Category: Collection insights

eResource of the month: Mass Observation Online


A pioneering social research organisation, Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by anthropologist Tom Harrisson, film-maker Humphrey Jennings and poet Charles Madge. Their aim was to create an ‘anthropology of ourselves’, and by recruiting a team of observers and a panel of volunteer writers they studied the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. This resource covers the original Mass Observation project, the bulk of which was carried out from 1937 until the mid-1950s, offering an unparalleled insight into everyday life in Britain during these transformative years.

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Item of the month: From tea rooms to decontamination centres – developments at South Shields sea front in the 1920s 

plan showing concrete platform with swimming bath and tennis courts, identifying parts of beach and land north of Lawe Road from different deeds, and marking row of buildings with red and blue hatching.

A post by archivist Andrew Gray

August means summer holidays.  And for many of us, summer holidays means days at the beach.  So this month, we celebrate the beaches at South Shields, and in particular the development of the foreshore north of the pier (Littlehaven beach) in the 1920s. 

Our item of the month comes in the middle of this development, so first some context.  The end of the 19th century saw the transformation of local government, culminating locally in the formation of South Shields County Borough in 1889. In 1896, the Corporation had got Parliament to pass the South Shields Corporation Act, “… to make better provision for the health and good government of the Borough and for other purposes.”  This gave the local authority extensive powers (among others) to acquire new lands, to regulate the use of the seafront and public bathing, and to lay out and manage public parks. During the first decades of the 20th century, they took advantage of their new powers, and development of the foreshores at South Shields was typical of this new ambition. 

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Upcoming Student Exhibition: Throwing it Out There 

A post by Ellie Rylance, Megan Shannon, and Perry Li

A team of twelve students from the MA Museum and Artefact Studies course in the University’s Department of Archaeology are working to produce an exhibition which will be opening in the Museum of Archaeology on the 16th June. ‘Throwing it Out There: The Archaeology of Ritual, Rivers and Rubbish’ will focus on the rich ritual history of the rivers of County Durham from the Bronze Age to the medieval period and beyond.

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Item of the month: First world war novel or anonymised memoir: ‘The Crown Prince’s Jewels’

The Sudan Archive recently accessioned the papers of Philip Ingleson (1892-1985) and his wife Gwen (née Fulton, 1896-1986). Philip Ingleson was Governor of Darfur from 1935 until his retirement in 1944, his period in office probably extended due to the war. Unusually, Ingleson also served as governor in Halfa (1931-1932), Berber (1932-1934) and Bahr el Ghazal provinces as well. He thus must be one of the few people to have governed in north, south and west Sudan; he began his career in the Sudan Political Service in 1919 as an Inspector in Um Kedada, Darfur.

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eResource of the month: BIOSIS Citation Index

A post by Faculty Librarian Colin Theakston

Some of you may not know this, but the BIOSIS Citation Index is included within Web of Science.

This database includes cited references to primary journal literature on biological research, medical research findings, and discoveries of new organisms. It covers original research reports and reviews in botany, zoology, and microbiology, and related fields such as biomedical, agriculture, pharmacology, and ecology, and interdisciplinary fields such as medicine, biochemistry, biophysics, bioengineering, and biotechnology.

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Hello Europe. This is Durham Calling.

A post by Collections Coordinator Tim Buckle

It can’t have escaped your attention that it is Eurovision again, and this year the UK are hosting the event on behalf of Ukraine. The contest is taking place in Liverpool.

I know Eurovision divides opinion, but whatever your views are about the music, one thing that is clear is the message of inclusion and equality that it sends out. Having just got back from Liverpool from the event, this sense of inclusion was everywhere to see and as a gay man it means a lot to be yourself and feel safe at the same time.

Whoever you are and whatever your background, Eurovision allows you to be yourself without any judgement. This is something that we encourage here at Durham University, especially in Library and Collections. Whether it is having a safe space for you to be yourself while studying, or seeing yourself represented in our collections we will continue to improve services and listen your feedback about collections and study spaces.

To celebrate Eurovision we have looked through our library collections and picked out some titles from countries that have previously won the contest. The titles we have picked have been published in the year the Country selected last won the Contest.

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eResource of the month: MarketLine

Business and economic information is not just something that business students need – it affects everyone. Knowing how to find and use business information is a great skill to develop – it shows prospective or current employers that you can do research outside your field of study and demonstrates commitment. It means you can prepare well for interviews and understand and talk knowledgably about the strengths and weaknesses of a company or the challenges faced by a particular sector. In short, it can help you stand out from the crowd by presenting information and facts that others may not have found. 

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eResource of the month: Naxos Music Library

Each month we spotlight one of our databases to highlight the range of resources available to our users. This month, Arts and Humanities Faculty Librarian Richard Pears writes about Naxos Music Library.

Naxos is one of the most important sources of recorded music for the University. It has more than 2.7 million music recordings from almost 1,000 record labels, with 600 new recordings added every month; this makes Naxos the largest classical music library available online. The largest category is classical, but there are many pop, jazz, rock, film, TV and world music recordings. You can browse by categories, artist, composer and label. The advanced search has additional criteria to search by, including instrument, time period, years of composition or release, performing group, lyricist, and duration. You can create an account and save favourite recordings or make a playlist to share with others. Most recordings also include the liner notes to give you more information. 

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Item of the month: 1933 Essay Book of Georg Backhaus

A post by Jenny Coulton, Archives and Special Collections Graduate Intern

This month marks ninety years since a series of events which culminated in the Nazi monopolisation of power in Germany. On March 23rd 1933, the Enabling Act was passed, allowing the Nazi party to pass legislation without the approval of the Reichstag. From this point onwards, a slew of vitriolic propaganda and indoctrination was produced, mentally preparing citizens for war, and encouraging them to denigrate certain social groups. Much of this indoctrination occurred within the classroom, and this month’s item was produced in such an environment.

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