Book recommendations for EDI and Wellbeing

Posted on 26 May 2023 by rachelscanlon

As part of the Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) refurbishment we are planning several new developments for when the library reopens for Michaelmas Term 2023.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion projects

As part of its actions for supporting an inclusive culture the RSL is working on diversifying its portraiture and creating a space where everyone feels welcome, valued, and respected when it re-opens in Summer 2023. You can still contribute suggestions for our inclusive portraiture list. See our previous blog post for more details.

Wellbeing room

Our wellbeing room will be a space to promote wellbeing, relaxation and mindfulness. It will have comfortable furniture and a relaxing environment. The room will contain, games, crafts and books to help with your wellbeing. See our previous post for more details.

Book recommendations

For both our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) collection and our Wellbeing collection we are looking for recommendations. We want you to have access to the books and activities that you want and need!

For EDI recommendations, please contact karine.barker@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

For Wellbeing recommendations, please contact rachel.scanlon@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

How to find the RSL

Posted on 24 May 2023 by rachelscanlon

The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is undergoing a refurbishment at the moment so the building is inaccessible. You may have seen the boardings outside on the corner of Parks Road.

We’ll be back in the RSL for Michaelmas Term 2023 but until then you can access our books, group study rooms and excellent staff in the Vere Harmsworth Library. You can view our map below or check out our video on how to find the VHL.

Map showing how to find the RSL in VHL

3D Printing Services – what can we print for you?

Posted on 22 May 2023 by rachelscanlon

The range of things that the RSL 3D printing service can create may be larger than you think.

We’ve printed pieces that have combined with traditional movable type for the Bodleian Bibliographical Press. The square block of type can now be freely rotated 360 degrees. It’s great to see old and new technology working together. The Bodleian Presses are still in use and you can see more informtation about them on our website.

For the Department of Zoology, we have printed GPS collars for deployment on domestic dogs in Ethiopia. This allowed tracking of domestic dogs in an effort to protect native wildlife.

Our colleagues in the TSS lab needed new combs to help run their PCR tests. Their old combs did not allow for a reference ladder and were getting brittle and damaged. We successfully printed new combs for them significantly cheaper than if they went through a commercial provider. More details on their blog.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss using the service, please contact rsl3dprinting@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Further information, including how to submit an order, can be found on the online guide.

InterLibrary Loan Service

Posted on 16 May 2023 by rachelscanlon

It may seem like everything is available through Bodleian Libraries but occassionally you may need a paper or book that you can’t find on SOLO. If you can’t find a particular item in SOLO you can order it for free through our InterLibrary Loan (ILL) Service.

Just fill out the online form and we’ll try and get a copy of what you need from another UK library: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/borrow/inter-library-loans.

For books the items can be ordered to the vere Harmsworth Library (VHL), where the RSL collection is currently located. For journal articles or individual chapters you can be sent an elctronic version.

Check out our Resource of the Month

Posted on 12 May 2023 by rachelscanlon

The RSL has a huge collection of physical and electronic materials. We have so much that we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of our items whether recently added or an existing collection item. The resources are recommended by our knowledgeable subject librarians who are excited to show off parts of the collection for their subject.

This month’s selector is:

Ollie Bridle

Ollie has selected JSTOR Global Plants.

Brief Description

JSTOR Global Plants provides high resolution, digitised plant specimen images from over 300 herbaria and plant research organisations around the world. Not only does the database contain almost 3 million type-specimens, it also includes an array of supporting documentation such as field notes, illustrations from Cutis’s Botanical Magazine and articles from botanical reference works.

Where possible, specimens are linked to published botanical literature available in JSTOR or to external resources such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library and Tropicos.

JSTOR Global Plants provides powerful search tools allowing you to identify specific species, collectors or specimens associated with a particular geographical area or herbarium collection. Images and accompanying metadata for specimens can be downloaded and saved as PDF files.

Who is this useful for?

JSTOR Global Plants is an excellent resource for supporting research in plant diversity, taxonomy and systematics or plant identification at all levels.

How can I access it?

This resource is available through SOLO. To access it off campus use the VPN or sign in to the journal platform with your Single Sign On (SSO).

You can also set up a free account within JSTOR Global Plants itself. This allows you to save records you find to your own personal account for easy retrieval.

BrowZine for Research

Posted on 11 May 2023 by rachelscanlon

BrowZine is a tool that brings together online journals from multiple publishers and platforms. It allows seamless access to content licensed by the Bodleian Libraries including 1000s of articles and 100s of platforms. It has been integrated with SOLO so with one click you can

Download a PDF of the article
Go to the article on the web
View the contents page of the that journal issue

BrowZine is very convenient for browsing as it breaks down journals into familiar subjects. When you click on one of those subjects you will see a list of categories within that subject. So you can look at all the journals under Engineering and Technology or you can select a category like Chemical Engineering. There are more subcategories within that if you are researching in a specific area.

Screenshot of the Browzine Homepage showing a a list of subjects down the left side. "Engineering and Technology" has been highlighted. Most of the screen is full of covers of well known academic journals.

There’s a list of subjects on the BrowZine homepage such as Engineering and Technology.

Screenshot of Browzine Showing the subject "Engineering and Technology". Beneath that text is a list of categories related to engineering. On the right hand side is a grid of Engineering journals showing the journal cover and title.

Within Engineering and Technology there are subcategories including Chemical Engineering

Additional Features

But wait there’s more… If you set up a personal account on BrowZine you gain access to additional features. My Bookshelf can be used to track your favourite journals and you can save your favourite article in My Articles.

BrowZine has access to the electronic journals that Universiy of Oxford subscribes to since 2005. For older articles and journals you can browse SOLO or just click on See All in BrowZine and it will open that journal in SOLO.

RSL Wellbeing Room

Posted on 27 April 2023 by rachelscanlon

The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) will be reopening for Michaelmas Term 2023 when our refurbishment is completed. Along with reading spaces, group study rooms and individual study carrels there will also be opening a Wellbeing Room, in the RSL basement. These types of spaces are becoming more popular in libraries in recent years, especially since Covid. As well as this there will be nature imagery in the room, along with jigsaws, games, crafts and sensory toys, particularly useful for neurodiverse people.

: Fidget cubes

: Jigsaws and games

: Knitting and other crafts

: Bubble tubes. Image CC BY 2.0 Evan Delshaw

The purpose of wellbeing spaces is to promote wellbeing, relaxation and mindfulness as such the room is being designed with soft furnishings and calming colours that evoke comfort. We plan to have a range of different comfortable seating from sofas to armchairs to bean bags. We also want the space to be flexible so that the furnishings will be easy to move.

Two green arm chairs with a small table in front

Some possible armchairs

Within the room we will have a selection of reading materials that we hope you’ll enjoy reading. Topics will include wellbeing, Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI), fiction, graphic novels and more. We are buying books now so if you have any books you would like to recommend for the wellbeing room please contact rachel.scanlon@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or for EDI recommendations please contact karine.barker@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

The RSL have some great and exciting plans but the most important aspect of this space is getting input from the MPLS and MSD community. We’d appreciate any feedback but particularly from any student or staff who are responsible for wellness. We have already reached out to some colleagues but we are eager to hear a range of viewpoints.

These are our plans for the room. There’s a sofa in the corner (c-51) arm chairs at the front (c-18) and a table for games and crafts (T-21)

We’re are particularly interested to hear of any activities or events you would like to run in the Wellbeing room or any evnets you would like the RSL to host.

So if you have any book suggestions, ideas for activities or any thoughts on the room in general contact rachel.scanlon@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

ORLO Study Skills List

Posted on 26 April 2023 by rachelscanlon

It’s getting to that time of year again, the days get longer, the weather hopefully gets better and you probaly don’t get to see much of it as you have to prepare for writing your thesis, starting research assignments and final peparations for exams. It can feel a little overwhelming but the ORLO Study Skills list may be able to help. It covers a range of topics reference management to time management and much more.

Photograph of a laptop with the screen covered in coloured post-its and scraps of paper.

It can be difficult to know where to start

For those preparing a thesis or dissertation we have some great resources on our study skills list, in the section Doing a research project, writing a thesis or dissertation. The section on Exams, tutorials, and presentations will set you up well for the upcoming exams.

Photograph of a lightbulb surrounded by coloured post-its that are laid out neatly.

Study skills can help you get organised

The list is an ORLO list so like all ORLO lists it you can use the Table of Contents button at the top to jump to the section most relevant to you. Try using this feature to take a look at our subject specific guidance on the list. You can also use the search box at the top to find specific resources like Coping with stress at university: a survival guide by just typing a few words in the box e.g. coping with stress. And like all ORLO lists you can export the list or just the references. More information available on the Bodleian website.

If there are any study skills books or resources you’d like us to purchase then please contact your subject librarian or submit a request.

Inclusive portraiture – our search continues

Posted on 5 April 2023 by rachelscanlon

As part of its actions for supporting an inclusive culture, the Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is working on diversifying its portraiture and creating a space where everyone feels welcome, valued, and respected when it re-opens in Summer 2023.

Our list of historical names is currently lacking scientists from Black, Asian, minoritised ethnic and LGBTQ+ communities connected to science and medicine at Oxford for the library re-opening in the coming summer vacation. We recognise that it may be difficult to identify individuals because the contributions and achievements of these communities have often been ignored or unfairly marginalised. However, if you know someone, let us know. We also welcome historical names from these underrepresented communities in science and medicine outside Oxford, preferably from the UK and the Commonwealth,

You find inspiring and you want to highlight.
Who were the first in a white dominated discipline.
Who were not scientists but made important contributions to research.

Please contact karine.barker@bodleian.ox.ac.uk with your suggestions.

Book an appointment with the BHCL subject/outreach librarians