The day (July 1) started with a boat ride down the Thames. This was fun and I was able to get some great shots of London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Even Flat Stanley had fun.
On our way to the library, we stopped for a few pictures aof the Cutty Sark.
We started our visit at the Caird Library. This is the library associated with the Maritime Museum. I was impressed with the amount of materials related to the navy and such. There was even an exercise area where documents could be scanned and/or printed. They held captain's registers and naval lists, maintained both a group study area and a quiet study area, amid ordered their materials by the UDC system. This system is based on Dewey but is more specific. They thematically break down all the maritime materials.
The Caird Library also has a large website. There are links for researchers, library information, research guides, exploration, electronic resources that have been digitized by ancestry, an online ancestry library, and a national archives discovery site. The national archives contains personal papers and a treasure of maritime records. There is also plenty to be found on Sir James Caird for whom the library is named.
The next part of our tour was broken down into two parts. The first part involved seeing the archives and the second part was getting to look at documents about pirates, the armada, and naval info. The archives are organized into sections and each section of colours and volumes are separated by size. For example, section 1 contained admiralty papers, section 2 held paperwork on local dockyards, and other sections for personal papers, pirate artifacts, and single volumes. The documents we got to look at and touch were back in the classroom. There was a pirate book that held original prints (drawings or pictures) of various pirates. I really liked the one of Blackbeard. We discussed how paper from back then lasts much longer than paper today. Archivists have also discovered that it is sometimes better to touch the documents with clean bare hands rather than wearing gloves. It was so cool to be able to touch these documents and books. The actual documents and letters were in protective covers.
Of the various pieces we viewed, my favorite was a spy book that was believed to belong to Dr. John Dee. There is a graphic drawing inside the Book that was believed to be the symbol for Dr. Dee. He spied on the Spanish for Queen Elizabeth I. Other documents included a letter to the Duke of Clarence regarding possible mutiny written by Lord Nelson. There is also a personal letter written from a survivor of the Battle of Trafalgar to his wife.
After the library, I ventured with a group around the museum. We visited the Royal Observatory and had our pictures taken on the Prime Meridian. Flat Stanley also got his picture taken.
Later that evening we had a convocation and then some h'orduerves and drinks. It made for a long day, but it was great fun.
That is all for now...
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