Introduction: Archives are often portrayed as quiet rooms filled with manuscripts, inked ledgers, and fragile maps, things that one could call “echoes” of a distant past. While the National Records of Scotland (NRS) continues to care for these treasures, the nature of our national memory is changing. Today, Scotland’s identity is increasingly shaped by digital … Continue reading Why preserve: Protecting Scotland’s digital memory
Oban: the Charing Cross of the Highlands
"A more hurried, nervous, frenzied place than Oban during the summer and autumn months it is difficult to conceive. People seldom stay there above a night. The old familiar faces are the resident population. The tourist no more thinks of spending a week in Oban than he thinks of spending a week in a railway … Continue reading Oban: the Charing Cross of the Highlands
The sky’s the limit: James Tytler and balloon-mania in the archives – part 1
Should you have been on Edinburgh’s Princes Street, a little before noon on Monday 19 July 1784, you would have been greeted by an extraordinary sight. The elegant and imposing Register Office (now General Register House), the first purpose-built public records repository in Britain and Ireland and still the home of the National Records of … Continue reading The sky’s the limit: James Tytler and balloon-mania in the archives – part 1
Open Book 