Harris Manchester College Library, Oxford

Wonderful news. Our former student Johan Floderus has been freed, after 790 days held in Iran's Evin prison. He's on his way home to family and loved ones in Sweden. Grateful thanks to all those who supported and worked for his release.

Harris Manchester College Library, Oxford updated their business hours.

We are back from Vacation but the Library remains closed while planning for Hilary Term takes place. Updates will follow. The Click-and-Collect service is in operation and we are available via email to assist. Happy New Year!

Something fabulous for all history buffs...and who isn't? 😁

https://historycollections.blogs.sas.ac.uk/discover-collections/

Discover Collections - History Collections Discover Collections Discover Collections # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z # 100 Histories of 100 Worlds in 1 Object Find out how you can contribute to this grassroots project Find out more A Aga Khan Library, London Watch a short video about the Aga Khan Library’s historical ...

Masks are nothing new...a really pertinent post from the British Library found by out Antiquarian cataloguer Sophie

https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2020/10/wearing-a-face-mask.html

Wearing a face mask With the coronavirus pandemic we are all getting used to wearing facemasks in a range of public spaces from shops to transport. Yet whilst the wearing of masks feels very new to us it is not the first time that they have been employed as a form of protection during...

When you arrive in College do not get too excited...no a Ball is not imminent. The 3 lovely marquees you will see in the grounds are to provide extra lovely spaces for us all to mingle safely...no dress code required..except perhaps a hat, coat, vest and gloves!!.

We are looking forward to welcoming you all back. The Library is open for business...book in from the link below for a desk..make sure you wrap up warmly..we will have very good ventilation but no fleece blankets at the moment...

http://www.hmc.ox.ac.uk/library/the-tate-library/

We look forward to welcoming you back to the Library soon....when we know an exact date we will tell you. We know it will be strange..especially having to book a desk and clicking and collecting your books. Stan is particularly keen to see how funny/great/rude/entertaining your masks will be..not that that is a gauntlet you can hear hitting the floor....

I know some of you will be signing College contracts and getting battels bills and preparing to return and we are so looking forward to seeing you.

I have been doing some sorting in the archive today and came across this information...those were the days!!..

A handy page with lots of links and updates about the University and its response to Covid 19....I know you might feel swamped by information but this is useful for returning students, all staff and those who will newly arrive.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/coronavirus

Coronavirus | University of Oxford

https://youtu.be/ZIRMkBKi6Lo

How times have changed for the better..well done dear Bodleian Library..a light hearted moment in bleak times offering a great service..watch this space to find out about the planned HMC Library service delivery for next term.

Bodley and the Bookworms - Scan and Deliver Bodleian Librarians celebrate their re-instated and enhanced scanning service with a tribute to "Stand and Deliver" by Adam and the Ants introduced by Richar...

Do visit this website...a really great organisation looking at aspects of Oxford that are not usually considered...the uncomfortable ones...they have some really good virtual tours if you are missing the place already...

https://www.uncomfortableoxford.co.uk/

Open day today and tomorrow....if you are a mature student come along to the online Q&A this afternoon....1pm to meet staff and 2pm to meet students....here's the link for all the information...

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/virtual-open-day/harris-manchester-college

Harris Manchester College | University of Oxford Want to find out more about life at Harris Manchester College?Harris Manchester is unique among Oxford’s colleges. We are the only one which is dedicated solely to mature students (21+ with no upper age limit). We’re a small, friendly college which specialises in supporting students who may have...

Well this a strange last day of term!! As a lover of history I can appreciate we are living in unprecedented times...but I'd rather not!! Good luck to all the leavers...stay in touch and hopefully we can arrange a party for you all in College at some point. Thought I'd post one of my favourite pictures of the Library. Keep safe everyone and we look forward to all you returners and all the new students bringing life back to the old place in October.

I am sure you will all want to join me in wishing good luck to all the candidates in College starting their online Final exams today. Such exams and the whole process of revision are not easy at the best of times...so well done to you all.

We would have been gearing up for our own Artweeks exhibition in College in normal times...but do not despair...you can get a flavour of it here...'.Elements of earth: tactile treasures'.... featuring the work of the potter and ceramist Claude Aussage...enjoy!!

https://www.artweeks.org/galleries/2020/claude-aussage

Oxfordshire Artweeks Oxfordshire Artweeks is the UK’s biggest FREE artist open studios and pop-up exhibition event with amazing art in hundreds of wonderful places across the county.

Do you have some images which reveal the new reality of lock down where you are? Well you can send them to be part of an archive...see this web link below..

http://lwf.it.ox.ac.uk/s/lockdown/page/index

Home · Lest We Forget The events of 2020 are unprecedented in living memory and the impact on daily life at Oxford University of the CoVid19 pandemic is profound. We wish to capture the daily life of staff and students, what has changed, and what are their experiences. This project, run by IT Services and the Faculty of...

Artweeks in Oxfordshire has started...but in an online way...enjoy the exhibitions shown here...

https://www.artweeks.org/festival

Oxfordshire Artweeks Oxfordshire Artweeks is the UK’s biggest FREE artist open studios and pop-up exhibition event with amazing art in hundreds of wonderful places across the county.

I wish I knew who had created this as it is very good...must do something similar in the Library when we return...and see if anyone notices....a Christmas one would be fun. Welcome back to the start of term.

Are you a tidy worker when writing and studying?...Professor Lesley Smith will be writing furiously while on sabbatical leave next term...which starts on Monday 20th April..where did that lockdown go?...we look forward to welcoming you all back... somehow...keep safe.

Week 4 of the lockdown beginning here in the UK and we hope you are all safe and well. What better way to spend the time than to read some great literature...not sure Dexter is really helping Sue but I could be wrong!!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter...and a lovely picture to share with you of Sebastian's Easter study space..very M&S, John Lewis and IKEA altogether!! Stay safe and well everyone and we will be back in action on Tuesday

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/ #/

It's all really difficult at the moment to get access to all the material you need..but there is hope...a great site for textbooks free online from now until the end of June..thank you VitalSource...greatly appreciated x

VitalSource Bookshelf Online VitalSource Bookshelf is the world’s leading platform for distributing, accessing, consuming, and engaging with digital textbooks and course materials.

https://transcribegeorgianpapers.swem.wm.edu/

If you have some free time you might decide to try your hand at palaeography...nothing to do with dinosaurs I hasten to add,,...and a bit of transcribing...see the link

Transcribe Georgian Papers An ongoing project with the Georgian Papers Programme partners to transcribe this historic collection of documents relating to the Georgian monarchy.

Thought we'd have a change of theme..let's look at what people used to read..courtesy of our Antiquarian Book Cataloguer Sophie...thanks Sophie...anyone had any books bound for themselves recently?

French New Testament printed by Robert Estienne in 1552. Probably in it's original 16th century binding - possibly Dutch. Bound for an Iisbrant [capital i at beginning of name, i.e. iisbrant] Willemsen who has his name tooled in gold on the upper board and the date,1579, tooled on the lower board with an intricate gold panel stamp and clasps. This books was given to the Warrington Academy by the family of Samuel Stubbs, nonconformist minister at Lichfield, scholar and book collector who died at the young age of 38.

Michelle has sent a very lovely picture of a sunny day in her garden and of her reading (and drinking) at the moment..'Mudlarking' by Lara Maiklem...no, not a spin on gardening to make it attractive as a past time but a look at the fascinating things that can be found as the Thames recedes each day and you potter along the shoreline...but you can only do this if you have a Thames foreshore permit.. https://www.pla.co.uk/Environment/Thames-foreshore-permits something to consider maybe when restrictions on travelling are lifted.

Not sure any of you can beat this for utter delight ...thanks Emma for sharing this picture of you reading Troilus and Criseyde by Chaucer with your two lovely little companions Troilus and GusGus.

Now this is what I call planning...enough reading to survive 14 days isolation!! Well done Yizhou...look after yourself...come on everyone...you cannot all just be streaming YouTube ....someone must be reading something!!

Well Reuben Saxon you have set the bar a bit high...enjoying Nagel's 'What's it like to be a bat' in your spare time!!. Lovely to hear from you and I am sure our Professor of Philosophy will be very pleased. For those of you who like the sound of this question here are a few more details

'What Is It Like to Be a Bat?' was first published in The Philosophical Review in October 1974 and also in 'Mortal Questions' in 1979.

Thank you for this picture Dr Finlay...you look very absorbed indeed. If you are shy why not send us a picture of what you are reading for us to post? Stay safe and well everyone.