On Sunday 14th December our Christmas vacation opening hours begin.
See our website homepage for further information.
See our website homepage for details of our Christmas closure period.
Build your confidence with the Bodleian iSkills programme, a series of free workshops that empower students, researchers, and staff at the University of Oxford to develop essential skills in discovering, critically evaluating, managing, presenting and sharing information in an evolving digital and physical world.
Workshops taking place in 9th Week Michaelmas Term
Tuesday 9 December
REF open access policy briefing
🕘 10:00-11:00 | 💻 Online
Make sure your research meets the new REF open access requirements. Get up to speed on what’s changed and where you can find help at Oxford.
Science communication: An introduction to translating your research for a non-specialist audience
🕘 11:00-12:00 | 💻 Online
This session introduces the essentials of science communication and explores how to make your research accessible and engaging for different audiences.
Searching for patents and standards
🕘 13:00-14:00 | 💻 Online
Find out more about what patents and standards are, why they might be useful for your research and how to find them in specific databases.
Wednesday 10 December
Overton walkthrough for Oxford University
🕘 11:00-12:00 | 💻 Online
Discover Overton—the world’s largest database of policy documents, indexing millions of policy documents from around the world.
Thursday 11 December
Fundamentals of open access
🕘 14:30-16:00 | 💻 Online
Understand what open access really means—decode the jargon and explore how publishing open can benefit your research.
To view a full list of this terms workshops go to the Bodleian iSkills website or take a look at the iSkills Michaelmas Term Card below. All workshops must be booked in advance via the Bodleian iSkills website.
If you are an Oxford University student or staff member and need to access library resources while you are away from Oxford, follow our tips below:
Access e-books, e-journals and databases remotely by logging in to SOLO with your Single Sign On (SSO) Take a look at the Bodleian Libraries SOLO Guide for further information.
For help with finding and using items on SOLO, you can also get immediate assistance via SOLO Live Chat during working hours (outside of the Bodleian Libraries Christmas closure period)
Look for the chat box to the right of the SOLO webpage.
Our eBook Subject & Research Guide has lots of information on how to access and use Oxford University eBooks.
Most postgraduate reading lists are available on Oxford Reading Lists Online ORLO and scans, online articles and e-books can be accessed there. Take a look at the ORLO reading lists webpage for further information.
Scan & Deliver is a free electronic document delivery service which enables you to obtain scans of book chapters or journal articles via email from the Bodleian Libraries’ print collections. Note that this service will closed for part of the Christmas holiday period, see the Christmas Service Changes update for full details.
Browse our online Subject Guides to find subject librarians’ specialist support and resources for your research and studies.
For more information on the above, and to find out about further resources available remotely, consult the Bodleian Libraries Online and Remote Access webpage.
Any questions, just get in touch with us!
Email: ssl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: 01865 271093
Our opening hours for the vacation (starting on Sunday 14th December) are on our website homepage.
See our website homepage for details of our Christmas closure period.
Each month we choose an electronic resource which we feel will be of interest to you.
Our Resource of the Month for December is Legislation of CIS Countries, or Zakonodatel’stvo stran SNG (Законодательство Стран СНГ). This Russian-language database gathers legislation from CIS countries into one searchable platform.
Legislation from CIS Countries presents legislative documents – including законы, постановления and указы – from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and the Eurasian Economic Commission. These countries produce officially sanctioned translations of their legislation into Russian, hence the breadth of coverage. The database is updated regularly, and contains easily identifiable hyperlinks to legislative amendments.
This resource can be accessed via SOLO. A Single-Sign-On (SSO) is required to access the resource remotely, as access is restricted to Oxford University students and staff members.
Build your confidence with the Bodleian iSkills programme, a series of free workshops that empower students, researchers, and staff at the University of Oxford to develop essential skills in discovering, critically evaluating, managing, presenting and sharing information in an evolving digital and physical world.
Workshops taking place in 8th Week Michaelmas Term
Thursday 4th December
Introduction to Persistent Identifiers
🕘 10:00-11:30 | 💻 Online
An introduction to Persistent Identifiers, the problems they address, and the key types you should know—including those gaining in importance.
To view a full list of this terms workshops go to the Bodleian iSkills website or take a look at the iSkills Michaelmas Term Card below. All workshops must be booked in advance via the Bodleian iSkills website.
The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.
Bakhmut
Myroslav Laiuk, translated by Dmytro Kyyan and Kate Tsurkan
Kyiv: Ukraïner, 2025
Shelfmark: DK5479.B35.LAI 2025
Myroslav Laiuk was a poet and academic before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022; he continues to teach at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. However the invasion caused Laiuk to abandon the publication of fiction in favour of war reporting, in common with many of Ukraine’s leading writers. He often writes his articles in the car, as he travels away from the scene he has just witnessed: it is generally impossible to use voice recorders on the front line. Bakhmut is one result of his work, which has just been translated into English. It offers perfectly judged vignettes of the battle of Bakhmut – a town in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine – interspersed with photographs by Danylo Pavlov, and followed by Laiuk’s own reflections.
Laiuk depicts the interactions he had as faithfully as he can, retaining the language of his interlocutors. Hence Bakhmut presents a series of vivid encounters with the people and animals caught up in the fighting – ranging from Oleksandra, the elderly citizen of Bakhmut whose story forms one of the book’s central themes, to two unnamed Russian prisoners of war. Laiuk is masterful in his selection of powerfully evocative details; for example, the solder who advised him to avoid looking at the skinny ginger cat trembling in its box.
The chapter on army Chaplains offers a moment of hope and encouragement. Maksym and Oleh are clear-eyed, determined, and prepared to help throughout the war and beyond; Laiuk is sure that they will “carry others on their shoulders” (Laiuk 2025, 61). Laiuk’s own care and determination is another inspiration. His book is an essential reminder of the human experience that lies behind all the news stories, social media feeds, and high-level negotiations – and of the infinitely complex struggle between good and evil that is manifested by the war in Ukraine, although it encompasses the world.
Peter Pomerantsev:
“…this is a writer who knows not only how to observe war, but also how to think about it. There exists no better tribute, in any language, to the world of Ukraine’s frontlines – a world that is fast disappearing under Russian shells.”
https://www.ukrainer.net, accessed on November 25, 2025 at 13.45.
You can currently find this book around the corner from our Issue Desk, above our New Books display. This title is loanable for University card holders. Its shelfmark is DK5479.B35.LAI 2025
What would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.
The end of term is approaching and that means our vacation loans will be starting shortly.
Vacation loans will begin on Monday 1st December (Monday of 8th week of Michaelmas Term).
Any books borrowed on or after this date will be due back in the first week of Hilary Term on Tuesday 20th January 2026.
Any books currently on loan that are eligible for renewal, will automatically renew until Tuesday 20th January once they reach their current due date.
Any questions on the above? Please do contact us.
View our collection of specialist films and documentaries for free!
Our DVD & Video collection covers topics in Forced Migration, Development Studies, Anthropology, Politics, History and more …
All of our DVDs are loanable for readers who have borrowing rights. The video collection comprises a mix of loanable and library use only item.
You can view a film in the Social Science Library by:
To search for a particular title, enter the title into the SOLO search bar. If the film is available, it will display with a video icon. Select ‘Find & Request’ to view the location information.
To browse a topic, enter your keywords into the SOLO search bar.
Use the filters on the left of the screen to set the Resource Type to ‘Video.’ To see films that are in the SSL, use the Library filter.
Further information on locating film materials in the Bodleian Libraries can be found in our ‘Film Studies Subject Guide‘ and ‘Using SOLO to find Film Studies material Subject Guide.’
BFI Player offers free shorts and features from the British Film Institute’s national and regional archive. An Oxford Single-Sign-On (SSO) is not required.
BoB (Box of Broadcasts) is an on demand TV and radio service for education. It allows staff and students to search an archive of over 2 million broadcasts. Content includes BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, ITV, Channel 4, Film4, 10 foreign language channels, and more.
Kanopy is a video streaming platform dedicated to thoughtful and thought-provoking films. Founded in 2008, it was established to provide academic institutions with essential films that foster learning and conversation
From 20th November through December, we’re marking Disability History Month here at the SSL. The 2025 theme, “Disability, Life and Death,” addresses concerns about the Assisted Suicide legislation currently making its way through Parliament, and the risks it poses for disabled people. The Disability History Month website situates this legislation within a longer history of threats to disabled people’s right to life; from eugenics and lifelong institutionalisation to the mass murder campaigns of the Nazis. In an increasingly hostile environment for disabled people in the UK, this year’s theme invites reflection on the “value of disabled people’s lives”.
At the Social Science Library, we’ve created a book display exploring this theme in books across the Social Science subjects. This selection highlights both the historical and contemporary challenges disabled people have faced, including discrimination, persecution, and state violence, while also honouring their lives, agency, and contributions in activism, academia, and the arts. Alongside titles from the SSL’s own collections, we’ve included works from the Collections Storage Facility. Some items can be borrowed, while others are for use in the library only; please ask a member of staff if you’re unsure.
In addition to our physical display, Oxford University staff and students can access ebooks from the display through SOLO. For more material on disability history, take a look at the Disability History LibGuide here: Home – Disability History Resources – Oxford LibGuides at Oxford University
Build your confidence with the Bodleian iSkills programme, a series of free workshops that empower students, researchers, and staff at the University of Oxford to develop essential skills in discovering, critically evaluating, managing, presenting and sharing information in an evolving digital and physical world.
Workshops taking place in 7th Week Michaelmas Term
Tuesday 25 November
Managing research data and Data Management Planning (DMPs)
🕘 11:00-12:30 | 💻 Online
Take control of your research data! Find out how to manage, store, and share it effectively, understand Oxford’s data policy, and make the most of the support on offer.
Wednesday 26 November
EndNote for referencing
🕘 09:30-11:30 | 💻 Online
Want to effectively manage your references? Join this session to discover how EndNote can help you collect, organise, and cite your sources with ease.
Preregistration and registered reports: What, why, and how
🕘 10:30-12:00 | 📍Weston Library
Gain practical experience writing an effective preregistration and learn which format and platform will work best for your research.
Thursday 27 November
Zotero for referencing
🕘 09:30-11:00 | 💻 Online
Looking for an easier way to collect, manage, and cite references? In this session you’ll be introduced to Zotero — a tool that helps you organize references and add in-text citations, footnotes, and bibliographies to your documents.
RefWorks for referencing
🕘 14:00-16:00 | 💻 Online
Join us for this interactive session in which we introduce RefWorks, a subscription reference management tool that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni.
To view a full list of this terms workshops go to the Bodleian iSkills website or take a look at the iSkills Michaelmas Term Card below. All workshops must be booked in advance via the Bodleian iSkills website.