With exams and deadlines and other miscellaneous stresses looming large of late, as a form of light relief we thought it might be nice to share what we are currently reading and/or watching in our spare time. After a brief and quite literal dash around the office in the Bill Bryson Library, here’s a selection of responses:
Continue reading “What are we watching and/or reading?”
By Graduate Intern Nancy Harber
Exam season is a familiar beast. Though admittedly many of the staff members here at the Bill Bryson Library have not met that beast head on in years, it’s not an experience that you easily forget.
The library has been filled (almost) to the brim these last few weeks with our students, just wanting to get their heads down and lock into the study zone. Seats have been sat in, study rooms have been constantly occupied, and when the sun decides to shine at midday our students congregate on the steps outside the library doors, soaking up some well-deserved Vitamin D and having a natter.
Continue reading “WellBEEing”
A post by Graduate Intern Nancy Harber
According to Wikipedia, ‘Blue Monday’ (or, the most depressing day of the year) is calculated using an actual equation. The formula uses many factors, including W (weather), T (time since Christmas), Q (time since the failure of new year’s resolutions), and Na (the feeling of needing to take action). Some have dismissed this theory as pseudoscience, but clearly those people have never faced the bitter cold months of winter in the North of England.
Continue reading “Blind date with a book”
A post by Sarah Cleeve
Optimistic climate scientists, “doughnut” economics, problem-solving fungi and rewilding are some of the topics on a newly-created Talis reading list: “Greenspace: reading on environment and sustainability”. This is now available to anyone in the university community wishing to know how best to navigate the often overwhelming problems of environmental sustainability while keeping a sense of wellbeing.
Continue reading “New library reading list for Greenspace hopes to deliver wellbeing boost”
At Durham University Library, supporting teaching, learning and research is our key objective – and our collections strongly reflect this. One area of our collections we have wanted to develop further is books for leisure reading and wellbeing.
Durham University Library and Collections is there for all staff and students, across all departments and faculties. We have been asked many times over the years if we had a general fiction section or popular magazines. Now we can say that we do!
Continue reading “Exploring the Libby App: Enhancing Durham University Library’s Leisure Reading and Wellbeing Collection”
We know the cost of living is an increasing concern for many of our staff and students, with the University providing a range of advisory and support services both centrally and through colleges.
We want to help to support you as much as we can, and so we’ve highlighted a number of services and initiatives that we already have in place, which we hope will help in the current financial situation.
These are available to all Durham staff and students, giving you free access to some of our amazing resources.
Continue reading “Cost of Living: How DULib can support you”
Promoting student wellbeing is always high on the agenda for us (see previous blog about self-care and wellbeing 😊). Particularly during Easter term, where pressures, anxieties and stress levels increase for many, thanks to the impending exam and assessment period. Planning study time, revision, getting enough sleep, eating well, taking breaks – all massively important but we know that sometimes, it can feel quite overwhelming to fit everything in.
To try and help with this, we’ve developed a schedule of wellbeing events and activities throughout May, kicking off with a visit last Wednesday during Deaf Awareness Week from the wonderful Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
Continue reading “Delightful dogs visit the Billy B”
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”
Easter Term, also known as the exams and assessment period (we’re sure there are plenty of other names for it too!) can be stressful at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a global pandemic. The way in which teaching and exams are being done is different; we’re all still affected by the lockdown restrictions (although happily easing in line with the Government’s roadmap) and all of us, students and staff, are getting to grips with these changes in the way we operate and study on or off campus.
Continue reading “Easter Term at University Library and Collections”
As we lead up to Christmas, we’ve given over this post to Sarah Hyland and Katie Skellett, who have been forcefully injecting Christmas cheer across Library and Collections staff, who have worked hard across 2020 to get services up and running, buildings back open and reading materials available online.
“We probably don’t need to say this but what a year it has been! Normally we would be decorating the offices and you wouldn’t be able to see people or books for tinsel and Christmas trees. We would also be having staff parties, Christmas cracker relays and sharing delicious Christmas treats that the bakers amongst us had whipped up. This year is obviously a bit different but the University Library and Collections Staff Development Group still wanted to try to do something to bring colleagues together. We wanted to share a bit of Christmas cheer and help to make people feel festive – wherever they are just now. So, we came up with the “12 activities of Christmas”. It started on Monday 30th November and ran until Tuesday 15th December – culminating in a virtual Christmas quiz party!”
Continue reading “12 Activities of Christmas: Library Staff Challenge”
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