Scroll to the bottom of this page to view:
- The RIN archive database (still a work in progress)
- Emily Wheatley's (Heritage Intern) report on the 2024 RIN archive project
- Emily's article in Navigation News about her work on the archive
Documenting from 1946 (the year before RIN’s founding) to the present, the RIN archive holds more than just the life of the Institute. Over the course of 75 years, the face of navigation has changed dramatically and this is reflected in the archival material held by the RIN.
In the post-war era, it was widely agreed that the war had accelerated technological advancements. During the 1940s, there was significant discussion surrounding the potential applications of radio navigation and the development of advanced navigation techniques for aviation. Handwritten notes from the period reveal intense debates between international navigation institutes about safe practices, regulatory standards, and future predictions for navigation innovations.
Even in its earliest incarnation, hints of the breadth of the field are evident. The first lecture, held in the Royal Geographical Society – with whom the RIN still shares its building – was given by D H Sadler on whaling. Perhaps more surprisingly, a dive into the archive reveals that while membership to the RIN was a rigorously vetted process, application was open to the everyone from the practical navigator to the scientist to the entrepreneur.
Aspects of note within the archives include conference, symposium and lecture notes and audio recordings, records of members, discussion and debate between the leading figures in the navigation community, charts and maps and the Cundall Library whose scope ranges from both the most technical works to recent best sellers.
If you would like to make an enquiry about the archives or book a visit to view them yourself in the Cundall Library please don't hesitate to get in touch.
