Protecting University Repositories from Aggressive Web Scraping – Using Database Rights to Retain Control Over Academic Content TAGS: AI training | copyright | database right | generative AI | institutional repository | open access | web scraping Universities have long served as custodians of knowledge, investing heavily in infrastructure that ensures research outputs are preserved, discoverable, and freely available to all. Institutional repositories, designed to host open …Continue reading →

Post-mortem: Why the UK Government Copyright & AI Consultation Left No One Satisfied TAGS: AI training | artificial intelligence | copyright | copyright exception | data mining | TDM | text and data mining | UK Government consultation The UK Government Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Consultation ended on Tuesday, 25th February 2025. The consultation was initiated due to ongoing disputes regarding the application of UK copyright law to …Continue reading →

The Great Fire of Edinburgh, 1824 TAGS: 1824 | Great Fire of Edinburgh | William Home Lizars This year marks the bicentenary of one of the most destructive events in Edinburgh’s history, the ‘Great Fire’ of 15-21 November 1824. In this blog, Ash Mowat, a volunteer in …Continue reading →

John Augustus Bonney’s History of the Tower of London TAGS: John Augustus Bonney In this post, Ash Mowat, a volunteer in the Civic Engagement Team, looks at a manuscript history of the Tower of London written by a political radical who was himself …Continue reading →

Peter Gallegan’s Collection of Irish Songs and Poems TAGS: Irish Literature | Peter Gallegan | Saint Patrick's Day To mark St Patrick’s Day, we thought we’d highlight a remarkable volume of Irish songs and poems that is in the University’s donated collections (ref. Coll-1366). The book was copied …Continue reading →

Copyright Insights and Collaborative Exploration: A Visit to Leiden University and KU Leuven Libraries TAGS: copyright | KU Leuven library | Leiden University library | secondary publishing right | Taverne amendment Last month, I had the incredible opportunity to go on an Erasmus+ visit to Leiden University Library and KU Leuven University Library to meet with colleagues and discuss about copyright, …Continue reading →

‘Nothing is Here for Tears’: Helen Cruickshank Bids Farewell to F. Marian McNeill TAGS: F. Marian McNeill | Helen B. Cruickshank This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of folklorist F. Marian McNeill on 22 February 1973. Edinburgh University Library holds the manuscript of a memorial poem written by …Continue reading →

William Drummond’s ‘Flowres of Sion’: A Unique Copy of a Major Work TAGS: William Drummond of Hawthornden This year marks the quatercentenary of the publication of Flowres of Sion (1623), an important volume by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585-1649), one of Scotland’s major 17th-century poets and one …Continue reading →

What the NFT?! TAGS: academic libraries | blockchain | innovation | NFT | students The purpose of this blog post is not to endorse or criticise NFTs but to explain what they are and – briefly – discuss if they are relevant to libraries. …Continue reading →

Open Access Week: Meet the (Scholarly Communications) Team TAGS: open access | Open Access Week | Scholarly Communications Team Theo Andrew was one of the first supporters of Open Access at the University of Edinburgh. He started working with the University Library in 2003 on a couple of JISC …Continue reading →