Embracing serendipity at the annual archives conference
September 24, 2014
‘Survival of the fittest’ was the theme for this year’s Archives and Record Association conference. Archivists, records managers and conservators from all across the UK and beyond gathered in Newcastle to share positive stories and advice, in an era which has seen damaging cuts to services (particularly in local record offices). There was no room …
Maths, Myths and Mines: What’s New in Manuscripts & Special Collections
July 1, 2014
It’s a rare week that passes for Manuscripts & Special Collections without something new arriving. The new accessions range from a single book or manuscript, to a van-load of boxes. Some are gifts, others are deposited (i.e. loaned), and a small minority are books or manuscripts we have bought. There is inevitably a delay between …
Finding your Family
June 2, 2014
Within the 4 million documents held in Manuscripts and Special Collections are the names of hundreds of thousands of people from Nottinghamshire and the broader East Midlands. Catalogues can never list every person named in documents, so one of the major challenges of family history research is finding which records may refer to your ancestors. …
50 years of Medical School records
February 11, 2014
2014 marks 50 years since it was first announced that a new medical school and teaching hospital was to be built in Nottingham. The announcement, made in Parliament on 27th July 1964, led to the creation of the University of Nottingham Medical School, part of the Queen’s Medical Centre. Now with the help of funding …
Celebrating archives everywhere: “A world without records is a world without memory”
November 19, 2013
This week sees the launch of a new campaign aiming to increase awareness of the essential role of archives in society. The campaign website for Explore Your Archive details forthcoming opportunities offered by archives all around the country to engage in a range of activities, from experiencing Downton Abbey for real, learning how to write in …
Picturing the Medical School
July 8, 2013
The process of cataloguing the archives of the University of Nottingham’s Medical School has uncovered a wealth of around 350 photographs and over 100 slides. To find such a large amount of images documenting the construction of the Medical School and University Hospital (later to become Queen’s Medical Centre) during the 1960s and 1970s is …
Nottingham’s New Chancellor
March 12, 2013
Today Sir Andrew Witty will be installed as only the 7th Chancellor since The University of Nottingham received its Royal Charter in 1948. Here, we look back at the ceremony installing the University’s very first Chancellor. The role of Chancellor has changed considerably over the last 65 years, becoming less ceremonial and more ambassadorial as universities …
“Thousands of students yet unborn will pass along the corridors and learn in the lecture rooms…
October 26, 2012
… and wrest the secrets from nature in the laboratories. Their work will link still more closely industry with science, add to the honour of the city and help to increase the well-being of our nation.” This was Jesse Boot, of Boots the Chemist fame, speaking in 1928 about University College, Nottingham. Some 84 years …
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