University of York Library loaded

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We are pleased to announce that the holdings of the University of York Library have been added to Copac.

The University of York Library is rich in resources.The collections include over 1.2 million volumes, and access to over 60,000 print and electronic journals, along with research and special collections. The collections are housed over three libraries:

The JB Morrell Library is the main University library located on the Heslington West campus. It houses collections to support learning, teaching and research in all subject areas.

Raymond Burton Library for Humanities Research, also located on the Heslington West campus, holds special collections. Highlights include: an extensive collection of books and prints on Yorkshire; over 1000 books relating to the Heath family of 18th century engravers and a large collection of medical books dating from the 16th century. All the material in this library is for reference use only.

The King’s Manor Library is part of the city centre campus at the University of York. It houses collections relating to: architecture; building planning; conservation of historic architecture; gardening & landscape design; heritage management; history of architecture & building; stained glass and town planning. It also has smaller collections on the medieval period, archaeology and the “long” eighteenth century.

To browse, or limit your search to, the holdings of the University of York library, go to the main search tab on copac.ac.uk/search and choose ‘York University’ from the drop-down list of libraries.

Bishopsgate Library loaded

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We are very pleased to announce that the holdings of the Bishopsgate Library have been added to Copac.

Bishopsgate Library is an independent special collections and reference library that offers free public access to its world-renowned collections on London, labour, freethought, co-operation and campaigning. The Library is open to everyone, with no membership required. As well as its unique and fascinating historical collections, it continues to collect a broad range of books, pamphlets, periodicals and archival materials.

To browse, or limit your search to, the holdings of Bishopsgate Library, go to the main search tab on http://copac.ac.uk/search and choose ‘Bishopsgate Library’ from the drop-down list of libraries.

Imperial library reload

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We are currently reloading the Imperial College London catalogue to reflect local catalogue changes. Consequently, around 40% of the Imperial catalogue will be unavailable on Copac this week. The full catalogue should be available from next Monday.

Apologies for the short-term loss of availability of this material.

Surfacing the Academic Long Tail — Announcing new work with activity data

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We’re pleased to announce that JISC has funded us to work on the SALT (Surfacing the Academic Long Tail) Project, which we’re undertaking with the University of Manchester, John Rylands University Library.

Over the next six months the SALT project will building a recommender prototype for Copac and the JRUL OPAC interface, which will be tested by the communities of users of those services.  Following on from the invaluable work undertaken at the University of Huddersfield, we’ll be working with ten years+ of aggregated and anonymised circulation data amassed by JRUL.  Our approach will be to develop an API onto that data, which in turn we’ll use to develop the recommender functionality in both services.   Obviously, we’re indebted to the previous knowledge acquired by a similar project at the University of Huddersfield and the SALT project will work closely with colleagues at Huddersfield (Dave Pattern and Graham Stone) to see what happens when we apply this concept in the research library and national library service contexts.

Our overall aim is that by working collaboratively with other institutions and Research Libraries UK, the SALT project will advance our knowledge and understanding of how best to support research in the 21st century. Libraries are a rich source of valuable information, but sometimes the sheer volume of materials they hold can be overwhelming even to the most experienced researcher — and we know that researchers’ expectation on how to discover content is shifting in an increasingly personalised digital world. We know that library users — particularly those researching niche or specialist subjects — are often seeking content based on a recommendation from a contemporary, a peer, colleagues or academic tutors. The SALT Project aims to provide libraries with the ability to provide users with that information. Similar to Amazons, ‘customers who bought this item also bought….’ the recommenders on this system will appear on a local library catalogue and on Copac and will be based on circulation data which has been gathered over the past 10 years at The University of Manchester’s internationally renowned research library.

How effective will this model prove to be for users — particularly humanities researchers users?

Here’s what we want to find out:

  • Will researchers in the field of humanities benefit from receiving book recommendations, and if so, in what ways?
  • Will the users go beyond the reading list and be exposed to rare and niche collections — will new paths of discovery be opened up?
  • Will collections in the library, previously undervalued and underused find a new appreciative audience — will the Long Tail be exposed and exploited for research?
  • Will researchers see new links in their studies, possibly in other disciplines?

We also want to consider if there are other  potential beneficiaries.  By highlighting rarer collections, valuing niche items and bringing to the surface less popular but nevertheless worthy materials, libraries will have the leverage they need to ensure the preservation of these rich materials. Can such data or services assist in decision-making around collections management? We will be consulting with Leeds University Library and the White Rose Consortium, as well as UKRR in this area.

(And finally, as part of our sustainability planning, we want to look at how scalable this approach might be for developing a shared aggregation service of circulation data for UK University Libraries.  We’re working with potential data contributors such as Cambridge University Library,  University of Sussex Library, and the M25 consortium as well as RLUK to trial and provide feedback on the project outputs, with specific attention to the sustainability of an API service as a national shared service for HE/FE that supports academic excellence and drives institutional efficiencies.

The SALT Project – Supporting Researchers in the 21st Century.

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Libraries are a rich source of valuable information, but sometimes the sheer volume of materials they hold can be overwhelming even to the most experienced researcher. Sometimes what library users crave the most it a recommendation from a contemporary, a peer, colleagues or academic tutors. The SALT, (Surfacing the Academic Long Tail), Project aims to provide libraries with the ability to provide you with that information. Similar to Amazons, ‘customers who bought this item also bought….’ the recommenders on this system will appear on a local library catalogue and on Copac and will be based on circulation data which has been gathered over the past 10 years at Manchester University’s internationally renowned research library. What the SALT project wants to find out is; will researchers in the field of humanities benefit from receiving book recommendations? Will the users go beyond the reading list and be exposed to rare and niche collections? Will collections in the library, previously undervalued and underused find a new appreciative audience? Will researchers see new links in their studies, possibly in other disciplines? And as a result could this improve the quality of research, improve grades and advance knowledge? The users of libraries are not the only beneficiaries of this project. By highlighting rarer collections, valuing niche items and bringing to the surface less popular but nevertheless worthy materials; libraries will have the leverage they need to ensure the preservation of these rich materials.

Over the next six months the SALT project will build a recommender prototype. It will be tested on the University of Manchester’s own local library catalogue and also to a national audience on Copac. The project is indebted to the previous knowledge acquired by a similar project at the University of Huddersfield and the SALT project will work closely with colleagues at Huddersfield to take this concept to the next level. Users and librarians will be invited to try the prototype and feedback their thoughts to developers. By working collaboratively with other institutions and Research Libraries UK, the SALT project will advance our knowledge and understanding of how best to support research in the 21st century.

National Portrait Gallery library holdings loaded

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National Portrait Gallery Heinz Archive and Library

Image copyright Philip Waterman

We are pleased to announce that the library holdings of the National Portrait Gallery Heinz Archive & Library are now live on Copac.

The National Portrait Gallery’s Library supports the Gallery’s research needs, with strengths in British portraiture, history, and biography.

The National Portrait Gallery has collected library materials since the founding of the Gallery in 1856, and the Heinz Archive & Library now holds approximately 35,000 books and exhibition catalogues, runs of 150 periodical titles (70 currently received), catalogues from sales featuring portraits from 1866 to the present, a collection of approximately 600 rare books, and a small number of theses and dissertations. Additionally, the Archive & Library holds extensive image files organized by sitter and by artist, an index of over 1,000,000 references to portraits, the Gallery’s Reference Collection of prints and drawings, and its Archive Collections: Gallery Records (the institutional records of the Gallery which date from its foundation to the present day) and a number of Collected Archives (material acquired from external sources because of its relevance to the study of British portraiture).

The library actively collects materials pertaining to portraiture, biography and British culture and history. It welcomes donations of relevant papers submitted for research degrees, which are made available to the public only under supervision.

To limit your search to the holdings of the National Portrait Gallery, go to the main search tab on http://copac.ac.uk/search and choose ‘National Portrait Gallery from the drop-down list of libraries.

St George’s Chapel Library, Windsor Castle loaded

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St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

Image copyright the Dean and Canons of Windsor

We are pleased to announce that the library holdings of St George’s Chapel Archives and Chapter Library, Windsor Castle are now live on Copac. This is the first time that the library’s holdings have been available to search online.

The Library has been an integral part of the life of the College of St George from its foundation in 1348. The first books were kept chained to desks in the Chapel. A separate library was built in the 1480s above the Dean’s Cloister to house the growing number of books. Despite the loss of seventy of its manuscript books in 1612, donated to Sir Thomas Bodley for his new library in Oxford, the Library’s holdings continued to expand. In 1692 the books were removed to the Vicars’ Hall and since 1999 have been housed in air-conditioned book rooms in the Vicars’ Hall Undercroft. The library now contains nearly 6000 rare books, including nine incunables, many still in their original bindings. They cover a wide range of subjects: religion, history, classics, geography, topography, navigation, bibliography, mathematics and medicine.

Go to the main search tab on http://copac.ac.uk/search and choose ‘St George’s Chapel’ from the drop-down list of libraries to search just St George’s Chapel’s holdings.

Season’s greeting and Christmas closure

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Copac Christmas imageThe Copac office will close for the Christmas break on 23rd December, and re-open on 4th January. The Copac service will be available over this period, but there will be no helpdesk support. Any queries sent over this period will be dealt with when we return.

The Copac team would like to wish all of our users a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Photo by Ashley Sanders