Behind the Scenes…Stocktaking 2016

Ever wonder what we get up to when we close for stocktaking? Well here’s what we did this year…

Thanks to our staff and volunteers we checked our collection of Barnstaple Postcards, 12 of our original document collections, accessioned and catalogued 37 items into our library collection and checked and tidied the general pamphlet collection.

We also took the opportunity to have our first ever in-house training session for staff, volunteers and directors.

While storm Imogen raged outside we started the day by doing a detailed tour of our online catalogues, followed by an in-depth walk through of our stack and the North Devon Record Office’s strong room. Once the tour was over we let the directors and volunteers loose in our stack to explore all of the wonderful items we have on our shelves – you never know what you may find there!

After an excellent lunch, provided by Sheppherd’s we moved onto cataloguing books onto our library catalogue and scanning images.

During the cataloguing and scanning session this lovely note was found stuck inside a copy of RN Worth’s Tourist’s Guide to North Devon – I don’t think the person who wrote it was very impressed with the author!

“It is easier to find fault than to amend: but it does strike me that of all the fools who have taken to compiling of Guide Books Mr. R.N. Worth is the most irritating. He is a “F.G.S., & c.”, and is therefore obliged to display at least as much knowledge of Geology, “&c.” as the “Fellows” of such “learned” societies, &c. may be supposed to possess. His philology (included, I suppose, in the “et cetera”) is particularly astonishing – he derives the familiar “Tor” from Thor! & is especially keen upon what he calls “Keltic”. His stupendous ignorance of matters literary is evinced every where E.g. upon p.60 where he gives Shebbeare the authorship of Chrysal (really Ch. Johnstone) and describes drunken Capern, as a “more famous worthy”, and styles him “The Devonshire Burns!!””

 

We (and by we, we mean the Librarian) also took the opportunity to re-organise the most important part of the office – the filing cabinet (and yes it did take the whole fortnight to sort out!).

Another successful stocktake over with we can now start planning for next year’s…Barum Athena