A blessing of unicorns

A blessing of unicorns arrives at Central Library

Cyber crime – how safe are you online?

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) are hosting an event at Edinburgh Central Library, aimed at people aged 50 and over, to raise awareness of cyber scamming.

Tales of One City

Find out more about cyber crime and how to avoid it at a free event hosted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. They’ll be joined by a representative from Police Scotland and will give information on internet security including:

• Current cyber scams
• Advice about safe surfing
• How prosecutors consider cyber scam cases.

The event is being held at Central Library at 2pm on Thursday 16 February 2017 and may be particularly useful to people aged 50+.

Reserve your free place via EventBrite  or contact Laura Connell for more information.

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ELISA Summer Gathering and AGM

Mackenzie Building

Hello all

This year’s Summer Gathering and AGM will be hosted by the Advocates Library and will take place on Monday 29th August, from 2.30-5pm.

The meeting will be held in the nearby MacKenzie Building (pictured) where refreshments will be provided. After the AGM, myself and Senior Librarian Andrea Longson will provide tours of the Advocates Library building and Parliament Hall.

Please register your attendance via Eventbrite using your organisational email address (for administrative purposes).

Details:
ELISA Summer Gathering and AGM
Monday 29th August, 2.30-5pm

Location:
MacKenzie Building
172 High Street (Old Assembly Close)
EH1 1QX
See location on GoogleMaps

We look forward to seeing you there.

Scottish Poetry Library re-opening, October 2015

Liz Lochhead at the @ByLeavesWeLive open night! #starstruck #maker
Wish I'd had the nerve to talk to her #fearty pic.twitter.com/qmGGybjo44

— JA Condie (@VeryFineLibrary) October 28, 2015

On the 28th October 2015 the wonderful Scottish Poetry Library re-opened after extensive renovations. They celebrated with a glittering open evening which I was lucky enough to attend.

I’m afraid it’s taken me a whole 9 months to post these photos! For that, please accept my deep and abject apologies.

Scottish Poetry Library

Scottish Poetry Library

 

ELISA Winter Warmer

The ELISA Winter Warmer will take place on Wednesday, 9 December 2015 from 16:45 to 19:15 (GMT) at the National Library of Scotland.

It is a winter celebration for the ELISA community.  Including a talk on bibliotherapy by Christine Cather, a chance to meet up with new friends and colleagues plus a discount in the National Library shop.

All welcome – refreshments will be available

Tickets are free and can booked via Eventbrite 

 

 

Dolly, Art and Metadata Games: an introduction to the University of Edinburgh Library’s collections

Staff from Edinburgh University Library will take you on an online guided tour of its collections, featuring highlights from the Art Collection and introduction to the Wellcome Trust-funded project `Towards Dolly: Edinburgh, Roslin and the Birth of Modern Genetics’. You will also hear about new initiatives to open up the Library’s digital collections and get a chance to try out their new metadata image tagging game!

Tues 29 September 6.30-7.30pm, George Washington Browne Room, Central Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG

Book online at Edinburgh Reads

Elisa Visit to Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

Elisa Visit to Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

On Thursday 23^rd July I attended a visit organised by ELISA to the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh Library and Archives.   http://www.rbge.org.uk/
The event started with refreshments and a chance to chat to other attendees and then an interesting talk by the head of the library, Lorna Mitchell.  She explained some of the history of the library, how books were bought by the library from 1766 onwards.  There are three collections – living plants, herbarium and library/archives.  The library now has 60,000 – 70,000 books, more than 4000 journals and a significant art collection including illustrations and photographs.  She also mentioned that there are some more unusual items in the archives such as a pony skeleton and parts of a spitfire!

We then split into two groups – the group that I was in went downstairs first to look items in the archives.  We were shown some of the oldest items in the collection with notes and drawings of plants that had been collected and studied from the 17^th century onwards.  There was a book of lecture notes from botany lectures and books of plant specimens.  Lorna explained how they are still in the process of restoring and cataloguing a lot of material.  It was fascinating to hear about the people that were involved in the history of the gardens such as John Hope (Regius Keeper 1761 – 86) and George Forrest (plant-collector).  When we went back upstairs we were shown more interesting collections including books of drawings of plants and fungi which were very detailed and also books of engravings and ink prints.
We had a quick look in the library which is open to visitors and researchers.

The visit was interesting and informative so if you get a chance to visit, do so as it is definitely worth it and there is a lot more to see and hear about than I have mentioned here.

Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh Library and Archives

National Theatre’s ‘Everyman’ – discount tickets with Edinburgh library card

ebooks, online loan renewals and now Chiwetel Ejiofor! Is there anything your Edinburgh library card can’t give you?

Discount for library members to see National Theatre’s ‘Everyman’

Reblogged from  edinburghcitylibraries

Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) stars in Carol Ann Duffy’s acclaimed new adaptation of Everyman, streamed live from the National Theatre in London to Scotland’s largest cinema, the Festival Theatre, on Thu 16 July.

Edinburgh library cardholders can get £10 tickets when they quote EVERYMAN on 0131 529 6000 or use code EVERYMAN at www.edtheatres.com/everyman

Offer cannot be combined with other discounts and does not apply to previously purchased tickets.  A booking fee of 75p is charged per ticket for online and phone bookings.

Instructions for library staff – a trip back in time – part 2

“art students”

As promised, Tales from one city have posted more crazy instructions for library staff of the past. These posts paint the library staff as a bunch of odd, mistrustful kill-joys… a very far cry from the jolly folk of today! Still – it’s fun to laugh at the quaint ways of yore – so you can view the full post here.

Future Libraries event

Future Libraries – the next 125 years 

Tuesday 9 June 2015, 7pm
Edinburgh Central Library

“We trust that this Library is to grow in usefulness year after year, and prove one of the most potent agencies for the good of the people for all time to come” – said Andrew Carnegie, our benefactor, in 1890

How do we make sure this holds true for the next 125 years? Come hear our panel discuss what’s happening next for libraries, as Edinburgh City Libraries celebrate their 125th birthday, week beginning 8th June 2015.

Speakers taking part include:

• John Scally – (National Librarian and Chief Executive)
• Philippa Cochrane – (Scottish Book Trust, Reader Development)
• Prof. Hazel Hall- (Napier University- Professor of Social Informatics – information sharing in online environments)
• Duncan Wright – Senior School Librarian at Stewart’s Melville College.

Chaired by Jeanette Castle, President of CILIPS Scotland (Chartered Intsitute of Library and Information Professionals) and introduced by Martina McChrystal, Acting Library and Information Services Manager, City of Edinburgh Council.

Register via Eventbrite