Beyond reading with the Bodleian Libraries

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You might associate the Bodleian Libraries primarily with shelves of books. Beyond reading, the library also provides access to a rich range of films, TV, radio, recorded performances, audiobooks, and music. Some are available online, and some you can borrow from or use in the library.

At a glance, here are some of the key resources you can use to:

Stream films online: Kanopy (Oxford SSO required)
Access on-demand TV & radio: Box of Broadcasts (Oxford SSO required)
Watch recorded Shakespeare performances: RSC Live Collection (Oxford SSO required)
Listen to audiobooks for skills & career development: O’Reilly Online Learning: Academic/Public Library Edition (Oxford SSO required)
Listen to free audiobooks: LibriVox via SOLO and
Access accessible books and audio books: RNIB Bookshare (for eligible print disabled users)
Borrow and watch films on DVD & Blu-ray: The Humanities Library and Search in SOLO
Explore music on CD & LPs: Humanities Library with some items offsite at the Bodleian storage.

Films, videos, TV and recorded Plays

Kanopy

Kanopy is a video-streaming platform with a diverse collection of over 30,000 enriching films, available to stream anytime and anywhere — from desktop to TV to tablet.

Great for:

Thought-provoking films and documentaries
World cinema and independent film
Viewing on phone, laptop, tablet, or smart TV

Box of Broadcasts

An on-demand TV and radio service for education. You can search an archive of over 2 million broadcasts, record programmes from over 65 free-to-air channels, and create playlists, clips and clip compilations.

Great for:

Catching up on programmes you missed
Searching from the archive
Creating playlists and clips

RSC Live Collection (Royal Shakespeare Company Live)

If you’re a fan of Royal Shakespeare Company performances, this online collection is not to be missed. It offers access to 35 filmed productions staged since 2013, including Twelfth Night starring comedy icon Adrian Edmondson and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Further information on audio and visual materials is listed on the Shakespeare subject guide.

Films on DVD and Blu-ray

The new Humanities Library in the newly opened Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities holds an extensive collection of films on DVD and Blu-ray, focusing on American, British, and European cinema, as well as world cinema, including works from Latin America and Asia.

To search SOLO for DVDs and videos of specific titles, or titles by a specific director, go to Advanced Search, enter the title or director’s name, then limit Material Type to “Video/Film”.

You will need to bring your university card with you to the library.

Audiobooks and recordings

O’Reilly Online Learning

O’Reilly’s on-demand digital library (formerly Safari Books Online) provides e-books, audio books, videos, interactive tutorials, and live online classes from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, covering a wide range of tech and business-related topics and skills.

Oxford Single Sign-On (SSO) required for access

To search for videos or audio books related to a specific skill:

Select Explore Skills > Soft Skills > Personal Productivity

Filter by Formats: “Courses” and “Audiobooks”

To search for videos and audiobooks from specific publishers (e.g., Harvard Business Review) during the last year, refresh the search, set the Formats filter to Videos and Audiobooks, set Publication date to Last year, and search “Harvard Business Review”.

LibriVox

LibriVox is a platform that provides access to audio versions of books in the public domain read by volunteers. These are closely aligned with the titles available in Project Gutenberg, including literary classics and fiction, mostly in English but also in other languages. The LibriVox catalogue of 20,000 audio books is now available and searchable through SOLO. Titles can be searched individually in SOLO. If you would like to browse the list of titles, you can search for “LibriVox” and set “Material Type” to “Sound recordings”.

RNIB Bookshare

The Bodleian Libraries manage the University’s RNIB Bookshare account, providing free access to nearly 1 million accessible titles, including audiobooks, for students and staff with print disabilities. This includes those with visual impairments, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, and other conditions that make reading print difficult.

If you would like more information, please contact disability.librarian@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Music

The Humanities Library has a large collection of CD and LP sound recordings. These primarily cover the Western classical tradition, but also include jazz, popular music, and world music, as well as an extensive opera collection. A selection of CDs is kept in the Multimedia Room, mostly arranged alphabetically by principal composer. Many CDs are now stored offsite and can be requested through SOLO. You can listen to CDs using the equipment in the Multimedia Room.

LPs are stored offsite. They are not yet catalogued in SOLO. If you would like to explore the collection, please speak to library staff.

We hope this look at the Bodleian’s wider collection has inspired you to watch or listen to some of the multitude of available items and resources. If you have questions or want to find out more, please do contact us or ask at the Enquiry Desk.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2026

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From 16-20 March, the Sainsbury Library will be marking Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2026 with a book display in the Lower Reading Room. Focusing on self-help titles and practical skills to support academic development, the display complements the neurodiversity-related books in our Wellbeing Collection, located in the Annexe.

To further celebrate this week, two drop-in crafting sessions will be held in the Annexe, where participants can create bookmarks and fidget toys using paper collage, beads, and wool. These sessions will take place on Tuesday 17th March, 1-4pm, and Thursday 19th March, 1-4pm.

Summaries of the books in the display can be found below. All featured materials can be accessed via the links below (Oxford SSO required) or in person at our display in the Lower Reading Room:

Neurodiversity:
The Pocket Guide to Neurodiversity: “In this simple guide, expert speaker and trainer Daniel Aherne provides a clear introduction to neurodiversity and the four most common neurodivergent identities of autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. Using an analogy of a cactus needing a desert to grow in, he emphasises the importance of getting the environment right for neurodivergent people, rather than expecting them to adapt to the neurotypical world.”

The Double Empathy Reader: Exploring Theory, Neurodivergent Lived Experience and Implications for Practice: “This comprehensive handbook explores Damian Milton’s ‘double empathy problem’: the breakdown in mutual understanding that can happen between any two people yet is more likely to occur when people of differing dispositions attempt to interact. It challenges the traditional view that, in exchanges between autistic and non-autistic people, this breakdown was simply the result of autistic people being inherently deficient in empathy.”

Do I Know You?: A Faceblind Reporter’s Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory, and Imagination: “A lively blend of personal narrative and popular science, Do I Know You? is the story of one unusual mind’s attempt to understand itself – and a fascinating exploration of the remarkable breadth of human experience.”

Unmasking Leadership: Neurodivergent Leaders, Psychological Safety, and the Future of Inclusive Workplaces: “By the end of this book, you will have the language, frameworks, and confidence to design inclusive cultures, support neurodivergent teams, and lead in a way that does not cost you your wellbeing. You will understand how to unmask safely, set boundaries that support your energy, and lead from a place of honesty rather than performance. Most importantly, you will see that leadership can be more human, more sustainable, and more aligned with who you are.”

Spectrum of success: how embracing neurodiversity can revolutionize your business: “Through fascinating research and inspiring interviews with neurodiverse business leaders, mental health expert Thomas Duncan Bell uncovers how we can support and champion neurodiversity at work and beyond. Drawing upon his own experiences with ADHD and bipolar disorder, the book also offers an enlightening insight into how neurodiverse individuals can thrive in the modern world.”

Great minds think unalike : the benefits of ADHD, autism, dyslexia and OCD: “Whether you already have a diagnosis or simply feel you’re somewhere on the neuroatypical spectrum, one thing is certain: once you’ve identified your unique talents, you’ll be able to make more focused choices in your life and work. You’ll discover which jobs best showcase your talents, which colleagues complement your personality, and which environments and corporate cultures are right for you.”

Dyslexia:
Academic Writing and Dyslexia: A Visual Guide to Writing at University: “Fully revised and expanded, this book presents a unique visual approach to academic writing and composition tailored to the needs of students with dyslexia in Higher Education. It will help you to successfully structure and articulate your ideas, get to grips with critical reading, thinking and writing and fulfil your full academic potential.”

Studying with Dyslexia: “Full of practical advice and visual examples, this compact book provides learners with the tools and knowledge to work with their dyslexia. The book’s accessible layout and engaging style supports students with dyslexia and enables them to take control of their studies and learn in ways that are most effective for them.”

ADHD:
Is It My ADHD?: Navigating Life as a Neurodivergent Adult: “Darkly funny, relatable and unflinchingly honest, Is it My ADHD? gives irreverent and intersectional insight into what life is like for women living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.”

How to Thrive with Adult ADHD: 7 Pillars for Focus, Productivity and Balance: “As a leading adult ADHD psychiatrist, who himself has ADHD, Dr James Kustow passionately believes that the goal should not be to just ‘manage’ ADHD, but to thrive with it. This ground-breaking book will allow you to assess if and how the condition affects you, mapping your unique ‘ADHD signature’, before leading you through a seven-pillar plan of small but powerful habit changes.”

Autism:
University, the Autistic Guide: Everything You Need to Survive and Thrive: “Starting university is a daunting experience for any student, especially if this includes moving away from home for the first time. This helpful, informative and friendly handbook is a guide to starting university for autistic young people, covering the entire process from applying, packing and financial admin to mental health support, dealing with burnout, finding your people and experiencing new opportunities.”

Unmasking Autism: The Power of Embracing Our Hidden Neurodiversity: “Blending cutting-edge research, personal insights and practical exercises for self-expression, Dr Devon Price examines the phenomenon of ‘masking’, making a passionate argument for radical authenticity and non-conformity. A powerful call for change, Unmasking Autism gifts its readers with the tools to uncover their true selves and build a new society – one where everyone can thrive on their own terms.”

For more resources, see our posts about other recent book displays.

Celebrating International Women’s Day

LGBT+ History Month

How to use the library in 5 steps

The Sainsbury Library has created a 5-step guide to help you navigate and use our services and resources with confidence. This guide provides essential information for making the most of the Sainsbury Library and beyond, including helpful links for further information. Our library staff is always available to answer questions and provide support. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Step 1. Find a library

The Sainsbury Library, located within Saïd Business School, is the University’s dedicated Business and Management library. As part of the Bodleian Libraries, the Sainsbury Library is within a network of 26 libraries across Oxford. Being a member of the University of Oxford will give you access to all 26 libraries, and you can find a library on the Bodleian’s Find a library page by filtering facilities, accessibility and opening hours.

The main reading room of the Sainsbury Library spans the first and second floors of the Park End site building and is accessible to all students and staff.

While the library maintains core staffed opening hours (Vacation Monday – Friday: 9am – 5pm; Term time Monday – Friday: 9am – 7pm), Saïd Business School members can use it whenever the building is open. More information can be found on our library website.

The Lower Reading Room offers a variety of seating areas, while the Upper Reading Room is reserved for silent study. Altogether, the library provides just under 200 seats, including computers and docking stations across both floors.

Step 2. Find a book

Search Oxford Libraries Online (SOLO) is the online catalogue for Oxford University’s libraries, including the Bodleian Libraries and most college and faculty libraries. It is essential for searching and accessing physical books, ebooks and journal articles.

You need to use your SSO to login to SOLO. You can find some essential information on the Bodleian’s SOLO webpage.

To learn how to search and use SOLO, you can visit the subject guide for SOLO.

The Sainsbury Library houses over 12,000 print books on-site, including some textbooks and books on your reading lists. If you would like to search physical books at the Sainsbury Library, using the advanced search function, you can refine “Search Profile” to “Sainsbury Library” and select “Material Types” as “Books”.

Once you find the book to borrow, you need to check if it’s “Available” and note down the “Collection” and “Shelfmark”, which are two pieces of important information to help you locate the book in the Sainsbury Library.

Understand the sequence of shelfmarks

		HD69	Class Number	Alphabetical then Numerical order
Shelfmark	=	.P75	Cutter number	Alphabetical then Numerical order
		May	The first three letters of the author’s name, or sometimes the title	Alphabetical order
		1999	Publication year	Chronological order

The range of Class numbers has been marked in the library, adjacent to the shelves.
To locate a book, use the Class number by first referring to the letters, followed by the numbers
Then use additional Cutter numbers and/ or other item-specific information.

Step 3. Borrow a Book

Your borrowing allowance depends on the programme you are studying. The loan policy currently applies to all Bodleian libraries. Please refer to the Borrowing Policy.

Collections at the Sainsbury Library can usually be borrowed for 7 days for undergraduates and taught postgraduates, or 28 days for research graduates and staff members.

All loans, except “Same Day Loans”, have a maximum renewal period of 112 days (16 weeks) from the date of the original loan.

Items you have borrowed will be automatically renewed where possible, usually 1–2 days before the due date. An item reserved by another reader will not be automatically renewed.

At Park End Street, you can borrow books using the self-issue machine on the lower floor or bring them to the library enquiry desk.

Step 4. Access an ebook

You can find ebooks on SOLO or on subscribed ebook platforms after logging in with SSO. Access to ebooks varies according to the type of ebook, its licence, and the library membership of the user.

You can either download the whole ebook or chapters (with or without a loan period or Digital right management license). If the item is licensed through “Digital rights management,” you would need to download Adobe Digital Editions (free App). You can register an account via the Adobe website.

More information can be found on ebook guide.

Step 5. Access and use business e-resources and databases

Information for databases can be found on the Business study subject guide. The guide gives you an overview of different types of resources including ejournals and databases, how to access or set up an account, and terms and conditions.

We have one Bloomberg workstation in the Sainsbury Library, and you need to book a slot to use the Bloomberg workstation.

New students from MBA, MFE, MLF and DPhils will be registered for a Capital IQ account at the beginning of the academic year, login details from S&P Capital IQ will be sent to your email.

If you are a new student at Saïd Business School and need to set up a Pitchbook Login, you can create an account following the link. To register students must use their @said.oxford.edu account, and faculty must use their @sbs.ox.ac.uk account.

Would like to know more!

If you would like to know more about how to use our services and resources, please look out for upcoming workshops and induction sessions. They will soon be announced on our training guide.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions! You can reach out to us in the library or via email library@sbs.ox.ac.uk .

Welcome to the Sainsbury Library!

Seven Fun Things to Do in the Library

Celebrating International Women’s Day

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International Women’s Day takes place on Sunday 8th March 2026. To celebrate, the Sainsbury Library is hosting two book displays – one at Park End Street and Egrove Park. The 2026 International Women’s Day theme is Give to Gain, encouraging contributions to women’s advancement and promoting a collaborative environment to discuss gender equality.

Further reading can be found both on the International Women’s Day website and on the library’s Women in Business LibGuide page.

All featured materials can be accessed via the links below (Oxford SSO required) or in person at our displays in the Lower Reading Room and Egrove Park site.

Sainsbury Library:
Beyond Leaning In
The Woman President: Leadership, Law, and Legacy for Women Based on Experiences from South and Southeast Asia
Feminine Capital: Unlocking the Power of Women Entrepreneurs
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
Make Work Fair: Data-Driven Design for Real Results
Make Your Own Map: Career Success Strategy for Women
Female Entrepreneurs
Mental Load

Egrove Park:
Coaching Women to Lead: Changing the World from the Inside
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
That’s What She Said: What Men (And Women) Need to Know About Working Together
Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean
How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back
What Works: Gender Equality by Design
The Gifts of Imperfection
Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide
Shortchanged: Why Women Have Less Wealth and What Can Be Done About It
Make Work Fair: Data-Driven Design for Real Results
Women in Business: Navigating Career Success
The Promise That Changes Everything: I Won’t Interrupt You

For more resources, see our posts about other recent book displays.

LGBT+ History Month

New in at Sainsbury Library: Wellbeing Collection

LGBT+ History Month

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The Sainsbury Library will be holding a book display in the Lower Reading Room throughout February to celebrate LGBT+ History Month. With this year’s theme being Science and Innovation, the display will focus not only on literal innovations, but also innovative ways of thinking about LGBT+ history from a combination of popular and academic books.

If you are interested in learning more about LGBT+ History Month, the Schools Out! website has information on its founding and structure. Further reading can also be found on our LGBTQ+ Business Resources LibGuide.

All featured materials can be accessed via the links below (Oxford SSO required) or in person at our display in the Lower Reading Room.

Businesses

Queer Business (2018): A timely intervention into the contemporary vitality of queer theories, Queer Business is an innovative book length exploration of how queer theory has been used in management and organisation studies, with the aim of broadening and deepening queer scholarship in this discipline.

The Queering of Corporate America (2019): Legal scholar Carlos Ball tells the overlooked story of how LGBTQ activism aimed at corporations since the Stonewall riots helped turn them from enterprises either indifferent to or openly hostile toward sexual minorities and transgender individuals into reliable allies of the queer equality movement. The Queering of Corporate America complicates the narrative of corporate conservatism and provides insights into the future legal, political, and cultural implications of this unexpected relationship.

Selling Out (2000): Is it possible to have a meaningful revolution in the middle of a capitalist spending frenzy? In a passionate, if ultimately utopian, analysis of gay politics, Chasin asserts that the creation of a gay-oriented consumer market – in tandem with the mainstreaming of a gay politic that disavows broad-based coalitions with women and people of colour – has prevented homosexuals from pursuing a more radical vision of social change.

Rainbow Trap (2025): Rainbow Trap documents how inclusive interventions have attempted to bring marginalised communities out of the shadows. Yet, as part of the bargain, LGBTQ people need to locate themselves in an ever-growing list of categories and labels to ‘make sense’ to the systems they are seeking to access. When we look beyond the veneer of inclusive interventions, we uncover sorting processes that determine what LGBTQ lives are valued.

Memoirs

Redefining Realness (2014): In 2011, Marie Claire magazine published a profile of Janet Mock in which she stepped forward for the first time as a trans woman. Those 2300 words were life-altering for the People.com editor, turning her into an influential public figure and a desperately needed voice for an often voiceless community. In these pages, she offers a bold and inspiring perspective on being young, multicultural, economically challenged, and transgender in America.

The Glass Closet (2015): Drawing on John Browne’s personal experiences and the experience of other gay and lesbian business leaders, and by investigating the research and the social contexts, The Glass Closet strives to inspire the LGBT community that despite the risks involved, self-disclosure is best for employees and for the businesses that support them.

All Pride, No Ego (2023): In an inspiring and personal roadmap to servant leadership, celebrated corporate leader James Fielding delivers an inspirational leadership story told from the perspective of an out and proud LGBTQ+ executive. In the book, you’ll explore a call-to-action for authentic servant leadership that encourages people to own their truth and bring out the best in themselves and their communities.

Technology

GaYme Changer (2021): Jens Schadendorf has traced the LGBT+ community and an increasing number of their allies from across the globe to discover the start of a revolution. It becomes clear, even in times of hostility and resistance, it is economically and ethically beneficial for companies and societies everywhere in the world, to let LGBT+ members develop into dynamic forces – rooted in new forms of cooperation for game changing results.

Trans Technologies (2025): Oliver L. Haimson, whose research into gender transition and technology has defined this area of study, draws on transgender studies and his own in-depth interviews with more than 100 creators of technology – including apps, games, health resources, extended reality systems, and supplies designed to address challenges trans people face – to explain what trans technology is and to explore its present possibilities and limitations, as well as its future prospects.

Economics

Homo Economics (1997): Homo Economics is the first honest account of the tense relationship between gay people and the economy. This groundbreaking collection brings together a variety of voices from the worlds of journalism, activism, academia, the arts, and public policy to address issues including the recent economic history of the gay community, the community’s response to its changing economic circumstances, and the risks inherent in a narrow definition of liberation.

Queer Economics (2008): Recontextualising extracts from Homo Economics almost a decade later, this reader is an examination of and response to the effects of heteronormativity on both economic outcomes and economics as a discipline.

For more resources, see our posts about other recent book displays.

New in at Sainsbury Library: Wellbeing Collection

Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025

Day in the life of a Sainsbury Library trainee

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What does a day in the life of a Sainsbury Library trainee actually look like? From supporting readers and answering enquiries to working on digital resources, research tools, and behind-the-scenes projects, this year’s trainee, Heidi Cruft, offers a snapshot of daily life at the Sainsbury Library. The post gives a glimpse into the variety of work that goes into supporting teaching and research, both at the desk and beyond it.

You can read the full post on the Oxford libraries graduate trainees blog.

Stitch and Connect: Wellbeing craft session

Drop in for a friendly festive crochet session with the Sainsbury Library team on Thursday 18th December, between 1 and 3 pm.

No experience needed, and all materials are included.

Stitch & Connect: A Creative Wellbeing Afternoon

Looking for a cosy way to unwind as winter settles in? Join us at Sainsbury Library for a special wellbeing session designed to spark creativity, relaxation, and community.

On Friday, 5 December 2025, from 2:30 to 5:00 PM, we’ll be gathering in the Library’s Annexe for a hands-on workshop where participants will crochet their very own spring-flower bookmarks. Whether you’re an experienced crafter or have never picked up a crochet hook before, this session is open to everyone. No prior experience is needed, and all materials will be provided.

This is more than just a crafting workshop – it’s an opportunity to slow down, connect with others, and enjoy a mindful break from the hustle of term. We hope you’ll join us for an uplifting afternoon of creativity and connection!

🌼 Activity: Crochet Spring Flower Bookmark Workshop
📍 Location: Annexe, Sainsbury Library
🕒 Time: 2:30 – 5:00 PM
📅 Date: Friday, 5 December 2025
📧 Contact: library@sbs.ox.ac.uk

Green Libraries Week: 27 October – 2 November 2025

This week marks Green Libraries Week, an event organised by CILIP to celebrate and promote sustainability initiatives in libraries across the UK. The Sainsbury Library is taking part with a new interactive display.

Our display features ‘feedback trees’ made from scrap cardboard, inviting students to pin leaves sharing their sustainability messages, requests, and goals for the library. Alongside this, we’ve curated a book display highlighting resources on climate change, environmental action, and sustainable business practices.

All featured materials can be accessed via the links below (Oxford SSO required) or by visiting the display in the Lower Reading Room. For further resources, explore our GOTO: Climate Action LibGuide.

Sustainable Business and Management
Net Positive : How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take
Runaway climate change and rampant inequality threaten humanity and are costing a fortune. Net Positive demonstrates how business can help lead us to a better future.
The Green Bundle: Pairing the Market With the Planet
Combining insights from sustainable business and behavioural economics, Delmas and Colgan show managers how to lead buyers from information to action. If you are looking to win over the convenient consumer or understand how companies can create the next tipping point in green consumption, this is the research-based, practical guide for you.
The Responsible Business: Reimagining Sustainability and Success
“The Responsible Business” outlines a framework for building a responsibility and consciousness infrastructure that applies a living systems view to the business and inspires all of its stakeholders, including shareholders.

Economics and Public Action
Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning
We know that climate change is happening. We know that it could, if the worst predictions come true, destroy the conditions which make human life possible. Only one question is now worth asking: can it be stopped?
Don’t Even Think About it: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change
From the founder of the Climate Outreach and Information Network, a groundbreaking take on the most urgent question of our time: Why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, do we still ignore climate change?
Saving the Planet Without the Bullshit: What They Don’t Tell You About the Climate Crisis
In this provocative manifesto, Assaad Razzouk shows that for too long our ideas about what’s best for the environment have been unfocused and distracted, trying to go in too many directions and concentrating on individual behaviour. While some of these things can be useful, they are dwarfed by one big thing that simply has to happen very soon if we’re to avoid major environmental breakdown: curtailing the activities of the fossil fuel industry.
What We Need to Do Now
Embracing Britain’s promise to become carbon neutral by 2050, Chris Goodall makes a pivotal practical plan for achieving widespread change in this engaging and inspiring volume.

Guides, Plans, and Personal Climate Action
What Can we do by Friday?: The Practical Guide to Personal Climate Action
“What Can We Do by Friday?” is written to tackle one of the most urgent crises of our time: climate change. It’s not a theoretical or academic discourse; it’s a call to action. This book breaks down the complexities of the climate crisis into simple, actionable steps that individuals and business leaders can take immediately to make a meaningful difference.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and The Breakthroughs We Need
In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical and accessible – plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe.

For more resources, see our posts about other recent book displays.

Understanding Artificial Intelligence

New in at Sainsbury Library: Wellbeing Collection

Library Launchpad (staff induction)

Wed 5 Nov 2025, 15:30–16:30
Seminar Room 10 → Sainsbury Library
Presentation + library tour and Q&A

A termly library induction session for staff members to discover what the Sainsbury Library and the Bodleian Libraries offer, how to find and access resources, and how we can support you and your students.

The session will enable participants to Search and access various types of materials and resources offered through the Sainsbury Library and the Bodleian Libraries network for work, professional development and leisure.

Understand support we offer to students and staff members and how you can make most of our collections, resources and services.
Hear how we collaborate with departments – and tell us what further support you and your students need.
Format: Presentation, library tour, Q&A
Drop-in: Attend the presentation (at 15:30, Seminar room 10, PES), the tour (at 16:15, the Sainsbury library), or both. No booking needed, just turn up.
Who: All staff welcome
Contact: library@sbs.ox.ac.uk

Understanding Artificial Intelligence

‘Can machines think?’

When Alan Turing posed this question in 1950, Artificial Intelligence was a thought experiment. Today, it’s writing our emails, moulding our search results, and occupying the centre of debates worldwide. Perhaps a more pressing question now is: Can we keep up?

Whether you are curious, sceptical, or just overwhelmed by the buzz, the Sainsbury Library invites you to consider the practical applications and unexpected consequences of AI in our new display: ‘Understanding Artificial Intelligence’.

All featured materials can be accessed via the links below (Oxford SSO required) or in person at our display in the Lower Reading Room. To explore further, visit our Business of AI LibGuide.

Video Resources

The AI Pocketbook: Video Edition
“Everything you need to know about AI to survive–and thrive–as an engineer. If you’re worried about your tech career going obsolete in a world of super-powered AI, never fear. The AI Pocket Book crams everything engineers need to know about AI into one short volume you can fit into your pocket”

Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind
“Given the rapid pace of progress in AI, many predict that it could advance to human-level intelligence within the next several decades. From there, it could quickly outpace human intelligence. What do these developments mean for the future of the mind?”

The Role of AI in Business Development
“Mariusz Soltanifar, a researcher in corporate entrepreneurship and marketing lecturer at the Hanze International Business School in Groningen in the Netherlands, uses the Alexa Artificial Intelligence platform as an example to explore both artificial intelligence and the market for it”

Audio Resources

The AI-Savvy Leader: 9 Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work
“This book helps leaders retake control of the wildly rapid deployment of AI across organizations. It outlines cleanly and concisely nine actions leaders need to take to successfully steward a transition to a more AI-centric future that will lead to growth for all-companies and workers-and avoid the kinds of mistakes that author David De Cremer has seen many early adopters already make”

How to Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed
“In How to Think About AI, Richard Susskind draws on his experience of working on AI since the early 1980s. For Susskind, balancing the benefits and threats of artificial intelligence is the defining challenge of our age. He explores the history of AI and possible scenarios for its future”*

eBooks

Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence
“The idea of artificial intelligence–job-killing robots, self-driving cars, and self-managing organizations–captures the imagination, evoking a combination of wonder and dread for those of us who will have to deal with the consequences. But what if it’s not quite so complicated?”

The AI Ladder
“AI may be the greatest opportunity of our time, with the potential to add nearly $16 trillion to the global economy over the next decade. But so far, adoption has been much slower than anticipated, or so headlines may lead you to believe. With this practical guide, business leaders will discover where they are in their AI journey and learn the steps necessary to successfully scale AI throughout their organization”

Print Books

A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence
“From Oxford’s leading AI researcher comes a fun and accessible tour through the history and future of one of the most cutting edge and misunderstood field in science: Artificial Intelligence”

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working With AI
“Professor Ethan Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world. In Co-Intelligence, he urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher and coach”

The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma
“As cofounder of DeepMind, the pioneering AI company now owned by Google, Mustafa Suleyman has witnessed firsthand just how rapidly our technology is advancing-and how flawed our approaches to grappling with these changes are. The coming decades, he argues, will be defined by a burst of innovation, an inevitable wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies across fields like synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing”

Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right With Our AI Future
”Superagency offers a roadmap for using AI inclusively and adaptively to improve our lives and create positive change. While acknowledging challenges like disinformation and potential job changes, the book focuses on AI’s immense potential to increase individual agency and create better outcomes for society as a whole”

For more resources, see our posts about other recent book displays.

New in at Sainsbury Library: Wellbeing Collection

Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025

Sainsbury Library News

A BODLEIAN LIBRARIES BLOG

Beyond reading with the Bodleian Libraries

Films, videos, TV and recorded Plays

Kanopy

Box of Broadcasts

RSC Live Collection (Royal Shakespeare Company Live)

Films on DVD and Blu-ray

Audiobooks and recordings

O’Reilly Online Learning

LibriVox

RNIB Bookshare

Music

Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2026

How to use the library in 5 steps

Step 1. Find a library

Step 2. Find a book

Understand the sequence of shelfmarks

Step 3. Borrow a Book

Step 4. Access an ebook

Step 5. Access and use business e-resources and databases

Would like to know more!

Celebrating International Women’s Day

LGBT+ History Month

Businesses

Memoirs

Technology

Economics

Day in the life of a Sainsbury Library trainee

Stitch and Connect: Wellbeing craft session

Stitch & Connect: A Creative Wellbeing Afternoon

Green Libraries Week: 27 October – 2 November 2025

Library Launchpad (staff induction)

Wed 5 Nov 2025, 15:30–16:30
Seminar Room 10 → Sainsbury Library
Presentation + library tour and Q&A

Understanding Artificial Intelligence

Video Resources

Audio Resources

eBooks

Print Books

Films, videos, TV and recorded Plays

RSC Live Collection (Royal Shakespeare Company Live)

Films on DVD and Blu-ray

Audiobooks and recordings

RNIB Bookshare

Music

Step 1. Find a library

Step 2. Find a book

Understand the sequence of shelfmarks

Step 3. Borrow a Book

Step 4. Access an ebook

Step 5. Access and use business e-resources and databases

Would like to know more!

Businesses

Memoirs

Technology

Economics

Wed 5 Nov 2025, 15:30–16:30Seminar Room 10 → Sainsbury LibraryPresentation + library tour and Q&A

Video Resources

Audio Resources

eBooks

Print Books

Wed 5 Nov 2025, 15:30–16:30
Seminar Room 10 → Sainsbury Library
Presentation + library tour and Q&A