With the imminent move of Wheatley Campus Library to Headington, we’ve been reflecting on the Library’s bygone days and exploring some of the artefacts from its 60-year history. The silver trowel This silver trowel was used in the Ceremony of the Stone held on 26 September 1964 to mark the setting of the foundation stone …
Continue reading Wheatley Campus – Treasures from the archive
What's happening? The university will be moving its remaining activity from the Wheatley campus during the summer vacation. But what is happening to the library? The books, journals and dissertations that are currently held in the Wheatley Library will be transferred to the Headington Library. It’s been a big project at Headington, making space for …
Continue reading How will the closure of Wheatley campus affect library services?
The largest building on Headington campus (and home of Headington library) is the John Henry Brookes building, or JHB to its friends. But who was John Henry Brookes? John Henry Brookes, OBE (1891-1975) was an English craftsman, artist, educator and administrator. His art training and craft workshop experience encouraged him to apply for and secure …
This week, Charlie reviews The Sentinel by Lee Childs. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "Brampton picked up the book in the charity shop. She knew people loved Jack Reacher thrillers but had never read one. Until now. There is lots of action. And fights. And curious verb-less short sentences. Brampton had …
This week, Sandra reviews Touching the void by Joe Simpson. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "My admiration for alpine mountaineering drew me to this book. It's a gripping true account of Joe and Simon's successful attempt to be the first to reach the summit of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian …
This week, Robert reviews Cardiff, by the sea by Joyce Carol Oates. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "It's always great to discover a 'new' author you like who has actually been around for quite a while and has written a lot! On a recent trip to my local library in Maidenhead where …
This week, Annabel reviews Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "I’ve been dabbling in translated fiction recently, inspired by the International Booker Prize, with varying levels of success. The first book I read, The Discomfort of Evening – winner in 2020, was enough to …
Continue reading What are we reading: Before the coffee gets cold
This week, John reviews Black Victorians / Black Victoriana by Gretchen Gerzina. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "I borrowed this specifically for the chapter on ‘Pablo Fanque, Black Circus Proprietor’ (Beatles aficionados will understand). Fanque, real name William Darby, was clearly an impressive fellow, rising through the ranks during the 1830s …
Continue reading What are we reading: Black Victorians/Black Victoriana
Brookes Union have surveyed Black and BIPOC students as part of their Mind the Gap campaign. Some of those surveyed noted a lack of diverse content and literature. In response, the Library has strived to deliver more diverse resources - but we need you to tell us how we’ve done, and what we can do …
Continue reading Equality, Diversity & Inclusion – we need your views!
Normally, we use our What we are reading feature to share a single book that one member of the library team has enjoyed. But we've scaled things up for Black History Month! This post focuses exclusively on Black writers; and gives us an opportunity to share our discoveries of Black authors, old and new, with …
Continue reading What are we reading: Black History Month special
This week, Gerard reviews Aviatrix by Elinor Smith. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "Elinor Smith was a precocious pilot, having gained a flying licence at the age of just 16 in 1927. She almost lost said pilot's licence in late 1928 when, for a bet, she flew underneath all four …
This week, Hazel reviews The Promise by Damon Galgut. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "My book group's just read the 2021 Booker Prize winner, Damon Galgut's The Promise. I thought it was brilliant. I don't know his work at all but his evocation of pre- and post-apartheid South Africa through …
Oxford Brookes Library has thousands of ebooks available to read, wherever you are. But it’s not always easy to know where to start. To complement your module reading lists, we’ve been gathering together great ebooks you may not have seen yet, on a range of themes. Since it's Green Libraries Week this week, we wanted to highlight …
This week, Maureen reviews The draw of the sea by Wyl Menmuir. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "Focused mainly on Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, this beautifully written book recently won the Roger Deakin Award. Although I am a fan of Roger's classic Waterlog, I loved The draw …
This week, Saffron reviews The book of tea by Okakura Kakuzo. Find out more about our What we are reading series here. "I'm re-reading this book I read about 10 years ago and loved. It was written by a Japanese author in 1906 at a time when East and West were starting to get to …
We have an internal library newsletter (LR Bulletin) that gets emailed to all library staff each Thursday. This includes links to minutes of recent meetings, news of upcoming training events and details of any staff changes. Useful, but not necessarily fun or interesting. So, a few years ago, some of our team decided to introduce …
Last year, Brookes Union published Mind the Gap, a report that summarises the results of two online surveys. The survey results offered insight into the experiences of Black and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) students on campus. The report recommended: implement(ing) diverse and representative reading lists… adopting a lens outside of Eurocentric academia …
Hot on the heels of DORA turning 10, there’s another anniversary for Open Science advocates to commemorate. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) turned 20 on 12 May 2023, and indexes (you guessed it!) open access journals. The DOAJ was launched in the wake of the Budapest Open Access Initiative - a declaration to …
Continue reading The Directory of Open Access Journals has turned 20!
As many who visit Harcourt Hill library will be aware, the School experience centre (SEC) is housed on the lower floor of that Library. Home to thousands of wonderful, educational resources, ranging from picture books to musical instruments and specially made resource kits for teaching purposes, the SEC is a valuable centre for all those …
Continue reading What’s happening in the School Experience Centre?
LibrarySearch is an excellent place to start any search for information. LibrarySearch works most effectively when you are looking for material held by Brookes, such as a print or electronic book on a module reading list, or an article within a journal to which we subscribe. The strengths of LibrarySearch are that it integrates with …
Continue reading Why going global might mean going beyond LibrarySearch
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