Edinburgh's "Capital Collections" website launches

The Capital Collections website has recently launched as an image library of Edinburgh City Libraries and Museums and Galleries. It contains "images of material from the collections of Edinburgh's City Libraries and Museums and Galleries. You can discover the historical and cultural life of Edinburgh, Scotland and the Scots through this growing image library which includes a wonderful selection of photographs, paintings, engravings and objects ranging from toys to ceramics, silverware and material from the history collections." Images are downloadable for personal/educational purposes, and some are also available to purchase.

Edinburgh College of Art launches new catalogue interface

(with thanks to SVAG member Jane Furness, news on the new and improved ECA catalogue - cheers, Paula)

ECA Library Service is delighted to announce a new and much improved interface to our online Library Catalogue. This will be run as a pilot service alongside our existing catalogue until the end of the year, after which the old catalogue will be discontinued and the new one will take its place.

Our new catalogue has a fresher and more user-friendly design and incorporates several brand new and very useful features:

-Enhanced and improved search functions
- Book jacket images
- Links to book previews, reviews and related books (all from Google Books)
- The facility to add books to your own personal list for future reference
- The facility to save searches and run them again at a later date

Please feel free to try out our new pilot Library Catalogue service. The new catalogue is also available as a link from the homepage of the existing catalogue. We would welcome your comments and feedback during the pilot.

We will be running some drop-in sessions in the coming weeks to help introduce users to the new catalogue – details to follow.

NGS seminar: Social media for the Scottish cultural heritage sector

Social media for the Scottish cultural heritage sector: a one-day open seminar

Date: Thursday 21 October 2010, 10am–5pm
Venue: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Galleries of Scotland
Cost: This event is free of charge, thanks to funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Aims: to discuss current social media practice in the Scottish sector; to consider developments in other national contexts; to establish a focus for future workshops and an emerging research agenda
People: open to all professionals in the cultural heritage sector with an interest in social media in museums and galleries, and to researchers and professionals interested in the broad field of museum and gallery education

The first event organized as part of the Digital Futures of Cultural Heritage Education project will be a one-day open seminar to be held on 21 October 2010 at the National Galleries of Scotland. This will be followed by two workshops, which will combine discussion and debate with hands-on work in various social media environments. These will be hosted by the School of Education at the University of Edinburgh, in March and June 2011. Details will be available in the autumn of 2010.

Further details of the October seminar, including the programme and the link for booking online, can be found at the Digital Futures of Cultural Heritage Education project website.

JISC Advance - Digital Media and Copyright Seminar, London

(with thanks to JISC Digital Media for the following information - hope some of you, SVAG members or not, will find this useful - Paula)

"Do you use images from the internet in PowerPoint? Are you struggling to get your head around the rights of your digital collection? Are you embarking on producing your own digital media resources? JISC Digital Media in association with JISC Legal is hosting a brand new JISC Advance - Digital Media and Copyright Seminar to help disseminate information in order to help you protect your resources and your institution.

Use of digital media has fast become the norm in day-to-day work, and as a result awareness of copyright and other rights is key in taking care of your own works, as well as making sure you are not infringing the rights of others.

This seminar aims to offer practical approaches and considerations for using digital media in teaching and learning, digitising digital media and digital rights management. It is aimed at those working in developing institutional policy, disseminating copyright information to staff, and those working with digital media on a day-to-day basis.

The objectives are:

* To increase confidence in dealing with multi-layer intellectual property rights in digital media
* To identify appropriate approaches to dealing with the uncertainties of copyright law in relation to digital media
* To share experiences of both issues and solutions to IPR challenges in relation to digital media

Having listened to many of our users, we are running this event outside of Bristol, with a view to hosting it in various venues nationwide in the upcoming future.

To find out more and book a place please see the the event page."

Free RSC art & design event this week: "Stepping into the Future"

Date: Friday 24th September 2010 (noon - 4:30pm)
Venue: Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, EH3 9DF
Cost: Free!

The ‘Stepping into the Future’ series of events organised by the JISC Regional Support Centre (RSC) Scotland North & East aims to explore how technology can be used to enhance everyday teaching and learning.

Hosted by the Edinburgh College of Art, this ‘Stepping’ event brings together subject specialists from Art and Design departments to learn about initiatives that have made a real impact on students. During the day, you’ll have the chance to experience some of the technology that brought those gains about, through a series of workshops and presentations. It’s also an opportunity to showcase the support that we, the RSC, provide colleges and universities in Scotland – a resource that we sincerely hope that you will want to take advantage of in the future.

Just some of the sessions on the day:

3D Printing: Demonstration of rapid prototyping with 3D printers. The technology is already being trialled in schools around Scotland and in colleges and universities around the country. You’ll have a chance to see the RapMan (pictured left) in action and discover how printing in 3D can transform your lessons. Previously such printers would have been far beyond departmental budgets, but advances in manufacturing mean that units costing tens of thousands can now be purchased for a fraction of the cost.

Portfolios for Art & Design Students: A portfolio should be able to present student work in the best possible light, yet typical electronic or ‘e-Portfolios’ never quite look as if they have designed with artists in mind. Dropr, designed by art graduates, seeks to offer a solution for creative individuals. The Dropr network can be used by educational institutions to provide a hub for discussion and showcase artwork, with features such as interactive galleries, news, events and discussion forums.

QR Codes: QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are 2D barcodes that link the real world and virtual worlds. If you happen to have been to the National Galleries in Edinburgh recently and bought a ticket for an exhibition you'll have noticed on the reverse of the ticket a strange looking barcode - that's a QR code. A hands-on workshop examines how QR Codes can be used in education. You will also have the opportunity to use and generate your own QR Codes.

Capturing the Design Process: The e-scape Scotland project uses a variety of methods to capture the process of design, compiling audio, video and text ‘snapshots’ into a central system using wireless portable devices. The project was originally developed as a summative assessment tool utilising ‘comparative judgement’ techniques to arrive at a final grade (which have proven more reliable than standard assessment practices). Now adapted for formative assessment, you’ll have a chance to experience how the escape team follows the design process in this hands-on workshop.

Places are limited for this event, so please book early to avoid disappointment! The booking form and programme can be found at the RSC Scotland North & East website.