British Studies
Imperial War Museum and Independent Study
June 22, 2016


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LIS 580 British Studies
National Maritime Museum Library and Archive, Greenwich
June 15, 2016

Image
We traveled via the Ferry to Greenwich and even saw a Brexit protest on the water! National Maritime Museum Penny Allen, Librarian and Stawell Heard, Archivist were our guides through the  National Maritime Museum  (NMM) Library and Archives. We were given the opportunity to see some of the items that are part of the collection. Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel. The collection holds his qualification papers for the Merchant Marine, certificate of commendation for when he tried to save a shipmate who fell overboard, a crew list where he is listed as Master Mariner of the Emerald (captain), and several illustrations of his daring do. We also saw materials relating the heroics of Captain James Spratt during the Battle of Trafalgar, where he boarded and enemy vessel by swimming across to it (with his sword in his mouth!). The collection has tickets to the funeral and procession of the great Admiral ...
Read more

LIS 580 British Studies
Parlaiment
June 24, 2016

Image
Parliament Today we toured Parliament . The day after the Brexit vote and security did not disappoint. There were no lines and when we approached the ticket booth we were told that a docent would have to go get our tickets using the confirmation number from our pre-purchased reservations. After showing our tickets to the armed guards at the gate, we walked through a railed courtyard to another security point. This was much like other security checks with metal detectors and x-ray machines. I was welcomed by officer Gavin who waved me through with two thumbs up, "Stellar!", and a wink.  Tony was our guide and our tour began in the Central lobby. The tiled mosaics that form the headers for the four doorways leading from the lobby are the Saints that protect the UK: St. Andrew from Scotland, St. David from Wales, St. Patrick for Ireland, and St. George for England. The stonework and statues that form the walls are Kings and Queens of England.  The Parliament bu...
Read more

LIS 580 British Studies
King's College Maughan Library and Special Collections
June 21, 2016

Image
King's College Maughan Library and Special Collections  Our hosts today were Katie Sambrook, Head of Special Collections, Adam Ray, Special Collections Manager, and John Wilby, Gift Collections Coordinator.  The Foyle Special Collections Library  holds over 200 thousand titles of varying subjects. Collection items date from the 15th century to modern day. King's College is research-focused with strengths in the sciences and medicine. Staff works to preserve the collection, commission acquisitions, assist customers in the reading room and online, and teach information science to the student population. On this day we were given a view of some of the special collection treasures. Chap books are small little pamphlet-like booklets for poorer readers in the country and the city. From the 16th century, they were printed for lower class readership and were ballads, fairy tales, political pamphlets, English myths, and folklore. I wa...
Read more