in on the orientation talk given to all new visitors to the National Archives, which described, with the aid of power point and a sign language interpreter, how to search the catalogue, what resources were available, what events were on, and how to access different materials. After this, she showed us around and elaborated on the content of the talk as she showed us around the banks of computers on the first floor. As a great deal of material in the National Archives is now digitised, a decision has been made to allow the public to access this without a reader’s ticket. So once past the well-appointed bookshop, spacious café, and museum showcasing the Domesday Book on the ground floor, the stairs lead to the first floor, full of computers, where members of the public can access online government, military and census records, print scanned documents off in A3 and speak to the staff at two specialised information desks. The space is also currently shared by the London Family History Centre, run by the Church of Latter Day Saints, which specialises in providing access to genealogical material.

Also on the first floor is the library. The space has recently been refurbished and is now entirely open-plan, as the previously-enclosed library had been difficult to find and was consequently not used by many visitors. The library is one of the few research-quality reference libraries in the UK that is accessible without a readers’ ticket to the general public. The collection is designed to complement the archives, focusing on topics pertaining to the records (government, military, social history), and the collection development policy is to primarily select works that use the archives as sources, meaning that in addition to providing further information on topics to those researching, they can also provide further sources and directions for research within the archives themselves. Incorporating the library into the general research floor also involved a restructuring of library staffing. Rather than manning a dedicated library information desk, the library staff were given additional training and now work on one of the floor’s general information desks, answering queries about archive searches as well as the library, a set up which has proved fruitful both for archive users and for the staff themselves, who have gained a much more comprehensive picture of how the collection relates to the records and documents held, and how they are used.

We then moved to the other side of the floor, to view the document reading room. To consult documents themselves, a reader's ticket is required. This can be gained by anyone on the provision of two forms of ID, but also requires those registering to undertake a short document-handling course and quiz on a computer, which must be successfully completed before a card can be issued. Documents can then be ordered up from the catalogue, and the reader is assigned a seat and locker number. After the document has been brought out from storage, it is placed in the numbered locker for collection, and must be taken to the assigned desk. As these records are unique, security is very high, with uniformed staff patrolling the desks and many security cameras – allowing a wide variety of access to these records is not without its challenges! However, while they take great pains to avoid any documents being mistreated, they also go to great lengths to make sure that people can record the documents in the best possible format for their research. They not only allow and provide stations for people to photograph documents with their own cameras, but also have set up cameras on adjustable frames, connected to computers, from which researchers can photograph documents and email the images to themselves (USB sticks and similar are not allowed as they could potentially introduce viruses). They also provide a copying and scanning service for larger documents.

The tour then progressed to the second floor, where readers could register for tickets and where the maps and large documents reading room is situated. This room provides access to the largest, and usually oldest, documents, with big workspaces where they can be safely rolled out. The floor has a dedicated information desk, with staff well-versed in Latin, paleography (the study of historic handwriting), and even Norman French! Unlike the first floor, where many of the readers were more casual, perhaps researching family history, the second floor seemed to be the preserve of academics and researchers, although the National Archive offers online guides in deciphering older documents on its website which, along with the reading room's dedicated staff, should make older documents accessible to anyone with an interest!


After the tour was finished, the Librarian answered any questions that we had, such as why we were unable to go 'behind the scenes' (security concerns, though it is apparently a strange netherworld of archivists riding buggies around miles of shelves of identical brown cardboard boxes), the practicalities of registration and security, and the challenges of managing a library within an archive.


Altogether, a very interesting introduction to a fascinating place!

Images via Flickr users Ewan-M and Magh under Creative Commons.

RNIB Research Library

For the second visit of the year, our destination was the Royal National Institute of Blind People research library on Judd Street, and what an enlightening visit it was! The library is now run by one librarian after staff cut-backs year after year, but the perks of being the only librarian were immediately obvious as it inevitably means a level of professional variety that isn’t always available to librarians working in specific roles.

We were given an initial tour of the library space where the printed materials are kept, mostly for the use of researches investigating visual impairments. This was the aspect of the library with which we were all most familiar, with journal subscriptions, pamphlets, books and magazines built around a rather intricately designed classification system. However in and amongst the usual materials were some absolute gems, including a copy of The Merchant of Venice entirely in Braille and a (very patronising) 17th century treatise on ‘entertainment for the blind’, still in fantastic condition. There were also examples of school books for children with both Braille and raised images created with felt and various other materials to enable them to engage with their subjects.

The key differences between the academic libraries we are all used to and the RNIB library were of course technological. The computers in the main work space have had to be tailored to the needs of users that have considerable variation in the nature of their condition. Therefore numerous settings needed to be developed to enable users to increase the size of text on a screen using JAWS screen reading software, as well as being able to change the colour pallet of a document in order to make it more accessible. The RNIB is actually responsible for accrediting websites as being user-friendly for those with sight problems... it definitely has made me look at the website of my own library very differently – size 8 font? I don’t think the RNIB would approve! They recommend a standard size 14 font for all websites.

We were then given some demonstrations of some of the gadgets available to aid low sighted users including handheld devices that were essentially digital magnifying glasses, and what looked like CD players that were used for talking books, enabling someone to place ‘bookmarks’ at different points so they could refer back to numerous sections with ease. Many of us will never have had to deal with the problems of accessibility faced by the staff at the RNIB library so it was brilliant to see technology working so effectively to really improve the experience of low sighted or blind users.

At the end of the tour we had a chance to have a look at (play with) some of the toys aimed at children with blindness, plus a range of other devices used to aid anyone with sight problems. The RNIB Library visit provided us all with an insight into the issues being dealt with by the librarian when working with blind people, and is well worth a visit to see how libraries and technological advancements are able to combine to vastly improve the library experience for those with blindness.

Hannah (IHR)

Istituto Marangoni library

A small group of the trainees visited the library at the Istituto Marangoni, the international Fashion and Design School, at its London campus on Tuesday 8 November. We were met by Katherine Rose who took us through to the building, past groups of trendy-looking people and rotating red sofas, to the library. The library itself is just one narrow room with huge windows on one side looking out onto the street and shelves filled with bright, shiny books and magazines on the other. Katherine is the only librarian at the London campus (there are two other campuses of the Istituto Marangoni in Milan and Paris) and her attention was needed by some students as soon as we arrived, while the trainees had a browse around the shelves.

When we sat down to talk, Katherine explained the London campus had been there for six years and until she arrived in Summer 2010 there was no librarian, no collection development plan, no classification system and no thought about the library at all. In the past few years the Istituto’s programmes have been validated by Manchester Metropolitan University and one of the conditions for validation was that the library be brought up to standard.

Katherine talked us through her first year at the library, from choosing and implementing a library management system, writing and updating the collection development plan, cataloguing and classifying the entire collection from scratch and trying to persuade students unused to the idea to use the catalogue. It was interesting to hear from a solo librarian and there are definite advantages and disadvantages to working alone in a library. The best part appeared to be having the opportunity to try your hand at every element of librarianship; however the downside was that Katherine rarely left the library for more than ten minutes each day and could never attend external training or personal development events. She did talk about the online networking that a lot of solo librarians take part in and that most of her contact with other people in the profession was through email, forums or blogging.

It was evident from the times that Katherine had to go and help students that she clearly knew her readership and collections extremely well, in total there were approximately 1,400 books and a large magazine collection. The large fashion and history of fashion collection is supplemented by books on history of art, architecture, interior design, graphic design, marketing and fashion business. Katherine also spoke about the three specialist e-resources that she had chosen to invest part of the budget in. The library is currently reference only for the 600 or so undergraduate students but as the institute now aims to validate its postgraduate courses, the library must make a percentage of its collection available for loan which means another large project for Katherine in the near future.

Katherine finished her MA in Library and Information Studies from UCL in 2010, so we took the opportunity to pick her brain about courses and the application procedure. It was incredibly helpful to have her and Anna – the other Courtauld graduate trainee and a recent graduate of the City course – there to give us advice about those particular Library and Information Science courses. Katherine spoke about her experiences at UCL and which modules she particularly enjoyed.

Our visit to the Istituto Marangoni ended with biscuits and a look around the workrooms and studio of the fashion school. As all of the trainees are currently working in small to medium sized libraries, it was incredibly interesting visit: the size of the collection, the subject matter covered and the recent history of the library was completely different to what we were used to. It was also insightful to hear from a new professional working as a solo librarian and was a thought-provoking way to start our series of visits.

Jen (Courtauld Institute of Art)

A Visit to the Institute of Historical Research

On 23rd November 2010, a group of eager trainees met at Senate House, on Russell Square, for a visit to the Institute of Historical Research library (http://www.history.ac.uk/library). We were privileged to be addressed by four excellent speakers who worked at the library, and heard what their extremely varied jobs involved.

First up was Jennifer Higham, the IHR Librarian, who explained the special role the library plays in historical research. The IHR library is part of the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, and mainly collects primary sources. Their catalogue has a high proportion of older books, classified using the library’s unique shelf marking system (details here: www.history.ac.uk/library/collections/collection-details). It is a reference-only library, offering access to postgraduates and staff at universities across the UK, and to external subscribers upon request. Particularly memorable was her analogy of the IHR library as a workshop, containing the tools of the trade for historians.

Bruce Tate presented to us about British History Online (www.british-history.ac.uk), a digital library currently being compiled at the Institute. He offered a fascinating insight into the digitisation, explaining in detail the scanning process, which reaches an astonishing 99.995% accuracy rate. He impressed on us the requirements for digital libraries to be durable, versatile, and flexible and for the resources to be accurate. He explained that the cheaper alternative to scanning books, OCR (Optical Character Recognition), has a far higher margin of error; quality digital resources are essential for useful and usable information.

The Reviews in History e-journal (www.history.ac.uk/reviews/) is also produced at IHR, and Danny Millum spoke to us about this. The publication provides 2000-3000 word reviews of newly published history books and resources that assist historical research. The publication sits well within the IHR’s remit of supporting, but not taking part in research. He explained his role to us: liaising with academics to commission reviews, editing the publication and maintaining it online.

Finally, Simon Baker from the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) spoke about his role. BBIH has undergone significant changes in the last eight years, changing format from a physical volume produced annually (since 1975) to a free online service in 2002, and now a subscription service. He spoke about the difficulties he encounters working with the database, including the need for stable URLs and issues of public funding. However, he also explained the many advantages of the digital format such as a standardised indexing, more regular updates (three times per year) and links to online text and external sites. His job includes sifting vast amounts of information from the British Library, publishers and up to 650 journals to manually select data to add to BBIH.

Each one of our expert speakers demonstrated the breadth of work that takes place in and around the library: librarianship, digitisation, databasing and e-publishing. Particularly striking was that even in a library heavy with the aroma of mature books, new technology is still of vital importance. We thoroughly enjoyed a hearty round of tea and party rings, too!

Oliver Henderson-Smith

Cass Business School

City University

Oxford

Visit to Lovells LLP

On Tuesday 9th June we visited the library of the London office of Lovells LLP (http://www.lovells.com/Lovells/Homepage.htm), a major international legal firm. The London office is housed in a very impressive modern building in Holborn, which makes a big impact upon the visitor – a large statue dominates the entrance, and makes a statement about the scale of the firm. The library and library staff of the office were suitably impressive.

To begin with we were given a talk by two professional librarians, who are termed researchers at Lovells. The head of the library, and the librarian who facilitates the training of the two graduate trainees there, explained the particular role that a library plays in a law firm, which is very different to the usual academic or public library. A major role of the librarians there seems to be to conduct research for lawyers, such as finding cases, hence the name ‘researchers’. There is also a specialty in the selection of materials in the law firm, as it was explained that whereas an academic library may select several texts on the same topic, a law firm library may just select the most appropriate one for the lawyers. The library is very much tailored to the need of the lawyers conducting their work.

The two graduate trainees then gave a very interesting presentation about their backgrounds and roles within the library, and how the training scheme there is structured. They said that the position is an enjoyable one, which involved responsibility and variety and a good structure of progression – the trainees will be supported through a professional librarianship course and employed by Lovells as trainee researchers at the end of their initial training year. After the presentation they gave us a tour of both the library and the facilities (gym, canteen etc) of the whole office. The main firm library was quite large, and covered the areas of law that the firm practise in. Beyond this, each different practice area (e.g. Tax) had its own sectional library which focused on the particular area of the section. The library also uses document delivery services to access materials from other libraries (e.g. IALS and the British Library), for which a fee is paid.

The visit was one of the best I had been on, as the library and the environment of a law firm are so different from the other places we have visited that it was quite enlightening. The staff were very friendly and seemed to enjoy the jobs, and we were made to feel very welcome.

Visit to Westminster Reference Library

On the 19th May we visited the Westminster reference library, which is very centrally located on St. Martins street, just off Leicester Square

We were greeted by Eveleen and Peter and began our tour in the Library Foyer. Peter who runs the Art and Performance Library has worked there for over 20 years and so was best qualified to talk to us about the history of the library, which was once the site of Isaac Newton’s house, parts of the building including the cellar are listed. In the Foyer Peter drew our attention to the LCD screen, displaying library information and news on upcoming courses and events, he said that they have had a positive response to this display but still utilise the library noticeboard.

The Library consists of four floors, the basement is closed access and contains the government collections, the ground floor contains the business and law collections and the 1st and 2nd floors contain the Art and Performance Collections. Membership is free and open to all.

Eveleen showed us around the ground floor, she is particularly involved in the Business Information Point which has been created to cater to the needs of the business community in Westminster, which provides access to a multitude of economic, business and marketing books in addition to market reports, business journals, newspapers and databases including Mintel. They also provide internet access, fax and photocopying services and also run workshops and events and a research service. There was a CV workshop on whilst we were touring the library. Eveleen said that they were particularly trying to promote their services to those recently unemployed and job hunting in the community. The Library also provides remote access to many of their online resources. Eveleen then brought us to the basement which houses the government collections and stores, older less frequently used material. These items appear on the catalogue and can be fetched by staff.

We then joined Peter once again to tour the Arts Library, which includes a frequently used exhibition space on the first floor. The Arts and Performance collection is extremely extensive and highly impressive. The total number of volumes exceed 40,000 and encompass works on painting, fashion, furniture design, architecture, sculpture, theatre and cinema to name but a few. The volumes consist of Art magazines, exhibition catalogues, play texts and Theatrical reviews, there were also some texts a few hundred years old. The collection provides a wealth of research information and is an invaluable resource for the Artistic community and Peter’s knowledge of the collection was truly phenomenal.

Before we finished up and joined some library staff for tea, Peter showed us some photographs from the various events recently held in the library, these ranged from dramatic performances to writing workshops and Peter also showed us a youtube video of a band that performed after hours of course in the Library.

Westminster Reference Library is, as Eveleen pointed out, a mixture between an academic and a public library. The collections are certainly of a academic standard and the staff's knowledge and enthusiasm is one of the most impressive I have seen in the course of our visits, yet the openness and community atmosphere clearly mark to as a Public library. It was a highly enjoyable visit and we all left with membership cards and the intention of returning.

Visit to the British Library

On May 26th we visited the British Library (www.bl.uk)  that holds the second largest collection in the world. The BL is one of the six copyright libraries in the UK, but unlike the others it must hold a copy of everything published in the country. Housing 150 million items and acquiring each year 3 million new ones poses serious problems in terms of storage and accessibility.

In the early 1970's it was agreed that the BL's constituent libraries, of which the British Museum library was the biggest, should be housed together in a new building near St Pancreas station. Unfortunately, the construction of this edifice was fraught with difficulties. It took over twenty years to complete and the cost spiraled out of control. The main problem laid in digging four underground floors to store the collection. Nevertheless, the new British Library was finally inaugurated in 1998. It provides readers with an airy and bright public space, eleven reading rooms, an exhibition hall, numerous lecture and seminar rooms, as well as a restaurant.

In the centre of the building an imposing glass structure houses King George III library,which according to his wishes, is kept together and available to the public.

Lately, the BL has relaxed its membership policy; in fact, it is no longer surprisingly difficult to consult its holdings. Now anyone with a good reason to use the collection can do so.

The material is retrieved from the underground storage and is delivered to the reading rooms thanks to an enormous conveyor belt system.

Finally, the library employs over 1000 people in many different sectors and seems a very exciting place to work in.

Visit to the Women's Library- June 1st

On Monday 1st June, the graduate trainees set off for the Women’s Library, which is part of the London Metropolitan University. Once up in the Reading Room, Sonia Hope (the Information Librarian) explained that the library had moved to its present site in 2002. As the building is listed, they have had to keep the front façade of an old washhouse, but were able to purpose-build a library behind it. The library was originally set up back in 1926 to provide information for middle-class suffragettes, and was called the Fawcett Library throughout the mid 20th century, but it is now open to anyone interested in women’s history in the UK.

We discussed the library’s purpose and reader base, as well as the challenges of widening access and promoting their amazing collections. A tour of the reading room showed us that, as well as about thirty places for studying, there are some open-access journals in one room and an open access book collection in another. Next we went to the upstairs storage vault, where the library keeps many of its 300 archival collections, any books that are fragile and items like newspaper cuttings and pamphlets.

The Women’s Library is also a government recognised museum. Down in the basement, (along with more archives) the museum collections are kept, which include original suffrage banners, as well as trays of badges proclaiming slogans such as: “Women’s place is in the House… of Commons!” As everything was purpose-built for library and museum materials, the vaults are kept at a scientifically regulated cool temperature, the lights are motion-sensitive and everything still seems very new. It was certainly refreshing to see a specialist library with such amazing storage resources.

The visit was extremely interesting - the library is one of international importance, the building was built expressly for the collection and there are not many libraries devoted entirely to the subject of women’s studies. I would definitely recommend anyone else to visit it.

Gillian Weber

Visit to the Whitechapel Idea Store

“Idea Stores are more than just a library or a place of learning. As well as the traditional library service, they offer a wide range of adult education classes, along with career support, training, meeting areas, cafes and arts and leisure pursuits” http://www.ideastore.co.uk/en/articles/information_idea_store_design

As a relatively new project (completed 2005) with a rather aggressive marketing campagin, I admit I approached the Whitechapel Idea Store with reserve. The press coverage and promotion of the project puts me on guard; it’s easy to be cynical about Tower Hamlets boasts (“after consulting with local residents in the largest consultation exercise ever undertaken by Tower Hamlets Council”, and I have a natural suspicion to any public service that describes itself in advertising language and buzzwords (the “contemporary space …encourages people to engage with library and learning services”, “Idea Stores combine the best of traditional library and information services with first class lifelong learning opportunities in comfortable and friendly surroundings).

I can quite happily report that overall the Whitechapel Idea Store is great; it seems genuinely open and inclusive, the design is smart and pleasant and it appeared well used.
The strength of it’s inclusiveness lies in some very simple ideas, for example, it has a crèche so users can leave their kids while they take a class or use the resources. There are a large number of classrooms (learning labs in Idea Store speak) rather than being secreted away, they are posted throughout the building. There’s a dance studio next to the local interest section and classes on offer range from beginners street dance to English as a foreign language.
In terms of the building itself, it’s a bold, unashamedly modern, blockbuster of a design - smack bang in the middle of the community, on the main road amongst the market stalls and right next to Sainsbury’s (I think this was kind of metaphoric for it’s mission statement as such – a marketable, branded chain that is still tailored to the local community and encompassed it’s traditions and history).
The building is light and airy, the isles and signage well-spaced, accessible and clearly labeled and there seems to be plenty of seating but I can’t help wonder about the long term maintenance of such a brave design – how will it look in 20 years time?
There are plenty of computer terminals for self check-out of books and the emphasis seems to be of exploring, of playing around and working out how you want to use the space and then staff are stationed at help points should you need guidance. The children’s library was brightly coloured with child height computer terminals and shelves.
Although there was ample space, all four floors were busy; evidently well-used by a broad section of society, particularly around the café (we had to be quick on our feet to nab some seats!)

Overall, I think the project is truly interesting and proving popular and I suppose it’s a case of ‘you can’t please all people all the time’, yet you can offer a democratic service which pleases most people. I would be terrible to think of all public libraries having this brand makeover but as long as Starbucks doesn’t take out a franchise in the Idea Store Café, I think it’s a smashing project, well worth a visit and especially for the gentle challenge to assumption.

Bloomsbury Healthcare Library Visit

Along with a small group of the London graduate trainee librarians I visited the Bloomsbury Healthcare Library. The Library is housed in a converted ballroom and offers suitably salubrious surroundings for study. The library is funded by the NHS and caters primarily for NHS staff, specialising in nursing and allied health professions. The Library employs five members of staff including the senior librarian Mike and assistant librarian Daphne who introduced us to the work of the library.

Apart from the routine duties involved in maintaining a library, staff also offer a number of specialised services to their users. The library subscribes to a wide range of online resources, which NHS staff can access remotely as well as in the Library. Library staff offer an alerts service, designing custom made email alerts to notify users of new material in their subject area or to the table of contents lists for journals of interest. The library also produces a current awareness newsletter and quality reviews new journal articles.

Mike and Daphne seem to find their work really rewarding and enjoy having the opportunity to engage with the academic content of their collections in order to possess the knowledge to steer users to authoritative and useful materials. Daphne has a substantial scientific background, which she has been able to exploit working in the library. Mike’s background, like many librarians, is in the arts. Though he felt a scientific background would be beneficial to a medical librarian, Mike did not consider this by any means essential.

The visit was enjoyable and gave me valuable insight into the work of medical librarians. Mike and Daphne were really informative and seemed genuinely happy in their work, which is always encouraging.

Another library visit

For all of those who can't get enough of library visits ;-)

Tuesday 26 May 2009: 4.00pm; Sir John Soane's Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields

History of Libraries Research Seminar

Visit to the Library and Archives of Sir John Soane's Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields. A tour of the Museum will be given at 4 p.m. Tour of the Library & Archives at 5.15 p.m. Numbers will be limited. Bookings please to: Keith Manley (keith.manley@sas.ac.uk)

Visit to the Courtauld Library

On the 24th of March we visited the Library of the Courtauld Institute of Art, which is situated in the basement of Somerset House. The Library holds a significant art historical collection and is one of the major international research collections of art historical books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues in the UK. It is a very beautiful building, with red brick vaulted ceilings, full length windows and spiral stair cases, the students, décor and architecture were all to my mind perfectly suited to an art library.

We were met on our arrival by Boris, one of the Library’s Graduate Trainees and by Vicky the Deputy Book Librarian. We began our tour on the top mezzanine level and were shown around the service counter, staff offices, card catalogue and copy services. We were then brought to the Lower mezzanine level and shown around the book, periodical and exhibition catalogue collections. Boris and Vicky mentioned that their exhibition catalogue collection is particularly extensive and sought after. They hold approximately 180,000 volumes in the library, some of which are still recorded on the card catalogue. The Courtauld use an in-house classification scheme, which is largely based on the Library of Congress. Also held in the same building, though separately run, are the Conway and the Witt Libraries. The Conway collection is an image library and the Witt is collection of reproductions after paintings, drawings and prints.

We were then treated to a talk by Erica the head of Special Collections and by Deborah the head Cataloguer. Erica had pulled out some very interesting pieces from her collection to demonstrate the variety of books and objects stored in the Courtauld. These pieces included rare and old art books, which held both beautiful work within them and were themselves a work of art and modern pieces, which experiment with different forms, shapes, sizes and materials. She showed us one book which was coated in sandpaper and held together by bolts and another that played music upon opening the first page. She also showed us some volumes called artist books, which are books that are used as the artists medium and exist as a piece of art. Deborah then spoke about the processes and challenges involved in cataloguing art books and in particular exhibition catalogues and producing the best record which reflects and conveys the object. Deborah showed us one book that came hidden within a corrugated card case and explained that the challenge with cataloguing such a piece was how to convey the importance and the function of the case. Deborah explained that cataloguing such pieces involved a lot of thought and that there is no fixed format. It certainly seemed that the role of a cataloguer within an art library was a challenging, interesting and varied one.

We finished with tea and cakes in the library office, where Vicky, Erica and Deborah spoke to us about their own study and career paths. It was a truly enjoyable and interesting visit and I think it gave us trainees a great insight into the workings of an academic art library.

Visit to the Maughan Library 26th March

We arranged this visit to the KCL Maughan Library and Foyle Special Collections library to fit in with a visit to the 'Writing the Middle Ages' exhibition. People's first impressions were how beautiful the C19th Gothic building was.

Sally Brock, the Information Services Centre Manager began her tour by telling us about the background of the building. It was the former home of the Public Record Office, purpose built to be fire proof, and had been beautifully restored and refurbished when aquired by KCL in 1998.

We started in the Weston Room, which incorporates features from the former Chapel of the Master of the Rolls, and is often used for receptions and filming. We were shown one of the preserved cells originally used for storing documents. The arrangement of the space into these cells with a mezzanine level had been retained, although some of the walls and arches had been opened up to bring in more light and create a more open effect. The Round Room, with its impressive glass dome was a former PRO reading room, modelled on the British Museum's round reading room, and remains a popular place to work with current library users.

Sally told us about some of the services and facilities offered by the Information Services Centres, and trainees compared these to those at their own libraries. The combined department 'Information Services and Systems' meant that IT and library services were very well integrated.

In the Foyle Special Collections library, we met Katie Sambrook, the Special Collections Librarian. Her and a colleague introduced some items from their collection to us. These included some beautifully illustrated travel diaries and early scientific works. King's had recently acquired the historic library collections of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (around 60,000 items).

At the end of the visit, we went back to the Weston Room to see the 'Writing the Middle Ages' exhibition, curated by a King's student in collaboration with the Special Collections department, and including items on loan from other places. This contained medieval writing materials, manuscripts and early printed works, along with later translations/editions and works inspired by the medieval period. We were told that the material in the exhibition would be digitised and made available online.

Overall it was a fascinating building, and a great example of a sympathetic renovation, which combined modern and historical features.

Visit to the LSE Library- April 7th

When I walked into the LSE Library, I was attracted by the modern floor plans: high ceiling with glasses around the building let natural light in; a huge staircase with lifts in the centre; open-plan shelves with study areas. The design makes me feel that I will come and study in the library everyday!

LSE Library has a couple of impressive strategies, and some of them would be a good example for other libraries if practicable:

- The arrangement of books and periodicals with same subject all in the same floor is a good idea, which enables readers to browse the shelves and to cross-reference the materials much easier; apart from they will need to walk down and up if books and periodicals are kept in separate floors.

- Information desk and IT Help desk next to each other
On the one hand, it is convenient for readers to seek for assistance in finding information or in resolving IT problems. On the other, the staffs can work together and help dealing with some basic enquiries if the other desk are busy or vacant.

- The marketing aspects - this aspect is what I felt really useful.
The welcome pack and posters which Ruth,Samantha and Maria showed us are brilliant! I do like the little black reusable bag and the water bottle! The posters and small leaflets not only provide pretty enough information for new students but also advertise the role of the library. At the beginning of the semester, the library can successfully deliver most important information on the use of the library including services, databases, training sessions and regulations. The design of the posters are excellent and not too difficult to make. The posters can catch up readers' attention and direct them to appropriate sections without questions.

In addition, the talk with Ruth, Samantha and Maria regarding their work experiences, library school and tips for CV are inspired. It gave us some ideas of how to build up our career as well.

By Shannen