National Maritime Museum Library (Caird Library)

The National Maritime Museum Library, or Caird Library, opened in 1937 and is the largest research library on maritime history. It contains more than 100,000 books, 20,000 pamphlests, 20,000 bound periodicles, and 8,000 rare books dating from 1474-1850. The material in the library covers every aspect of maritime history including immigration, navigation, piracy, astronomy, business records, ship wrecks, biographies, Merchant Navy and Royal Navy records, and many resources for reseraching family history such as official ship registers.
Anyone over 16 can visit the library and register for a reader slip; all you need is one form of identification. Some resources are readily accessible, and members of the staff make five retrievals per day for the secure collections. The catalogue is online and accessible from the library's e-library on site, or from any computer with internet access. Our guide Hannah said that within the next month or two there will be a separate manuscripts catalogue designed specifically for archival collections.
The library receives 3,000-4,000 visits each year, and retrieves 5,000 manuscripts and 8,000 books each year. They also respond to inquiries made my telephone, email, and even postal mail. The Caird Library is staffed by librarians and archivists with one or two subject specialists; the library staff really seemed to have a team approach. I also found it interesting to learn that once a month one staff member chooses an item from the collection to thoroughly research. They then share their online as their "item of the month." One of the librarians we met said this is not only a good thing for the public, but good for the staff as well since it helps them develop a deeper knowledge of the collection as well.
Once again we were priveleged to view some really great items from the special collections. Here are some highlights:
The Arraignment, Tryal, and Condemnation of Captain William Kidd, for Murther and Piracy

The surgeon's medical manual used on board the HMS Bounty, bound in sail cloth and taken by the Bounty mutineers after the surgeon died.

The journal of a sailor marooned on an island as punishment for a crime; it may or may not be a factual journal, but it gives a description of some of the types of things going on at the time.

A journal of William Dampier, a privatier and explorer in 1729. The journal is particularly special because it is beautifully illustrated by drawings and watercolors and is hand-bound.