British Library: Modern Languages Training Day for Research Postgraduates

Monday 10 December 2007, 10am - 5pm

The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB

 

In collaboration with the AHRC Research Training Network in Modern Languages (RTN) based at the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies (IGRS), University of London.

 

In a new initiative, research postgraduates in modern languages from across the UK are invited to attend a specially tailored day of talks, workshops and networking opportunities at the British Library. The day will include a general introduction to relevant material and sources including reference, curator talks and how to get a Reader Pass.   

 

The day will:

*	Introduce you to the range of research materials available in the British Library 
*	Offer special curator sessions and workshops in a range of fields 
*	Show you how to access online and electronic catalogues, and carry out bibliographic research on your topic 
*	Introduce you to specialist modern language curators at the Library 
*	Give you an opportunity to meet and network with postgraduate students from other universities across the UK 
*	The day will contribute to national subject-specific and generic research skills training 

 

To ensure the scheme is accessible to research postgraduates from across the UK, students from outside London can apply for travel bursaries of up to £20 per student. There are a maximum of 40 bursary places available on a first come, first served basis. 

 

If you would like to book a place on the day or if you have any questions, please email [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>  with your name, contact details, course and university or college.

 

Programme

9.30                  Registration and coffee

10.00                Introduction

10.15                Introduction to Electronic Resources (Helen Robbins)

11.00                Workshops 

12.30    Tours of library / Reader Pass Registration / guided tour of Avant Garde exhibition/Lunch

2.00                  Workshops 

3.30                  tours of library/ reader pass registration/ guided tour of Avant Garde exhibition

4.15 - 5.00        Drinks and networking/Close

 

 

Special Sessions and Workshops

 

We will be providing special sessions with curators in a range of languages (depending on demand). Each session will provide an overview of the materials available in the Library and a case study that gives an insight into collections of a particular subject and historical period.

 

The am tour of the Avant Garde Exhibition will be taken by Chris Michaelides with an emphasis on Western European items and the pm tour by Peter Hellyer with an emphasis on Eastern European items. 

 

Spanish

Barry Taylor (West European Collections) and Geoff West

Hispanic bibliographical resources 

Case Study: Resources across the Library for the study of the Spanish Civil War (printed books, MSS, Sound Archive, Maps, Philatelic).  

 

Social Sciences

Ian Cooke and Gill Ridgely,

An overview of social science materials in foreign languages (including official publications, statistics)

 

French

Des McTernan (curator of French imprints 1501-1850) and Teresa Vernon

Bibliographical sources for French studies and French e-resources (catalogues and subscription databases) 

Case Study: French Revolution Tracts 

 

Russian

Katya Rogatchevskaia (Head of Russian, East European Collections)

How do you think we ought to start? Some bibliographic tools and search strategies for specialists in Slavonic and East European Studies 

Case study: Russian émigré publications in the British Library 

 

Italian

Denis Reidy (Romance Languages Collection)

What the British Library can do for Italianists?

The British Library's Italian collections are not only a U.K resource but a world resource. Scholars from all over the world come to consult our Italian collections since they are probably the finest and the most extensive collection of Italian books under one roof- our collection of Italian incunabula (books printed before 1501) number 4,460 and is simply the largest and finest in the world and represents 43% of all the British Library's incunable holdings and of these, no fewer than 92 are unique. Our collections of sixteenth, seventeenth eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century books are extremely rich and span Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Patristic and Humanist texts, the Renaissance period and its many facets and disciplines, the Baroque, the Enlightenment, the Risorgimento period and the modern period  up to Calvino and Cammilleri. Whether it be Italian Literature, History, Linguistics, Art, Archaeology or, in brief, all subjects in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, then this is clearly the best Library in the world to be working in, for not only will you have the richness of our very extensive Italian periodicals and serials and some rare Italian newspapers (about 1,000 and 600 separate titles respectively) but you will have the added advantage of having all the most useful books, in all languages, at your disposal, together with the assistance of the BL's curatorial staff- don't forget, we are here to help YOU, the National Library is YOUR library, so do come and visit us and unlock its many treasures and use its many facilities for your research. 

Special Workshop:  Your Research Questions Answered (requires sending in research questions in advance)

 

German

Susan Reed (curator, German Collections 1501 - 1850) and Dorothea Miehe (curator Germanic Collections)

Historical overview of the collections

Case Study: German exile publications and on Nazi material (especially school textbooks) from the SHAEF collections

 

 

 
Dr Ricarda Vidal
Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies
School of Advanced Study
Stewart House, 32 Russell Squ, London WC1E 7HU