University of St Andrews LibraryPhotographic CollectionSeptember 16-17, 2010

Marc BoulayPhotographic Archivist

St Andrews

North Street, looking West [St Andrews] Thomas Rodger, ca.1860

St Andrews

About Us

•700,000 Photographs•130,000 Digital Images•65,000 Records Online•Academic Resource•Postgraduate Studies

▫History of Photography▫Museum Studies

•An Open Community Resource•Image Licensing & Rights Management

Key Dates

•1840s – Photography comes to St Andrews

•1970s – Collection takes shape•1996 – Digitisation Initiative•2008 – Centralisation (Information +

Assets) •2010 – Launching KE EMu System•2013/2015 – Special Collections

Development

A venue for exchange and refinement

The Literary and Philosophical Society

Sir Hugh Lyon PlayfairBy Thomas Rodger, ca.1849

Sir David BrewsterBy John Adamson, ca.1855

Dr John Adamson, St Andrews.By Thomas Rodger, ca.1862

Early Development•John Adamson•Robert Adamson and David Octavius Hill•Thomas Rodger

Dr John Adamson. From stereograph ca. 1845

David Octavius Hill.By Robert Adamson & D O Hill, 1843-1845

Thomas Rodger, ca. 1850

Topographic•James Valentine & Sons

▫120,000 photographs (1851-1960s)•Robert Moyes Adam

▫15,000 glass plates (1901-1956)•Hamish M. Brown

▫95,000 prints and slides (1960-2010)•Private & Vernacular Collections

▫Travel, Expeditions, Journals, Albums

James Valentine

Forth Rail Bridge, August 1888

Robert Moyes Adam

Hamish Brown, Quiraing, Skye

Lord David Douglas-Hamilton,1933-35

Current Initiatives

•KE EMu collections management system▫Centralisation / DAM / Access / Knowledge

•Mining existing resources▫Making the most of past efforts▫Rediscovering our Rare Books Collection

•Redevelopment / Moving Special Collections▫11.5 kilometres in 10 months!▫3-5 years until salvation…

Building Momentum

William Notman, Tobogganing PartyHalifax Nova Scotia, 1881

Why does networking matter to us

• Increasing national awareness benefits us all! •A collective voice has more influence

▫Providing validity and weight to support initiatives▫Building momentum, support, funding▫Negotiating cheaper preservation supplies

• A resource of expertise & best practices ▫Facilitating independent / small collections

•Activating smaller collections as national resources

•Facilitate training & collaboration of future experts

Vision, Aspirations, Collaboration

•Professional Networking▫ Providing federated searches▫ Building awareness of each others’ collections▫ Diversifying the sources and ranges of

material available for research and exhibition though discovery of previously uncelebrated holdings

•Public Collaboration▫ Providing a robust infrastructure for sustained

future discovery and knowledge transfer ▫ Unearthing smaller collections in the broader

community▫ Empowering the community to take ownership

of their photographic heritage

Hugh Lyon Playfair, ca.1860s

Potential mantras for the future?

•Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the possible!

•Cultural heritage is not found in objects…..

It is created in dialogue.

William Notman, Canada, ca. 1880s