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.
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