Last week, the Faculty Librarians (FLs) took over the library’s Twitter and Instagram feed – it wasn’t a coup, it was to highlight the help and support they offer! This included emphasizing the FLs various responsibilities and sharing some top research and study tips.
The festive season might have come and gone, but being a librarian is a bit like being Santa Claus – all year round. Instead of delivering toys and games (or a lump coal, if you’ve been naughty…) we deliver KNOWLEDGE. Or, perhaps more accurately, we provide access to it. In fact, we provide access to a huge range of resources, including the physical items held in our libraries, archives and museums, subscriptions to electronic journals and databases and guidance on accessing open research resources. Something for everyone, surely. But sometimes, this is not enough. Sometimes our users need MORE!
Continue reading “Requesting resources”
We are about to embark on the process of moving to a new Library Management System, or LMS. This is a lengthy process, as the LMS effectively manages most core functions of a library, such as cataloguing resources, managing the loan/use of those resources and the records of our users. So transferring to a new system is a complex project, and one that we will keep you updated on over the course of the coming months. What we can say with certainty is that a new LMS will represent a significant upgrade, both for us as library staff and you as the user!
Continue reading “Behind the scenes – what a catalogue record looks like!”
A post by Assistant Curator Katie Brew
I have recently been fortunate to attend a five day Romanesque binding course with experienced bookbinder and conservator Arthur Green. It was a largely practical course, attended to gain a deeper understanding of this particular binding style and its construction – to improve my own skills and directly inform the conservation of the early medieval bindings we have here in Special Collections.
Continue reading “Romanesque bindings”
Summer intern Iris Leussink looks back on two months spent working at Palace Green Library
For a lot of people in Durham, Palace Green Library is a bit of a mystery. Some of my friends, even those who have studied and lived in here for four years, have never set foot in the building. Before I started, I had only been here once to see a rare book for my History dissertation. So I’m writing this blog post to give you an idea of what an internship at an archive might look like in practice.
Continue reading “The Lambton Archive – a summer internship”
A guest post by Liz Mytton, the first of our artist-facilitators in our #CreativeCosins summer workshop programme
“If the pandemic has taught me anything, it’s the value of moving freely. To travel, to shake hands and embrace. In the early months of lockdown last year, I remember driving to my shift (I was a part-time NHS worker at the time) and on observing the empty streets during what would have normally been rush hour, I felt like a character in some apocalyptic thriller – everyone had disappeared.
Continue reading “Libraries are not just for reading”
Welcome to the start of a new blog series called ‘Five From The Hive’! Librarians love many things, like books (especially the smell of old books ), food and running. Whilst restraining myself from bursting into song like Maria in ‘The Sound of Music’, one of our most favourite things is a list. We do love a good list. Whether it’s a top 5 or a to-do list, we don’t mind. Lists make us feel good! And organised! So, we thought we would put together this series where we can share our top 5 lists on library and Durham-related topics.
We are starting the series with ‘Top 5 Most Used EBooks (2021). The titles featured are the 5 most used individually used EBooks so far in 2021 (Titles from eBook Packages not included, and all information was correct at the time of writing).
Continue reading “Five From The Hive … Top 5 Most Used EBooks (2021)”
In the next of our series introducing members of staff, #DULibIntroducing welcomes University Library and Collections graduate interns Beth Hall and Elisabeth Prestgard. Beth and Elisabeth will be keeping us up to date with what they are up to over the coming months via the blog.
Continue reading “#DULibIntroducing Beth Hall and Elisabeth Prestgard”
Exams and assessment period. Self-care and wellbeing.
Two phrases that should go hand in hand, right?
We know what you’re thinking. “Wellbeing? Yeah, right – I don’t have time for that! I’ve got so much studying to do!”
But did you know that taking a break from your studies can actually be very beneficial? Believe it or not, breaks can help to have a positive impact on your productivity and help to boost your performance. Not to mention your wellbeing which, let’s face it, might have taken a bit of a battering over the last 12 months or so…
Continue reading “#DULibWellbeing Guide”
Over the course of the last couple of months I have been working the Durham Centre for Academic Development (DCAD) to produce an interactive online tutorial titled Your Reading List and Beyond.
This tutorial is part of ‘phase 2’ or our overall tutorial programme. Phase 1 was designed, constructed and delivered in 2020 and consists of 6 tutorials which are available individually, whilst also designed to fit together to support the needs of dissertation students, whilst been available to all as standalone tutorials.
Continue reading “Creating a tutorial”
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