[General
]
29 January, 2010 09:14
Timelines from the British Library
The British Library has set up an interactive history timeline which allows one to explore items in their collection chronologically. Timelines is accompanied by teachers' notes.
<snip from the press release>
Developed by the Library's Learning team with historians and writers,
the timeline includes some of the Library's key collection items from
medieval times to the present day such as records of political events,
glimpses of everyday life and writings and speeches from some our best
known historical and literary figures. Scanning through centuries of
images, audio-visual and printed material, users will be able to
explore various themed timelines: 'everyday life', 'music and
literature' and 'politics, power and rebellion' on one screen.
[General
]
18 January, 2010 08:20
Antique maps of China now online
The Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology (HKUST) Library has made available a collection called Antique Maps .
It “includes more than 230 maps,
charts, pictures, books and atlases. It represents almost all samples
of China maps produced by European cartographers from the 16th to 19th
centuries. This cartographic archive vividly records the long history
of cross-cultural exchanges between China and the West”
Spotted on FOREast
Maps of Africa to 1900 available online
From the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, comes a digital collection, Maps of Africa to 1900.
"... this collection mines not only the Library’s map collections, but also
its extensive collection of 19th century atlases and geographical
journals, including the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society
(United Kingdom), the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie de Paris
(France), and Petermanns Geographische Mittheilungen (Germany)."
[General
]
10 January, 2010 17:08
Royal Navy records now online from UK National Archives
The records of seamen who joined the Royal Navy between 1853 and 1923 can now be searched and downloaded from DocumentsOnline, The National Archives' digital records service.
The UK National Archives' site notes:
While many of the records from the Registers of Seamen's Services
(ADM 188) and the Continuous Service engagement books (ADM 139) have
previously been digitised, we have only recently completed the
collection by releasing the final batch of files (ADM 221 - 1027)
online. This means that over 680,000 records on Royal Naval seaman are
now available to search and download.
Many of the records reveal year and town of birth, names of ships
served on and the period of time served in the Royal Navy. Even greater
detail can be found in records from 1892 onwards, invaluable for those
tracing their naval ancestors. Entries on occupation and physical
appearance, such as hair and eye colour, height and tattoos can be
found, and even notes made about 'character' and 'ability'.
The records are free to search, but there is a charge of £3.50 to download. The service records of Royal Marines and Royal Naval Officers are also available from DocumentsOnline.
