Rovings and Ramblings of V

Our final journey to the Royal Geographical Society 's (RGS) Library and Archive brought us to a quiet little corner north of the bustling sidewalks outside The Victoria & Albert Museum and The Natural History Museum and directly across the street from an entrance to Hyde Park. Upon entering we made our way downstairs to the reading room and settled in for a briefing on the history of the RGS, given by the Principal Librarian, Eugene Rae. A table in the Reading Room laid out with the items Mr. Rae discussed. In 1830 the Geographical Society of London was formed and its precursor was the Raleigh Club, a sort of dinner club for gentlemen who traveled and explored and would share their findings. It was a way to gather and then disseminate data by publishing articles and journals to exchange their data information with other geographical societies. The RGS also offered training in the use of navigation instruments. The items that Mr. Rae shared with us are rare or o...

The view of St. Paul's from Millennium Bridge Our trip to St. Paul's was a vertical one as we ascended higher towards "the heavens" or more precisely into the archives and library of the St. Paul's Cathedral . Upon entering the cathedral we went upstairs to the triforium level. The "triforium" as defined by Merriam-Webster , is "a gallery forming an upper story to the aisle of a church and typically an arcaded story between the nave arches and clerestory". Our lovely guide, Yvonne, told us that the timbers above us in the triforium level are 300 years old. Yvonne also pointed out this cataloged wall of fragments of the cathedral. One issue that was discussed was the issue of dust not from age and time but from the constant need for repairs on the cathedral that finds its way into the room where our group ventured next . Joseph Wisdom, the Librarian of St. Paul's for about the last 20 years, talked about the curr...

After our class visit to The National Museum of Computing  some of us ventured on to Bletchley Park . The location of the codebreakers and all of the vital and top secret work that was done there echoes the value of relocating collections for safekeeping during times of conflict. Heading towards the Mansion at Bletchley Park Due to London being such a target, and this new tactic of fighting a war through decoding of messages and information, removing such work to the country was imperative. The cultural and historical significance of the collections of museums, libraries, and archives that were moved to remote locations elsewhere in the UK mirrors this concept of removing what is deemed high-priority from high risk zones. Approaching the Mansion across the lawn The top secret nature of what went on at Bletchley Park during the war echoes how the stores of collections were kept secret so as to increase their safety in case of invasion. The Library and Archives at...

One train ride and a short walk was all it took to arrive at a place which houses and cares for machines that helped to bring the power of information into the global arena. Our guide at  The National Museum of Computing , Sheridan Williams, led us through the eras of computing and the machines with which companies were able to exponentially streamline their industries. Before this though, Mr. Williams took us to the rooms containing the coding machines of World War II. One example was The Lorenz SZ42, which used a complex combination of 12 rotors to encrypt a message. Every individual message was encrypted in a different way by changing the start position of each rotor before transmitting the message. Mr. Williams asked us how many combinations of unique sets of start positions there could be, but none of us being mathematicians (far from it) we couldn't guess. The answer is 1.6 million, billion. And no, the "billion" following that "million" is not a typo...

Garden outside of Middle Temple Library Another sunny day and another journey to a lovely library. The Middle Temple Library, built in 1958, is a legal reference library but also holds a variety of other material that deal with biography, history, literature and a variety of other topics because the original purpose of the schools also provided "a generalist education" . Inside Middle Temple Law Library According to their website is currently contains over 250,000 volumes covering the whole range of British, Irish, EU and US legal research resources, including law reports, journals, textbooks, loose-leafs, e-books and databases. As a part of its older collections it holds 9,000 early printed books, 300 manuscripts, is home to the Molyneux Globes, and a group of Prime Minister portraits dating from the 18th to 21st centuries. Long ago, the library was faltering but a member of the Inn, Robert Ashley (1565-1641) bequeathed his large and varied personal library...

Walking into The National Art Library located at the Victoria & Albert Museum  is like walking onto a movie set for a period film. If it weren't for the contemporary and studious patrons, seated at the desks with their laptops and smartphones, it would seem like an untouched time capsule. The reading room, which was the first room in the V&A to have electric lighting. (Image source: Megan Doyle ) We were separated into two groups and off we went on our tour of the back rooms of The National Art Library. My group's guide, Cassandra Gilbert-Ward led us to the rooms that house the majority of the collection and from which the librarians retrieve materials. There are 25 staff members and they fall under the Word & Image Department within the museum and there are about 10 individuals staffed daily public retrieval. She went on to tell us that the collection is publicly accessible and all an interested researcher needs to do is become a registered member. The lib...

The Weston Room where we were treated to coffee, tea, and biscuits before our tour. On another lovely London day we made our way to King's College where we met Head of Special Collections, Katie Sambrook and Special Collections Manager, Adam Ray. Before showing us a selection of fascinating pieces from their collection they discussed with us the scope and purpose of the collection. This staff of 8 oversees the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London Archives, and the Foyle Special Collections Library. They encourage all students and staff of King's College to use Archives & Special Collections and seek assistance from the knowledgable staff but the also welcome the public. An item with Benjamin Franklin's signature in the upper right corner In their work to bring people to the Archives & Special Collections they  create exhibitions and  supply images of rare books and archives for conferences, festivals, fundraising, a...

Entrance to the British Museum On a drizzly Tuesday morning we made our way to The British Museum where we were met by Archivist, Francesca Hillier. She gave us a very in-depth tour of a space that has not be open to the public for quite some time. Due to its standing as an historical building, no alterations can be made, therefore Ms. Hillier and her staff are focussed on working with the space in the most efficient and practical way possible. Shelves, desks, lighting, etc. must all remain as they are which may be somewhat frustrating but some aspects that must remain are really special. For example, there are hidden doorways disguised as books shelves as the entrance to stairs to get from the lower to upper level! Inside the British Museum Library and Archives which is closed to the public Fun Fact: The British Museum used to house The British Library before the 1990s. Recently, Ms. Hillier discovered mold in the lower levels of the storerooms of the archives so there...

Our initial siting of the National Maritime Museum - Greenwich It was a nautically themed day for us as we took the tube (Bakerloo South) to Embankment, boarded a Thames Clipper and had a delightful "commute" to Greenwich Pier. Honestly, what a way to get to and from work! After we alighted from the clipper, we walked over to the National Maritime Museum where we met Archivist Mike Bevan who showed us around the Caird Library & Archives . Caird Library & Archives The founding collections began with Sir James Caird and now, according to their website, holds: 100,000 books 20,000 pamphlets 20,000 bound periodicals (including 200 current titles) 8,000 rare books Caird Library & Archives Reading Room A common theme throughout the library and archive world is the limitation and need of additional space. We were told that most of their books are in storage at other locations so it is recommended that interested researchers plan ahead so as ...

On a cloudy day we arrived in Oxford and made our way to the University of Oxford for a tour of the Bodleian Library and later in the day, Christ Church. We were not able to take a lot of pictures of the space but it was beautiful. Ready for a few of the interesting tidbits of information?? In the initial room where our tour began, we were informed that the ceiling displayed the monograms of those who helped contribute to the cost of the building's construction. 300 manuscripts were gifted by Duke Humphrey which were the founding collections of the library. The ceiling with the monograms Only 3 of these are left of the original 300 With the invention of printing, books replaced manuscripts Thomas Bodleian was the one who organized and updated the library It began the process of copyright 1,000 pieces of work accepted a day 500 librarians in all of the University of Oxford and its separate colleges and 300 libraries After a lovely lunch of fish and ch...

"You can learn a lot of things from the flowers, Especially in the month of June..." "All In The Golden Afternoon" from Disney's 'Alice in Wonderland' After a journey on the train we all arrived at Kew 's Library, Art & Archives, housed just down the road from an entrance into the gardens. We were led by the Head of Library, Art & Archives, Fiona Ainsworth who informed us that the library itself is 165 years old and holds:  over 185,000 monographs 150,000 pamphlets and reprints 5,000 periodicals over 20,000 maps 200,000 prints and drawings 7 million sheets of paper She went on to say she and her team of 20 are moving towards digitizing the collection to make it more accessible, which would be wonderful because the items she showed us were wonderful! Ms. Ainsworth explained how a single botanical illustration holds so much value because it contains all scientific aspects of a specimen through multiple stages of it...

On the right, is a large (accessible by staff) tower in the middle of the library containing the original "founding collections" The "founding collections" of the  British Library (BL) were donated and/or acquired from Sir Robert Cotton, Sir Hans Sloane, Robert Harley, King George II, and King George III. When we arrived, we were given our swanky little badges, split into two groups, and were on our way to get a behind-the-scenes look at the conservation and digitization work being conducted. In my group, we learned the Qatar Foundation Partnership Programme  and the processing of items like scientific manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings, maps, and more from the Gulf Coast. In their work the goal is to be as minimally invasive as possible and in the event that anything is done to the material, it must be something reversible and all actions taken must be well documented. Scientific manuscript from the 17th century with owners' annotations in ...

Interactive musical Periodic Table challenges the participant to find and tap certain chemical elements as they light up and are mentioned Our very first site visit was to The Royal Institution (RI), which website describes it as “an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science”. It was founded in 1799, and was consistently an epicenter for lectures, discoveries, and inventions—propelling both science and simultaneously, the whole of society, forward. A plaque commemorating Her Majesty The Queen's visit in 2008 to the RI Dr. Frank James led us around the historic building while sharing with us th e timeline   of the RI. Those of us with less scientific savvy were still able to appreciate the care and attention given to their collection of artifacts, documents and even the restoration work of one particular room. The restored staircase, original to the building In one case, the conservation p...