The SHELF partnership
The information on this web site was compiled as part of the Self-help in Edinburgh, Lothians and Fife digitisation project, part of the Resources for Learning in Scotland (RLS) partnership and funded by the New Opportunities Fund-Digitise programme.
The core SHELF partners are:
- Edinburgh City Council
- The principal collections are held in Central Library, the City Archives and the City Museum Service.
- Edinburgh, Central Library: the Scottish Department, the Edinburgh Room and the Reference Library are open Mon-Thurs 10.00am-8.00pm Friday 10.00am-5.00pm Saturday 9.00am-1.00pm e-mail: eclis@edinburgh.gov.uk. Tel: Scottish Department 0131 242 8080; Edinburgh Room 0131 242 8030; Reference Library 0131 242 8060.
- Edinburgh City Archives, Department of Corporate Services, The City of Edinburgh Council, City Chambers, High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1YJ. Tel: 0131 529 4616.
- Museum of Edinburgh, Huntley House, 142 Canongate, EH8 8DD. Tel: 0131 529 4143. Peoples' Story, Canongate Tollbooth, 163 Canongate, Royal Mile, EH8 8BN. Tel: 0131 529 4057.
- Fife Council
- The Libraries, Archives and Museums Services in East, Mid and West Fife hold collections relating to each of the three divisions of the county.
- West Area Library Services - Dunfermline Central Library, 1 Abbot Street, Dunfermline KY12 7NW. Tel: 01383 723661.
- East Area Library Services - Library Headquarters, County Buildings, St. Catherine Street, Cupar KY15 4TA. Tel: 01334 412200.
- Central Area Library Services - Library Headquarters, East Fergus Place, Kirkcaldy, KY1 1XT. Tel: 01592 412930.
- West Lothian Council
- The Libraries Service and Museums Service hold the principal collections.
- West Lothian Local History Library, Library Headquarters, Connolly House, Hopefield Road, Blackburn, West Lothian EH47 7HZ. Tel: 01506 776331. e-mail:sybil.cavanagh@westlothian.gov.uk.
- Midlothian Council
- The Libraries Service and Archive Service hold the principal collections and can provide contact information for other societies that have contributed resources from their collections.
- Midlothian Local Studies, Library Headquarters, 2 Clerk Street, Loanhead, Midlothian, EH20 9DR. Tel: 0131 271 3976. e-mail: local.studies@midlothian.gov.uk.
- East Lothian Council
- East Lothian Council: Local Studies Centre, Newton Port, Haddington, EH41 3NA (the Local Studies Centre is upstairs in Haddington Library). Tel: 01620 823307.
Opening times: Monday 2pm-6pm; Tuesday 10am-1pm and 2pm-7pm; Wednesday closed; Thursday 2pm-7pm; Friday 2pm-5pm. Web-site: http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/Libraries/loch.html - East Lothian Council Museum Service: Library and Museums Headquarters, Dunbar Road, Haddington, EH41 3PJ. Contact: Museums Officer 01620 828203. Web-site: http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/museums/
- East Lothian Council: Local Studies Centre, Newton Port, Haddington, EH41 3NA (the Local Studies Centre is upstairs in Haddington Library). Tel: 01620 823307.
Acknowledgements
The partners are grateful to the many other council departments, independent organisations and individuals who contributed their knowledge, resources, facilities and time to the project team. We extend our thanks to all who helped make SHELF as comprehensive as possible.
The full SHELF dataset comprises 6,600 records and multi-media resources collected during the eighteen months from October 2001. The provenance and copyright information of each individual resource is indicated in the full resource record hosted on RLS. Where images have been obtained by loans from third party organisations, further details can be obtained by cross-referencing copyright holders with locations given in the records and applying to the nearest local studies centre, who should be contacted in the first instance in the case of any inquiry. Errors in attribution, content or factual detail are solely the fault of SHELF and can be notified to admin@historyshelf.org.
Several strands of the SHELF Project have been gathered together in a set of educational resources available on RLS. These explore different aspects of the projects and link some of the resources. Each educational pathfinder is accompanied by a number of exercises that can be used to test your knowledge of the content. This multi media essay is one of three that attempt to explore some themes in greater depth. The others are Friendly Societies in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife and The Free Gardeners of Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife.