Ballot Archive

12 Nov 2015

Candidate Details

Candidate Name

Edward Potten

Academic degrees, honours etc.

BA Philosophy, MSc Computation, MA Library and Information Studies

Profession or occupation

Special Collections Librarian

Grounds for election

Ed Potten is Joint Head of Special Collections and Head of Rare Books at Cambridge University Library. He was formerly responsible for printed collections at the John Rylands Library. He is an energetic, inspiring and innovative curator, researching and publishing widely on book and library history, championing an approach to special collections material placing access and use at its heart. Forthcoming publications include a chapter on the history of dissenting academy libraries and papers on private libraries in the 19c. He contributed to, and lead edited, 'Emprynted in thys manere: Early printed treasures from Cambridge University Library'. He contributes to the ODNB and has published articles on National Trust libraries, one being nominated for the Library History Prize 2010. Recent papers have covered contemporary use of incunabula in Japan, and a Research Seminar at the IHR on ‘everyday’ book use and ownership in the 19c. He lectures at Cambridge on the history of the book.

Signatories

The following Fellows have signed this Blue Paper