Would you like to have input into the future of the Bodleian Libraries?

Bodleian Libraries are holding a series of meetings to consult with members of Congregation, students, and other readers on its proposed Strategic Plan for 2013-17.

Details of event times and locations are below. Please note that the first two meetings are intended principally as consultation with members of Congregation, while the final meeting is intended for students and is being coordinated with OUSU.

Consultation with members of Congregation
Wednesday 3 October, 3-5pm
Martin Wood Lecture Theatre, Martin Wood Complex, Department of Physics

Consultation with members of Congregation
Wednesday 24 October, 11am-1pm
Bernard Sunley Theatre, St Catherine's College, Manor Road

Consultation with students
Monday 29 October, 5-7pm
Martin Wood Lecture Theatre, Martin Wood Complex, Department of Physics

Please visit www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/strategicplanning2012 to access the current strategic plan and the proposed draft plan.

For any queries, please email communications@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Term time opening hours begin next week

From next Monday (1st October) we will revert to our term-time opening hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm; Saturday 10am-2pm.

Engage: Social Media Michaelmas

‘Engage:’ will offer a full term of social media and digital communications events around the University with the aim of helping an academic community of staff and students explore tools and strategies for building online presence, social networking and digital engagement. The organizing team (based in IT Services and the Bodleian Libraries with support from around the University) has a strong programme of events running throughout Michaelmas. This includes workshops on online presence and editing Wikipedia, classes on podcasting, image manipulation and copyright and lunchtime sessions on Facebook pages, Twitter for Academia, keeping up to date, etc. We hope to bring in a number of outside speakers to discuss areas such as using social media to improve your citation rankings, working with Creative Commons licensing and more. Alongside this will be offered a free ‘23 Things’ course. This self-directed online programme provides a framework for participants to explore 23 social media and digital communications ‘things’ over a period of ten weeks, building up skills in an online community of learners. There will also be a 23 Things Blog, so that those who would like to participate in the programme can use it to follow along and see who else in the University community is participating.

For more information, and to find out how to participate, see the Engage website.

New electronic resource: Congressional Record (and predecessors)

We're delighted to announce that we now have full text access to the electronic archives of the Congressional Record and its predecessors via ProQuest. This archive covers over 200 years of activities in Congress, from 1789-1999, including the verbatim text of debates in both the House and Senate from the beginning of the Congressional Record in 1873 onwards.

Access is now available via SOLO/OxLIP+.

Window cleaning, week beginning 10th September

The windows at the RAI will be being cleaned in the week beginning 10th September. This will include an internal clean within the library, but disruption should be minimal.

AKS collection 2012

This year's set of books purchased as part of the AKS collection have arrived and are now available in the library. Each year, the American Association of Rhodes Scholars generously pays for the library to purchase approximately 100 books in memory of Frank Aydelotte (first American Secretary of the Rhodes Scholarships), Paul Kieffer (President of the American Association of Rhodes Scholars, 1957-1969), and Courtney Smith (second American Secretary of the Rhodes Scholarships).

The books are kept on display by the entrance to the library for a year. Thereafter they are moved upstairs and shelved as part of the main collection.  The books currently on display separately can be identified by the prefix AKS to their shelfmark.

This year's acquisitions may be found on SOLO by searching for AKS in the shelfmark, or clicking on this link.

We are ever grateful to the American Association of Rhodes Scholars for funding this collection.