The National Library of Scotland is open to all. The Library welcomes anyone who wishes to engage in research using its collections. We encourage investigations of the collections from different angles, uncovering untold stories and giving fresh perspectives on society and culture.
The Library engages with researchers who want to collaborate with us in the development of research projects and networks. You may be from a community group or initiative, from a society, or a business. You may be undertaking research as a private individual or affiliated to an academic research institution.
We expect that the outputs of collaborative research projects will deliver clearly identifiable benefits to the Library as well as advancing knowledge.
Research priorities
Library staff research and collaboration focuses on seven key areas:
- The items in our collections, their creation, history, and use; their physical or digital formats; their care and preservation.
- The intellectual content of the collections, the history of ideas and communication, the transmission of texts and audio-visual materials, bibliography, intellectual property and copyright and the history of the recorded memory of Scotland.
- The data and metadata associated with our collections and innovative ways of creating, working with, and re-using them.
- Exploring and advancing the use of digital technologies in a cultural heritage setting.
- Addressing gaps in our collections, particularly regarding Equalities and Diversity, and engagement with and representation of communities in Scotland.
- The history, impact and role of the National Library of Scotland, legal deposit libraries and the Advocates Library (the National Library's predecessor).
- Professional knowledge and skills relevant to libraries and archives including exhibition-making, learning, audience development and engagement.
Working with us
Contact us using our online form to discuss collaborating with us. You should discuss your initiative with us at an early stage of the planning process so that Library staff can advise and contribute to possible directions. We will assess your proposal and determine whether we can collaborate with you. Please try to give us at least six weeks before any deadline.