The first official day of class!

Monday (7/1) was our first official day of class.  We headed to Greenwich via a water taxi, one of the best ways to get up and down the Thames.  Getting off the ship, we were greeted by the Cutty Sark, the last surviving tea clipper, which is currently being restored.  The National Maritime Museum is made up of several parts; the Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, The Queen's House, and the Cutty Sark.  Our visit was to the museum, which contains the Caird Archive and Library.

The collection at this facility is the world's most extensive collection of maritime records.  Collections include topics such as the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy, pirates, timekeeping, maps, exploration, and general maritime history.  Research guides for the collections are available on the library's website which provide information on the types of items available.  Researchers must then come to the library to access the items they wish to view.  Digitization of the collections has been minimal thus far - Master's Certificates, passenger lists, and ships plans - and there are no set plans as of yet to continue with digitization efforts.

The archive storage area arrangement was very interesting, as the stacks are arranged by a section topic; admiralty, dock yards, personal papers.  There is a backlog of items to be cataloged, and as with most institutions, they get to it when they can.  Some larger collections are simply labeled with box numbers, not having the time to fully assess the contents, however access is important and therefore given to such a box should a researcher wish to view its contents.  One other thing I found interesting was their classification system; UDC (Universal Decimal Classification).  This system is used throughout the world as it is a flexible way to organize information.  It is language-independent, and uses more symbols and punctuation than the traditional Dewey we are familiar with.

After our tour, Mark (the Archivist) showed us some really great items from the collection.  My favorite was a folio of prints titled "Prints of Twenty-Six Malefactors."  The prints were all of well-known pirates and undesirables from the time.  In fact, the pirate stuff he showed us was all very interesting - a) because pirates are cool, and b) because pirates don't really tend to keep records.  Letters and journals from pirates were very rare because many could not read or write, and let's face it: pirates aren't really known for their record keeping skills.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Greenwich, visiting the shops and walking around the town.  I had lunch in Jamie Oliver's restaurant there, Jamie's Italian - scallops in black squid ink pasta (delicious!).  Upon returning, we were whisked away to the program convocation reception at King's College chapel, a beautiful space I am happy to have seen.  We finished the night at The Thirsty Bear, which held a reception for the students.