Monday 28 July 2008

Up and Away to Edinburgh, and to the NLS

Sunday, July 17

Once again, we had to drag ourselves down to the courtyard, this time by 8:45, so we could get on the bus by 9am for Edinburgh. The drive-up took a total of 10 hours, with a 40 minute lunch break after the first 3 hour segment (while watching Hook without any sound), then another 50 minute break after the second 3.5 hour segment(while watching Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King without any sound). The second break took longer because two girls from the Children's Literature group were late returning to the bus. Back in the bus, we drove the rest of the way watching some other movie. During most of the trip, I was thinking, "Why didn't I pay extra an take the rail to Edinburgh? It would have only taken 5 hours. What was I thinking?!

Monday, July 18

The next day (Monday, my group met at the nearby bus stop for our trip to Edinburgh. Upon arrival, we followed the map to our destination, the National Library of Scotland (NLS) on King George IV Bridge Street.
















(source) http://www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk/jpgs/national_library_awaug06_147.jpg

After entering the library, we were promptly greeting by Emma Faragher, Education & Outreach Program Officer. She began with general information the National Scottish Library (NSL) and then proceeded into the planned slide presentation on "Interpreting the John Murray Archives: Manuscripts and Accessibility." I found it difficult to hear and understand most of the Scottish speakers, but the following is what I gathered:

Emma began by saying that The John Murray Archives was purchased for £32.5 million in ( ) and contains over 150,000 items dating from 1768 to 1920. It contains materials in the fields of literature, science, politics, travel and exploration. The library receives funding assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Scottish Government, the John Murray Foundation, and other private donors. And has a team of curators, cataloguers and educators on staff.

Emma continued by discussing the planning all phases of the Archives. Whenn talking about displays, she stated that the planning stages are very careful, specifically for specially designed displays for the viewers. Everything has to be accessible! In the broad range of schemes, to educate the viewer is very important, and to have the materials available to the public to see. The NSL offers fun learning skills and they teach students how to do research.

Getting more specific with The John Murray Archive, Emma informed us of their internal and external exhibits. Focus was put on the exhibit across the hall, where she pointed out that the manuscripts had special lighting issues which were addressed. The display height was furmulated to best serve children and adults for ease of reading. And issues with art, they found that viewers had different responses to it; most liked it, but some hated it. She further explained that objects in the exhibition design needed to be easy to understand, the labels easy to read, and that it was important for the visitors to use their own personal experiences to understand the objects.

Specifically concerning the manuscripts, it was intented for the viewer to read the content and to get the true value or understanding of its purpose. And since some of the handwritten manuscripts were difficult to read, next to it was an interactive computer that showed a legible copy of the manuscript. This made it easier for the viewer to read the content of the manuscript without squinting and spending a lot of time deciphering the handwriting. Some of the journal manuscripts date back to Emma discussed the risks involded with the exhibit being too text and label heavy, with a dry and unengaging atmosphere, and that they have had some "bored" visitors.

Furthermore, she discussed what makes The John Murray Archives an engaging archival exhibition. It includes materials displayed, object rich and label poor, information accessed via interactive, use of light and shadow to create atmosphere, meanings of display, and communicating the process of writing and publishing. Also explained are the learning outcomes of The John Murray Archives, which are increased knowledge and undersatanding; skills; attitudes and values; enjoyment, inspiration and creativity; and activity, behavior and progression. And it recieves its market research from visitor remarks, both verbal and written.

Next, we had the pleasure of meeting David McClay, Curator of the NSL . He stated that The John Murray Archive was the most impressive archive in the world, and most important archive available. He restated some of the information Emma presented earlier, and mentioned that there are 15,000 images in the JMA collection, including business records, etc. that are in the process of being digitized. Theres are 158 members in the group to improve/enhance exhibit content and set-up. The NSL is in partnership with the University of Edinburgh, the Zoo and Botonicals, and couple other institutions.

David restated that the manuscripts are the core of the collection/exhibits. And built in with the talks are the exhibitions, and related programming. And when restating that there are 150,000 objects in the collection, he also said that 45,000 of the total are books, photographs, and manuscripts. But when asked what the overall amount is, he stated that he doesn't quite know the total amount in the collection, because it keeps growing. He did say, though, that there is about 150 metres length of archive materials. David cited a book in the collection, "Seven Lives of John Murray," and said that we all should read it; that it is very good!

When David finished his presentation and answered several questions from our group, we all went across to the other side of the entrance to the John Murray Archive Exhibition. The display area contained an elaborate show of orignial letters, manuscripts, costumes, interactive kiosks, and split wallscreens where old-styled pictures of people and objects moved across the screens; one screen onto the second. The kiosks contained readable-text deciphered from the original hand-written letters so viewers could easily read and understand the documents.

After viewing the Archive Exhibition, we rejoined back into the presentation room for a quick summary and follow-up questions. Emma stated that the exhibit has been up since June 2007, and that most of the items in the display were specially produced for the exhibit, duplicating the originals. I do believe that we all enjoyed ourselves.

I enjoyed viewing this exhibition again. I had initially seen it last summer during a one week tour of Scotland through Tauk Tours, which ended in Edinburgh. I do believe the exhibit was successful because all of the objects and displays, and lighting and information all pulled together to set a stage of information building.

It was close to lunch time, so our group walked down to the Elephant House for a little nosh. The Elephant House was made famous as the birthplace of Harry Potter, where J.K.Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in the US). From there we walked to the Grayfiar's Bobby, which is a statue of a Skye Terrier dog named Bobby.








(Read more about the Greyfriar's Bobby here,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby


map of Edinburgh, Scotland














(source) http://www.edinburghcastle.biz/popups/map.html

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