An introduction to the British Library's digital collections, resources and partnerships. Presented at the 'Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities' 2015 conference (Salford, 13 October 2015)

1. Collecting &
Connecting for
Research
DCDC15 Workshop

2. “We make our intellectual
heritage accessible to
everyone, for research,
inspiration and enjoyment.”

3. www.bl.uk 3
Our Core Purposes

4. www.bl.uk 4

5. www.bl.uk 5
• Over 30 collaborative PhDs co-supervised
by BL staff with UK university partners from
Stirling to Exeter
• PhD Student Placement Scheme launching
Nov 2015
• Doctoral Training Partnerships
• Annual Season of Doctoral Open Days
Building National Research Capacity

6. www.bl.uk 6
ethos.bl.uk
Tell the world why
your PhD research is
important!
bl.uk/share-my-thesis
Access over 400,000 thesis records online for free

7. www.bl.uk 7
Connecting Creators, Users and Data
British Library is a member of DataCite, an international organisation that
aims to:
• establish easier access to research data
on the Internet
• increase acceptance of research data as
legitimate, citable contributions to the
scholarly record
• support data archiving that will permit
results to be verified and re-purposed
for future study
www.datacite.org

8. www.bl.uk 8
Project-thor.eu
• Establishing Interoperability
• Integrating Services
• Building Capacity
• Achieving Sustainability
Susan Renee, https://www.flickr.com/photos/susanrenee/2124519121 CC-BY-NC-ND
Connecting Digital Infrastructure

9. www.bl.uk 9
Collaborations for Research
www.qdl.qa
www.bl.uk/qatar
BL- Qatar Foundation
Partnership
• Bi-lingual online library
• Gulf history, culture & science
• Manuscripts, private papers,
maps, drawings, photos,
recordings, archives
• Contextual essays and links

10. www.bl.uk 10
Opinion & Interpretation

11. www.bl.uk 11
Teaching & Learning
www.bl.uk/Discovering-Literature
www.futurelearn.com/courses/propaganda

12. www.bl.uk 12
Evolving Approaches to Online Access…

13. www.bl.uk 13
www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

14. www.bl.uk 14
videoserver.bl.uk

15. www.bl.uk 15
sounds.bl.uk

16. www.bl.uk 16
Save Our Sounds
• Sound Heritage: Safeguarding the nation’s unique recordings
• Digital Acquisition: Acquiring the UK’s published sound and music
• Radio Archive: Developing a radio archive for the UK
• Engagement: Involving partners & public, training & learning
• Infrastructure : Long-term capability for preservation & access
www.bl.uk/save-our-sounds

17. www.bl.uk 17
Capturing the Nation in Conversation

18. www.bl.uk 18
Events & Exhibitions Onsites

19. www.bl.uk 19
Events & Exhibitions Online

20. www.bl.uk 20
The Knowledge Quarter

21. www.bl.uk 21
turing.ac.uk
Transforming St Pancras

22. Thanks for
Listening
Dr Allan Sudlow
Head of Research Development
allan.sudlow@bl.uk