Since the successful cyberattack on the British Library in 2023, there has been no easy way to search for UK doctoral theses. Until now. The British Library has been working hard to restore access to its collections, including procuring a secure new platform and uploading the descriptions of UK theses into it. While the new platform does not offer digital copies of theses for download as the old platform did, it does host descriptions for 640,000 theses to date and provides links from many of these records to the institutional repositories of their awarding universities, from which you may be able to obtain copies of the full text.
Also, a quick potted history of what all our graduates are wearing. Blending fashions from the Medieval origins of the university education system with late nineteenth century American fashions, modern graduation dress and ceremonies have been hundreds of years in the making, and we're doubtless breaking new ground, establishing our own traditions that will seem as integral to graduation as the mortarboard in another hundred years!
Better browsing - getting the most from Edge and Chrome
The default browsing experience offered by modern browsers isn't for everyone. Bright, cluttered screens with unnecessary images and adverts can make web content unreadable for many people. Happily, for many websites, you can customise the look and feel with a couple of mouse clicks in modern browsers.
Both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome come bundled with features and free downloadable extensions that can turn your web browser into a screen reader, strip visually cluttered webpages back to simple text in your preferred font and colour scheme, and help you navigate and speed read pages with ease, and that's without using their built-in AI to translate, summarise or simplify page content.
If you are preparing to come to university or looking to apply through clearing, it is never too soon to think about what additional needs you might have. There are lots of ways the University Library can help you to learn and thrive academically and in your career if you have found struggling to read the printed word holds you back. Whether you have physical difficulty reading books, have a visual impairment, or have dyslexia or some other diverse neurotype that makes reading harder, your friendly library team is here to help!
A tale of African diaspora, self-discovery, and football
Alumnus and author Forence Mukiria presents her debut novel about a boy from a Maasai village in Africa selected for a football scholarship who travels to Manchester, experiencing culture shock, technological wonders, and a journey of self-discovery along the way. If you enjoy the preview, you can find copies of Florence's book to borrow and enjoy now in the Library.
Three Wagner operas as you've never seen them before
The latest exhibition from our Rare Books collection is now on display up the wooden stairs on the first floor of the Library. On display now on the first floor Library landing showcases the poetic interpretation of three of Wagner's operas by Irish poet, critic, and journalist Thomas William Hazen Rolleston, illustrated by the prolific American-Hungarian artist Willy Pogány.
These books are just a few of the many wonderful illustrated books and works of graphic art, architectural imagination, natural history illustration and more that are here for you to request, use in the Library and photograph for use in your work. Preservation concerns force us to keep them stored under controlled conditions, and we absolutely love it when students use these rare and fascinating works of literature, architecture, design and illustration to delve more deeply into their subjects. Ask us about what rare books we have for your subject!
