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? …
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 …
Continue reading Desert sandstorms, global pandemics and castles under attack!
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 …
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 …
Continue reading Interested in learning more about book design and typography?
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Continue reading Getting organised – with the help of the Technology Experimentation Group
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 …
Teachers create reading lists to tell students which are the best books and then students read the books on the list and learn about their subject. That is what reading lists are for - it’s all very simple really! Or is it? To properly address this question we first need to ask some more fundamental …
Special Collections is pleased to present its third annual Library Exhibition. This year’s exhibition features items from our newest collection - The Steve Hare Penguin Books Collection. Steve Hare (1950-2015) was a doctoral student at Oxford Brookes’ Oxford International Centre for Publishing, an author, researcher, journalist, and collector of Penguins. Following his death, Steve’s family …
Continue reading Special Collections Exhibition – The Steve Hare Penguin Books Collection
We are pleased to announce that our new LR User Group met for the first time this week. Chaired by Professor Anne-Marie Kilday, the group includes representatives from across our faculties and directorates. With the objectives of being a sounding board and critical friend, we look forward to working with our colleagues from across the …
Happy New Year! In the run-up to Christmas, we asked you to decorate our Christmas trees by filling out baubles with what you wanted more of and what you found frustrating about using the Library. We had a good response, especially at Headington where nearly 70 baubles were hung on the tree. A whiteboard was …
People who work in libraries love talking to other people who work in libraries about good ideas and good professional practice. And school libraries and school librarians are key to helping pupils learn and succeed, both at school and in later study and life (as the #GreatSchoolLibraries campaign is currently pointing out!) So when I …
At this time of year we do get a couple of comments about seat bagging in the Library. Most students find it immensely frustrating trying to find a seat only to discover that many spaces have belongings but no person in them! We have tried a number of things to combat hogging: trialling auto-log out of …
The nights are drawing in and exams are approaching, so for Disability History Month we're compiling a Spotify playlist of uplifting tunes to help beat the winter blues. Submit your suggestions on Twitter or Instagram using #BeatTheWinterBlues Tune in, grab a cosy blanket and a cuppa and enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/user/oxfordbrookeslibrary/playlist/3GywrkWfFo1HQOlLsyHnGX?si=PsAWBO5XSLigVvDBgJN5GA -- Jayne Stuart (Graphic Designer)
We do like hearing back from users of the Library. It's really helpful to know what works well and what causes frustration. At Headington, we have 'Tell us what you think' forms that are available for anyone to complete. We tend to get a range of comments from good, 'excellent reservation service' and 'thank you …
Earlier in October we hopped on board the Libraries Week bandwagon and offered a range additional activities that might provide five minutes relief from essays and assignments. We provided activities ranging from grown-up colouring in pictures to zentangles (structured pattern drawings) to jigsaw puzzles and fiction freebies. We also created a new (small) space that …
Continue reading Wordsearch, puzzles and other wellbeing things
At the end of last semester we asked you to provide some tips for first year students. We had some great responses from across all the sites. Some were highly practical ('read the books') while others were more esoteric ('Pain is temporary, pride is forever'). In general the tips you provided broke down into broad …
Continue reading Tell us your ONE library tip for first years
Delivery from the Easter Bunny We asked students at Headington, Wheatley and Harcourt Hill to fill in postcards saying: Dear Easter Bunny, I’d love it if the Library could… The feedback we received was fabulously varied and we got excellent responses from across the three sites. (Swindon feedback coming soon!). The general themes of the …
Making the best use of Library resources
The Scholarly Communications Team @ Oxford Brookes University Library
