SAPPHIRE (Scottish archive of print and publishing history records)

As a major employer in twentieth century Scottish industry, whose importance has been widely acknowledged, the print and publishing industry has a social, economic and cultural history which has been little researched and documented. SAPPHIRE (Scottish Archive of Print and Publishing History Records) has been set up as the first sustained attempt to fill this gap within that knowledge of the industry. A collaborative initiative between Napier University and Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, since 1998 SAPPHIRE has developed a substantial oral and social history archive and database. It has documented aspects of the working lives of people who were employed in the industry, had connections with it, and were involved in instituting the large changes that took place within it. It is also creating a permanent archive and database deposited in the Edward Clark Collection, a major collection relating to printing, publishing and print media at Napier University.

The SAPPHIRE Project has been created as a collaborative venture developed in partnership with a range of educational, professional and non-commercial organisations concerned with preserving the social, economic and cultural history of the men and women who worked in the print and publishing industries.

In addition to the archival collection, the project provides material for a series of initiatives to benefit Scottish heritage and educational communities, such as research projects, learning resource packs and digitised primary material for use in secondary and tertiary education, a series of short publications, books, and permanent and travelling exhibitions in Scotland, England and overseas.