This January marks the birth month of many widely acclaimed writers, such as J.R.R. Tolkien, J.D. Salinger, Virginia Woolf, Anne Brontë, A. Milne, Edgar Alan Poe, Isaac Asimov and many more contemporary writers like Haruki Murakami. It is also the beginning of the 250th year since Jane Austen’s birth, which will be celebrated in December 2025.
To celebrate this, a display showcasing the history of writing has been prepared in the Radcliffe Camera. It will follow the broad history of writing as a medium of storytelling, from ancient times to the modern world as well as the print and publishing processes that go along with it. An e-book display, which can be accessed below by clicking on the book cover pictures, goes into more detail with the historical context of the writers mentioned above, as well as following the histories of writing outside of Europe.
These e-book resources can be accessed via SOLO, which will require an Oxford University SSO login. Alternatively, they can be used through a Bodleian reader account for external readers who can access the material by connecting to the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or logging on to the reader PCs within the library.
On the last Friday of November (29th Nov 2024), the LGBTQ+ History Hackathon was held at the History Faculty. Co-hosted by Faculty academics and the History Faculty Library, over 70 people (students, staff, and members of the public) participated, both in person and online. The aim of the event was to crowdsource resources for a new Oxford resource guide for LGBTQ+ history. It very much followed the model of the Disability History Hackathon, held two years ago, which was a great success and provided resources for the disability history LibGuide.
Welcome to event in lecture theatre – Professor Martin Conway (Chair of the Board of the Faculty of History) and Isabel Holowaty (Deputy Head of Humanities Libraries and Bodleian History Librarian Research).
The event was opened in the Faculty lecture theatre by Prof. Martin Conway, Chair of the Faculty Board. After introductions, an outline of the scope of the proposed LibGuide, and a brief presentation on Bodleian Libraries Academic Library Services’ EDI activities by Helen Worrell, participants were shown useful advanced Google searching techniques by Rachel D’Arcy-Brown, History Librarian (Teaching). Participants then spread out across various rooms in the faculty, and began searching the internet to find relevant resources. In total, almost 500 resources were recommended, covering a wide range of topics and a variety of historical periods. These resources included journal articles, archives, and newspapers. This is a really fantastic result, representing a great effort on the part of all who got involved.
The event closed with a presentation of a snapshot of initial results by Zac Draysey, History Faculty Library Graduate Trainee, and final remarks and thanks by Prof. Matthew Cook, Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexuality.
The Hackathon provided a fun and inclusive way of amassing quality resources. It enables us to draw on the interests and expertise of a diverse group of people from Oxford but, thanks to technology, also from people across the UK and even North America. This will allow us to add a broad range of resources to the LibGuide.
The next steps will involve assessing and organising the recommended resources collected during the hackathon and create an easy-to-use guide, which places this wealth of high-quality information into a helpful context. This LibGuide will be accessible not only to University students and staff, but to anyone all over the world. In this spirit, the Hackathon focused on publicly available and open access material.
Our current plan is to launch a beta version of the LibGuide by June 2025, in time for pride month. Updates and further information will be posted here on the blog, as well on the Hackathon page itself.
Enormous thanks go to all participants for giving to freely their time and effort. Thanks also go to the History Faculty for hosting the event, sponsoring refreshments, and to their staff for supporting its organisation.
Disability History Month is an annual event that endeavours to document the history of inequality experienced by people with disabilities. The purpose of which, as stated by the official Disability History Month organisation, is to encourage for greater social change and human rights protections to improve the lives of those at present and in the future. It will be running from the 14th of November until the 20th of December.
This year, the official theme is “Employment and Livelihood,” which examines the factors that impact the employment of disabled people and how they have made a living throughout history, as well as in the present day. This will hopefully create a better understanding of these issues, so that a fair and just future might develop.
From our collections in the History Faculty Library, we have selected five books to work in accordance with this theme, as well as a further eight e-books which will be linked below. The remainder of the display commemorates the lives, accomplishments of people with disabilities as well as studying the challenges and attitudes they have faced throughout the world and over millennia.
To view the SOLO catalogue record for each of these online resources, please click on the front cover pictures! Please note that you will need to log in to SOLO with your Oxford University Single-Sign-On in order to access the full text. External readers will be able to access these resources by using the Bodleian Wi-fi network within the library or by using our reader PCS with their Bodleian Log-in details.
On the 22nd of December, the History Faculty at Lincoln College will be hosting a Disability Month Workshop which you can find out more about by clicking here.
UK Disability History Month is an annual event, running from 16th November to 16th December, focusing on the history of the disability rights movement and commemoration of the achievements of people living with disabilities. At the History Faculty Library, we have put together a display highlighting the histories of people living with disabilities from antiquity to the near-present.
As well as physical books, we also have a variety of e-books and e-journals which explore these issues. When signed into SOLO with your ‘Single Sign On’, the following e-resources will be available for Oxford University Members—click on the covers below to access their SOLO records. Many more e-resources and physical books can be found on SOLO by searching for ‘disability history’ or by following the links above.
To celebrate Black History Month 2023, running from the 1st October – 31st October, we have curated a display highlighting the exceptional achievements and experiences of black people throughout history. This year’s theme is Saluting Our Sisters, therefore this display focuses on the overlooked contributions of black women to culture, politics, and the struggle against racial injustices.
To complement our display of physical books, we would also like to highlight some of our e-books on black history, available online for Oxford University members to read remotely. Once signed into SOLO with your single sign on, search for these titles or click on the book covers below to access their SOLO records and start reading!
Throughout October, Oxford University will be hosting a series of exhibitions and lectures for Black History Month. See here for more details.
As we enter the final week of Hilary Term, our Easter vacation borrowing begins today on standard loan items. Items can be taken out throughout the vacation with a due date of Monday 25th April in week one of Trinity Term. Loan limits will increase on Thursday 20th March to allow for 20 items to be taken out over this period and short loans can also be borrowed from Thursday as vacation loans. We hope you have a lovely break.
The University will maintain its current COVID-19 health guidance from 19 July, including current policies on face coverings and social distancing. This decision has been taken in light of the high level of cases locally, and with due consideration to the government’s guidance that ‘everybody needs to continue to act carefully and remain cautious’. The University is entitled to keep its restrictions in place on University premises.
You must wear a face covering properly in our libraries including when sitting at a desk. If you are medically exempt, we request you display an exemption card or sunflower during your visit. Alternatively you can confirm to a staff member on arrival that you are exempt to avoid being disturbed during your visit. We will not ask for details of the reasons for this exemption.
Please stay alert when using our buildings:
Keep your 2 metre distance
Wash your hands
Wear a face covering (or display an exemption card)
Have symptoms? Stay at home and get a test
Contacted by track and trace? Stay at home
Readers that compromise our practices will be asked to leave. Thank you for working with us to protect our community.
June is Pride month in the UK. To mark the occasion, we have put together a display books dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, which you’ll find in the Upper Gladstone Link.
Pride is online this year and you can find more information about celebrating virtually by following this link.
As well as the physical books on our display, the Bodleian Libraries have lots of e-books covering LGBTQ+ history. Click on the book covers below to access the SOLO record. You just need to sign in on SOLO, with your Single Sign On, in order to access the e-books themselves.
Please note that Byzantine Intersectionality and Sapphistries are available online until 6/9/21.
Click and Collect – withdrawn for History Faculty Library
This service was introduced in early July to facilitate access to the collections when libraries were still closed to readers. It will no longer be possible to place a request via SOLO for this service for History Faculty Library items, as we are not able to offer this service on a wider scale to cope with term-time lending demand. As we have increased the number of slots to access the collections, this will offer more opportunity to our readers to have non-mediated access to collections.
We will continue to offer Click and Collect via email where appropriate (e.g. proxy collection for self-isolating or vulnerable readers).
Seating in reading rooms – more slots available!
We are increasing the number of slots available, as we extended our opening hours and introduce additional seating in the Gladstone Link and Duke Humfrey’s Library. Please be mindful that seating capacity is reduced, so we encourage you to only book the number of slots you need to access print collections or electronic Legal Deposit material. Please also let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel slot – we are working on improving the process for cancelling a slot.
We appreciate that the Lower Camera is very popular but this reading room has the fewest number of seats available. If you can’t get a seat in the Lower Camera then do consider booking a seat in one of the other reading rooms – from Monday 12th October access via the Gladstone Link tunnel will be reinstated so you can fetch material from any reading room on site and return to your desk.
Returning books on loan
You do NOT need to book a slot to return books.
Avoid arriving at the following times at the Radcliffe Camera as there are more likely to be queues of readers with seat booking.
Monday to Friday = 9:30 / 13:30 / 17:00
Saturday = 10:00 / 13:00
Sunday = 12:00 / 15:00
We have temporarily increased renewals for standard loan items so that you don’t have to return books on Monday 12th October
There is currently a grace period in operation for fines, so if you can’t return or renew then don’t panic and get in touch with us.
We are still offering FREE postal return including international courier service. Email borrow@bodleian.ox.ac.ukfor more information
Do get in touch to discuss your individual needs and with library contacts. All of our services are dependent on staffing levels but we will do our best to help you where possible.
Tips
Take advantage of access to online resources via SOLO
Be organised and book a visit to the library in advance
Book a Browse and Borrow slot of you only need to access something quickly
Don’t book multiple slots unless you need extended access to print/eLD collections
Due to government guidelines, we are required to strictly manage access to our libraries to ensure that we are operating according to social distancing guidelines including NHS Test and Trace. We have introduced new services and adapted existing services in response to unprecedented circumstances and have planned our Michaelmas Term services, as best as we can but there will be inevitable teething issues. We fully anticipated that term time will be challenging and we will be closely monitoring the demand on our services and making changes where required.
October is Black History Month in the UK and we have put together a display of books from the History Faculty Library’s collections which explore Black British history. You’ll find the display in the Upper Gladstone Link.
The university is hosting various online talks and events to mark Black History Month 2020. Margaret Casely-Hayford, CBE, will deliver the university’s Black History Month lecture. For information about this, and other virtual events taking place throughout October, follow this link.
Below are E-books on Black British history which are available to Oxford University members- simply click on the book cover to access the SOLO record. This is just a handful of what’s available. To find more, you could run a search for the subject ‘Blacks — Great Britain’ and filter the results to ‘online resources.’
Further, we would like to highlight the LibGuide for BME Studies which is part of the Bodleian’s ‘Changing the Narrative’ project championing diversity in collection development.
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