A Tour Through Scotland: A Finding Aid of Scottish Tavel Photography at the Archival &amp; Special Collections, University of Guelph

Danielle Mcallister

doi:10.32920/ryerson.14649597

Abstract

Among the various collections housed in the Archival & Special Collections (ASC) at the University of Guelph is a group of photographic material that exhibits the integral role photography played in Scotland’s tourism industry from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Photographic publishing firms such as G.W. Wilson & Co. and Valentine & Sons, Ltd. incorporated photography into their commercial repertoires and both helped to create and capitalize on Scotland’s vibrant tourism industry during this period. This thesis focuses on this specific group of material that includes four bound albums, five opalines, seven travel view books, and over four hundred stereographs, and additionally looks at how institutions such as the ASC use descriptive tools like finding aids to provide access to and information about their collections. This thesis project reevaluates the structure and role of the finding aid as applied to photographic material in archival collections. Additional components such as a biographical sketches, a glossary of photographic terms, a geographic index, and a historical overview, have been incorporated to further demonstrate how a finding aid can build a greater web of connections and narratives for such collections.

Highlights

The University of Guelph Library is home to the largest collection of Scottish related material outside of the United Kingdom
Scottish Tourism & Photography: The photographic material described in my finding aid is fundamentally connected through similarities in production and use,  one that reflects photography’s role in Scotland’s thriving tourism industry in the nineteenth century
Dunblane Cathedral  The Castle, St. Andrews from the Battery  Stirling Bridge  Tay Bridge, Aberfeldy  West Front, Holyrood Palace  Loch Lomond from Inchtavannach looking to Balmaha  On Inchconnachan, Loch Lomond  In Luss Straits, Loch Lomond  The Royal Exchange, Glasgow  Selkirk from the Hining Grounds  Inveraray from the South  The School‐House, Portree  The Old Man of Wick  Jedburgh Abbey, South Aisle & Nave, from East  Helmsdale from the West  Brora Coalpit, Sutherlandshire  [missing]  Queen’s Cottage, Glenmark  Untitled  Albert Statue, Balmoral  St. Andrews Castle  Church & Churchyard of Balquhidder  Edinchip House  Linlithgow Palace, the Quadrangle  The Priory on Inchmahome, Lake of Menteith  Queen Mary’s Garden, Inchmahome, Lake of Menteith  Bridge of Dochart, Killin

Summary

Introduction

The University of Guelph Library is home to the largest collection of Scottish related material outside of the United Kingdom. Mountain View, (Calif: Research Libraries Group, 1991), 7 innovative and creative access tools that foster connections and build narratives within archival collections.5 , the proposed finding aid not only inventories or lists the ASC’s photographic material pertaining to Scottish travel photography, but it  demonstrates how a finding aid can be used to link objects from different collections through a common theme or concept to tell a story.

Results

Conclusion