Here is a selection of some of the many thousands of books that reach the National Library through Legal Deposit every year. As one of the Legal Deposit Libraries for the UK and Ireland we receive a copy of nearly every book and periodical published in England, Scotland and Ireland – as well as Wales. It’s difficult sometimes for people to grasp the extent of our Legal Deposit collection. So if you’re interested in the Amazon rain forest or the mysteries of the human mind, want to see the latest issue of Poetry Wales or Four Four Two, want to understand how a fusion reactor is likely to work, or just pore over the novels of your favourite author, pop into our Reading Room with your reader’s ticket. We have almost everything for ever.
Books on the shelf
On the 6th of April this year we will be celebrating Non Print or Electronic Legal Deposit along with the five other legal deposit libraries. Ten years ago the National Library of Wales, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, Trinity College, Dublin, the Bodleian Library, Oxford and Cambridge University Library were granted the right to receive electronic publications in addition to those in print. That doesn’t only mean a change in format from a book in your hand to text on a screen. The switch to electronic publications has also increased the amount of knowledge we have to offer you.
Reading Room at the National Library of Wales
Everyone is now familiar with e-books and e-periodicals and many hundreds of thousands of these are now available in the Reading Room of the National Library but not everyone realises that the world of ‘publishing’ includes all the websites of UK webspace. Imagine how much of this material disappears every year as web pages are updated. The role of UKWA the UK Web Archive is to ensure that the content of BBC Wales, Diverse Cymru or the Football Association of Wales web pages as well as many thousands of other websites, big and small, from Wales and the rest of the UK, are kept safe for the future.
After 64 long years, the Welsh football team finally managed to qualify for their second World Cup tournament, this time held in Qatar. Now that the tournament has ended, I thought that I’d look back at their exploits via the Library’s updated Newsbank subscription, which now includes full image versions for certain titles. To access Newsbank, it is necessary to be an online member in Wales of the Library. See here for more information and here to register. Online members can access Newsbank and the other external resources through the Library’s A-Z of external resource page. They can do so by either being in the Library building or by logging in with their reader’s ticket.
Excitement and expectations were understandably high after such a long absence from the biggest competition in football. Having beaten Ukraine in the play-off finals, Welsh fans could finally look forward to seeing their team perform at the highest stage. In the lead up to the tournament, Dafydd Iwan’s iconic song “Yma o Hyd” was adopted as Wales’ World Cup anthem, and The Guardian interviewed him and other fans to discuss how everyone felt before the tournament.
Here it was, our first World Cup game since 1958! Thousands of Welsh fans had made the trip to be part of the Red Wall, and they and the fans here in Wales were raring for the game to start. However, it looked like the occasion got to the team, and the Americans took a deserved lead midway through the first half. A change was clearly needed in the second half, and the introduction of Kiefer Moore helped get Wales back into the game. With 10 minutes to go, Wales won a penalty after Gareth Bale was clumsily fouled. Bale calmly converted, and Welsh fans went wild. The game ended in a draw, and we had our first point!
'Thunderous finish as the red storm boomed in Qatar' - Daily Mirror, 22 November
After Iran conceded 6 goals in their opening game, Wales fans were quietly confident that they could get a result in this game. With excitement levels growing, the game was shown in schools and workplaces across Wales, due to the 10am kick off. Unfortunately, Iran had other ideas. They were clearly the better side, and they were only denied a goal by a combination of the woodwork and VAR. The situation got worse for Wales after Wayne Hennessey was sent off for clattering into Taremi, suffering the indignity of being the first player of the tournament to receive a red card. It was now a matter of damage limitation, and hanging on for a draw. Wales almost succeeded, but Iran scored 2 quickfire goals at the death to break Welsh hearts.
'Revitalised Iran strike late to leave Wales on the brink' - The Independent, 26 November
Having progressed from the group stages in the last 2 European Championships, the chances of doing so in Qatar were hanging by a thread. Any hopes of progressing to the knockout stages were dashed by their English neighbours, and just like that, it was over. Although things didn’t go to plan, this group of players will always be remembered as the team that finally got us back to where all Welsh football fans wanted to be. Diolch bois.
'The Dream is Over' - Western Mail, 30 November
Paul Jackson
Legal Deposit, Electronic and Acquisitions Librarian
What a strange time! We are once again going into a lockdown period and the Winter season is nearing when very often many of us turn to researching our family history. Why not give it a go? Not sure where to start, read on.
5 steps to start your family history research
Step 1 –start with yourself noting any events, dates and places, working back to your parents and to previous generations as far as you can.
Step 2 – ask members of the family for their memories, make a note or record the information for future use.
Step 3 – look for evidence – certificates, photographs, newspaper cuttings etc, the attic is a good place to start.
Step 4 – organise the information you have collected so far, create a family tree on paper or electronically, there are plenty of free options online.
Step 5 – create a list of what needs further research, search the Library website to see what is available and for further help contact the Enquiries Service
If you have already done some research here are a few tips when researching further.
10 tips to move forward with your research
Remember to make a note of the resources you have searched, even if nothing was found, it will save duplicate the search in the future.
Read widely about the resources that are available and how to interpret the information.
Remember when using parish registers they record baptisms, marriages and burials and certificates record births, marriages and deaths.
When parish registers are difficult to read or parts missing, use bishop’s transcripts to fill the gaps if they have survived.
Can’t find members of your family in the parish registers, look in nearby nonconformist records.
When looking at the 1841 census remember that the age for those over 15 have been rounded down to the nearest 5 this helps when trying to search for a birth/baptism.
By the 1911 census a lot more information is asked including – how many years married, how many children born to the marriage and how many still alive.
When you come across a death it is always worth searching to see if a will was left.
Newspapers are always a great source of information about people, places and events especially when they can be searched online.
After searching the general resources, why not venture to search other collections such as estate, solicitors, manorial records, Great Sessions and a variety of other collections available through the Library website and catalogue.
The resources listed here may contain evidence regarding the existence of a building but will not necessarily date the original structure or subsequent alterations. Remember that houses could be rebuilt often on an adjoining site but using the same name or subsequent buildings on the same site were renamed or renumbered.
1 Maps
Home to the largest cartographic collection in Wales and one of the largest in Britain, the Library has a wide range of maps and plans to consult – Ordnance Survey maps, antiquarian maps, estate maps and sale catalogues and architectural drawings, tithe maps and apportionments. Digital images of the tithe maps and apportionments and more modern maps can be found on the Places of Wales website and most are available to search through the catalogue or on open access in the South Reading Room.
2 Census Returns and the 1939 Register
The Census taken every 10 years since 1841, except 1941, gives a snapshot of who was at a property at the time of the census. The 1911 census is the latest available; the 1939 Register can also be very useful as this provided information of inhabitants of properties at the beginning of WWII. Access to these are available free of charge within the Library through Findmypast and Ancestry.
3 Estate Records
A property may be easier to trace if it was part of an estate as records were drawn up for the administration of the estate – rentals, surveys, title deeds, mortgages, leases. To find if the Library holds any information a search of the catalogue should be made.
4 Printed works
Local history books, local directories, guide books and electoral registers that date back to the nineteenth century will give further clues of who lived in particular properties and used in conjunction with other documentary evidence can give you more information about the people who lived in a property. These can be found by searching our catalogue
5 Newspapers
The Library has a digitised collection of Welsh newspapers available free to view online up to 1919, there may well be mention of the occupants of or the history of a property amongst the pages as well as adverts and details of sales of property. To begin your search visit the website
These are only a few of the sources available to aid you in the search for the history of a house. For more information have a look at our information leaflet Sources for the History of Houses
This Saturday 12th May the fifth Family and Local History Fair will be held here at the Library. It will be a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in starting their journey to discovery their ancestors or perhaps to research the history of a house or area of importance to them. There will be something for everyone, including two enthusiastic speakers in their field of excellence – Dr Reg Davies, who maintains the Welsh Mariners website and Richard Suggett, an expert in old buildings who work for the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments – remember to book your free tickets.
There will be an opportunity to talk to experienced genealogists from the Library and the county Family History Societies, who will be able to give you advice. We have all probably inherited collections of photographs over the years, there will be a photo restorer on hand to give advice on how to store and restore your photographs.
Many local history groups will be present as well as the History Forum of Wales and Ceredigion Local History Forum. To coincide with the 200th anniversary of emigration from Ceredigion to Ohio, the Cymru-Ohio Society will be sharing more information about their celebrations to be held at the end of June.
It is of course an opportunity for some to visit the Reading Rooms to extend their research and also to visit the Kyffin Williams exhibition in Gregynog Gallery. Plenty to do for the whole day here.
The National Library of Wales is today launching a number of Peniarth Manuscripts in digital format: they are available here.
What is going on?
To mark the 350th anniversary of Robert Vaughan’s death in 2017, the Library began a piece-meal digitisation of all 560 manuscripts in the Peniarth collection. This is in tribute to the founder of the Hengwrt library, and an acknowledgement of the importance of this, the Library’s ‘foundation collection’.
In what order are your digitising the manuscripts?
To facilitate the work of scanning, the manuscripts are being digitised according to size, beginning with the smallest volumes. They will be scanned and released in batches. The first batch, released today (26 March 2018) include
(1) manuscripts previously captured as ‘treasures’ during the last few years
(2) new appearances by the smallest manuscripts (‘size A’) in the numerical range of 1-70.
Will I see hitherto unseen images, previously hidden on parchment leaves?
No. The manuscripts have been digitised to high resolution, ‘as they are’, without digital manipulation. Therefore, no ‘new’ discoveries have been made. Revealing techniques such as RTI digitisation depend on extra resources, which are unavailable in the Library at present. Readers of Peniarth manuscripts are thus warned that texts MAY be more legible in manipulated microfilm images in the Library Reading Room!
What is the digitisation timescale?
As no extra funding has been obtained for the work, manuscripts will be digitised as-and-when resources allow, i.e. around prioritised project work and funded requests. This means that we cannot give a time-frame for the delivery of the project, or for images of specific manuscripts to appear.
How will I know when a manuscript in which I am interested may become available?
Good question! Follow the order of releases, and a pattern may become apparent. You are also welcome to ‘lodge your interest’ by contacting the Library. We will endeavour to let you know when your manuscript is about to be published. However, you must give us your permission to log your personal data (including email address) when following this route.
Can I ‘jump the queue’, and ask you to digitise a specific manuscript out of sequence?
By all means ask. However, in fairness to other users, we will probably then ask you to pay for the digitisation of that manuscript! Best advice with this project is – ‘be patient, and your manuscript will eventually appear’.
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Which manuscripts will you be digitising after the Peniarth collection?
Good news – we are unlikely to run out of manuscripts! The Llanstephan, Cwrtmawr, Bodewryd and other collections await their turns.
What else is happening to the Peniarth Manuscripts?
Many are being catalogued anew by Dr Daniel Huws for his forthcoming Repertory of Welsh Manuscripts and Scribes (due 2019-20). This new resource will make many of our online catalogue descriptions obsolete, and will necessitate a re-consideration of our metadata. In the meantime, our current catalogue descriptions are available here. You are welcome to contact us with new discoveries relating to the manuscripts, if they arise from your own research.
What else is happening with manuscripts at the Library?
Watch out for our Mostyn season in 2018, and for a series of new web-pages on the Library’s medieval manuscripts which will be published during the year. Keep watching our social media platforms for the latest news.
With the Library’s current exhibition Arthur and Welsh Mythology looking at Wales’ rich tradition of myths, legends and folklore, including the Welsh Arthurian tradition, now is perhaps an opportune moment to note that amongst the Library’s Welsh Print Collection is one of Wales’ largest collections of Arthurian literature and works on the Arthurian legend.
With its roots in early Welsh poems such as Y Gododdin, early Welsh tales such as Culhwch ac Olwen and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Brittania, the Arthurian legend encompasses a variety of literary forms, including the chronicle, the romance, poetry and the novel, and a number of other artistic forms such as opera and film. The Arthurian legend and its mythos also give us an example of a truly Trans-European literary tradition (or transatlantic tradition if we include the Connecticut Arthur). Starting from its roots in Welsh poetry and folklore, Arthurian literature and legend spread across Europe, with English, French, Italian, German and Nordic influences, amongst others transforming, cross-fertilising and enriching the genre.
A poster for the exhibition held at the National Library from 22 July to 16 December.
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The Arthurian legend has also proved to be an especially durable and enduring literary tradition, from early Welsh poems and folk-tales through to the chivalrous romances of the medieval period, the Arthurian revival in the nineteenth century and the fantasy novels and historical fictions of the twentieth and twenty-first century. During this time the Arthurian legend has also been used for a variety of political and ideological purposes with the uses made of the legend to support both Welsh and Norman claims to the island of Britain during the medieval period just one example of how Arthur was used in this way.
The Library’s collection of printed works related to the Arthurian legend is as varied as its history. Comprising over 1,500 titles, the collection, dating from the early nineteenth century onwards, reflects its trans-European nature including works in Welsh, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Norwegian. It also reflects the variety of literary forms with works ranging from early Welsh poems and tales, the chivalric poems and tales of the medieval period through to the novels of John Steinbeck, T. H. White, Bernard Cornwell and Rosemary Sutcliffe alongside the Monty Python and the Holy Grail screenplay. The collection also includes a large number of academic works on the Arthurian legend and Arthurian Literature.
So if you have an interest in Arthurian literature, Arthurian legend or the mythology of ancient Britain or are visiting the exhibition and want to learn more, why not take a moment to explore the collection through the Library catalogue.
This week saw the 20th anniversary of the Welsh referendum that paved way for the creation of the National Assembly for Wales. I decided to see what I could discover about this historic occasion within the Library’s various online subscriptions. (*To access these resources from outside the Library building you will have to use your reader’s ticket. If you haven’t got a reader’s ticket you can register very easily here).
Whilst support for devolution was low during the first referendum in 1979, the ensuing political and economic landscape over the next decade and a half led to increased calls for a second referendum. As a result, the Labour party included proposals for a second referendum in their 1992 manifesto, and after their landslide victory in the 1997 general election, these were set in motion.
The Referenda (Scotland and Wales) Act asked voters if they were in favour of devolution for Scotland and Wales. Many commentators analysed what devolution would mean for the future of the United Kingdom, as can be seen in this article from ‘The World Today’:
JSTOR - http://www.jstor.org/stable/40475997
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The referendum was held on the 18th of September 1997, and unlike the referendum in 1979, the result was extremely close. In fact, the votes were so close, the result hung on the announcement from Carmarthenshire. As the result came in, there were wild celebrations amongst the Yes campaigners as devolution was secured by a margin of 6,721 votes.
The Guardian reports for the days after both Welsh referenda can be seen here and here:
There was a concern that the low voter turnout meant that voters were apathetic towards the notion of a national assembly, however this study by Roger Scully, Richard Wyn Jones and Dafydd Trystan concludes that this was not the case:
Following such a momentous change to the country’s political landscape, and following further referendums in 2006 and 2011, it’s only natural that commentators and scholars have sought to discuss and evaluate the impact of devolution on various aspects of life in Wales:
Are you fed up with late or cancelled trains? And how often does that happen exactly? There are a number of interesting sets of statistics available on Statista(*To access Statista from outside the Library building you will have to use your reader’s ticket. If you haven’t got a reader’s ticket you can register very easily here. After choosing Statista click on Login and then scroll down to Campus access and choose National Library of Wales to log in for the first time).
You can see how Arriva Trains Wales are doing in keeping to their schedules:
Cyfran cyfartaledd o drenau Arriva oedd wedi eu dileu neu'n sylweddol hwyr o 2010/2011 i 2015/2016 o'r e-adnodd "Statista" /
Average proportion of Arriva trains that were cancelled or significantly late from 2010/2011 to 2015/2016 from the "Statista" e-resource.
And I wonder how Arriva compare with other train companies in the UK?
Not bad!
Graff o'r cyfran o wasanaethau rheilffordd oedd wedi eu canslo neu eu gohirio yn sylwedol yn ystod 2015-2016 (o'r e-adnodd "Statista") /
A graph of the proportion of rail services that were cancelled or significantly delayed in 2015-2016 (from the "Statista" e-resource).
It’s possible that Arriva’s trains are a bit old but are they getting older?
Oedran cyfartaledd stoc trenau Arriva o 2007/2008 i 2014/2015 o'r e-adnodd "Statista" / Average age of Arriva trains stock from 2007/2008 to 2014/2015 from the "Statista" e-resource
Maybe that’s why more people own one of these in Wales than ever before:
Nifer o geir trwyddedig yng Nghymru o 1995 i 2015 o'r e-adnodd "Statista" /
The number of licensed cars in Wales from 1995 to 2015 from the "Statista" e-resource.
For those of you thinking of getting to your destination on a bike:
Nifer o feiciau a pedal a ddygwyd yng Nghymru o 2002/2003 i 2014/2015 o'r e-adnodd "Statista" /
Number of pedal bicycles stolen in Wales from 2001/2003 to 2014/2015 from the "Statista" e-resource
Be careful of tourists! They’re on the increase in Wales as well.
Number of holiday visits to Wales from 2005 to 2014 from the "Statista" e-resource / Nifer o ymweliadau gwyliau i Gymru o 2005 i 2014 o'r e-adnodd "Statista".
Gwario ar ymweliadau gwyliau i Gymru o 2005 i 2014 aro'r e-adnodd "Statista" /
Spending on holiday visits to Wales from 2005 to 2014 from the "Statista" e-resource.
A graph from the e-resource "Statista" showing the sources of renewable electricity in Wales in 2014. /
Graff o'r e-adnodd "Statista" yn dangos y ffynonellau o drydan adnewyddol yng Nghymru yn 2014.
A graph from the e-resource "Statista" showing the sources of renewable electricity in Wales in 2014. / Graff o'r e-adnodd "Statista" yn dangos y ffynonellau o drydan adnewyddol yng Nghymru yn 2014.
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The National Library of Wales has by now been buying access to e-resources for more than fifteen years. One of the earliest we offered was Early English Books Online which, despite the name, also includes every Welsh book from Yny lhyvyr hwnn in 1546 until the end of the seventeenth century.
Newspaper collections are popular with readers who undertake research on history, society, family history and many other subjects. The titles which the Library has access to include Y Faner, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Times.
Another popular resource is JSTOR which includes runs of scholarly periodicals on all sorts of subjects.
One of the considerations when offering resources such as these to users is that there should be enough variety in terms of subjects and interest level. Some of the resources such as CREDO and Encylopaedia Britannica offer general knowledge which is suitable for many people. Others such as British Standards Online offer specialist information for people involved in business, building, industry, local and central government. Statista is a similar resource which offers a variety of international statistics in different sectors. It is important that the Library offers remote access to as many of these resources as possible so that they reach a higher percentage of Wales’ population. These resources are not cheap and restricting their access to the population Wales enables them to be affordable. Despite this, there are some resources that are only available within the Library building. These include Ancestry and Find My Past.
It is important that these resources are used, so if you have any questions or suggestions do not be afraid to contact us.
A blog about the work and collections of the National Library of Wales.
Due to the more personal nature of blogs it is the Library's policy to publish postings in the original language only. An equal number of blog posts are published in both Welsh and English, but they are not the same postings. For a translation of the blog readers may wish to try facilities such as Google Translate.
