Information Scotland

The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland

February 2004 Volume 2 (1)

National Library of Scotland

Breaking through the walls

The National Library of Scotland is about to break through the grey stone walls of its building in Edinburgh in a bid to become a library for all of Scotland and beyond, writes Fiona Morrison.

The National Library of Scotland – one of the oldest cultural and learning organisations in Scotland and amongst the oldest in the UK – is developing a new strategy to make its collections accessible to all.

One of Europe’s leading research libraries, with world-class collections, services and expertise, the National Library will encourage many more people into its buildings for personal, informal research and promote the heritage to be found there through its remarkable collections which have been built up over more than 300 years.

As Martyn Wade, National Librarian, explains: “From our origins in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates (founded in 1689) the National Library has come to play a unique role at the cultural heart of Scotland.

“Academics and scholarly researchers worldwide have always made good use of the collections and we shall continue to provide them with the service they need. Now, however, in the rapidly evolving environment of modern Scotland, we need to meet new challenges and to increase our role and also extend our services in a variety of ways to make it possible for the National Library to touch the lives of everyone in Scotland.”

Specifically this means extending access to a new and much wider audience through interpretation of the collections and through provision of ‘drop-in’ centres for the non-professional researcher to explore aspects of personal interest, be it family history or local history research, or simply a personal project or hobby.

A crucial element of extended access and interpretation will be the development of a ‘virtual’ National Library of Scotland. Aspects of the collections have already been digitised and have been made accessible online and there is an active programme in place to further this work. Such a massive task will, of course, take years and considerable resources but the early experiments in this area have proved very positive.

Last summer a campaign was initiated to promote a number of historic maps online. Every local newspaper in Scotland with a relevant map of the area available online was approached to do a feature and people were encouraged to go to their local libraries if they did not have a computer at home. The results have been extraordinary.

Another important element of the new strategy is the development of partnerships and collaboration with information and cultural organisations, especially in Scotland but also further afield. An experimental partnership project is being carried out with Aberdeenshire Libraries as a pilot for the future. Maximising the Library’s contribution to key Scottish Executive priorities is another important initiative with particular focus on lifelong learning.

Physical, as well as remote, access is being improved. There are plans to develop the Library’s buildings in Edinburgh to provide better visitor facilities and to introduce new informal research facilities.

“This is an immensely important time for us,” says Martyn Wade. “At the heart of this strategy lies the core of our work: collections and access. And the focus is on working in partnership with people outside the Library, consulting users and would-be users, and responding to their views.”

At a time when libraries are playing an increasing role in lifelong learning and research, the National Library is in a unique position to foster relationships and work with other libraries to ensure that many more people can access its resources.

Other opportunities have arisen as a result of the new Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. The National Library of Scotland, one of the six Legal Deposit Libraries in the UK and Ireland, has the right to claim one copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland. The new Act will now give the Library the right to claim electronic publications as well as print, thus making them available to a wider audience and saving this important part of the early 21st century archive for future generations.

Martyn Wade says: “The National Library has been known as one of ‘last resort’ but now I prefer to describe the process for users as one of natural progression - from local library to national library – according to their needs.”

The National Library of Scotland aims to look to the future by building on its key strengths and its worldwide reputation; these are exciting times with a new strategy for a new century.

In June 2003 the National Library of Scotland set out a new vision and mission statement:

“The National Library of Scotland will enrich our lives and communities, encouraging and promoting lifelong learning, research and scholarship, and universal access to information by comprehensively collecting and making available the recorded knowledge of Scotland, and promoting access to the ideas and cultures of the world.”

The NLS’s Draft Strategy document can be obtained (print or accessed online) at: http://www.nls.uk/professional/policy/strategy.html

Fiona Morrison is Cultural Programme Development and Media & Public Relations Consultant to NLS.

Information Scotland Vol. 2 (1) February 2004

Information Scotland is delivered online by the SAPIENS electronic publishing service based at the Centre for Digital Library Research. SLAINTE (Scottish libraries across the Internet) offers further information about librarianship and information management in Scotland.

Last updated: 9 March 2004