Bodleian iSkills workshops in Week 9

Posted on 18 June 2025 by giasimmons

Bodleian iSkills workshops aim to develop your skills in information discovery and scholarly communications, covering a variety of resources across a wide range of disciplines. They are primarily aimed at University of Oxford students and staff. Some workshops take place face-to-face, whilst others are run online.

The workshops are FREE but online booking is essential. A list of the sessions taking place this term can be found on the iSkills Workshops webpage.

Tuesday 24th June 2025 09:00-10:00

iSkills for Medicine: An introduction to science communication: Translating your research for a non-specialist audience

Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to:

define science communication and provide a list of examples;
explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public;
list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication.

Please note that this workshop is also run in-person. Please check the iSkills course listing for availability.

Format: Online teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.

Location: Microsoft Teams

Wednesday 25th June 2025 14:00-17:00

Open Scholarship: Copyright the card game

Join Chris Morrison (Copyright & Licensing Specialist) and Georgina Kiddy (Digital Services Librarian) to play Copyright the Card Game. This interactive, games-based session introduces you to the key concepts of copyright law and allows you to apply them in practice. No prior knowledge is required, and the session caters for all whatever their level of experience with copyright. At the end of the session participants will be able to:

Explore how copyright really works in practice
Interpret the legislation and apply the relevant legal concepts to their own work
Practice using the exceptions and licences in sector-specific examples
Discuss the role of risk management in making decisions about the ethical creation and use of copyright material

Format: The workshop is highly interactive with multiple opportunities for discussion about copyright, underpinned by a clear framework.

Location: Radcliffe Science Library, Seminar Room. Parks Road, OX2 3QP

Take the SSL home with you: ways to access library materials remotely

Posted on 16 June 2025 by dawnyoung

A house in surrounded by a green field. A blue sky with the text "Take the SSL home with you"

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:

Remote access via SOLO

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.

Live Chat

For help with finding and using items on SOLO, you can also get assistance via SOLO Live Chat.

This service is staffed from Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm (apart from the August Bank Holiday Monday 25th August)

Look for the chat box to the right of the SOLO webpage.

eBooks

Our eBook Subject & Research Guide has lots of information on how to access and use Oxford University eBooks.

ORLO (Oxford Reading Lists Online)

An open laptop with a red book beside it with glasses on top of it.

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

An image of the Book Scanner in the Social Science Library.

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.

An open laptop on a table with a notebook beside it. Text on the laptop reads "Further Information".

For more information on the above, and to find out about further resources available remotely, consult the Bodleian Libraries Online and Remote Access webpage.

Questions, need help?

A person holding a blue speech bubble with a question mark on it.

Any questions, just get in touch with us!

Email: ssl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Telephone: 01865 271093

Summer Vacation Opening Hours

Our opening hours for the vacation (starting on Sunday 29th June) are on our website homepage.

August Bank Holiday Closure Period

A shingle beach with 4 deckchairs on it. Above them 4 seagulls are flying.

We will be closed for the August Bank Holiday weekend on the follow dates

Saturday 23rd August
Sunday 24th August
Monday 25th August

Vacation loans start on Monday 16th June

Posted on 13 June 2025 by dawnyoung

A lamp turned on shining its beam on an open book which has the words vacation borrowing on it.

The end of term is approaching and that means our vacation loans will be starting shortly.

Vacation loans will begin on Monday 16th June (Monday of 8th week of Trinity Term).

Any books borrowed on or after this date will be due back in the first week of Michaelmas Term on Tuesday 14th October.

Any books eligible for renewal will also automatically renew until Tuesday 14th October when they reach their current due date.

Any questions on the above? Please do contact us.

Bodleian iSkills Workshops in Week 8

Posted on 10 June 2025 by giasimmons

The workshops are FREE but online booking is essential. A list of the sessions taking place this term can be found on the iSkills Workshops webpage.

Monday 16th June 2025 14:00-15:00

iSkills for Medicine: An introduction to designing a conference poster

Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this online session you will be able to:

evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images;
plan, prepare and present your poster.

Please note that we also run this workshop in-person. Please check the iSkills course listing for availability.

Format: Online teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.

Location: Microsoft Teams

Wednesday 18th June 2025 10:30-12:00

iSkills for Medicine: Introduction to EndNote

Do you need help managing your references? Do you need help citing references in your documents? This online session will introduce you to EndNote, a subscription software programme which can help you to store, organise and retrieve your references and PDFs, as well as cite references in documents and create bibliographies quickly and easily. On completing the workshop you will be able to:

Understand the main features and benefits of EndNote
Set up an EndNote account
Import references from different sources into EndNote
Organise your references in EndNote
Insert citations into documents
Create a bibliography/reference list

Format: Online presentation and demonstration with time for questions.

Location: Microsoft Teams

Wednesday 18th June 2025 13:30-16:30

iSkills for Medicine: Advanced searching clinic for systematic reviews, scoping reviews and evidence syntheses

A practical 180-minute workshop where participants will work on searches for their review across multiple databases. Librarians from the Bodleian Health Care Libraries will be on hand to demonstrate online tools for facilitating the process and give practical advice on refining individual search strategies. By the end of this classroom-based session you will be able to:

Improve a search strategy that you are working on
Adapt the search across multiple databases
Use tools such as Yale MeSH Analyzer, Polyglot and the SR Accelerator to improve your searches
Describe alternative methods for identifying references, including citation tracking
De-duplicate results from multiple database searches
Start screening results for inclusion in your review
Report your search methods according to PRISMA-Search

Format: Classroom-based. Time for participants to work on their own searches with advice from a librarian. Explore tools that streamline the review process following a presentation with demonstrations.

Location: Beeson Room, Cairns Library, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU

Bodleian iSkills workshops in Week 7

Posted on 5 June 2025 by giasimmons

The workshops are FREE but online booking is essential. A list of the sessions taking place this term can be found on the iSkills Workshops webpage.

Monday 9th June 2025 10:00-11:00

iSkills for Medicine: An introduction to science communication: Translating your research for a non-specialist audience

define science communication and provide a list of examples;
explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public;
list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication.

Please note that this workshop is also run online. Please check the iSkills course listing for availability.

Format: Teacher-led presentation with opportunities for questions.

Location: Beeson Room, Cairns Library. John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU

Monday 9th June 2025 15:00-16:00

Open Scholarship: REF open access policy briefing

Do you want to make sure your work is ‘REFable’ per the new REF open access requirements?  In this focused online briefing, we will:

step you through the changes and new requirements
provide links to further REF information and guidance
let you know where to find help at Oxford
answer as many questions as we can

Ideally the ‘Fundamentals of Open Access’ course will have been attended. If you’re not in a position to attend this course you can find similar information in the e-learning package to work through prior to attending.

Format: Online presentation and demonstration with plenty of time for questions.

Location: Microsoft Teams

Tuesday 10th June 2025 14:00-16:00

iSkills: Working with sensitive research data

A workshop outlining some of the key principles to bear in mind when working with sensitive or restricted research; whether collected yourself or obtained from a third-party source such as a data archive. Issues of confidentiality, informed consent, cybersecurity and data management will be covered. Examples of scenarios or concerns drawn from the research of participants are particularly welcome. The role of support services at Oxford will also be outlined and in particular the role of the Bodleian Data Librarian who will lead the session. Follow up consultations with the Data librarian or other subject consultants are also offered. Topics to be covered include:

Key best practice principles when working with sensitive or restricted research data
Issues around creating original data
Informed consent agreements
Maximising the usage potential of data during and after a project
Strengths and weaknesses of anonymisation, data blurring and similar techniques
Key strategies for protecting data including encryption, embargoes, future vetting and access restrictions
Obligation put on researchers by legislation and research partners

Format: Teacher-led presentation with opportunity for discussion.

Location: Social Science Library, Information Skills Training Room, Manor Road, OX1 3UQ

Thursday 12th June 2025 14:30-16:00

Open Scholarship: Fundamentals of open access

Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open.

What is open access? Key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges
Where to get more information and help
Where to look for open access material
Useful tools to assist you in publishing open access

If you’re not in a position to attend a workshop you could also find similar information on the e-learning course, ‘Open Scholarship: Digital Induction to Open Access (MSD)‘.

Format: Online presentation with time to get answers to your questions.

Location: Microsoft Teams

Submit your book recommendations to us by Friday 20th June

Posted on 4 June 2025 by dawnyoung

Row of books on their sides. The bottom of the books is at the front of the image. The books are set against a yellow background.

Are there any books you would like us to order for the library?

Friday 20 June is the last date for book recommendations this financial year.

You can recommend a book title to the SSL by:

emailing ssl-orders@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
completing the PURCHASE REQUEST form on SOLO (link to form available via top menu)
completing a paper Book Recommendation Form, available at our Issue Desk and at our New Books Display area

Book ordering will begin again in the new financial year, from 1 August 2025 onwards.

Database trials for selected British Online Archives collections (until end of June 2025)

Posted on 3 June 2025 by dawnyoung

A side view of an open laptop. A hand is rested on the laptop keyboard and you can see part of a person. A notebook and coffee cup are on the desk next to the laptop.

We would like to make our readers aware of the following trial resources from British Online Archives, available until the end of June via SOLO.

British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662–1809 [trial ends 26/6/25]

Power and Profit: British Colonial Trade in America and the Caribbean, 1678–1825 [trial ends 26/6/25]

London Life, 1965-66 [trial ends 30/6/25]

The Sphere, 1900-1964 (British Online Archives) [trial ends 30/6/25]

Communisms and the Cold War, 1944-1986 (British Online Archives) [trial ends 30/6/25]

For more information about these resources, see the History Faculty Library Blog post.

June Resource of the Month: Arcanum Newspapers

Posted on 3 June 2025 by dawnyoung

Each month we choose an electronic resource which we feel will be of interest to you.

An infographic of a open laptop. A banner is on top of it which says 'June Resource of the Month.'

Our Resource of the Month for June is Arcanum Newspapers, a huge digital archive of periodicals from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and its successor states.

An open laptop on a table. On the screen are the words 'Arcanum Newspapers.' To the right of the laptop is a cup of coffee and to the left is a notepad and pen.,

Resource Overview

Arcanum Newspapers is a vast digital archive of Central European periodicals, mainly from Hungary and Romania. It spans several million pages, published from the mid-nineteenth to the twentieth centuries. Readers will find magazines, newspapers, academic journals and encyclopaedias, in Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Polish and German, among other languages.

Where can you access the resource

This resource can be accessed via SOLO. A Single-Sign-On (SSO) is required to access the titles remotely, as they are restricted to Oxford University students and staff members.

Our Book of the Month for June

Posted on 2 June 2025 by dawnyoung

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.

June’s Book of the month is:

Patriot

Alexei Navalny, translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel

The Bodley Head, 2024

Shelfmark: DK510.766.N38.NAV 2024

June’s book of the month is Patriot, the autobiography of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Navalny died in an Arctic Russian prison in February 2024: he was probably murdered by the prison authorities, under the orders of Vladimir Putin. As his prison diary shows, his determination, humour and faith were unconquerable.

Book Overview

Navalny was arrested on his return to Russia in January 2021, after his recovery from an attempted poisoning in August 2020: he had not even stepped out of the aeroplane. Patriot consists of Navalny’s autobiographical writings in prison, his social media posts, and other short texts. Navalny himself describes it as “Gonzo journalism”: nothing else was possible under the circumstances. The prison regimes became more and more severe as time went on, until Navalny was confined almost permanently to a punishment cell.

The book contains humorous and incisive accounts of the late Soviet Union, Perestroika, and Russian political life in the 2000s and 2010s, as Navalny describes his experiences. He is a larger-than-life figure as much because of what was done to him, as because of his own responses. In 2017 he was sprayed green; his organisation’s offices were frequently raided, once apparently by sex workers; in 2020 government agents attempted to murder him by painting nerve agent on his underwear. He and his colleagues in the Foundation Battling Corruption demonstrated the corruption of Russia’s politicians to the population in detailed and colourful YouTube videos, which seem to have turned him into Putin’s personal enemy.

Navalny is a controversial figure within liberal western circles, as well as in the Russian Federation: he developed a connection with Russian nationalist movements in the 2000s, which he was later to drop. His determination to fight for Russia’s political freedom at whatever personal cost however testifies to the unique character he became.

Reviews

Luke Harding (Guardian, October 22 2024, 7.30 am GMT):

“This is a brave and brilliant book, a luminous account of Navalny’s life and dark times. It is a challenge from beyond the grave to Russia’s murder-addicted rulers. You can hear his voice in the deft translation by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel: sharp, playful and lacking in self-pity. Nothing crushes him. Up until the end – his final “polar” entry is on 17 January 2024 – he radiates indomitable good humour.”

Patriot won the category for Narrative Non-Fiction and the overall Book of the Year Award at The Nibbies, the annual British book trade awards.

How can I access it?

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 DK510.766.N38.NAV 2024

Image of an open book with the pages curled to form a love heart

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.

Finishing your degree this Summer? Things to remember before you go

Posted on 30 May 2025 by dawnyoung

A pad and pen on a desk, with the words 'Library Checklist' on it. Next to it is a black covered notebook with the outline of a person wearing a mortarboard.

Here are a number of library related things to keep in mind as you prepare to finish your degree and leave Oxford.

Return all your library books

Please return your books to the library from which you originally borrowed them. Find out the SSL’s opening hours on our webpage.

Pay for any Lost Books

If you have lost an item borrowed from one of the Bodleian Libraries, contact the library from which the item was borrowed with the author’s name, the title of the book, the shelfmark (if possible) and your name and email address.

If the book is not found, you will usually be required to pay a lost book charge.

If you have already been invoiced for a book you have lost, please pay the amount before you leave.

Consider donating textbooks

We would be pleased to receive personal copies of social sciences textbooks that are in reasonable condition and cited on reading lists. We would add these to our lending stock so future students benefit from increased provision.

In cases where we don’t have sufficient space to add donations to our collections, we send them on to a charitable non-profit organisation.

Please pass any donations to staff at our Issue Desk.

Use up your PCAS credit

Any unused credit on your PCAS account cannot be refunded and so we urge you to use it before you leave Oxford. On request, credit can be transferred to another PCAS account. Please email PCAS Support for assistance.

Find out about Alumni Privileges

BODLEIAN Reader’s card

Person stood reading a book in the reading rooms of the Radcliffe Camera.

As a graduate of the University of Oxford you are entitled to apply for a Bodleian Reader Card (this is different to your “My Oxford” Alumni card). This card will grant you reference access to the Bodleian Libraries. Details on how to apply are on the University of Oxford degree holders applying for a Bodleian Reader card webpage.

‘My Oxford’ Alumni Card

My Oxford Card. Blue background with an image of the Radcliffe Camera on it.

Graduates can register for a “My Oxford” Alumni card. This will provide you with a range of benefits and discounts.

Being an Oxford Alumni entitles you to remote access to selected electronic resources. More information can be found on the Bodleian Alumni Journals access webpage.

If you have a Bodleian reader card, you will also be able to access electronic resources in the Bodleian Libraries via reader PCs.

RefWorks Reference Manager

If you have a RefWorks account, you will be able to continue to use RefWorks once you have left the University. However, you need to ensure you sign in with a personal email address to continue using the service as alumni. If you currently use your single sign (SSO) to log in to RefWorks, please read the information on the Bodleian Libraries Reference Management Guide..

Returning Student Card

If you are returning for another Oxford degree course next academic year, you can apply for a returning student card from Bodleian Admissions to retain access to the Bodleian Libraries and borrow books in the gap between your courses.

Remote access via SOLO

Live Chat

eBooks

ORLO (Oxford Reading Lists Online)

Scan & Deliver

Questions, need help?

Summer Vacation Opening Hours

August Bank Holiday Closure Period

Resource Overview

Where can you access the resource

June’s Book of the month is:

Book Overview

Reviews

How can I access it?

Return all your library books

Pay for any Lost Books

Consider donating textbooks

Use up your PCAS credit

Find out about Alumni Privileges

BODLEIAN Reader’s card

‘My Oxford’ Alumni Card

RefWorks Reference Manager

Returning Student Card

Social Science Library Cookies Policy