First published in 1946, this atmospheric memoir of the Battle of the Atlantic offers one of the most original accounts of war at sea aboard a corvette, escorting convoys in both the North and South Atlantic. The author, an RNVR lieutenant, experienced the terrors of U-boat attacks and the hardships of icy gale-force winds contrasted with the relief of shore runs in ports as far apart as Halifax and Freetown. The narrative begins with Harling's voyage from the Clyde to New York on the Queen Mary (or QM, as she was known during her martial career), on route to join a newly-built corvette in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was to be her First Lieutenant, and his service at sea started in the spring of 1941, just as the Battle of the Atlantic was entering its most crucial stage. During the first east-bound convoy he was to experience attacks by U-boats, the loss of merchant vessels and a steep learning curve as the ship's crew struggled to live in the harsh wartime conditions. Later that summer they made return voyages to Iceland where runs ashore offered some solace from dangerous days at sea. Time was also spent in the South Atlantic with voyages to Freetown and Lagos, before a short interlude when he experienced the excitement of fighting with Coastal Forces. The corvette subsequently returned to escorting convoys from Halifax to Europe. Harling's narrative is both serious and humorous, and his picture of wartime Britain, his descriptions of being buffeted by great storm-tossed seas in the 'cockleshell corvettes', and the recounting of grim losses are all too real and authentic. His story ends as he leaves his ship after a violent cold developed into pneumonia, and soon afterwards he hears the shattering news of her loss by torpedo, along with the captain and half the crew. He is left to ponder on the many tombless dead consigned by the war to the Steep Atlantick Stream.

Digital Libraries: Policy, Planning and Practice brings together a wealth of international experience in the planning and implementation of digital and hybrid library projects, providing a stimulating and informative handbook and reference for library staff and information managers. It consists of chapters contributed by leading specialists from Europe, North America, South Africa and the Middle East, who offer their insight into the decision-making processes that have shaped a variety of different digitization programmes. Beginning with introductory overviews of the digital library context, the US Digital Library Program and the UK e-lib and hybrid library programmes, Digital Libraries then divides into two main sections on policy and planning, and implementation and practice. The first explores concerns such as financial and resource planning, digitized compared to born-digital content and related service issues, open access to scholarly research archives, policies for and against preservation and their justification, and evaluating electronic information services. The second section is based on case studies on major European and North American digital library projects, including the Glasgow Digital Library, UCEEL (University of Central England Electronic Library), the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (discussed in the context of five international projects), the Indiana University music Variations and Variations2 Project, and the beginnings of the Library of Congress digital program and its integration into core library services. The concluding chapter discusses the way forward for digital libraries in the context of experiences at Tilburg University library, and possible enabling or limiting factors in the future. The result of drawing together these varied and illuminating experiences is a book that offers useful information and comparisons for all digital library project staff, institutional administrators, educators and developers of learning technology. It also provides useful pointers for researchers and project staff involved in archive and museum projects, as well as introducing students to the key ingredients of successful digital libraries.

The Baltic Cauldron commemorates several centuries of Anglo-Swedish relations, which, after events in Eastern Europe in 2022, have acquired a new resonance as a record of the struggle for survival and independence of nations bordering the Baltic. This is a history of navies in the Baltic Sea and its approaches, from the Skaggerak to the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. This book portrays the relationship between the Swedish and British Navies over the centuries. In the 1700s Britain was a global naval power and developed doctrine, ships and culture which were copied by others, but the relationship with Sweden became special. While Britain and its navy depended upon Baltic Sea trade for timber, tar, iron and grain, the foundation was laid for the Swedish Navy, its self-image, tactics, materials and traditions. Among the subjects addressed are: the origins of the Swedish navy; the first English fleet to visit the Baltic; Charles XII’s amphibious campaigns; the English influence on Swedish shipbuilding; the quixotic Admiral Sir Sidney Smith; Admirals Lord Nelson and James Saumarez at war and peace; and, in the 20th century, the hunt for the Bismarck, Churchill’s planned attack on arctic Luleå in 1940, and blockade-runners in the Second World War. This ground-breaking study is filled with new insights, and contains much previously unpublished information, some based on Swedish sources which are not often quoted in the English-speaking world. The book is brought up to date with an account of the capture by Iranian forces of Stena Impero. Lessons in sea power are drawn throughout the book. The Baltic Cauldron is a fitting and worthy tribute to both the Royal Navy and to the Royal Swedish Navy at its quincentenary.

Digital Libraries: Policy, Planning and Practice brings together a wealth of international experience in the planning and implementation of digital and hybrid library projects, providing a stimulating and informative handbook and reference for library staff and information managers. It consists of chapters contributed by leading specialists from Europe, North America, South Africa and the Middle East, who offer their insight into the decision-making processes that have shaped a variety of different digitization programmes. Beginning with introductory overviews of the digital library context, the US Digital Library Program and the UK e-lib and hybrid library programmes, Digital Libraries then divides into two main sections on policy and planning, and implementation and practice. The first explores concerns such as financial and resource planning, digitized compared to born-digital content and related service issues, open access to scholarly research archives, policies for and against preservation and their justification, and evaluating electronic information services. The second section is based on case studies on major European and North American digital library projects, including the Glasgow Digital Library, UCEEL (University of Central England Electronic Library), the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (discussed in the context of five international projects), the Indiana University music Variations and Variations2 Project, and the beginnings of the Library of Congress digital program and its integration into core library services. The concluding chapter discusses the way forward for digital libraries in the context of experiences at Tilburg University library, and possible enabling or limiting factors in the future. The result of drawing together these varied and illuminating experiences is a book that offers useful information and comparisons for all digital library project staff, institutional administrators, educators and developers of learning technology. It also provides useful pointers for researchers and project staff involved in archive and museum projects, as well as introducing students to the key ingredients of successful digital libraries.