Ho ho ho! With Christmas nearly upon us, the Library has entered the festive spirit with our decorations and activities. Harcourt Hill and Headington have constructed some book ‘trees’ which have attracted a lot of positive comments. The ‘trees’ look fabulous, are environmentally friendly and were fun to build. (No books were harmed in the …
Books, chocs and lots for Wellbeing
Across all our libraries we have continued to work at providing wellbeing activities for our staff and students. World Book Day 8 March (all campuses) We celebrated by asking students in the libraries and online to submit your favourite book, via a little speech bubble card. Over the space of a day, we received nearly …
The 2019 Booker Prize for Fiction
On the evening of 14 October, the Vice Chancellor and I attended the awards ceremony at Guildhall in the City of London. We are invited because the archive of the Booker Prize is held at Brookes in the Library’s Special Collections and Archives. It is always a very enjoyable event and this year was no …
The future for academic libraries? Initial observations from my US research.
My recent research visit to the east coast of the US was informative for my Doctorate of Education thesis (on Academic library makerspaces) but also generally in how academic libraries are evolving in North America in terms of their services generally. The two main libraries at the large university (over 35,000 students) I visited offer …
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The science and business of spirits and beer
On Wednesday 6 December, Professor Katherine Smart will be giving a public lecture at Oxford Brookes University, including a free tasting session beforehand from Hook Norton Brewery and Toad distillery. The event is free and everyone is welcome to attend - students, staff and members of the public. Professor Katherine Smart’s stellar career brings together …
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Two special stories from Special Collections
Being involved with the University’s Special Collections is an interesting part of my wider role as an Academic Liaison Librarian. Brookes has some unique collections under five key themes: Food and drink Art and architecture Public and allied health Publishing and literary prizes Oxford Brookes University I am sometimes approached by members of the public …
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Summer Exhibition ICONS Results
Over summer 2019 we had our ICONS Exhibition displayed in the Welcome Desk area on Level 1 of the Library at Headington and across our other sites at Harcourt, Wheatley and Swindon. Inspiration for this exhibition was sparked by the BBC ICONS series shown at the beginning of the year. Along with posters and a Spotify …
KEF/ REF/ TEF update! What does it all mean…?
Recently attending an M25 academic libraries event (university libraries within the M25, and somewhat beyond in the case of some of us such as Brookes and Reading!) was an opportunity to catch up with ex Brookes colleagues and find out more on the above frameworks. The KEF: Knowledge Exchange Framework is designed by the Government …
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Drugs, intoxication and drug policy: beyond the headlines
Liviu Alexandrescu is a lecturer in Criminology at Oxford Brookes. Liviu's research interests sit at the crossroads of sociology, criminology and media/culture studies, with a strong focus on critical drug studies and social theory. In this Book Hook post, Liviu recommends five books on drugs and drug policy. All of Liviu's choices are available in our …
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Introducing online payments in LibrarySearch
Gone are the days when you had to trek into the JHB Library at Headington in order to make a payment for an interlibrary loan or wait for office hours in order to clear your fines. LibrarySearch has now been linked with the University's online payment system so that library charges can be paid online, …
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Library Exhibition Summer 2019: Icons
Come into the library this summer and have a look at our exhibition featuring many of the most important and influential men and women from the 20th century who helped shape our world... Would any of them class themselves as icons?... Now there’s a question.
Thinking about home, belonging and class
Sarah Franklin is a novelist and Senior Lecturer in Publishing at Oxford Brookes. In this Book Hook post, she recommends five books that explore the notion of home and class and what it means/takes to belong somewhere. These are all questions that preoccupy her, whether writing or teaching. What would you add to Sarah's list? …
Desert sandstorms, global pandemics and castles under attack!
Students co-operate to save the world on a Friday afternoon in the Library! You may have noticed something strange going on at the back of the Platform on Level 3 of the JHB Library on Friday 29 March… The Library has been collaborating with the award-winning Tabletop Gaming Society (Brookes Union Society of the Year …
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Pick up a crime novel
If you're looking for something new to read that gives you a bit of relief from your studies.... In this Book Hook post, our Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student and Staff Experience, Anne-Marie Kilday, offers some suggestions. Her role as Professor of Criminal History informs her choices... The Dry by Jane Harper Although I read this book …
Interested in learning more about book design and typography?
In this Book Hook post, Dr Sally Hughes, Principal Lecturer in Publishing shares her recommendations for books about typography and book design. Book typography: A designers' manual by Michael Mitchell and Susan Wightman "No one needs to go further than this as it is comprehensive, clearly designed, interesting to read, excellent examples and will both …
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Playing – not just for children!
Can playing games help you learn? What role does gaming have in higher education? A group of staff from Learning Resources went to find out at a workshop about using games for higher education on Monday 18th March. This proved to be a very informative and practical workshop. The workshop was led by Andrew Walsh, …
Introducing Book Hook
Earlier this month, our libraries marked World Book Day by asking staff and students to share details of their favourite books. Now, this got us thinking. At Oxford Brookes, we're surrounded by people researching all sorts of topics. What would happen if we asked some of these researchers to recommend some books, novels, films (anything really!) on a …
World Book Day at Oxford Brookes
Thursday 7 March was World Book Day and like true librarians, we celebrated it by asking you to submit, via a lovely little bubble card, your favourite book. Over the space of a day, we received nearly 80 completed bubbles and picked up some further suggestions on Twitter and Instagram. What makes a book a …
Getting organised – with the help of the Technology Experimentation Group
The Technology Experimentation Group was set up to encourage Brookes staff to discover and experiment with new digital tools and techniques - providing a safe space for playful exploration of technologies. The group runs regular ‘lunchbytes’ at Headington and 'brunchbytes' at our other campuses with a different theme each week. To find out more and …
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Happy 5th Birthday, JHB Library
Today (26 February 2019) is the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Headington Library in the John Henry Brookes Building. The former Headington Library (now totally unrecognisable as the Business School) closed for the final time on the evening of Friday 21 February 2014 and immediately the teams of professional book movers started to …
