Enquiry List

I mentioned in my last blog post – ‘every day I make someone smile’. Yes, I probably do, but it’s not down to telling them a good joke or offering them a chocolate, it’s about helping them find the answer to an enquiry. Like anyone in an information role I work through steps to ensure I can answer as accurately as possible. I ensure that I ask the right questions, use the right resources and have the tenacity to find the answer. I make the best use of the resources available to me and I am constantly sourcing additonal information to improve the service that I deliver.
The list below is a selection of some of the enquires I received this week in the local studies department;

• American author emailing to find out when he can come in to collect digital copies of archive photographs of the local football teams
•  TV researcher from a new family history programme following up earlier emails about local printing and dying industry – what examples of archives/photographs can we send for final selection
• Where can I find plan/map of Dumbarton cemetery?
• American lady enquiring about a Scottish Long Clock – just bought the old clock and the label of the back has a few words leading the enquirer to Dumbarton
• Local walking group wanting to know if I present local history talks over the winter period
• Do we hold copies of local newspapers for 1884 in particular July to October.
• Another local authority contacting us on usage of certain archive photographs that we hold for a new exhibition, looking at reproduction costs / copyright
• Information on a boat built by Denny the ‘Sir Walter Scott’ what information do we hold on its build. Also looking for a copy of the book ‘William Denny Shipbuilder’, he could source a copy for £250.00. (I could send him an inter-library loan for under a tenner. Or show him online where he could buy it for under twenty).
• Man brought in an old bottle he fished out of the River Leven can we tell him anything about the local dairy company name engraved on the bottle.
• Someone wondering why their great grandmother was born in the local Poor House.
  
• Gentleman from New Zeland looking for information on the Nobles of Ardmore and Ardkinglass’ covering both the Kenny and Geils families. Including local maps and photographs where possible.
• Council Legal Department asking for ownership details from valuation rolls from 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.
• Library Centenary Year – mug shots in local paper, staff want copies for archive and personal use.

This list does not constitute my whole working week, however it does represent how varied the enquires received can be.  

Inadequate - chartership

Do we all get a feeling of inadequacy at times, unless we happen to be Yoda?

I’ve realised that it’s now 12 months since I started my Chartership journey and I still feel rather perplexed by the whole process.
I’ve perused CILIP’s Chartership webpage, read the example submission, joined the JISC mailing lists, attended the portfolio building course, collated the information from personal to professional, included the wider context, dissected my service and filled several folders full of potential evidence. [remembering to breathe in and out]
Then when I think I’ve got the 1,000 words, the contents page devised and the evidence ear marked for final submission, I get that overpowering feeling that it’s just not good enough.
When I look at some of the exciting young librarians on Twitter, the work they do everyday to promote library and information services is fantastic. I often think that what I do doesn’t measure up….I’m not an advocate like Jo Alcock, Ian Clark , Bethan Ruddock and others.

I’m just the Local Studies Librarian for the fourth smallest local authority in Scotland. Nonetheless every day:


I can make someone smile, a genuine eye smile.
I make it easier for people to locate information.
I find that piece of information they have been searching years to find.
I can help find the last piece of someone’s puzzle.
I help people become familiar with their heritage.
I can correct someone’s assumptions.
I can listen to someone tell me a little about themselves, just because I’m there.
I find things every day that make we want to cry.
I find things every day that make we want to smile.
I can spend days on just one enquiry, relate that to a statistic.
I can teach people to locate information for themselves.
I make researchers jobs easier.
I geek my job.


If you found the above list rudimentary then I’m sorry but at times it’s the simple things that matter. If you want to read the in-depth version then I’ll post you the 2, A4 folders full of reflections over the past year. I could have typed out all the facets of my job but I’m afraid my job description is rather long.
I think these are the things I’ve found frustrating not being able to mention during Chartership, the passion as individuals we hold for our jobs. I adore what I do, yes it’s an operational post, I have great colleagues [not quite yoda's yet!] who are great strategic thinkers, who have more time and energy to spend on the strategy but I think you need the ying and yang in all organisations to bring out the best in everyone.
So, hopefully come October I’ll put my submission for Chartership in the post and hope that the information I’ve included passes the board. Yes, getting the nod does matter, I’ve spent a long time getting the post-grad and writing the Chartership portfolio.

Find of the Week (11)

I’ve spent a fair bit of time over the past week researching the 1/9th [Dumbartonshire] Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders during the First World War. It’s been fascinating and harrowing. The enquirers were very specific about the information they required, which meant a fair bit of in-depth reading and hunting through the archives. In Dumbarton we hold a number of archives on the Battalion and each piece was read in detail this looking for information on the battalion during May 1915, when they were fighting in Ypres, Belgium.

The information I’ve found has given me an insight into the war experiences of these men during the First World War. I’ve had the opportunity to read the detailed muster roll of the men enlisting, many lying about their age to join under the guise of being 18 years old. I identified one young man who signed up at fourteen and never came back. I sat wondering how many of these men [boys] didn’t return home to Dumbarton and the surrounding areas. When you sit looking at a document hand written in 1914 it humbles you, how quickly these young men signed up and were sent to the front.
The 1/9th were involved in the second battle of Ypres, May,1915 a hard fought battle with heavy artillery fire and the use of chlorine gas by the Germans. To read more on the accounts of the battle follow these links –

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ypres2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Ypres
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dccfarr/summary.htm
http://www.argylls.co.uk/

The most poignant accounts I found whilst searching the archives weren't the official minute books and documents but letters printed in the local newspaper. Ordinary soldiers and ranking officers writing from the front line. I want to share some of the testimonies [those not censored during the war] I’ve been reading that describe the fighting in Ypres in May 1915.


Victim of Gas Attack:

“I am suffering from the effects of asphyxiating gas. Fortunately I managed to fight the gas determinedly. We were not long in bed (2a.m. Monday) when I was warned to get ready, and looking out of the little cave I could see a dense fog or mist all round. It seemed hopeless to escape from the effects. I had not a respirator, so took the end of my blanket and filled it with clay and, closing my nose, breathed though the blanket and clay. All around there was a prefect storm of shells and shrapnel. The gas came from the shells, and you could see them explode and emit a great browney-grey cloud. Imagine me squatting in a little hole in the ground fighting for life”

Dumbartonshire Territorial Rank: Private:

“I am still in the land of the living. We are still in the trenches. We have never been out of them since we came up a month ago. We have had a terrible time of it this week, but it seems to be quieting down again. I must have born under a very lucky star to have come out of the big battle, which lasted for five days, starting last Saturday morning. The shells were falling round us like hail, and we had to cross in the thick of them to support the 80th brigade, who were lying on our left. We have lost very heavily.”

Dumbartonshire Territorial Rank: Lance Corporal:

“We had to cross an open field to get to the trenches. When crossing it the fun began. The Germans sent over shrapnel “zipbangs” and “Jack Johnsons”[heavy artillery shells] such as never was seen since the war began. We got orders to lie down in an old trench about 12 noo. At that time we had an officer killed and several men wounded.”

Dumbartonshire Territorial Rank: Sergeant

“It is the first big fight the territorial’s have taken part in. There were 45 in the platoon when we made the charge and only three reached the trench, the others being knocked out on the way. We were mowed down like hay. Our colonel was killed and as far as I know nearly all our lieutenants were wounded or killed.”

There is a war memorial in Ypres the Menin Gate  ,where amongst the names are those from the 1/9th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders who fell in May 1915.

6 months

I just put the kettle on and already it's June. I can remember starting my new job, standing in the kitchen with its blue laminate floor, making tea. Flicking the switch, to boil the water, to wet the teabag, stir in the milk and drink. I couldn't possibly count the number of cups of tea and coffee i've drank over the past 6 months but its a lot (at a guess 720). The tea gives me a minute to relax, no thinking, searching or talking.
Aside from the tea I've spent six months learning from one of the best local history librarians in Scotland, Graham Hopner. It has truly been an honour and an education working with Graham. I wish he wasn't retiring tomorrow, I still have so much to learn from him. The history is there, the records, cuttings, books but it's the life that Graham breathes into each piece of history that makes the understanding all the easier.
Looking back over the months I've used Wordle to devise a word cloud of the enquires and documents I've worked on.

Looking through my files the first email enquiry I received was from Glasgow Museums looking for information on Dumbarton Art School. 
The school has it's origins within Dumbarton Burgh Academy; it was set up in the attic flat of the academy in 1882. The school was begun after a meeting on the 21st Nov 1882 of interested parties to create an art school, initiated by Mr. William Denny of the Leven Shipyard. The school was only used for a month in the attic flat of the Burgh Academy as a fire destroyed the building after the school started operating. A plumber carelessly knocked over a candle whilst installing some pipe work.The Dumbarton Burgh Academy was rebuilt in 1884 and the School of Art moved into more spacious accommodation, the cost of which was £1000 pounds provided by Mr. William Denny and friends. Early in the 20th Century the school was named the Dumbarton School of Science and Art.It wasn't the history of the school that intested me the most but a photograph of the interior. It has became an iconic image for me.

Dumbarton Art School © West Dunbartonshire Libraries

Day 3 - retail therapy?

Day three of the CILIPS annual conference began for me with a presentation by Fiona Edwards of Opening the Book. The theme for the presentation ‘Turning Browsers into Borrowers: adapting retail techniques for the library’. As you can imagine it was a packed session in the Blythswood Room of the Mitchell Library. Fiona gave us cause for thought with her presentation on improving the browsing/choosing experience of our library patrons, customers, users, visitors. The retail aspect of the presentation focused on bookshops in particular Waterstones, which to be fair still have a hold on the UK High Street book market. Fiona briefed us on where bookshops get it right, mostly through their promotions such as multi buys, bestsellers, top ten and book of the month displays. As library services we don’t have the stock budgets to produce these large scale displays or keep these displays adequately stocked. So, how do we improve our services and turn browsers into borrowers? Fiona gives us some tips:

• Quick Choice – tempts the borrower, makes choice easier
• Recommendations – whether it be reader to reader or staff recommends  
• Face-on Displays – in fiction and non-fiction areas, helps to brand non-fiction areas

As mentioned Fiona is from Opening the Book, who provide online library training ‘frontline’ for library staff. The enthusiasm of staff that have completed the course was evident today listening to Elizabeth Farr and Liz Moffat from Stirling Libraries. Their session ‘Marketing Books to readers in Stirling’ described their approach to reader development and marketing after completing the frontline training course. They explained how rewriting their policies on reader development and marketing came from re-evaluating after the training. Through identifying their strengths and weaknesses they have several new initiatives, one being ensuring they have 2 new promotions each month. They have also taken the approach of branding their libraries, having not only a marketing team but a design team who work in conjunction with Stirling Councils corporate communication team, which I thought was an excellent idea.Tips from Liz & Elizabeth:

• Talk to your borrowers
• Just do it! Try things, if it doesn't work drop it
• Remember your 'loss leaders'
• Evaluate constantly
• Keep information positive 
• Look outside your comfort zone for stock promotions

I enjoyed the session however as a past employee of Waterstones and a current public librarian I also felt exasperated by it. Only over the past couple of years it seems are public libraries looking at retail techniques that have been about for decades, longer even (I can remember one Scottish authority visiting Waterstones in the late 90’s to discuss with us how to promote stock to both adult and junior borrowers). Although comments heard after the presentation concentrated on the realisation that the majority of us use or have used the techniques mentioned above. So, have we become complacent in our approach to continuous best practice in developing the reading experience and marketing of books? We provide excellent services; we have large diverse ranges of stock, we have fantastic initiatives – too many to mention SO are we just really bad at marketing book stock? Do we need to be making more regular visits to the High St for inspiration? Should I be calling Mary Portas for advice? Have we spent far too much time over the past few years concentrating on our learning provision and lifelong learning initiatives and not enough time on stock promotions and reader experience? As librarians we should not underestimate what we can learn from the retail sector, after all Waterstones is still fighting and winning its retail battle. Many will argue that the retail bookshops learned from librarians, maybe so and it’s a large maybe, but they manage to keep selling books, our issues are dipping. At the end of the day bookshops need to make money and we need borrowers and issues, its cold hard profit which ever way you dress it. If the retail sector holds the key to falling issues and active borrower statistics then I’m all for getting a copy of the key.

fbook

I’m not addicted but I do spend time on social networks. I wondered today, do I actually learn anything whilst on Fbook? I browse, flick and glimpse my way though other peoples updates, I learn about birthdays, babies, holidays, nights out, politics, books, films and music. Great, but can I use any of this in everyday life? Will any of it ever be a golden nugget of information that I’ll one day get out and polish? I looked back at the last five days of fbook updates and found; one new web site, airline charges, some DIY tips and some seventies TV nostalgia.

Nuggets:
Ryanair will charge you £40 for being 3 minutes late for a flight.
The film 'The Bands Visit' is recommended.
Need a t-shirt http://www.cuteweethings.com.au/
That a hangover can be induced by red bull and monster just as much as it can be with alcohol.
You can power wash wooden decking.
Dr. Peter Reid became a professor.
One of my best mates completed her 300th geocache today.
Your hungover brain can find animal shapes in landscape photographs (lion below)
It was confirmed that Gary Coleman had died, the actor from Diff'rent Strokes… ‘what you talking about willis’.
Twiki (pronounced twee-kee) was the best thing in Buck Rogers! Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny et al) was the voice.

The Lions Head

©Sharon Donnelly

Find of the Week (10)

This find of the week came from a tweet; angefitzpatrick sent links to two articles on trident, a reflection of life on board and the future of trident under a coalition government . The Trident home, Faslane Naval Base, Gare Loch, is just outside my boundary line but these are interesting article, which I'll pass on to the  reference librarian in Helensburgh. The tweet led me to ask, had any of the Dumbarton shipbuilders built submarines? I know of famous boats built down this end of the water, The Cutty Sark, The Shamrock II & III, The Rob Roy. However, I’d never had cause to wonder if they built submarines. A seach of resources held in the library resulted in an answer.

Submarines were built by Denny during the First World War, the order being placed verbally. Denny’s were new to submarine building so the admiralty aided in the plans and rough castings for the hulls. They were known as ‘E’ type submarines and were the standard design at the outbreak of the war. The first two completed by Denny’s were the E.55 and E.56 built in 1916. The final cost of the submarines was £144,600 with Denny &Co’s profit being £2,314. The price per ton was £10.98. They remained navy vessels until 1922 and 1923 respectively when they were sold. The last E type that Denny’s built was the E.52 in 1917, it left Denny’s March 1917. The final price was £70,500 with Denny & Co profiting by £876. The E.52 submarine was sold for scrapping in 1921 and used to fill a mud bank on the River Dart in 1923.
The final submarine that the Denny yard built was the ‘L’ class, L.54. This submarine replaced the older ‘E’ class due to design and armament changes. Its original deliver date was March 1918, however work came to a stop during the build and she was completed circa 1919. The total cost of the build was £124,911 with Denny receiving about a 10% profit. She was sold for scrap in 1939 just before the outbreak of war.

©West Dunbartonshire Libaries

Shaving, remember the adverts in the 80's for Remington fronted by Victor Kiam ? Or Gillette  using the silky smooth, Federer, Henry and Woods. It's all come a long way since this little advert, no million dollar stars just 'four good points'.

Move

I've moved. I haven't moved far, but the views are different and the air is fresh. I've taken five days to move fifty feet, its been a slow process and I'm still not finished. I started the move on Tuesday at 9.01am, I didn't even have my morning coffee.  I had a plan, a visual one in my head, I could tweak and adjust as I went along. I piled books on and under tables, the bookcases being easier to move empty! I even had a dedicated removals volunteer who helped me move cases and place books back on shelves. By 11am I had moved the bookcases and identified some new map tables. Coffee. Placed the remainder of the books back on the bookcases, taking a little longer than necessary when two piles fell over, scattering dewey all over the floor. The afternoon meant moving the heavy equipment, a 2 person job. We moved the microfiche and microfilm machines form one room to another and rejoiced that they fit in their allocated spot. First day of move complete.
Wednesday, day off. So, Thursday morning, time to move the desks and navigate the stairs from the basement. It looked really easy, wrong!  We got stuck twice, jammed fingers once, swore several times. It's amazing how many positions the human body can achieve when trying to squeeze a desk up through a narrowing turning stairwell. Desks done. Publications group meeting, short. Friday, my mantra for the day was, 'email Irene', should have worn an elastic band or wrote it on my hand, forgot to email. So, not sure when my PC can be moved. Saturday, managed to enjoy the view from the window. Oh, my view, a roundabout, the sheriff court and some lovely green trees. After working in a basement with artifical light and no air, I'm enjoying the change.

Find of the Week (9)

This ‘find of the week’ deals with the library itself, well the 1922 catalogue. I had spent an afternoon looking for some old photographs and came across a set of the library interior from the 1950’s. The first photograph that caught my eye was one of the large indicator panels. The panels were located where our learning suite and reference sections are now situated. The large panels held records for each book in the library, they had blue and red indicators to inform customers which books were in stock or on loan. The boards made it look more like a ticket office than a library, due to the fact that all of the stock was located behind the counter on stacks.

©West Dunbartonshire Libraries

I don’t have the actual catalogues from the 1950’s but I do have the 1922 edition where the arrangement of the catalogue was known as the ‘dictionary catalogue’. This edition of the catalogue had 7,987 entries. Each book was entered in alphabetical sequence under the author’s name, its subject, and, where distinctive its title. Fiction however was only added under the author.

An example from the catalogue;

Austen (Jane) – Persuasion …….E.W……F2277
Australia. Hill (R. and F.) What we saw in Australia, 1875……B1979
The E.W. after the Austen title is an abbreviation for Eminent Women Series and the number before each book number is one of the seven main classes;


A – Philosophy and Theology
B – History, Travel and Biography
C – Law, Politics and Economics
D – Science and Art
E – Poetry & Drama
F – Prose Fiction
G- Language and Literary Miscellany

The catalogue also had 25 abbreviations listed and a separate section at the back for the local collection. The actual book itself is bound in hardback and fits the hand, a little like a modern e-reader, nice size. The interest for me though isn’t the actual arrangement of the catalogue but the ‘local studies’ collection mentioned within. I’m sure some of the local studies books I use as reference tools, are the ones mentioned in this catalogue. Thankfully due to these titles being closed access they have been preserved well.

Find of the Week (8)

Whilst listening to and reading about the debates surrounding the forthcoming General Election, I thought I’d travel back to the 1910 elections. My interest stems from being the local history librarian and a constituent. The first election of 1910 was held from January 15th to February 10th, the votes counted, a hung parliament was announced with both the Liberals and Conservatives sharing the spoils. The conservatives racked in the most votes however Asquith’s Liberals has 2 additional seats. To resolve this situation an additional election was held in December between the 3rd and 19th , at which the Liberals formed a Parliament with the aid of the Irish Nationals. You knew that already, right?!

In West Dunbartonshire the contest was between the Liberal candidate Mr. James Dundas White and Colonel Henry Brock, Conservative. At previous elections in the county, the Conservatives had taken the seat. This was not to happen in 1910, when the liberals snatched a victory by 1033 votes. The second election in December had two new candidates, but a similar result. Standing for the Liberal Party, Mr. Arthur Acland Allen and for the Conservatives Mr.William Thomas Shaw. The Liberals again won the seat by 1312 votes.
I spent some time trawling though the local newspapers during the election months and I found that the local papers were favouring the Liberal candidate. Comparing the characters of both men in the run up to the polling days. However the funniest thing I found during my search was the following advertisement.

The advertisement is self explanatory; however my interest was on the word ‘patriotic’. Did the owner of the store call the corset the ‘patriotic corset’? If so, was he/she a Liberal or Conservative supporter? If the owner was a Liberal supporter then he/she must have known that Mr.Asquith was apposed to the women’s suffragette movement. How could any decent young woman of her time have bought a corset from a man who supported the Liberals? They might not have had the vote but they could have voted with their wallets.  However, to be fair,other political parties were apposed to women gaining the vote and not many women had their own wallets let alone a disposable income. Maybe I’m just thinking a little too much about a simple advertisement campaign.

Rhudie the wonder dog

I said from time to time I'd mention Rhudie the dog. It was her 6th birthday yesterday, our pup is growing up. She's lying next to me now, sleeping with teddy caught in her teeth. She's just back from a long weekend at nona and pops' house where Bennie and I ran about after her, even when that meant a toilet call at 7am. Our niece Millie (3 years) affectionately calls her Rhudes, she knows that Rhudes can only be kissed on the white spot on the top of her head and that her tail isn't a toy! Millie's teaching her kid brother Harris (6 months) these rules to ensure happy dog and stress free aunties. Rhudes is in recovery tonight, after a long weekend of playing with her throwy thing in Pops garden.
Bennie and I both love the fact that at the end of a long day that smiling (she does) hairy face is the first thing that greets us, followed quickly by a wiggly bottom. I love the way she makes me smile.

Happy Birthday pup.

© Photograph Sam Moore

Find of the Week (7.1)

I arrived back at my desk after Easter, silently placing a bet as to how many emails I'd have in my inbox. I skimmed headings and authors in no logical order, until one caught my eye. Mike Davis from Helensburgh Library had replied to an email I sent him before the holidays. I'd sent him a query asking if he had an image of Eunice Murray and he came up trumps. Due to local council boundary changes, much of the information on Eunice Murray is held by Helensburgh. I was excited reading Mike's email and very eager to open the attached .jpg. Mike mentioned having coffee the next time I'm through in Helensburgh, I think I'll be buying!
I had certain images in my head as to how Eunice would look, they were all lost the moment I opened the .jpg. For those interested here is the picture of Eunice Murray, sister, suffagette, parliamentary candidate and councillor.

Courtesy of Mike Davis, Librarian, Helensburgh

  

Dirty Dancing, Elephants and the Census

It’s been a strange week, firstly I managed to last the course. The course was part of my induction training, the lovely trainer from HR&OD put some effort into making the mundane a little more stimulating. Or it may have been the chocolate bars she was giving out. My break times however were disturbed by the sounds of Dirty Dancing. To some that might have been akin to the eye scene in Clockwork Orange,all I could think about was Jennifer Gray in white tight jeans, dancing atop a wooden bridge. It was however conducive to some good day dreaming during the less dynamic parts of the day.
It’s amazing how some enquires come to us. We were asked this week about the Elephant on the Dumbarton Coat of Arms, after some theories on the Fred MacAuley radio show. The elephant is there as some say it is similarity in shape to Dumbarton Rock and Castle, especially if you look at the castle from the north east. Another theory is that it is regarded as a mythical, almost invincible animal.


The Census from 1911 will be released in Scotland early next year. With the opportunities it represents to both family and local historians, the Scottish Local Studies Group are using it as the theme for Local Studies week, 2011. The amount of social history that is documented in census enumeration books is immense; they are still studied today by local historians, PhD students, genealogy enthusiast and librarians to name a few. So, the frustration felt today by Scottish Local Studies Librarians was understandable. It was explained that there would be no microfilm copies of the 1911 census for public libraries to purchase. Scotland's People would be our medium. Most will wonder then where our concerns lie, that would be with the access to this information. Previously we paid a fee to have the microfilm copies, which we use in public libraries. The cost to library users is minimal, the cost of an A4 print. With the introduction of the Scotland’s People site, as the medium for the 1911 census, we will all have to pay to access the records. Are we then contributing to cover the costs for the 2011 census by paying for historical access? Income Generation by another name? However, not a bad thing in the present climate of recession and public sector reductions on spending.


Previously we could use the enumeration books to find social trends within towns, villages or particular streets, this will be made more difficult by the way that Scotland’s People displays results. You could write to the Register General and request to view records, however make sure that you give enough evidence to support your application.
The light at the end of the tunnel may be the talk today of having license agreements to access Scotland’s People records. However the General Register office seems to be concentrating on the new Family History Centres. The city of Dundee has a centre which operates a great service and their local studies librarians praised the service, however where is the money to be found to open more of these centres? Yes, shared services do work; we are becoming accustomed to them in the library sector. However do many public libraries have the space to accommodate the registrar’s service and the local history provision within their libraries? I’d be interested in a similar style of service within my own authority, to increase the customer experience of those looking for information on family/local history.

No Find of the Week as due to courses and Easter I've only been in the basement/local studies section one day this week. The Bennie, Rhudie and I are heading up to Inverness for the weekend, if the A9 is open tomorrow afternoon.

Find of the Week (7)

This find came from an a.s.a.p email sent by my Head of Service. The Council’s Public Relations Officer needed historical information on elections and voting in the area, specifically early voting and suffragettes. The research has been done and the information handed to PR. The find for me was exploring a women’s life, her work, writings and politics and the possible inequality of women’s heritage and archives stored within the department.

The woman was Eunice Guthrie Murray – b. 1878, d. 1960. She lived her life in Cardross, a small village near Dumbarton. She joined the suffragette movement in 1908 by becoming a member of the Women’s Freedom League (WFL) after becoming disheartened by the hostility to suffragettes in her area. By 1913 she had became president of the Glasgow branch and later Scottish Council of the WFL. She spoke out throughout her time in the suffragette movement and was arrested in London for persisting in an attempt to address a meeting from the steps of Downing Street to the Horse Guards Parade. The suffragettes went to many lengths to have their voices heard, as the well documented accounts confirm, such as Emily Wilding Davison. However Ms Murray disagreed with arson which had been used throughout the country to publicise the campaign.


She stood for the Glasgow Bridgeton seat at the 1918 elections, at the time she is stated as having said she had a ‘good deal of encouragement from both men and women’, however at the count she only received 1000 votes. This did not deter her and in 1919 she became a councillor in the Dunbartonshire area, she was also awarded the M.B.E in 1945. Ms Murray wrote throughout her life from early pamphlets for the suffragette movement to books on social history, in particular women’s history. From her collection of writings two stand out ‘Scottish Women of a Bygone Age’ and ‘A Gallery of Scottish women’.


Ms Murray was quoted in 1947; “Women have a two-fold calling, for not only are we as wives and mothers the guardians of the future, but we are also the custodians of the past,” (Scottish Homespun 1947) I’ll take the custodians of the past, as for the first part, I’m an Aunt not a Mother. As a local history librarian however I do believe I am now a custodian of my authority’s archives and related history. All of the custodians before me have been men, a long line of them. As librarians, each has brought new meaning to the collection and has specialized in specific areas. My main focus this past fortnight has been on the historical development of women in the area. I couldn’t find a great deal within the overall collection, even within the archive. However when you dig deep and spend time just researching and reading you start to find little things that could have been added to cuttings files or catalogued in the archive. We had a very brief outline of Ms Murray in the library; however with a little detective work on the old newspapers, it was relatively easy to find information. The question remains as to why until now is it not documented. Ms Murray was not only a woman but the first Scottish women to stand for a parliamentary seat, a local councillor and local author. My mission now is to focus on the Herstory of the area, something that is well overdue. What of the notable women in the 17th and 18th century, what of the women who worked in the whiskey bond or the wives of the shipbuilders, what social history is out there that we haven’t documented and is right in front of our eyes. It’s a very steep mountain to climb but one I am sure will pose a challenge for a few years. I have to place my feet firmly under the table and establish my knowledge on the area, then piece by piece interweave the women of the area into the herstory.

The Chicken read the Atlas and found Orchid park

Have you ever had one of those meetings where you try to fit random words into the conversation? If you have you'll know it can be fun and frustrating. One of my friends is completing her MSC at the moment and I challenged her to add the word Atlas to her final paper. Hard enough, until you add the other two words thrown in by others, Orchid and Chicken. My friend admitted defeat this morning, but being the good sport that she is sent a lovely email giving these little sentences in reply:

Knocked on the door and saw the Orchid on the windowsill with the sunlight shining behind it, making it glow with radiance.
On the desk was a half eaten chicken sandwich that had been discarded in favour of the Atlas which was being eagerly explored by the head librarian.Who when I entered looked up and said “oook?”

Not sure about the 'oook' myself, however my friend uses a special software due to her dyslexia that interprets her voice, I think today it just couldn't cope with her accent. I'm just glad she had little fun with the words, a five minute breather from the studying.

Belfast - Linen Hall Library

Our first city break of the year was to Belfast in February. I've just recently downloaded all the photographs from the camera and came across three of the exterior of the Linen Hall Library. I decided to visit the library as a tourist/visitor to the city. I liked the sense of anonymity to the visit, but I also felt like a mystery shopper. The first thing I loved was the actual location of the library on Donegall Square North, sitting on a corner facing the City Halls. The entrance had the feel of a conservative men's club in the city, all sandstone, glass and wood. The red hand of Ulster on the overhang is now painted cream but in older postcards you can see the hand painted red. The library was founded in 1788 and is the last subscribing library in Ireland.
Once we had climbed the stairs to the main information desk we came around to the coffee shop and main lending area of the library. Being a local studies librarian I was more interested in what treasures they had waiting on the third floor. So, I pulled the other half up the stairs and promptly left them to browse the shelves. I think I’m lucky to have such an understanding other half. So, the third floor, you could have picked me up at the end of the weekend and I still wouldn’t have finished looking, observing and reading the books. They had some very interesting titles including for me, The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815, fascinating book. The room it full of books dedicated to local studies and family history, they hold a card index of the births, deaths and marriages from the Belfast newspaper 1801-1863. The view from the third floor is stunning looking over to the green copper roof of the city halls. So, time well spent visiting the library and viewing first hand the extensive collection they hold. The only annoying thing is not taking note of the books of interest to both myself and for my job. Thankfully I can access their online catalogue from work and home.

©Sam Moore -images                 

International Women's Day

An early start to International Women’s Day must be Kathryn Bigelow winning the Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker. She’s the first woman in the eight-two year history of the awards.

International Women’s Day is the recognition and celebration of women and their achievements. Many women can be remembered on this day, mother, sister, aunt, grand mother, sister and friend. There are many famous women who changed lives through their individual pursuits and in devour, Helen Keller, Marie Curie, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Gina Reinhart, Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Garret Anderson and Amelia Earhart.

However, without the pioneering efforts of women and men during the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries we would not have the freedom to recognise the achievements of these women. One such pioneer was John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) who wrote on the inequality faced by women, in the late Victorian era. Emancipation of women was a feature of his book, ‘The subjection of Women’ 1869. This short article from the Dumbarton Herald, June 10th, 1869, reports on a piece written in the Telegraph about Mr. Mills book. Without the forward thinking and determination of the men and women of our past, I wouldn’t have the opportunities afforded me today, the freedom to be an emancipated, educated, free woman.

Dumbarton Herald, 10th June, 1869

Find of the Week (6)

The ceilings been painted and the lighting has been upgraded but that doesn’t stop us from bumping into desks. Near the back of the basement we have a desk full of donated material needing catalogued and preserved. One stack had a resemblance to the Torre pendente di Pisa, until about 4pm on Friday. That is until it all came tumbling down. I’m sure on Monday several hours will be spent sorting the materials and trying to assign ownership to some. This minor calamity led to the next find of the week, a small book of poetry by Mrs. C Campbell, a Dumbarton woman.

Mrs. Campbell was born in Alexandria, Dumbartonshire, in 1844, the daughter of a highly respected cooper. Mrs. Campbell moved to the nearby town of Dumbarton upon her marriage to Mr. Campbell. She began writing poetry at the age of 13 and wrote throughout her life. Mrs. Campbell’s poetry was featured in the Dumbarton Herald until her death in 1906, Donald McLeod a local historian and president of the Burns Club wrote the introduction/dedication to Mrs. Campbell’s book. In total thirty five poems are contained in the small volume, it’s bound in red leather and published by McNaughtan & Sinclair, Glasgow. I’ve enjoyed reading them all over the weekend, particularly her advice on marriage, the death of her dog, the changing of seasons and a particularly bad winter in 1895.
There are many of the poems I could add here but I’ve chosen ‘wee jenny’. The portrayal of Jenny by  Mrs. Campbell  is amusing. The poem is littered slightly with old Scots dialect :

wee jenny

To me wee Jenny's blithe and sweet,
I like tae hear her wee bit feet
Toddlin' oot an toddlin' in ;
I like tae hear her try and sing,
She does her best tae please us a',
But Jenny canna sing ava'.
Her little tale she tells in glee,
A' thochts and things she speirs at me;
And a'e thing Jenny likes tae ken,
Is when the pay-day, comes again;
Then will I get a ha'penny, maw?
And gang tae Jeanie's for a draw?
Yes, Jenny, that you'll sharely get;
Well, maw, you'll mind and no forget,
For Jeanie has long farthing stocks,
She's blue and yellow sugar rock,
She's sugar men and ladies tae,
I saw them a' this very day.
Oh ! Jenny bairnie, say nae mair,
Just gang and get yer ain wee chair,
And tak' yer dolly on yer knee,
And gie me peace jist for a wee.
So Jenny, laughing, gangs awa',
She gets her doll and chair an' a',
Her ain wee stool's turned upside doon,
And dolly's washed frae tae t' croon,
It's cuddled in her bosom sweet,
And then laid cosy doon tae sleep.
Oh, happy bairn, and fu' o' glee,
The warl' has got nae care for thee,
Ye dance and loup frae morn till noon,
Till soothing sleep comes creeping roon'.
Then in his arms my bairn lies doon,
And when she on her pillow lies
And sleep has firmly sealed her eyes,
I gaze into her sweet wee face,
Where sorrow yet has left nae trace,
She's innocence frae head tae feet,
She's a' tae me that's pure and sweet.

Let there be change...

I left work on Friday for Belfast and returned today to find some improvements to the basement workspace. I  knew the changes were happening, so it was fantastic to come back to new lighting and ceiling paint. I'd liken the basement before the change to being a bit of a warren. A lovely, warm, cosy place. Every time I look up or turn around I am surrounded on all sides by books, photographs and archives. However the lighting was about 30 years old and the paint on the walls over 50 years old, time for change. The new lighting and ceiling paint have changed the ambience of the basement, it is brighter but more clinical in appearance. I'm worried about a couple of the book collections in the basement area. I may have to move them into the archive room annex as the light is now too strong.
I also need to have a look at temperature controls within the main archive room. During the winter I believe the room temperature has been colder than recommended conditions and archive materials appear damp. At present we have no archivist within the department, so I need to find a solution to the problem asap . Being in the basement of a 100 year old scottish library doesn't make archive storage simple.

Find of the Week (5)

Never judge a book….

This little find was in one of the dark corners of the basement. I happened upon it by chance, again whilst dealing with another enquiry. The first thing I noticed, and it can’t be missed, is the large black swastika on the front cover. The first thought that obviously came to mind was WWII, that it might have been written and printed in Germany during the late 30’s into the 40’s. With closer inspection however it was actually a Nelson publication reprint of the book by F. Marion Crawford  an American novelist (Italian born) in the late 1800’s. I should have noticed at the time that the swastika used was not of the adolf  persuasion with its 45 degree angle. Nelsons use of the swastika might have been as originally intended as a good luck symbol.

Due dates - lie

I'm now starting to think that every midwife lies when it comes to due dates.I've spent the weekend with my phone glued to my hand just incase I get the call. I even remembered to pack the phone charger for our weekend trip to Inverness, checking the phone was set to pick up email and facebook notifications, just incase my brother-in-law or mother couldn't contact me by phone.

I'm going to hazard a guess that maybe my new niece or nephew just doesn't want to leave the lovely, warm cocoon that it is my sisters womb. It might be a little psychic devil that knows my sister is craving the taste of pate or it's aware that granny is about to up the blood pressure tablets, awaiting its arrival.

I'm nervously awaiting the birth of my first blood related niece or nephew, I already have a lovely niece and nephew thanks to my sister and brother-in-law but somehow this is different, its my little sister giving birth. I've helped build nursery furniture (quicker than my power tooled b-i-l), spent a small fortune on baby clothes and watched my mother knit more clothing than Edinburgh Woolen Mill produces in a year. My sisters in her thirties so I start to worry about how she'll cope during the birth, I wonder if junior will be fighting fit when she/he arrives and that my sister doesn't have any complications during or after the birth.  I'm sure these are the ramblings of many an auntie to be/ older sister.

I'm also jealous of my sister, she'll be bringing into this world a little person, something I'll never do, part by choice and part biology. My sister will be giving my parents the one thing I can't/won't be able to do, I suppose it is 2010, I coud if I really wanted to, science and lakeland plastics permitting. However as much as I love kids, l gladly hand them back after a few hours of auntie time.

I'll keep waiting for the phone to ring and I'm sure when it does, I'll have a tear in my eye and a smile on my face.

Find of the Week (4)

It's the centenary of the library this year and I've been asked by the team librarian for the area to devise displays on local author. The two most significant from the area are; A.J.Cronin and T.Smollett. I've spent part of the week devising displays for both, one for the main library and the other for the local studies room. The most interesting of the two for me was Tombias Smollett (1721-1771) he was born in Dumbarton and educated at both Dumbarton Academy and Glasgow University (studying medicine). After university he obtained a commission as a ship surgeon and whilst abroad in the West Indies he met and married his wife Anne or Nancy Lascelles, a Creole, the daughter of an english planter. On his return to England he set up as a Doctor in Downing Street and did not seriously write until after the Battle of Culloden, when his strong nationalism prompted him to write the poem The Tears of Scotland.

He developed the picaresque novel, the first being The Adventures of Roderick Random in 1748, this novel was heavily autobiographical, he followed this with The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle and The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, the novels giving a great insight into late 18th century living. He worked on many pieces in the next few years, notably a translation of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and a multi-volume history of England.

His daughter died in 1763 and he took his wife away from city life and travelled through France and Italy, returning a year later and writing Travels through France and Italy, published in 1765. Smollett moved to Livomo in Italy in 1769 and lived there until his death in 1771, the year he died his funniest and best novel was also published The Expedition of Humphry Clinker.

The opening lines of ' The Expedition of Humphry Clinker', fantastic;

" To Dr Lewis

DOCTOR

The pills are good for nothing - I might as well swallow snowballs to cool my reins - I have told you over and over, how hard I am to move; and at this time of day , I ought to know something of my own constitution."

Find of the Week (3)

Now that the weekend is over and Monday has passed, I'd better get on with last weeks 'find of the week'. As mentioned in my last post its the yacht Shamrock II.
Sir Thomas Lipton had participated in the America's Cup Race in 1899 with the yacht Shamrock; however he failed in his attempt to win the cup, beaten by the defender Columbia. He returned to the UK and set about commissioning a new boat for the 1901 challenge, Shamrock II. The yacht was designed by Mr G.I. Watson , using  Denny's experimental tank to design the boat with the aid of models of Shamrock I, Valkyrie III and Britannia. Once he was decided on his design he approached William Denny & Brothers to build the yacht, it was the first time the Denny shipbuilders had been asked to create such a vessel. The yacht was constructed under great secrecy in a covered yard at the Leven Shipyard, the locals until the day it was launched had no idea as to how the yacht would look.

The frame and hull of the yacht were of nickel steel frames and manganese bronze plating, she was painted white with a green stripe round her gun-wale. The launch day of the yacht from the Level shipyard in April 1901 was a day of celebration, dignitaries from around the West of Scotland, Ireland and beyond came to the yard to watch the launch. Friends of both the Denny's and Sir Lipton were present; the Marchioness of Dufferin performed the christening ceremony.

The boat left the Leven Shipyard and made its way to Southampton to be tested before heading to Ireland then America for the America's Cup. The yacht failed in its attempt to win the America's Cup and when Mr.G.I.Watson the designer was asked why the boat had failed blamed the amount of time he had spent in the experimental tank, as it could not reproduce the exact conditions the boat was under during the race.

Sir Thomas would go on to have another 3 attempts, 5 in total, at the America's Cup, he was unsuccessful in all his attempts to gain the cup.

Find

February has arrived and it's running quicker than I expected. I think this month I'll just try and keep up! I realise it's Sunday night and I should be writing my 'find of the week', which is the very sleak and lovely Shamrock II yacht that sailed in the America's Cup race of 1901. I just haven't got the time so maybe tomorrow night I'll find the time. The quickest way to make my excuse is to bullet point my weekend;

• Sister-in-law and husband arrived from London
• Mother-in-law arrived from Inverness
• 2 lunches out
• I excellent attempt making Chocolate Cake
• Birthday party for our 8 year old god kids (twins)
• Visiting auntie with broken ankle
• House prep for photos and valuation on Monday
• Ikea for extra storage boxes  
• 1 drop off at airport
• Red wine and Peroni (not mixed!)

The last thing on my list is to complete watching the Godfather trilogy on Film4 this evening. So I think I have a long enough list to leave the Shamrock II till tomorrow night!

Find of the week (2)

The 6th to 13th March is Local History Week and I've now started to work on a small display that can be placed in the new junior library. The theme for the year is shops and shopping and I've been busy trying to devise something for kids in our local area.


I believe it's time to get the kids involved in their local heritage and history, it is also a topic covered within the curriculmn for excellence. I've already organised with local schools a drawing competition on this years theme and my thoughts are now firmly on the display.


I'd been looking through the photo archive and came across a whole bunch of local advertisments for shops in the local area, circa 1910. These are a great find as it's the main libraries centenary this year, so I could actual combine my two themes. The picture shown here is an advertisment for 'Mrs. Campbell Teeth Specialist', I just loved the smiling faces of the caricatures used in the advert . It's just one of the adverts I'm going to use in the display, including several historical notes on how the High St has changed over the past 100 years to coincide with the library centenary.

My Mug

I'd never really thought about why people used or found benefit from those thermal, screw top travel mugs, until this week. Now that I'm surrounded by a large basement (the dunny) of very old, precious books, maps, opr's etc, I've realised 'the why', is the prevention of spillage of hot liquid onto my books, desk, pc or cords and the 'benefits' are no more cold coffee and no spilt liquid. The little mug comes to the rescue of this coffee damsel every day especially when I put the fresh coffee on my desk then somehow lose an hour on a query,only to know that my little mug has kept my coffee warm.I'm proud of my little travel mug, sitting on my desk with Sam written in large black permanent marker.

Find of the week (1)

I've started my new job as Information Services Librarian for a small Scottish local authority. The job has several areas of responsibility one of which is the local studies enquires and the local collection for the area,the past few weeks have been at times overwhelming when I realise the array of information that is stored within the devision. I thought of the 'find of the week' as a way of displaying weekly the little gems that I find whilst perusing the shelves for query answers.
The first find of the week was found whilst I was replying to an enquiry on the 72nd Highlanders being in the area. I looked over to my left and saw lying on the shelf a little leather bound book that looked mottled by damp, I picked it up to realise it was a scout diary from 1932. From the evidence in the book the lad was about 16, sitting his highers and attendning the local scouts group, he had also included some football scores from the era on local teams. 
Near the back of the diary they had to enter dates for nature events throughout the year such as first blackbird, open flower etc The gem of this diary or the find of the week was reading the handwriten sentence at the bottom of the nature page;
Event: seen a woman .........Date: every night of the week


Good to see in 1932 boys were still only interested in 2 things women and football!

Chartership Portfolio Building 12th Jan

It was a very cold start to the day in Edinburgh, walking up to the National Library certainly cleared the head and cooled the hands. The morning session started with Celia Jenkins introducing herself and letting candidates know that she is working on courses and informal gatherings for the Scottish CDG. There was advice on how to find a mentor from Valerie Walker and Paul Hambleton from the National Library shared his experiences of chartering. The main presentations coming from Michael Martin from CILIP and Anna Heron a member of the chartership board, both talked through differing elements of the chartering process. From the session the most important comments were:
Use the framework matrix
Evaluate your service performance
Evaluate your personal performance
Measure your effectiveness Be aware of wider professional context/issues


An informative morning spent in Edinburgh and it was good to see a great turn out for the event.