Tours, Talks and Visits
The Centre for Research Collections (CRC) is located on the 5th and 6th floors of Edinburgh University Library. The CRC is recognised as being of interest to a wide variety of groups and its staff can offer various types of visit, subject to compliance with standard conditions and availability of appropriate staff on requested dates and times. The CRC may also be able to supply speakers for special interest groups dependent on staff availability.
Types of Visit
There are three main types of visit, available either singly or in any combination.
- The Walk Through (45 minutes)
- Behind the Scenes ( 1 hour 20 minutes)
- Treasures Room and Viewing Gallery (Approximately 1 hour)
1. The Walk Through visit concentrates on the publicly accessible areas of the CRC on the 6th floor which include the reception area and display ‘wall’, the reading room, the research suite and the research support collections. The main functions and facilities of each area are described and, dependent on weather conditions, visitors may also be able to admire the view of the Pentland Hills from the outside 6th floor Roof Terrace.
2. Behind the Scenes visits will normally begin with a walk through of the publicly accessible areas but will also include a tour of the non-publicly accessible areas, which will normally include a main strong room, staff work area, seminar room, conservation studio and digital imaging unit. Again the main functions and facilities of each area are described.
3. Treasures room and viewing gallery visits concentrate on the actual ‘stuff’ - the collections themselves. Visitors are taken to the glass panelled viewing room and/or the seminar room (dependent on numbers) and are shown items drawn from the collections which are described briefly by the curator in charge of the visit. Items to be shown can either be a general miscellany or tailored to match the interests of particular groups (where possible). Visits normally last around one hour but can be shorter or longer duration dependent on material being shown and visit requirements.
Curatorial Talks
CRC staff are always willing to consider speaking engagements for a variety of groups such as local history clubs or other societies and interests. These can either take place in the CRC seminar room or elsewhere.
Booking Details and Conditions
Please contact us a minimum of eight working weeks prior to the proposed visit or talk. Visiting groups will normally be limited to a maximum of 15 people. Whilst every effort will be made to accommodate requests please also note that all visits and talks will be dependent on the availability of appropriate CRC staff on the dates and times proposed and may be subject to postponement or cancellation. A fee may be charged for visits or talks and donations towards the upkeep of the collections are always welcome. All visitors must comply with CRC security procedures and regulations and will be subject to the direction of CRC/Library staff at all times.
- Centre for Research Collections
- Edinburgh University Library
- George Square
- Edinburgh
- EH8 9LJ
- Tel:: +44(0)131 650 8379
- Fax: +44(0)131 650 2922
- Email:
- is-crc@ed.ac.uk
This article was published on Nov 14, 2012