Savanna van Mesdag’s Placement Report

During my placement, I was able to access various historical Official Publications documents in the National Library of Scotland collection. More specifically, I was looking at historical Official Publications related, in one or more ways, to environmental policies and/or information. With our increasing awareness of the anthropogenic effects on the environment, including climate change and pollution, it is worthwhile to look back in time at how the environment was written about and perceived in recent history. I was able to examine a wide variety of documents from various different government departments, ministries and similar groups to learn more about and describe historical understanding and perception of different environmental considerations and issues. Some of the more noteworthy documents I examined included detailed and/or broad guides on the natural environment, including one from the 1980s, and much older documents relating to disciplines such as oil spill pollution and fishing. I have been able to highlight many important documents in the National Library of Scotland collection which would be valuable for a range of different researchers and other interested individuals.