Spreading the word

This week we’ve been busy promoting the Archive to family historians and trainee archivists alike.

On Saturday we had a stall at the Scottish Association of Family History Societies conference and fair. This was a chance for us to speak to family history researchers about the wealth of information that can be found within our collections. The fair attracted a big crowd; we came away lighter on the pencils and postcards front (which were a big hit) but picked up lots of new enquiries!

Stephen and Laura at the SAFHS Fair

On Friday we were joined by Lynne MacMurchie for a one day volunteer placement. Following on from the success of trials earlier this year, we were able to offer Lynne the chance to spend a day in the Archive and provide a taster of what it’s like to work here.

After a tour of the Archive with an introduction to the reading room and stores, Lynne helped out by conducting some family history enquiry research on Bangour Village and Rosslynlee Hospital records. She was then given training on how to handle and catalogue Royal Edinburgh Hospital (REH) architectural plans: in the run up to the REH bicentenary in 2013, it’s all hands on deck to get the remaining plans catalogued so thanks to Lynne for her help!

Lynne cataloguing REH plans