University of Glasgow Library: Archive Services Annual Report: August 2014-July 2015 1. Overview of highlights 2. Delivering excellent research support 2.1 Knowledge exchange 2.1.1 Events and partnerships 2.2 Enhancing research resources 2.2.1 Projects 2.2.2 Appraisal 2.2.3 Cataloguing 2.3 New acquisitions 2.4 Digital engagement 3. Delivering excellent student experience 3.1 Work related learning 3.1.1 Work placement students 3.1.2 Hunterian Associates Programme 3.2 Skills training and teaching sessions 3.3 Academic supervision 4. Delivering excellent services 4.1 Reading Room and enquiries 4.2 Reprographics 4.3 Conservation & Preservation 5. Enhancing the global reach and reputation of the University 5.1 Exhibitions and displays 5.1.1 Lusitania 5.1.2 Other external loans 5.1.3 University displays 5.2 Friends and other partnerships 6. Fit for purpose infrastructure 6.1 Thurso Street Building environment 6.2 Efficiency, effectiveness and innovation 6.3 Our staff 7. Appendix: Facts and Figures 2014-15 1. Overview of highlights Total project income of £355,000 was acquired from diverse sources to supplement the core allocation and the standard recurrent income. Successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £92,000 to support the development of the textile archive collections for use by the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History Successful applications to the Wellcome Trust for funding to support two projects to support work in the History, Geography and Medical Humanities areas (Allotments and Erskine £70,000) Investment of £100,000 from the University Trust to establish a Heritage Engagement Service to support the strategic aims of the University Successful completion of the corporately sponsored Ben Line Archive catalogue and the William Simons conservation project funded by the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust Acquisition of the Erskine Hospital Archive and the formation of a new partnership with Erskine, the School of Humanities and the Wellcome Trust. This is the latest development in the highly successful community engagement project Glasgow University’s Great War. Successful completion of the Learning & Teaching Development Fund project Developing critical thinking through personalized learning using the University of Glasgow’s Unique & Distinctive Collections Introduction of a new enquiry management system to streamline our processes to record and report on our interactions with our users Online engagement saw significant increases this year with a 70% increase in number of followers on Twitter to 3836 and University Story page views almost tripling to over 3 million. 2. Delivering excellent research support 2.1 Knowledge exchange It has been a busy year for academic conference support and public engagement activities designed to help audiences engage with and interact with University collections to generate mutually beneficial sharing of knowledge, expertise and skills. We work in partnership with academics to create and curate exhibitions celebrating the extraordinary range of the University’s research and teaching, focussing on our internationally acclaimed collections. These are intended to share knowledge about Library collections, provide inspiration for new avenues of research and illustrations to draw press attention to conference activities. The 33rd meeting of Dyes in History and Archaeology 29 Oct – 1 Nov brought 106 delegates from 21 countries to the University’s Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History. A display of the textile collections was very well received and led to impromptu tours being arranged for delegates greatly enthused by what they had seen. In March, with staff from Special Collections and the Medical Humanities Research Centre we organised an event to showcase the collections eligible for the new Wellcome Trust Research Bursary Funding Scheme. The Trust’s grant advisors came up from London to make a presentation and answer questions. Two new pieces of research were directly initiated. These were the award of a Research Bursary Award to Adrian Chapman to use MS Laing and BBSRC PhD student Caitlin Jukes undertaking work on the Syphilis Collection for a 3 month placement under the CASE Collaborative Placements Scheme. The 6th International Workshop on the History of Human Genetics was held in Glasgow 5-6 June as part of the European Society of Human Genetics Conference. A pre-workshop reception was held in Thurso St to showcase our Modern Genetics Collections to delegates. The first session of the conference was dedicated to papers about Glasgow’s influence on the History of Human Genetics. The papers will be published in advance of the next Workshop in Copenhagen in 2017. Gender, Youth, Community, Methodology and More: A Symposium Celebrating the Life and Work of Pearl Jephcott took place at the University of Leicester on 9 July. The culmination of work by Leicester’s John Goodwin and Henrietta O’Connor, it brought together practitioners discussing Jephcott’s significance. The collection held in Glasgow was part of the original inspiration for Leicester’s work. Jephcott’s Homes in High Flats research data, preserved in the Archives, is now being extensively re-used by Professors Lynn Abrams (History) and Ade Kearns (Urban Studies) as part of their Housing, Every Day life and Wellbeing in the long term research group. The (Re)Imagining Youth project, led by Dr Susan Batchelor (Sociology) and Dr Alistair Fraser (Sociology, University of Hong Kong), is inspired by Jephcott’s Time of One’s Own study, and the images we have from the study are being used in their project exhibition at Platform in November 2015. Our major non-academic engagement activities this year were with the College of Arts. We supported their Industry Engagement initiatives including Industry Day on 5 June with a film about our work. Our collections are referenced in several of their case studies. These include Reconnecting and Recreating 19th Century Scottish Textile Manufacture and Communicating the First World War. For a list of events see Section 7.5. 2.2 Enhancing research resources 2.2.1 Projects We continue to apply for grants to diversify income streams beyond the core allocation. This work aims to maximize discoverability of the University’s collections, to provide high quality services to support current University research and to enhance the reputation of the University and its Library. The total project funding secured this year was £355,000. In October we received news that we had secured £92,000 of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Collecting Cultures programme to support building the textile collections of the Scottish Business Archive. Darning Scotland’s Textile Collections is one of only two projects funded in Scotland, and the only archive (as opposed to a museum) to secure funding. The work will be completed in 2018. In 2014-15 funding committed by the University Trust for the work of Archive Services totaled £193,000 (£85,000 to be disbursed in 2015-16). £100,000 was allocated to the project to develop our Heritage Engagement service to further support the University’s Strategic Plans (see section 5: Enhancing the Global Reach and Reputation of the University). Five organisations made individual additional donations to the Trust to support the work of the Scottish Business Archive. Swire Educational Trust, Cataloguing and preservation of the James Finlay Company Archive (£43,000) Mactaggart Scott, Cataloguing the Mactaggart Scott Company Archive (£35,000) National Manuscripts Conservation Trust, Conserving the William Simons Plans, second instalment (£5,450) DiMaggios Group, Digitising the Anchor Line Archive (£3,000) Caledonian Railway Association, Digitising a selection from the University’s railway collections (£500) We were successful in our applications for two Wellcome Trust Research Resources Scheme projects that will be delivered over the coming 2 years. The papers of Victor Webb (1915-c2004), relating to the Scottish Allotments and Gardens movement in the 20th century received £10,000. The catalogue will be completed in 2015-16. The application for £60,000 to catalogue and make accessible the archives of Erskine Hospital was also successful. This project will run to December 2016 to coincide with the centenary of the foundation of the organization as the Princess Louise Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers. A further two projects (Fyfe Anderson and Macewen) have been successful at preliminary application stage and will be prioritized for future rounds in consultation with Library colleagues. 2.2.2 Appraisals Work to appraise the Estates & Buildings architectural and engineering drawing collections previously housed in the Estates offices has begun. DP&FOI Office staff member Grace Groome, completed work on student schedule appraisal to ensure legacy paper details include only information assessed of permanent value to document student academic achievements and essential biographical details. 37 sacks of archive material were confidentially destroyed on being appraised as not worthy of permanent retention. 2.2.3 Cataloguing In total 52 accessions were box listed and 2658 items were listed, with 984 descriptions. This totaled to 9.6 linear metres. Neil Ogg, Business Archive Project Cataloguer, successfully completed the Ben Line Archive project and began cataloguing the James Finlay archive before being offered a post at the National Portrait Gallery. Peter Morphew is now undertaking the cataloguing to be completed in 2015-16. Volunteers and student placements are an important part of our Cataloguing and Preservation work, very often bringing with them new skills and specialist knowledge and always bringing enthusiasm. Former staff member George Gardner continues to help us one day a week. This year he is focusing on identifying photographs of the West End of Glasgow in DC 181, papers of Henry Morton. Erietta Papadopoulou joined us for a cataloguing placement from the Information Management and Preservation Masters and worked on UGC219, papers of David Cunningham Smith and sections of UGD350 Court Line. Kate Gordon worked on several University collections.