We now have trial access to the Bloomsbury Video Library until the 5th July 2026.

The platform brings together streaming video content across the arts, humanities and social sciences, with documentaries, performances, interviews, instructional films and feature content from internationally recognised practitioners, artists, directors and musicians.

Students and staff can explore the resource here:
Bloomsbury Video Library

What’s included in the trial?

Film and Media

The Film and Media collection includes feature films, experimental cinema, documentaries and interviews with film practitioners including Jane Campion, Miloš Forman, Nicolas Roeg, Robert Altman, Agnès Varda and Alfred Hitchcock.

Content also covers practical filmmaking topics such as sound, lighting and television editing, alongside avant-garde and experimental works from artists and collectives including Fluxus.

Visual and Applied Arts

This collection covers fine art, art history, performance art, architecture, fashion, design, craft and decorative arts through documentaries, interviews and instructional videos.

Featured figures include Norman Foster, Vivienne Westwood, Christian Dior and Frank Lloyd Wright. Interviews also feature artists and designers such as Tracey Emin, David Hockney and Anish Kapoor.

Music

The Music collection includes filmed performances and documentaries spanning jazz, classical and contemporary music, featuring composers and musicians including Arvo Pärt, Pierre Boulez and Stephen Sondheim.

Dance

The Dance collection brings together international dance traditions and contemporary performance, covering ballet, flamenco, hip-hop, kabuki and indigenous Australian dance.

The collection includes works, performances and interviews featuring practitioners such as Pina Bausch, Jiří Kylián, Isadora Duncan and Alvin Ailey.

History and Culture

The History and Culture collection covers a broad range of international topics including politics, literature, history, anthropology, gender and sexuality, and environment and sustainability.

Documentaries and interviews explore subjects ranging from the Harlem Renaissance and climate change to the Rwandan genocide, with contributors including Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie.

Making the most of the trial

Once you’re on the platform, you can:

• Browse by subject, theme, language, time period, featured place and creator origin
• Explore curated collection pages created by the Bloomsbury Video Library team
• Use the regularly updated Featured Content section to discover themed selections and trending topics
• Access content both on and off campus using your LJMU credentials

The trial runs until the 5th July 2026, so now is a good time to explore the collections and make use of the content while access is available.

Since the collection was activated in August 2025, 586 titles have already been accessed, showing strong interest across engineering and related subject areas.

What is an EBA?

EBA stands for Evidence Based Acquisition.

It’s a way for the Library to provide access to a large collection of ebooks before deciding which titles to buy permanently. Rather than selecting titles in advance, the Library:

• Opens access to a broad range of content
• Reviews how often titles are used
• Purchases the most valuable and heavily used books at the end of the access period

That means your reading, browsing, and downloading helps shape the future collection.

Why does this matter?

EBA gives students and researchers access to far more content than traditional purchasing models allow. It also helps ensure that Library spending is guided by real usage and genuine academic need.

So if you come across a title that supports your studies, projects, or research, using it now could help keep it available for future students.

Most used titles so far

For anyone curious about what others have been reading, the most used books from the collection so far include:

• XXVII Brazilian Congress on Biomedical Engineering
• Proceedings of the RILEM International Symposium on Bituminous Materials
• Artificial Intelligence and Transforming Digital Marketing

A good reminder that engineering research can take you in some very different directions.

Find more ebook access projects

The Springer Engineering EBA is one of several demand-driven ebook initiatives currently running at LJMU. You can see the full list here:
https://ljmu.libanswers.com/faq/263162

Make the most of the collection

Access remains available until August 2026, giving you plenty of time to:

• Explore new areas of research
• Support assignments and dissertations
• Discover specialist titles beyond your reading lists
• Influence which books become part of the permanent collection

The more a title is used, the more likely it is to be selected for long-term access.

What’s available?

Through this Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA) programme, you can access 2,429 law titles across a wide range of subjects and levels. It’s a chance to use material that the Library doesn’t yet permanently own—and your usage directly helps shape what we keep.

• LJMU Library already owns 42 titles in this collection
• Of the 2,387 titles not currently owned, there have already been 2,817 uses

That’s a strong indication that this content is valuable for study and research—so if something is useful to you, using it now can help ensure it stays available in the future.

What is Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA)?

EBA is a purchasing model that puts your needs first.

Instead of buying ebooks upfront, the Library:

• Provides temporary access to a large pool of titles
• Monitors how often they are used
• Uses that evidence to purchase the most useful and in-demand titles at the end of the access period

In short, what you read and download helps decide what becomes part of the permanent collection.

Why it matters

This approach means:

• The collection reflects real student and staff use
• Funds are spent on resources that genuinely support your studies
• You get access to far more content upfront than traditional purchasing allows

Explore more ebook projects

The OUP Law EBA is just one of several demand-driven ebook initiatives at LJMU. You can find out what else is currently available here:
Demand purchasing projects

Don’t miss out

Access continues until August 2026, so there’s still time to:

• Browse widely
• Use titles relevant to your modules or research
• Help shape the future LJMU Library law collection

If you find a title useful, make sure to use it—your activity could be what secures it for the long term.

If you use ScienceDirect to find and read journal articles, there’s an upcoming change you should be aware of.

What’s changing?

From 31st March 2026, the Search History and Reading History features will be removed from ScienceDirect. These tools will no longer be available after this date.

What does this mean for you?

• You won’t be able to access any past searches or reading activity within ScienceDirect after 31st March 2026.
• All personal data linked to these features will be permanently deleted once they are removed.

Need to keep your history?

If you’d like to retain a record of your activity, you can download your data before 31st March 2026:

• Go to the relevant history page in ScienceDirect
• Select “Download history as .CSV”

What can you use instead?

• The Advanced Search page will still show your five most recent searches, stored via your browser cookies.
• For longer-term tracking, consider saving useful searches or articles using reference management tools or personal notes.

Why is this happening?

ScienceDirect is retiring these features to focus on improvements in other areas of the platform.

If you have any questions or would like help exporting your data or finding alternative ways to manage your research activity, please get in touch with your library team.

As part of LibraryFest 2026 and because it’s almost Easter, the Library is launching Eggsplore,Discover – “There’s more than books on our shelves.”

We’re adding QR codes to library shelves to help our students connect the books in front of you with related online resources. A quick scan can take you straight to useful content in Discover, including eBooks, journal articles and databases linked to that subject area.

The aim is simple: the Library has a huge range of online resources, and many students don’t realise just how much is available. These QR codes are there to make it easier to find them.

Take part in Eggsplore,Discover.

To celebrate the launch, we’re running a small challenge across the libraries. Somewhere on the shelves are a number of winning QR codes. Find one, scan it, and you could win an Easter-themed prize.

Clues will be shared throughout the week on the Library’s social channels, so keep an eye out.

Learn about two key resources this week

While you’re exploring the shelves, you can also stop by and learn more about two of our online resources:

• Internurse
  City Campus Library
  Tuesday 24 March, 12pm–3pm
• The Economist
  Mount Pleasant Library
  Tuesday 24 March, 2pm–3pm

Library staff will be on hand to show you how to access these platforms and how they can support your studies.

If you’re in the library next week, take a moment to scan a shelf. You might find a useful resource you didn’t know existed — and maybe a prize as well.

This access comes through an evidence-based model. In simple terms, the collection reflects what our users have already been trying to read. It focuses on titles that students and staff have previously attempted to access, as well as subject areas that see strong demand across teaching and research.

What’s included

The collection brings together a wide range of titles published by Taylor & Francis Group. Topics include:

• psychology and mental health
• education and learning
• sociology and social research
• culture, media and society
• history and other humanities subjects

All of the books are available online, so they can be accessed whether you are studying on campus or working elsewhere.

Why this collection matters

Because the collection is based on actual usage and requests, the titles available are closely aligned with what LJMU students and staff have been looking for. It also allows the Library to monitor which books are most used when deciding which titles to keep permanently in the future.

How to find the books

You can locate these eBooks through Discover, the Library’s online catalogue. Search as you normally would and look for results that show online access via Taylor & Francis.

Access period

The collection is available until 31 January 2027.

If you make use of these eBooks during the year, it helps inform future purchasing decisions, so please do explore the collection when looking for sources for your assignments or research.

We’re pleased to offer trial access to Liverpool Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1820–1900, available until 10th March 2026.

This collection provides detailed insight into one of the world’s most important nineteenth-century ports at the height of Britain’s industrial and imperial expansion. Liverpool was a key gateway for goods, people and capital. These records document the movement of commodities into and out of the city, offering valuable evidence for research across a range of disciplines.

What’s included?

The collection features official shipping records that list imports and exports through the Port of Liverpool between 1820 and 1900. Researchers can trace:

• Types of goods traded (from raw materials to manufactured products)
• Trading partners and global routes
• Changing patterns of commerce across the nineteenth century
• Economic links between Liverpool and the wider British Empire

For students of history, politics, economics, geography, maritime studies, sociology or international relations, this resource provides primary source material that supports coursework, dissertations and independent research.

Why use it?

These records can help you:

• Analyse the development of global trade networks
• Investigate the economic impact of industrialisation
• Examine Liverpool’s role in transatlantic trade
• Explore themes such as empire, migration and commodity history

Working directly with primary sources also strengthens critical research skills and supports original analysis in essays and projects.

How to access

You can access the resource here:
Liverpool Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1820–1900

If prompted, select “Login via institution” and use your university credentials.

We’d like your feedback

As this is a trial, your feedback will help us decide whether to subscribe permanently. If you use the collection for teaching or research, let us know what you think.

Take a look before the trial ends on 10th March 2026, and see how Liverpool’s shipping records can support your studies.

We now have six months’ access to the Gender and Sexuality Collection, available to all staff and students until July 2026. This trial gives you the opportunity to explore a wide range of primary sources that support teaching, learning, and research across the humanities and social sciences.

The collection brings together archival material that documents the history of gender, sexuality, identity, activism, and representation from a global perspective. It is particularly useful for subjects including history, sociology, politics, cultural studies, education, health, and media studies.

What you’ll find

The Gender and Sexuality Collection includes:

• Archival documents, manuscripts, and correspondence
• Personal narratives, organisational records, and activism materials
• Sources exploring LGBTQ+ history, feminist movements, and changing social attitudes
• Content spanning multiple regions and historical periods

These primary sources provide valuable context for understanding how ideas around gender and sexuality have been recorded, debated, and lived.

How to access the collection

Follow the link below, sign in with your LJMU credentials if prompted, and you’ll be able to explore the available content in full.

Access the Gender and Sexuality Collection

Have your say

Because this access is time-limited, feedback from staff and students is especially valuable. If you use the collection for teaching, assignments, or research, let us know how it supports your work. Your feedback will help inform future subscription decisions.

Here’s what’s new and how each collection can be used.

East India Company & India Office Records, 1599–1947 (British Library)

This extensive collection provides access to records charting British involvement in South Asia from the foundation of the East India Company through to Indian independence. Materials include administrative records, correspondence, maps, and reports, offering essential sources for the study of empire, trade, governance, resistance, and everyday life under colonial rule.

The Olympic Movement: Sport, Global Politics and Identity

This collection explores the Olympic Games as more than a sporting event. It brings together official reports, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera that show how the Olympics have intersected with nationalism, diplomacy, protest, and identity from the late nineteenth century onwards. It’s particularly useful for research into international relations, media, cultural history, and the politics of sport.

A Global History of Epidemics, 1800–1970

Covering outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, influenza, tuberculosis, and plague, this collection documents how societies have understood and responded to epidemics across different regions and time periods. Sources include medical reports, government papers, personal accounts, and public health material. It’s well suited to work in history, medicine, public health, sociology, and colonial studies.

Girlhood: Magazines and Print Culture

Focusing on girls’ magazines and printed material from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this collection examines how ideas about girlhood, education, leisure, and behaviour were shaped and circulated. The content supports research into gender, childhood, publishing history, popular culture, and social change, with rich visual and textual primary sources.

You can access the resources by clicking the links in this blog or by searching for the title in the database section of discover. If you’d like updates on new resources, trials and service developments, you can also subscribe to the Library blog using the email sign-up at the bottom of this page.

As the end of the year approaches, the Library has added a new resource to its collections: The Artforum Archive.

Artforum has been one of the most influential international magazines covering contemporary art since the 1960s. The archive provides full access to decades of criticism, exhibition reviews, interviews and essays, making it a valuable resource for anyone studying or teaching art, design, visual culture, architecture or media studies.

Here’s how it works:
You can search or browse issues by date, artist, author or subject, allowing you to follow critical debates as they developed over time or locate writing on specific movements, exhibitions or practitioners. Content spans modern and contemporary art, film, performance, architecture and theory, with contributions from leading critics and scholars.

This new access is particularly useful for:

• supporting coursework and dissertations
• sourcing contemporary criticism for seminars and lectures
• tracking how artists and movements were received at the time

Whether you’re fitting in some reading before the Christmas break or planning ahead for teaching and research in the new year, the Artforum Archive offers a substantial body of material to work with. Season’s greetings from the Library — no stamps, cheques or subscription forms required.

You can access the archive here, and If you’d like updates on new resources, trials and service developments, you can also subscribe to the Library blog using the email sign-up at the bottom of this page.

Wishing you a restful end-of-year break from all us in Library Services, and we hope this new resource proves useful over the winter period.