Annual Report 2003-2004 - National Archives of Scotland

Jane Hutcheon, Head of Library at the Royal Botanic
Garden, with Ross Finnie, MSP, Minister for
Environment and Rural Development, looking over
some of the John Hope collection of botanical
illustrations conserved by NAS staff.
Chris Mathias, Head of Conservation at the Supreme
Judicial Court of Boston, at Thomas Thomson House
during his visit on the Quinque Fellows Programme.
HBOS was organised in association with the National Preservation Office of the British Library to
promote the use of the Preservation Survey Assessment (PAS) tool for collections. Subsequently
NAS undertook a specific survey of the Clerk of Penicuik papers (GD18) as a pilot exercise and
submitted a report to Senior Management and Head of Private Records Branch.
Work continued on the John Hope collection of botanical illustrations on behalf of the Royal
Botanic Garden, Edinburgh and was completed in December 2003. A total of 306 objects were
treated and mounted; occupying 779 hours work in total. Our association with Professor Tim
Wess and Craig Kennedy, who are studying the deterioration of collagen or parchment, continues.
Several collaborative papers have been produced throughout the year within scientific and
technical journals. Advice and a conservation survey report were provided to the Court of the Lord
Lyon regarding possible digitisation of Registers of Arms in preparation for the Scottish Family
History Service.
In July 2003 Conservation Services hosted a visit from Chris Mathias, Head of Conservation at the
Supreme Judicial Court of Boston. He visited Scotland as part of a programme organised by the
Quinque Fellows Programme, developed collaboratively by the Quinque Foundation, a US-based
charity, and Historic Scotland.
Early botanical illustration of the moss Polytrichum commune, reproduced by
kind permission of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. One of the drawings
conserved by NAS staff on behalf of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.
A series of workshops providing an Introduction to NAS Photographic Collections was organised
by Conservation staff for colleagues in April 2003. Specific handling training for Legal Search
Room staff was delivered later in the month. Staff delivered a presentation to the Post Graduate
Training Visit in October 2003. Photographs and Glass, a workshop organised in collaboration with
the Society of Archivists, was held in the Conservation workshop at Thomas Thomson House in
December 2003 and attracted international participants. This repeated the success of the same
workshop held in the previous year.
A total of 12 Letters Patent were sealed on behalf of Registers of Scotland.
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