Library News

Image of a laptop and mobile device showing shelves of books

NEW Library training session: Reference management tools – an introduction

Friday, 28 August, 2020 - 08:41

Let’s get digital! Build your digital skills

Friday, 14 August, 2020 - 16:07

Library Services and OpenLearn have revised and refreshed the Badged Open Course (BOC), Digital skills: Succeeding in a digital world.

Library Search linking issues - 6th July 2020

Monday, 6 July, 2020 - 14:28

Update 7th July 2020: this has now been resolved and all links are now working.

We are aware of an issue currently affecting links to resources from Library Search.

Learning about PRIDE Month with Library Resources

Friday, 19 June, 2020 - 09:23

The library has a wealth of online resources for exploring LGBT+ history and we've picked out a few to share with you. OU login required.

Smiling person with laptop, taking notes

Keeping up with Coronavirus

Thursday, 28 May, 2020 - 09:55

Librarians are always concerned with citing the best sources and in times where info overload is a concern, knowing where to go for reliable information is important. We have created short, accessible videos to help point people in the right direction.

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (The Ditchley Portrait)

New purchase - State Papers Online

Tuesday, 12 May, 2020 - 08:20

The library has just licensed State Papers Online a collection of original manuscripts of government from Henry VIII to the death of Queen Anne. Widely regarded as the single most important research resource in this area

Help us improve our website

Wednesday, 22 April, 2020 - 15:39

We want to learn more about who uses our website, why they use our website and what their experience of it is. This is part of a project to help people find what they need more easily by improving the organization and labelling of the website.

Improvements to Library Search

Monday, 20 April, 2020 - 18:22

The OU Library is always trying to improve the results you can find in Library Search. To this end we have been working with Ex Libris (the company that provides Library Search) to give you an improved service.

Issues logging in to Library Search and Athens resources

Wednesday, 15 April, 2020 - 10:12

Update from Openathens: [Apr 15, 10:27 BST] All services are now functioning but we will continue to closely monitor to ensure no further issues occur.

A helping hand: OU Archive's donation to the NHS

Friday, 3 April, 2020 - 10:08

Protective wear items, including aprons and gloves, have been donated to the NHS to help protect staff treating patients in and around Milton Keynes during the current pandemic.

Publishers opening access in response to coronavirus

Thursday, 2 April, 2020 - 14:55

You might have become aware that in response to the coronavirus pandemic, many publishers have temporarily enabled access to more of their content.

Introducing our NEW Library Drop In sessions!

Friday, 20 March, 2020 - 15:49

We are excited to launch this new session which allows you to ask questions about using the OU Library!

Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Notice of Temporary Building Closure and Service Changes

Monday, 16 March, 2020 - 14:22

Due to Covid-19 (Coronavirus), Library services are experiencing some temporary changes to services.

Digital image of a book floating among blue numbers

The Right Stuff: Measuring impact of the resources we buy for the OU Library

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020 - 13:17

Congratulations to Alison Brock, E-Content Adviser in Library Services, who just published a fresh look at measuring the impact of Library resources. Her case study, Developing a reusable methodology to conduct a review of library resources, was published in the open access and peer reviewed journal UKSG Insights.

Completely Shelfless: The Archive at 50

Thursday, 19 December, 2019 - 09:45

This month we delve into the Open University Archive with Ruth and Matthew.

Completely Shelfless: What would you like to know?

Thursday, 28 November, 2019 - 11:30

This month we celebrate Student Voice week by inviting students to interview us!

Digital image of a brain, stars and deep space

Completely Shelfless is Back! New episode on ebooks

Thursday, 31 October, 2019 - 09:43

Student Shadows Visit the Library

Monday, 21 October, 2019 - 14:16

For this autumn's Student Shadow visit we welcomed two students. Mark and Amy got to meet many Library staff throughout the day, participate in meetings as well as takeover our social media accounts.

Issues with linking to newspaper articles in Nexis UK

Friday, 18 October, 2019 - 15:02

We are currently experiencing issues with links to the Nexis UK database from module materials.

The EBook Central platform will be down for maintenance this Saturday 19th October, 5-8pm UK time

Friday, 18 October, 2019 - 10:19

New Research Exhibition on the OU Digital Archive

Friday, 11 October, 2019 - 10:15

A new exhibition has launched on the OU Digital Archive, celebrating 50 years of Research at the University.

Table showing top 10 academic libraries on Twitter

OU Library listed in the top 5 most popular academic libraries

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019 - 13:56

Spear phishing targeting university libraries

Monday, 23 September, 2019 - 10:07

The Open University Library does not send emails about expired accounts or asking you to reactivate your library account. Hackers have been sending phishing messages claiming to be from university libraries asking useres to reactivate their account.