The Bodleian Libraries (BODcasts)

Introduction to the Masterclass by Professor Henrike Laehnemann, Chair of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics, University of Oxford. On the 22nd January 2016 the Bodleian hosted a masterclass from Professor Henrike Laehnemann, Chair of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics. The class examined manuscripts made in the Cistercian convent of Medingen during the late 15th century.

Richard Ballam talks about the rich collections of games and pastimes he has recently donated to the Bodleian, the subject of the display Playing with History. Playing with History celebrates Richard Ballam's donation to the Bodleian of his rich and varied collection of games and pastimes. This small selection of items from the wider collection gives us insights into the presentation of history to children, and the ways in which they were encouraged to engage with contemporary issues, such as War and Empire through game play.

A talk delivered by Andrew Green at the Anybook Oxford Libraries Conference 2015 - Adapting for the Future: Developing Our Professions and Services, 21st July 2015. In the research library of the future the provision of services, many of them new, will eclipse the traditional care of collections -- or at least the care of what is termed 'common collections'. 'Distinctive collections', though, will increase in prominence, and become the basis for new activity. Research libraries, and especially these distinctive collections, will increasingly look beyond the home institution, and beyond academia, for their future uses.

A talk delivered by Jan Wilkinson at the Anybook Oxford Libraries Conference 2015 - Adapting for the Future: Developing Our Professions and Services, 21st July 2015. Previous organisational development (strategy, structure, skills) for the University of Manchester Library has delivered some rewarding, and very necessary, results. Many old challenges have been addressed, and the Library is now enjoying a very positive profile within the University. A renewed ambition and energy emerged amongst staff during our strategic planning 2013-17, leading to a new approach to both strategy process, and implementation. We have just completed our first year of 'Leading, Challenging and Connecting'. Success in our newly stated aspirations will depend, not only on professional project management, but also on a concerted effort to increase innovation and risk-taking across the organisation. Jan will share the ways in which the Library is taking a hard look at its current culture, and plans to move the Library from good to great through creativity, liberation, and fun!

A talk delivered by Clem Brohier at the Anybook Oxford Libraries Conference 2015 - Adapting for the Future: Developing Our Professions and Services, 21st July 2015. Clem will talk about The National Archives as an organisation, and about the current activities taking place across the archives sector. He will discuss the challenges identified by the sector and how The National Archives is responding to them. He will outline The National Archives' new four-year strategic priorities and its aims to support the archives sector, as well as the challenges and opportunities faced by the digital age for the sector.

A talk delivered by Paul Cavanagh and James Kay at the Anybook Oxford Libraries Conference 2015 - Adapting for the Future: Developing Our Professions and Services, 21st July 2015. Universities face the challenge of providing high quality services which meet the demands of users to provide access to more varied resources in a rapidly changing technological environment. This is balanced against the increasing costs of resources and a political and sector-wide institutional need to manage and better account for library budgets. This talk will focus on how the University of Derby is using statistical and decision-based tools to manage and plan library resources effectively; collaborating with publishers, academics, colleagues within the Library and across the library and information sector to develop continuing best practice through evidence-based decision making.

Keynote lecture by Margreta de Grazia, (Emerita Sheli Z. and Burton X. Rosenberg Professor of the Humanities, University of Pennsylvania) for the Marginal Malone conference held in Oxford on June 26th, 2015. Introduction by Tiffany Stern, Professor of Early Modern Drama, Faculty of English, University of Oxford

What do geniuses have in common, across the arts and sciences? And how do we distinguish genius from talent? Andrew Robinson, author of Genius: A Very Short Introduction, considers (a little of) the evidence.

A lunchtime lecture by Julie-Anne Lambert accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. The John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera is one of the lesser-known collections of the Bodleian. This talk discusses why and how was it formed, what ephemera are, and how can they contribute to our understanding of history.

Lunchtime lecture by Will Poole accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Henry Savile (1549-1622) founded at Oxford in 1619 the two Professorships that still bear his name, one in Astronomy, the other in Geometry. He equipped his professors with a library, which they in turn augmented down the centuries, and that library was transferred to the Bodleian itself in 1884. The Savilian books therefore comprise one of the most historically significant scientific libraries in the West.