The photographic collections are currently the subject of a major digitisation project, which aims to create digital copies of the entire collection, mounted in a database. Each image will be accompanied by a detailed description, which will form a large searchable database.

This will provide a level of access to the collections which has never previously been possible using the traditional hard-copy indices with their limited range of search terms. Also, the physical nature of the material - much of it in negative form, often on glass, and some early material very sensitive to light exposure - has limited the amount of access which could be offered to the public.

The database system, which to date contains over 55,500 images, allows the reseacher to identify and examine the images without the need to access the original material, and also offers the possibility of viewing high-quality enlargements, comparing several photographs at once, browsing, and many enhancement techniques for digital download, delivery and printing.

The computer system is available for public use within the library, by appointment. To book a time on the system, see the ACCESS information on the photographic collection page.

This database is also available online as the Library Photographic Archive, allowing remote searching and access to low-resolution images.

A future development of the website will be the provision of an electronic ordering service. We are happy to provide images for a wide variety of purposes. For further details, please refer to the Commercial Activities page.

The project has been fortunate to receive fnancial support from several agencies, including the Non-Formula Funding initiative and the Research Support Libraries Programme (both funded by the Joint Higher Education Funding Councils), the Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network (SCRAN), the eLib Programme (funded by the Joint Information Services Committee) and the Russell Trust.

The digitisation programme has been the subject of several publications. A few useful ones are :

N H Reid, 'Photographic archives: Aberdeen, Dundee and St Andrews', in Making information available in digital format: perspectives from practitioners, ed T Coppock, Edinburgh, The Stationery Office, 1999, pp. 106-119.

N H Reid, 'The photographic collections in St Andrews University Library', in Scottish Archives, 1999 (vol. 5), pp83-90.

N H Reid and P E Whatley, 'Image Creation and Digitization Strategies', in The Imaging Science Journal, vol.49, 2001.

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