Contacts, Information and News
SCOLAR leads, co-ordinates, and advises on all aspects of the University Library’s work with Special Collections and Archives.
- General information and contacts
- News, events and exhibitions
- What can SCOLAR do for you?
- Policies and procedures
- A Day in the Life of a 'SCOLAR'
General Information and Contacts
SCOLAR’s main location is the Special Collections Research Room (SCRR), in the Arts and Social Studies Library.
The hours of consultation of the SCRR closed access collections are 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday; this is also the case for other special collections and archives held in related Libraries on the University’s campus.
For further information contact:
Peter Keelan
Head of Special Collections and Archives
keelanp@cardiff.ac.uk 029 2087 5678
Alison Harvey
Assistant Archivist
harveyae@cardiff.ac.uk 029 2087 7689
Tanya Austin
Special Collections Assistant
austintb@cardiff.ac.uk 029 2087 9369
Mark Barrett, Digitisation Officer
Lisa Webley, Library assistant
News, events and exhibitions
Developments / Events 2009
Spring
SCOLAR will take part in a to digitise Welsh ballads and provide access via an online, searchable catalogue. The project will bring together ballads from Cardiff, the National Library of Wales, University of Wales Lampeter and Bangor University. A Ballads seminar will take place in Cardiff on Monday 14 September 2009, featuring a range of speakers on Welsh and British ballads.
Work has begun to catalogue the entire Edward Thomas archive with the goal of making it searchable and accessible via the web.
The NMCT funded project to conserve Edward Thomas' letters and scrapbooks has been completed. Over 1000 letters have been conserved in acid free envelopes and 1200 pages of fragile newsprint have been digitised and converted to microfilm.
SCOLAR has produced a set of 10 postcards to publicise its collections. These were distributed at the UK LILAC Conference in Cardiff, April 2009.
Alison Harvey had an article on her work on the Edward Thomas archive published in ARC, the Society of Archivists' magazine.
SCOLAR initiated and supported an Institute of Civil Engineers' Wales exhibition, hosted in the new Trevithick Library. The exhibition, Web of Iron - Nature, Art and Engineering, deals with the role of the engineer and the influence of nature and art in the development of the suspension bridge, focusing on the pioneering work of Thomas Telford and Captain Samuel Brown.
Summer
Every letter of Edward Thomas' correspondence (around 2,500 items) has been catalogued on CALM and is now fully searchable.
Coming soon: an exhibition on Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.
Exhibition Images Online showcases the highlights of SCOLAR's recent exhibitions.
Exhibitions 2009
Mar-May 10 Research Collections in 10 Historical Pictures
Exhibitions 2008
Jan-May The Birth of Cardiff University: World Snapshot of the Year 1883-84
- Select bibliography of 1883-84 publications
Jun-Sep Celf Cyhoeddiadau'r Eisteddfod / Art of Eisteddfod Publications
- Yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol: cefndir a hanes /
The National Eisteddfod of Wales: background history
Oct-Dec Five Hundred Years of Rare Books: 1508-2008
- Five Hundred Years of Rare Books: 1508-2008
Exhibitions 2007
Jan - Feb Victorian Illustrations (supporting ENCAP’s research project)
- A selection of SCOLAR's illustrated historical sources
Mar - May A Century of Devolution Documents from Wales
Jun - Oct The Abolition of Slavery Act 1807: Key Rare Texts
- A bibliography of SCOLAR's sources on slavery
Oct - Dec Cardiff Alumni via Student Newspapers
What can SCOLAR do for YOU ?
Collections
- Helps develop new special, historical, or archival research collections related to academic Schools’ new and developing research fields, via donation, long term deposit, or occasional purchase of relevant sources.
- Preserves long term the present and incoming donated archive collections which come from our distinguished current and former academic staff, for the future research use of their students and colleagues.
- Gives access to thousands of historical books, journals, maps, and other published sources on all subjects, from medical history to arts, from social studies to science.
- Gives access to thousands of unique archival source materials on all subjects.
- Gives access to thousands of microfilm facsimiles of books, newspapers, etc.
- Enables research students to handle documents from 100 to 600 years old, to broaden and enrich their studies and research.
- Provides access to a growing range of in-house digitised materials.
- Develops a good name for Cardiff University in the academic world as a trusted repository for the donation of relevant external collections that support our research programmes.
- Advises on donations or purchases of historical, rare, specialist, or archival materials for the University Library’s collections and promotes good practice in storage, use and development of these resources.
- Enables academic staff to get a historical snapshot of their subject 50 years ago, journal articles from 100 years ago, newspaper stories from 200 years ago and books on their subject from 300 / 400 years ago.
Promotion
- Promotes SCOLAR collections internally to broaden and deepen the knowledge and awareness of new staff and postgraduates to the potential of the unique primary sources and rare materials in special collections and archives within Cardiff University Library.
- Talks can be given to specific seminar groups in academic Schools on the relevant research resources SCOLAR holds in Schools’ subject areas, specifically where the resources may assist with Masters programmes as a resource for research topics.
- Provides Information Literacy seminars to postgraduates on the understanding and best utilization of primary archival research resources, to better enable them to ground their research in the evidence base provided by SCOLAR and other primary archive collections.
- Promotes SCOLAR collections externally to attract relevant scholars to Cardiff, thus again disseminating information about the research profile of the University.
- Assists Schools and PRCOM to publicise research work related to the use of SCOLAR research collections.
- Provides an informative and up-to-date set of INSRV web pages about all of our SCOLAR related Library, Archive and Digital resources, which match or excel special collections web pages of other Russell Group universities.
- Stages exhibitions of SCOLAR archives, rare books and special collections to coincide with University conferences, meetings and publicity events.
- Prepares specialist listings of SCOLAR collections for University researchers.
External Funds
- SCOLAR applies for external funds as appropriate to acquire, preserve, catalogue, store, digitise, make accessible and promote all of our campus-wide SCOLAR resources for the benefit of internal and external scholars.
- SCOLAR can co-operate with and assist academic Schools with external grant applications related to present or potential research resources that will support their work.
Enquiries
- SCOLAR provides an enquiry service to all staff and students, to help save their time in searching for information available from SCOLAR and wider Library and Archive information sources.
- Qualified Library and Archival staff are able to assist with readers’ enquiries, in person, by phone, post, or email.
- Assists academic Schools with searches for out-of-copyright images in SCOLAR collections for use in their teaching, research, or publications (at an approximate cost of £1.70 per digital scan provided).
- Acts as a referral point in the University Library Service for enquiries with specialist historical or archival aspects, and draws on other INSRV expertise to provide positive responses to help readers access and utilize SCOLAR resources as fully as possible.
- Supports the work of PRCOM, DEVAR and others in the University with information support and copies of documents from SCOLAR collections.
Facilities
- Provides physical access to all SCOLAR collections in comfortable conditions, which very nearly match all national and international standards for the housing and use of special collections and archival resources.
- Gives online catalogue access via Voyager to all our Library and digital resources, with plans to launch an online Archives catalogue next year.
- A new state of the art microfilm digital scanner allows users to scan images for free from microfilm, to save as pdf documents. These can be taken away on a memory stick, saving both money and paper by eliminating the need for printing. It is the only piece of equipment of its kind in the South Wales area. Standard microfilm and microfiche readers are also available, with printing facilities.
- Provides research charts mapping the cross-disciplinary research potential of our Library and Archive collections.
- Gives access to networked and wifi PC and printer facilities.
- Provides a photocopying and digital scanning service, in the Library’s related Graphic Services section.
- Provides 50 study places specifically for staff and research postgraduates in quiet study conditions in the ASSL Special Collections Research Room.
- Can assist with provision of rooms and a location for joint SCOLAR/School events, such as book launches and academic seminars.
- Provides an archives search room and bookable seminar room in the Special Collections area in ASSL.
