Accessing a treasure trove of images

© RCAHMS. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk.

I was very pleased to place around 100 Medical History of British India images on SCRAN earlier this year. SCRAN, part of the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, is an online learning resource service hosting 360,000 images, movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media.

The NLS images form part of SCRAN's Scottish Cemetery in India web exhibition which went live on the 5th October 2011. There are also excellent images taken from glass plate negatives showing scenes from early twentieth century Bengal like the one above.

SCRAN is available to UK educational institutions by subscription. But if you hold a National Library of Scotland reader's ticket you can access it in the George IV Bridge Reading Room. If you wish to browse in the comfort of your own armchair and are a member of the wonderful Edinburgh City Libraries you can view SCRAN by clicking on here and typing in your borrower number.
Open University students can also access SCRAN as part of their online learning package.


SCRAN also hosts many fine images from the V&A museum, whose publications feature in OPU's collection and on this very blog.

Fox hunting

Those of you interested in the furore over Defence Minister Dr Liam Fox's friendship with Adam Werritty should take a look at The guide to the rules relating to the conduct of Members(pdf, 57 pages, 529 kb).

Mr Werritty had accompanied Dr Fox on almost a third of his ministerial trips overseas and had business cards describing himself as an advisor to the Secretary of State for Defence. When Dr Fox was the shadow health minister Werritty described himself as a health policy advisor. Dr Fox has aplogised for his "lack of judgement" but there is an inquiry into the matter. Watch this space.