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Prize win for Stewed Rhubarb Press
Stewed Rhubarb Press has won the 2013 Callum Macdonald Memorial Award for 'The glassblower dances' by Rachel McCrum.
This is the first year of entry into the annual pamphlet poetry competition for the fledgling publisher, which was only set up last year.
Publisher James Harding received the winner's cheque for £800 and the Callum Macdonald Quaich at a ceremony in the National Library of Scotland.
As the winning poet, Rachel can look forward to a two-week residency as the Michael Marks Poet in Residence at Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece in July.
'Nest', by Tom Pow and Hugh Bryden, which is published by Roncadora Press, was runner-up.
Read more in our pamphlet poetry winner press release.
17 May 2013
Stop press: Millions of news pages available online
More than 6.5 million pages digitised from British newspapers have become accessible via the National Library of Scotland.
Covering 200 years, from the 1700s, the British Newspaper Archive provides access to over 230 titles digitised from the British Library's newspaper collections.
Twenty-nine Scottish newspapers are included in the online collection. They range from long-gone titles such as the 'Chartist Circular' and 'Caledonian Mercury' to the likes of the 'Dundee Courier' and 'Oban Times', which are still in circulation today.
Anyone registered to use the NLS reading rooms has unrestricted access to the archive, which is fully searchable. Outwith our reading rooms, users have to buy credits to view, print and download pages and articles.
The resource results from a partnership between the British Library and Scottish online publishing company brightSolid. They plan to digitise a further 40 million pages during the next 10 years.
See also: A summary of newspaper collections at NLS
13 May 2013
NLS collections destined for Wikipedia
Scots. Collection items like this could be
on Wikipedia.
A partnership with Wikimedia could soon make National Library of Scotland material available through the popular online encyclopaedia 'Wikipedia'.
A temporary post of 'Wikimedian in Residence' is being created at NLS.
The role is designed to explore how the Library's collections and knowledge can be used to broaden content on Wikipedia, one of Wikimedia's online products.
The partnership with Wikimedia is the first of its kind in Scotland, and will open up the collections at NLS to an even wider audience.
Read more in our Wikimedian in Residence press release.
25 April 2013
Signed George Washington books loaned to presidential library
Two books originally owned by the first President of the United States are being loaned by the National Library of Scotland to help recreate his original book collection.
Bearing George Washington's signature, the volumes were handed over by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond at a ceremony at the President's former home at Mount Vernon, outside Washington.
They will be displayed at the Fred W Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington when it opens at Mount Vernon later this year.
Written during American War of Independence
Washington
The books are Washington's own copies of his two-volume 'Official letters to the Honorable American Congress'. Written during the war of independence between the United Colonies and Great Britain (1775-1783), they were printed in 1795.
In 1938 the family of wealthy jute manufacturer Hugh Sharp donated them to NLS.
Mr Salmond said he was honoured that Scotland could help 'realise the dream' of displaying all George Washington's papers at Mount Vernon. The books will be returned to NLS after going on display.
Scotland's National Librarian, Martyn Wade, said: 'Our US collections are the largest foreign collections we hold, demonstrating the strong links that have always existed between our two countries and which continue today. It is a great privilege to be able to support this new library in this way and we wish it every success.'
Read more in our Washington books press release
9 April 2013
100 websites give insight into British life
Future historians may turn to today's websites to learn everything from our shopping habits to what is served at school dinners.
A list of 100 websites that tell of life in Britain today has been compiled by some of the country's leading libraries.
It marks the introduction of new regulations on 6 April that will allow the UK web domain to be archived for the first time.
Important information held on websites will now be saved for future generations, just as libraries have preserved printed material for centuries.
To celebrate this landmark development, the UK's six legal deposit libraries have published the 100 websites list on the British Library website.
Along with familiar names, such as Amazon, eBay and the BBC, are some surprising Scottish additions — including a windswept bus shelter on Shetland.
Read more in our 100 websites press release.
2 April 2013
Take one pub, add Victorian recipes and an inspired chef …
One of Britain's celebrated chefs has used copies of Victorian recipes to adorn the walls of his new Edinburgh gastropub.
© Marc Miller.
For the Scran and Scallie, in the city's Stockbridge area, Tom Kitchin sourced the recipes at the National Library of Scotland, where he recently gave a talk.
Mid-19th century
Katherine Jane Ellice, wife of wealthy businessman and politician Edward Ellice of Invergarry, collected the recipes in the mid-19th century.
Dishes include fish balls, chicken jelly, leg of pork á la Barrington and more familiar items such as kedgeree and toasted cheese.
Humorous sketches illustrate the recipes, adding to the Scottish character of the new gastropub, where the menu features traditional Scottish dishes — 'scran' — with a modern twist.
Read more in our Kitchin venture press release.
28 March 2013
News archive
Past news stories since September 2002 are available in our news archive.