To some ‘Doing Outreach’ might sound more like a points-winner in Strictly Come Dancing than a legitimate pursuit for an academic institution, yet it is not only legitimate but essential to what we do. Outreach is the means by which we share with our community and the wider world what we teach, what we research and, of particular relevance to us in UCL Library Services, the treasures we care for.  It is relevant to everyone, regardless of their role in the university, as it not only demonstrates our value but also gives us the opportunity to bring together people who previously shared nothing but curiosity, but might go on to solve problems and create new knowledge.

So for anyone who has ever considered putting a toe in the Outreach water but has yet to go further, here is a brief insider view of a recent event.

The Bloomsbury Festival is an annual enterprise:

“a five-day celebration of the area’s pioneering creativity. Presenting an inspiring programme of arts, science, literature, performance, discussion and reflection, each October the Festival shines a light on the radical imaginations, institutions, and 11,000 residents that shape contemporary Bloomsbury.”

UCL has supported the Festival since it began in 2006, and for the second time was the Saturday Hub, bringing together most of the festival events for that day on the main UCL campus. The stalls were a mixture of UCL research-focused presentations and outside businesses, with street food, music and dance provided by the Festival organisers. Traditionally the Festival has a theme – a broad concept such as ‘Light’ or ‘Language’ or (for this year) ‘Independence’. This gives a useful focus for planning an event, but is sufficiently flexible to encompass many interpretations.

Like many outreach projects, our event (Telling Tales of Independence) developed somewhat organically and we finally focused on aspects of the personal independence made possible through reading, creativity and performance. Sam Duncan, IOE Senior Lecturer in Adult Education and Literacies, discussed her Reading Aloud in Britain Today research with visitors, and invited them to contribute to her data collection by completing surveys or signing up for interviews. Theo Bryer, (Lecturer in IOE’s Culture, Communication and Media Department) and Rebecca Wilson (IOE ICT Teaching Support Analyst), both recently returned from introducing ‘agile film making’ with iPads in a variety of schools in India, presented some of the films and a poster explaining the project.  For younger visitors, performer Laura Mitchison (of community interest company On the Record) read aloud from story books from the IOE Curriculum Resources Collection, and children (and in more than a few cases grownups) were able to explore their creativity by making puppets and designing for them superpowers or award-winning talents.

The weather, a crucial factor in outreach endeavours such as the Bloomsbury Festival, was not kind and led to last minute changes in the positioning of stalls and performances. Even so 3790 visitors came through the Gower Street gates of the UCL campus, and another 1242 came to the Institute of Making. There were 30 stalls set up in and around the North and South Cloisters, and 26 performances took place during the day.

So what did we learn about Doing Outreach from our Telling Tales of Independence experience? Here are a few of the many lessons:

1. Prepare to be flexible. One of the excitements (and challenges) of one-off outreach events such as Telling Tales of Independence is the unknown. You have to be prepared to throw your best-laid plans to the wind, and do what works when circumstances dictate. Our planned story times, for example became ‘stories on demand’ when we realized that arrangement was more suited to the flow of visitors.
2. Being part of a large mixed event rather than an individual one might take you out of your comfort zone if you like familiar surroundings and control over arrangements, but it will bring in more visitors, have wider reach, and enable you to meet fellow ‘outreachers’.
3. 11am to 5pm feels a lot more than 6 hours when you are presenting an outreach event. Arrange for reinforcements for the later part of the day if possible.

And what did we feel we achieved? Well based on the conversations held, the surveys completed, the puppets created and the stories enjoyed, it seemed visitors appreciated and engaged. We hope they left with a better understanding of what UCL is about and enthusiasm for the possibilities presented. Introductions were made – with UCL colleagues, with visitors, with perhaps potential students – that might one day lead to something that would not have happened if we had not ‘outreached’. So on reflection, a worthwhile day’s work.

Spooky and one hopes eminently informative goings-on will be taking place at History Day on Halloween this year.  Starting at 10:00 and finishing at 16:00 on Tuesday 31^st October, the event is based at Senate House.  Along with research clinics and panel sessions on digital history, public history and discovery in libraries and archives, we will have an expanded open history fair showcasing a veritable plethora of libraries, archives and organisations.  Naturally, UCL Library Services will be represented, with colleagues from Special Collections, the Institute of Education, Huguenot and SSEES libraries staffing our stands, with the latter certainly getting into the swing of celebrating “all that is scary, eerie and magical in libraries and archives”.

Please alert anyone you feel may benefit from attending.  The intended audience is really postgraduate students and early career researchers, however, undergraduates and many others with a general interest in history should certainly find the day illuminating and may make some useful contacts.  Registration is necessary via book my free ticket.

Participating organisations: Archives Hub, Jisc; Archives Portal Europe; Black Cultural Archives; US History collections at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford; British Library; British Records Association; Brunel University Special Collections; Business Archives Council; CILIP Library & Information History Group; CILIP Local Studies Group; Caird Library and Archive, National Maritime Museum; Conway Hall; Dana Research Centre and Library, Science Museum; Engineering Institutions’ Librarians Group; The Feminist Library; FLA: the Feminist and Women’s Libraries and Archives Network; Geological Society Library; German Historical Institute Library; Gladstone’s Library; Goldsmiths University of London (Special Collections); Guildhall Library; Heinz Archive and Library, National Portrait Gallery; Historic England Archive & Library; History of Parliament; History UK; Institute of Historical Research Library; King’s College London Library Services; The King’s Fund, Information & Knowledge Services; Lambeth Palace Library; Library of the Society of Friends; Lindley Library, Royal Horticultural Society; The Linnean Society of London; London Metropolitan Archives; LSE Library; The National Archives; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Royal Astronomical Society Library & Archives; Royal College of Nursing Library and Archives; Royal College of Physicians Library and Archives; Royal Holloway, University of London; The Royal Society, Collections; Senate House Library; SOAS Library; Society of Antiquaries Library and Collections; St Peter’s House Library, University of Brighton; The Stationers’ Company Archive; TUC Library Collections at London Metropolitan University; UCL Library Services; UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) Library; University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) – Archive Collections; University of Westminster Archives; The Warburg Institute Library; Wellcome Library

The annual Higher Education (HE) Conference took place last week at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, in the shadow of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I attended to learn more about how HE policy is changing, as both Brexit and the focus on student fees in the recent General Election are continuing to impact on the future of universities. There were a range of speakers, from HEFCE, universities, suppliers and experts in education. Below are some highlights from 2 key speeches by the Chief Executive of HEFCE (1) and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham on new ways of thinking about the role of universities as educators (2), as well as a summary of a panel discussion on life for universities after Brexit (3). I will post separately on a learning spaces workshop led by a US furniture supplier, based on their research and experiences of fitting out learning spaces.

 

 

1. Keynote Address, Prof Madeleine Atkins, Chief Executive of HEFCE

HEFCE is the body which currently funds and regulates universities and colleges in England; from next year it will be replaced by the Office for Students.

The Chief Executive of HEFCE set out 4 main themes:

• Brexit
• Industrial Strategy
• Social Mobility
• The Student Interest

 

• Brexit concerns
  • Rights of EU staff and researchers
  • Relationships and partnerships with EU institutions
  • Funding

Prof Atkins indicated that whilst there are (many) challenges, there is also a significant “Brexit opportunity”, namely that the UK as a country, may be able to define an international strategy for research partnerships, which was not possible or practical eithin the EU. An early example perhaps was Jo Johnson, as Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, signing a £60m agreement with the US Department of Energy’s for the LBNF/DUNE neutrino programme in late September: http://news.fnal.gov/2017/09/uk-commits-88-million-lbnfdune-first-ever-umbrella-science-agreement-u-s/.

(Whether or not this agreement was helped by Brexit is open to question, but there is a sense that research institutions in the UK are thinking very seriously about which countries and institutions we wish to make or grow partnerships with.)

 

• Industrial Strategy

Prof Atkins expected that the White Paper for the new Industrial Strategy was due around the time the Budget comes out on 22/11. The UK Government is determined that research, knowledge exchange and commercialisation undertaken by HE institutions (HEIs) should increasingly be linked and be seen to be linked to the priorities identified in the Industrial Strategy. She referred to a HEFCE-managed £100m boost provided by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for industrial priorities as well as an additional £100m capability fund to support university-to-university partnership for innovation.

Apprenticeships should be seen as part of this broad Industrial Strategy, with many apprenticeships being created in Engineering/STEM areas.

Advent of new T-level (Technical) qualifications coming alongside A-levels: Prof Atkins suggested that HEIs need to think about equivalence of qualifications, so that in due course a “climbing frame of opportunities” enables students to move from secondary education to Further Education into HE.

 

• Social Mobility

Prof Atkins reiterated that social mobility is an absolute priority for the current government. She outlined how HEFCE has been supporting this, for instance through a collaborative outreach programme, working with 25 consortia with schools and local communities. This initiative is taking action at ward level, looking at school outcomes based on student results at 16.

The full impact of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and its use of student background data has yet to be determined. Prof Atkins speculated that this data being made public would shape how providers are perceived, in terms of the reality of widening participation. Future use of these data will become very important, helping to give much more sophisticated answers to “what works in social mobility?”.

Better information and better careers guidance for students is a priority for OfS.

HEFCE is looking to develop a toolkit for learning gain in curriculum (identifying metrics and effectiveness of curricula). HEFCE has agreed over £4m of investment in this area, expect OfS will continue with this investment. For more information, see HEFCE’s webpages dedicated to learning gain and current pilots.

Finally, Prof Atkins referred to the emphasis made by Nicola Dandrige, the incoming Chief Executive of the Office for Students (OfS) in a speech to the NUS on 09/10: “the OfS will be the champion of students and the taxpayer, not the friend of institutions.”

[See also this recent report from HEPI (August 2017): Where next for WP and fair access?, which was mentioned during the conference]

 

• Student Interest

The traditional view of young 18-yo F/T student as the default model for universities is becoming increasingly obsolete.

Whilst the percentage of 18 year olds in education has been generally rising, there has been close to a 60% drop in Part-Time mature students; at the same time, in-house training is declining. Prof Atkins suggested that the sector needs to consider how the Apprenticeship levy can be used to support people in employment as part of CPD.

 

Opportunities and Challenges

• Teaching excellence and student outcomes
• REF 2021
• Related initiatives

 

Teaching excellence and  Student outcomes

Sir Michael Barber, who will be Chair of the OfS, sees TEF as part of the “Golden Age” which he expects to introduce. For his full speech to Universities UK, see UUK’s website.

TEF structure retained for Year 3 TEF (specification published last week, on DfE website)

In order to gauge to progress of HEIs in preparing students for employment, LEO (Longitudinal Employment Outcomes Survey) will be used as a metric in the new TEF. ProfAtkins added that Subject-Level TEF is progressing: pilots are recruiting for panellists and assessors now. It will be rolled out across the UK in Year 5, i.e. 2019-20.

 

REF 2021

Prof Atkins described a number of decisions recently agreed by HEFCE:

• Impact weighting goes up
• Each area will include a member of the panel focused on multi-disciplinary research
• Entries will be allowed to demonstrate how they support activity outside of the university
• Impact in teaching will be allowed, including impact within the institution

HEFCE webinar and blog floated suggestion that portability of outputs could be resolved for 2021 by some double-counting as a transitional method, i.e. both originating and new institutions eligible to submit.

 

Joint Agendas: OfS and Research England responsibilities

• Postgraduate
• Knowledge exchange
• Infrastructure funding
• Health of disciplines
• Sustaining the research base
• Research degree awarding powers
• Interface between TEF and REF

 

Related initiatives

• Learning Gain Programme
• Degree Apprenticeships
• Institute of Technology
• Expansion of medical places
• Connecting Capability Fund
• Research Partnership Investment Fund
• Local Growth Academy programme (sending representatives to the next iteration of Academy programme, to address the need of HE institutions to work more closely with regions/sub-regions, NHS, etc.) to address precise regional needs in social mobility or industrial and skills needs

 

2. Should we be Educating just Brains or Whole People in HEIs, Sir Antony Seldon (VC, University of Buckingham)

New paper published on “The Positive University” [See also caveats on wonkhe: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/beware-of-the-positive-university/]. The University of Buckingham is regularly ranked as best in the UK for student satisfaction (in fact, it has been top or second every year since 2011 – see, for instance,

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/student-life/Studies/buckingham-university-named-best-in-the-uk-for-student-satisfaction-a7006276.html or https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/universities/top-5-uk-universities-for-student-satisfaction-2018/?entry=1)

Sir Antony, Vice-Chancellor at Buckingham, is also a contemporary historian, educationalist, commentator and political author. He makes 10 recommendations in his new book about transition between school and university. He described the 10 points in his talk, which was well presented, posed challenging questions to reflect on and was at times caustic towards leaders and managers in the HE sector, particularly around the need to speak out and act as a critical friend of government, rather than slavishly following policy. As noted above, some caveats have been raised against the moralistic aspects of positive psychology.

1) Need to ensure staff are contented, so that they can fulfil role in supporting mental health and pastoral care for students, as well as having fulfilling lives.

2) The VC of Buckingham questioned why there is a paradox currently, where British universities have never been more successful but public opinion on universities has never been so low

2) Universities are called “Higher Education Institutions”: too often, the focus on the “H” detracts from universities’ role as educators

3) What does “education” mean? to lead out / to draw out what is inside. HE has narrowed down intelligence to 2 of the 8 types of intelligence (see Howard Gardner, Harvard). Focus on linguistic and logical intelligence. Sir Antony argued that universities need to also develop emotional intelligence, social intelligence, cultural intelligence, kinaesthetic intelligence, moral intelligence, spiritual intelligence.

Not about teaching to the tests: schools that prioritise roundedness see their results increase. Those that prioritise results, see decline.

4) UK has extraordinary universities but need real leadership to help them grow and thrive. Universities are narrow. Universities are mainly driven for academics; academic subjects need to be re-booted to their radical roots.

5) Rebellion about universities; government is coming in and insisting on the TEF. In critiquing TEF, Sir Antony contended that it is mechanistic, not looking at learning, more focused on teaching, little learning from abroad, little learning from schools. Sir Antony recognised that there was a need to address education in universities, but does not believe TEF is the right approach.

6) VC pay case playing out over the summer was not persuasive for VC salaries; in contrast with other university staff pay

7) Subjects need to be re-oriented to radical roots, not shaped around academics’ career needs

8) All students should do volunteering

Everybody should be taught virtues: performance virtue (see Jubilee Centre for performance, Birmingham); Civic virtues, Moral. All students should be taught entrepreneurship. Everybody should be taught leadership.

9) The positive university. General mental health crisis response was to get more counsellors, but that is insufficient – need to also think about how to develop personal efficacy and resilience. Mindfulness is one way that we can learn.

10) The British HE sector is outstanding. Contribution of universities to local communities as well as to public perception of Britain abroad is boundless. Sector needs to lead more strongly, to be clearer on the benefits of our sector, since the public case is not being made. Positive psychology, about advocacy and making the case.

3. Maintaining International Collaboration after Brexit

Brenda McMahon (Global Head of Higher Education, British Council), Vivienne Stern (Director, Universities UK International), Conrad Bird (Director of the GREAT Britain Campaign, Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office)

 

Universities showing commitment to students in the aftermath of Brexit vote. GREAT Britain Campaign keen to support universities promoting to international students, e.g. via the embassy network.

 

UUK: “need to work harder”. Plenty of reasons for believing that we will retain access to some key partnerships, based on government rhetoric (frameworks for research, Erasmus +)

If cannot remain in EU frameworks, UUK are looking at how we can work with networks (scenario planning with EU counterparts)

The British Council is supporting and avocating for an “open Brexit” with movement permitted for staff and students

 

Conrad Bird: people who come into contact with a country (as a tourist, student, coming across culture in own country, etc.) are c. 30% more likely to invest in that country. There is a business case for attracting students into the UK.

UUK: there has been neglect in terms of developing commercial/innovation links with other countries. There will be more of this type of thinking. UUK have launched a blog campaign on “bringing innovation home” (600 words, write to Miranda.Thomas@international.ac.uk) describing benefits of universities’ international activity for local/UK firms.

 

How are Government addressing the risk of loss of EU research funding?

UUK: absolutely believe that belonging to framework is essential and irreplaceable. 7-year multi-lateral agreement provides stability for major international partnerships and also supports networking and benefits not just UK but also EU institutions.

UUK understand urgency; EU counterparts don’t really know whether UK partners can be included in bids. Theresa May said to the House of Commons on 09/10 that the UK wants to continue contributing to research programmes; commitment of intents. Conrad Bird (to the audience of university staff): “you’re doing very good work in this area and I think it’s being heard.”

 

Overall, the discussion illustrated that there is still a lot of uncertainty around Brexit (unsurprisingly) but the agencies and government departments involved are committed to ensuring that the HE sector in the UK is maintained as a world-leading area. There was no guarantee, nor indeed any real news, about Brexit at the conference, and I will update you as and when there are any developments. I referenced the UUK “bringing innovation home” blog above, in case it is of interest to colleagues (within the Library or UCL more widely).

The Library as a leader in cultural change across UCL

As we start a new academic year, I want to lay out some of the tasks that I have been asked to take on as Pro-Vice-Provost in UCL Library Services. These are objectives which are additional to those in the Library Strategy and to my role as head of UCL Library Services. The theme of all these objectives is ‘The Library as leader across the institution and beyond’.

Open Science

Open Science is the process by which ‘Open’ approaches to undertaking research, education and outreach are embedded in the daily work of academic and academic support staff. I have been asked to lead on a number of policy developments: revision of the UCL Research Data Policy and construction of a new UCL Bibliometrics Policy. I look forward to working with Library colleagues, particularly with those involved in open access, research data management, bibliometrics, academic liaison and public engagement/outreach across UCL.

I have also been asked to study the reporting of trials data (especially clinical trials) and, particularly, negative results. In conventional publishing, it would be unusual to report negative findings, but the underlying data may well be of importance to further research. So ‘Open’ approaches encourage the publication of negative results. I look forward to working with colleagues in UCL Press and those involved in academic liaison to take this forward. And, finally, the Library has been asked to lead on the organisation of a half-day Open Science Workshop for UCL in Term 2.

Collections and Culture

In terms of Collections and Culture, UCL hopes to continue discussions in the University of London regarding collaborative activity over Rare Books, Manuscripts and Archives.

I will be pressing ahead with these discussions. I also hope to work with colleagues in UCL Culture to identify further modes of collaboration and joint working. Of course, in terms of digital collecting the Library has one of the best digital library offerings of any university in the UK. We will continue to develop this, with a particular emphasis on e-book offerings. In 2016/17, ReadingLists@UCL achieved a remarkable target – 65% of all courses present in Portico had an online Reading List. This is a great achievement, but of course going forwards we want to do even better.

Open Access publishing

In UCL Press, we have the first open access University Press in the UK. We now want to develop the Press’s offering and we plan to do this in two ways. First, we want to re-invent the concept of a journal in the digital age, and in 2017/18 we will be developing an Open journals platform to allow UCL academics and others to construct their own peer reviewed journals. Second, we want to re-invent the textbook for an Open, digital age. In this regard, we have already initiated a call for UCL textbooks and we hope to build on the submissions to create a new mode of delivery for textbook materials. We also intend to further develop our links and collaborative working with the UCL IOE Press.

UK Scholarly Communications Licence

And finally, I have been asked to lead in UCL on consideration of the UK Scholarly Communications Licence (UKSCL). Indeed, I chair the national UKSCL Steering Group.

Via this licence, if adopted, each staff member would grant to UCL a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide licence to make manuscripts of his or her scholarly articles publicly available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial v4 (CC BY NC) licence. The benefits of adopting this licence are significant, the main ones being that

• academics submitting to REF 2021 can more easily comply with REF’s Open Access requirements
• a complete record of the full-text of academics’ publications is available
• research outputs can be used more easily in taught course programmes

The licence is based on a similar development at Harvard University and Princeton University has recently adopted a similar position. Discussions with publishers about the implementation of the licence are ongoing. I look forward to working with our copyright and open access teams in the Library as well as with all colleagues engaged in academic liaison to take this debate to academic colleagues.

The role of Pro-Vice-Provost in the Library is a recognition of the immense contribution that the whole Library makes to the corporate life of UCL in offering leadership and secure learning environments and services. The areas outlined above are ones on which I will be concentrating in the coming months, alongside the day-to-day running of the family of libraries in UCL Library Services. I look forward to many interactions with colleagues as we take this ambitious agenda forward.

Paul Ayris

Pro-Vice-Provost (UCL Library Services)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Main and Science Library Customer Service Team are pleased to announce an exhibition by two artists which will run in the Science Library during the summer. Crispin Hughes and Susi Arnott have been collaborating with Swedish mathematician Sofia Olhede (UCL Big Data Institute) on inter-tidal spaces and fluid dynamics – particularly in relation to the concept of movement passing a fixed point and movement observed from a device that moves while observing phenomena. These two perspectives are called ‘Eulerian’ and ‘Lagrangian’ approaches respectively.

Sofia introduced Crispin and Susi to these frames of reference and, inspired by this concept, they produced simultaneous image sequences and sound recordings during a tidal cycle in central London, from two perspectives that were close together, and observing each other. ‘Bobby’, a timelapse camera and stereo audio recorder, limited only by its tether, could float free on the rising water, while ‘Stillman’, a second set of camera and sound apparatus, was fixed. Different analyses of the resultant data sets were then juxtaposed on screen. The effect is extremely beautiful and encapsulates the way in which art and science intersect to produce a satisfying aesthetic experience.

The exhibition, scheduled to run from late July until mid-September in the Science Library Cafe, will consist of two simultaneous timelapse recordings of a full, un-edited tidal cycle in central London projected on a loop onto a large screen. The images are accompanied by an audio feed that may be listened to on headphones. There will also be a companion installation in the Science Library Learning Laboratory showing timelapse recordings from various vantage points on The Thames which students and visitors can observe at leisure – the results are extremely hypnotic and relaxing – and we hope to invite some guest speakers along to discuss their work in this field a little later on.

Jason Hobart and Matthew Rains

You are hereby cordially invited to the following event, organised by Library Services and UCL’s Refuge in a Moving World Network:

Thursday 1^st June 2017, 17:00-18:15
Archaeology G6 Lecture Theatre

Synopsis: A Netflix original short documentary, set in Aleppo, Syria and Turkey in early 2016. As the violence intensifies, The White Helmets follows three volunteer rescue workers as they put everything on the line to save civilians affected by the war, all the while wracked with worry about the safety of their own loved ones. Moving and inspiring, The White Helmets (winner of the 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short) is both a snapshot of the harrowing realities of life for ordinary Syrians who remain in the country, and a humbling portrait of the power of the human spirit.

After the screening, a multidisciplinary panel discussion will reflect upon the issues raised, future of the region and human rights abuses within countries following the onset of civil war.

The event is free but you do have to book a seat.

 

For the second year running, UCL Library Services has been shortlisted for the prestigious Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards, for demonstrating best practice during the 2015-16 academic year. In this year’s selection, two UCL Library Services projects have been shortlisted as examples of sector-leading excellence.

 

1. LEaders Activating Research Networks (LEARN)

The Outstanding Library Team award recognizes outstanding work in library and information-services departments. This year, it is the LEARN Project which is being recognised. Based at UCL in partnership with a number of European and other international partners, The purpose of LEARN is to take the LERU Roadmap for Research Data and to develop this in order to build a coordinated e-infrastructure across Europe and beyond.

LEARN will deliver:

• a model Research Data Management (RDM) policy;
• a Toolkit to support implementation, and;
• an Executive Briefing in five core languages so as to ensure wide outreach.

In order to share knowledge about Research Data Management, LEARN has run a series of Workshops over 2016/17. The Final Conference is due to take place in London on 5 May 2017.

 

2. UCL Press

The Outstanding Digital Innovation of the Year award recognises the innovative use of digital technology to improve any function at a university. As the UK’s first fully open access university press, UCL Press has been pioneering a new model of scholarly communications. As highlighted in its first Annual Report, with over 100,000 downloads in 191 countries since its launch, UCL Press is going from strength to strength.

 

The fact that UCL Library Services is recognized by being shortlisted in both categories reflects UCL’s place as a leader in OA advocacy in Europe for 10 years. UCL’s financial investment in the Press supports its Global Engagement strategy, bringing UCL outputs to users around the world, thus adding value to the institution’s research. UCL Press is developing consultancy and hosting services to allow other universities to follow the UCL Press publishing model, or to use UCL Press infrastructure for their OA publishing, branded as their own university press. UCL Press and LEARN demonstrate how, as London’s Global University, UCL is leading the UK in the Open Science arena by harnessing world-leading research and cutting-edge technology to create impact via Open Access publishing.

 

I will inform you of the outcome of the awards ceremony, which is due to be held on 22 June. To be shortlisted for a THELMAs is already a significant achievement. Congratulations to all involved in securing this recognition for our excellent work as a department.

 

UCL Press was thrilled to win the UCL Brand Ambassador award at the UCL professional services awards yesterday. The award was made for the global reach UCL Press’s books and journals have achieved, with download figures now close to 200,000 in over 200 countries since its launch in June 2015.

When UCL Press launched, it was the first university press to set up from scratch with an Open Access model. As such, it was a brave step, and since such a venture had never been attempted before in the UK, it was hard to predict the outcome. The idea for the Press was that of Dr Paul Ayris, Pro Vice Provost, UCL Library Services, a leader in OA advocacy for many years, and the Press was the flagship addition to strong OA services and policies already established at UCL.

From the outset, the reaction at UCL to the Press has been unfailingly positive: authors have submitted proposals in the hundreds, many of them already committed Open Access advocates with few other OA options for publishing their monographs. For those early adopters, and for the Senior Management team at UCL who supported the setting up of the Press, their belief is now paying dividends, as research published by UCL Press reaches a huge global audience. Many of those reading UCL Press’s books would not be able to access a print version, either because they would be unaffordable to individuals or to local universities, or simply because print book distribution to many countries around the world is severely limited or indeed non-existent.

UCL is committed to being a force for good and enlightenment in the world, and ensuring that the products of its research are made as widely available as possible helps to support that commitment. UCL Press is excited to be contributing to the institution’s global presence, and proud that its books and authors are acting as UCL Brand Ambassadors worldwide.

I would personally like to thank the whole UCL Press team, our wonderful authors, David Price, Paul Ayris and Martin Moyle for their unfailing support and encouragement, our colleagues in Library Services, and our colleagues around UCL who support us – all of them make this happen.

Posted on behalf of Lara Speicher, Publishing Manager, UCL Press

Readings from Dante’s Divine Comedy in English and Italian

Mondays 6-7.30pm, The Warburg Institute, Woburn Square

(Admission free)

Is a passage from Dante’s Inferno just what you feel like after a day’s work on a Monday? Or have you always wanted to know what all the fuss was about? Today you can find out, for free, at 6pm at the Warburg Institute off Gordon Square/Woburn Square with an introduction to Dante’s life and works, followed by readings on subsequent Mondays.

The annual collaboration between UCL Special Collections, the UCL Italian Department, the Warburg Institute and the Italian Cultural Institute has proved popular enough to resume this year, with a slightly different selection of passages and the chance, later in the term, to view some of the treasures from UCL Special Collections’ outstanding early and rare editions of Dante.

If Mondays aren’t a good time for you, try the themed Dante sessions on alternate Tuesdays at the Italian Cultural Institute in Belgravia. The next is tomorrow, 7-8.30pm.

Passages will be read in both English and Italian and illustrated, together with talks from UCL’s Dante Professor, John Took, on what to look out for in the excerpts. You never know: you could feel inspired, as this former member of the audience was, to cook the entire poem in biscuit form:

Dante’s Divine Comedy in edible form, created by audience member Leon Conrad.

Photo copyright David Ward.

Colleagues from Library Services are warmly invited to attend the next Creating Connections event, where a number of topics will be discussed ranging from mental health support to safeguarding vulnerable people and the role of the library and of the university in the wider community. Full details below.

Creating Connections East 5 Wednesday March 8^th from 3pm – 5pm.

Stratford Library, The Grove, E15 1EL (10 minute walk from Stratford Underground / Train Station)

 

Register at uclu.org/creating-connections

Creating Connections East is a networking event that brings together staff and postgraduate students from University College London and the University of East London with representatives from community organisations, charities, residents’ groups, social enterprises and statutory organisations. The afternoon is a mixture of themed discussions in small groups with more informal networking; the aim is to find areas of common interest and encourage collaborative working.

Previous events have had a good turn out and we’re now onto our fifth edition. We are trying out holding the event in the afternoon this time. We hope this will make it more accessible and attract some new people.

If you work or are a postgrad student at UCL and UEL and are interested in making links with community organisations from East London and beyond – please come along.

If you work for a community organisation, or are a member of one, and would like to explore ways you might work with people from UCL and UEL – this event is for you too!

 

Topics will include:

• Safeguarding women

The event will be held on International Women’s Day, so come and meet people interested in how we can safeguard women and girls in our communities (forced marriage, domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, amongst other issues)

• Mental health support

How can we best support people with mental health issues in our communities?  What non-clinical support services are there? What support do charities need to run non-clinical support services? And how can university research on mental health help? What role can social prescribing play in mental health support?

• Libraries in the community

Come and meet people interested in libraries as community hubs; creative ways in which libraries can be used; university libraries and public engagement; use of libraries for community research.

• The university in the community

With UCL building a new campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and with UEL’s long legacy of working in East London, let’s discuss how we can best work with the local community. What kind of projects would be beneficial? What do you expect from partnership and project working with a university? How can UCL and UEL break down barriers and make ourselves more accessible to the community?

• Involving men in volunteering and engagement

Women tend to volunteer and get involved in engagement projects more than men. Come and meet people interested in redressing the balance. How can we encourage more men to get involved? What is it that prevents men from volunteering and doing engagement? How can we make it easier for them, break down barriers and challenge perceptions?

• Refugees and migrants

Come and meet people interested in supporting refugees and migrants. How can we support recent immigrants to access health services? What are the best ways to involve them in local decision making? How can we deal with the need for housing? How can we improve educational provision for young immigrants?

Note that the event is a short networking event for people interested in these issues – a starting point for finding like-minded people you might want to collaborate with. It’s intended for experts, beginners and everyone in between. It’s not a conference and there won’t be long plenary speeches or workshops!

Light refreshments will be provided.

 

Register at uclu.org/creating-connections

If you’ve any questions or comments about the event, contact Kim Townsend at UCL Public Engagement Unit, Joe Crook at UEL Volunteering, or Jyoti Singh at Newham Council

 

Creating Connections East  is organised by UCL’s Public Engagement Unit, UCLU’s Volunteering Services Unit, University of East London, and London Borough of Newham.