'Books in all their variety offer the means by which civilization may be carried triumphantly forward'
Winston Churchill 1942

Kevin Morrison has been collecting artefacts from the Second World War since 1987. Following a very successful display on Civil Defence in the library foyer during the spring of 1999, Kevin was invited to deposit on a custodial basis his growing collection of print-based and archival materials in the Special Collections section of Research Collections. The collection is centred on the experiences of ordinary people during the Second World War, especially on the home front.

This move was welcomed by Kevin as his aim had always been to create a collection with real research potential, rather than just amassing memorabilia and artefacts on a random basis. The result is a valuable resource that is now being used by GCU's own staff and students as well as many external visitors. An important development of the collection in recent years is the provision of information and scanned images from the collection via e-mail. Kevin is now successfully developing a promotional and outreach policy for the collection, which includes attending events with displays, producing displays, lending materials and visiting schools. Items are currently on loan to the Imperial War Museum, London for their exhibition; 'The Children's War' scheduled to run until 2010.

As Research Collections Manager I am delighted that Glasgow Caledonian University is now home to the Kevin Morrison Collection, and that we are able to support the collection and facilitate access for a wide range of researchers. The fact that the collection is one of our most popular and heavily used resources is indicative of its importance in terms of rich content and subject coverage.

Research Collections Manager
Glasgow Caledonian University Library

If you would like to post information on our news page of a coming talk or event, a book that you have just read, a museum visited, some research you are working on: in fact anything relating to the home front! please send an e-mail with details to C.McCallum@gcu.ac.uk
You can access the newspage from this link http://www.gcal.ac.uk/specialcollections/collections/morrison/news.html

Please Note: Kevin Morrison recently completed an MSc in Cultural Heritage Studies, and curates his Collection as a part-time Research Collections Volunteer. The Collection is owned by Kevin, with Research Collections acting as custodians; all materials in the Collection are available for research. Please e-mail Carole McCallum at C.McCallum@gcu.ac.uk for more information.

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Last Updated: 27th July 2010
Edited by: Learning Services Web Team