The Duncan Grant Lincoln Cathedral Murals: Mixing Religion with Life

By Joshua Sewell (volunteer in the University Library)

Lincoln Cathedral holds a lot of history for a structure composed mostly of stone and glass, a history that goes back nearly a thousand years. Once the tallest structure in the world and formerly one of the resting places of an original copy of the Magna Carta, the building is no stranger to events and possessions of historical importance. But those stories have been told forever and evermore. What we want to find are those tales that are less well known, but still of high value. One such tale finds its home in the Russell Chantry area of the Cathedral, and its events took place not so long ago. Inside the Chantry can be found a set of murals that adorn the walls and hold a significance that many may not be aware of. The murals have been open to public viewing since 1990, but their existence predates this by more than 3 decades. Here a question of great interest presents itself, why were the murals hidden from public view for all that time?

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Justice and change: health and wellbeing of the UK LGBTQ+ community in 2022 

By Oonagh Monaghan

Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded us that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Change takes a long time, but it does happen and that fight for change also needs people behind it to fight for what is right and fair and to end discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.  What we need to avoid, is for the change to be a negative and regressive pulling back of hard fought-for rights. 

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LGBT+ History Month Reading list

For 2022, the Library has a great new reading list which includes many new titles that have just arrived in the Library.  In addition to new titles, there are also examples of other books and resources which link to the theme ‘Politics in Art: ‘The Arc Is Long’

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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LGBT+ History Month 2022

February is LGBT+ History Month 2022

https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk

LGBT+ History Month 2022

This year’s theme is Politics In Art: ‘The Arc Is Long’ taken from Dr Martin Luther King jnr’s quote “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”.  The community has faced many setbacks over the years and is still striving for full equality. LGBT+ History Month is all about ‘claiming our past, celebrating our present, creating our future’ so when we celebrate it, we should always be mindful that celebration of successes is always situated within the context of ongoing discrimination.  There is a continuing fight for equality which needs to be acknowledged.  LGBT+ History Month should not be just a performative gesture with a few rainbows and a tweet saying ‘Happy LGBT+ History Month’.

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Running to keep mentally fit

By Daren Mansfield

When my taekwondo sessions ended and the local leisure centre was closed during the first lockdown, and we had to work from home, I thought the world had ended. All routine was suspended. Confined to home I felt isolated and became more increasingly aware of my mental health.

Screenshot of Daren Mansfield's twitter account with picture of himself.
Daily Twitter post about running

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Black History Month 2021

For Black History Month 2021 the Library has created a new reading list about the black history of artists and art movements.  In addition to books we already have in the Library, we have also purchased some new titles which should arrive very soon.

The reading list also includes some online resources and we would welcome new resources to add to the list.

Picture of three artist books
Selection of books from the reading list

LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Its near the end of LGBTQ+ History month so we are focussing on LGBTQ+ mental health and wellbeing research in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

LGBT+ 2021 History Month logo

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Google VS Library

Google vs Library image

A student told me yesterday that it is quicker to use Google rather than the Library.  It felt like I had to do a full-on sales pitch for the next hour extolling the virtues of the Library resources.  I felt I partially succeeded.  The student listened and decided they would like to investigate further.

So why use the Library resources when Google is such a handy option?

What’s the big deal about the Library?

To do academic research, your tutors will expect you to go beyond Google to find good quality, scholarly material.  Your search on Google does not go through a review process.  Anyone can publish on the web.  The Library resources are carefully reviewed and selected by Librarians based on their reliability, relevance to your studies and add value to your academic research.

Your Subject Librarian has organised Library sources into a Subject Guide to help you easily decide which databases and journals you need for your research.  Internet sources are not organised and there are too many pages for any search engine, like Google, to organise by subject matter.

Use the Library to find print and e-resources specific to your subject area and find a wealth of material including academic articles, news items, technical information, magazines, images, statistical data and more.  Many of the databases that the Library subscribes to are indexes to millions of articles from an array of different disciplines.

No one is saying don’t use Google.  Use it for information on corporations and other organisations, for news and current awareness, for researching a well-known event or individual or to find opinions on a topic.  Use Google ALONGSIDE the Library resources.  They can complement each other.

What about Google Scholar?

Again, it can be a great source when used in conjunction with the Libraries’ article and other databases but not on its own.  Yes, it has scholarly articles but it also includes other material that is untrustworthy and you may miss out on articles in full-text.

So….check out the Library Subject Guides and find out who your Subject Librarian is so that they can get you started on where and how to search effectively for your individual topic.  It might well save you the time you thought you were saving on Google.

Look at your subject guide here: https://guides.library.lincoln.ac.uk/?b=s

Find out who your Subject Librarian is here: https://guides.library.lincoln.ac.uk/asl

Harry Potter in the Library

Introduction

The Library staff have been hard at work creating a display dedicated to the Harry Potter books and items based on library-related quotes from the seven Harry Potter books.  The Harry Potter phenomenon started on the 26th June 1997 when J.K. Rowling’s Philosopher’s Stone was published.  The author was then know as Joanne Rowling and some first edition copies include this name.  The films followed between 2001 and 2011.

Picture of the words 'Harry Potter'
Harry Potter Display
Written and researched by Special Collections Librarian, Claire Arrand.

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