The Barlow Gallery of Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades

The Barlow Collection of Chinese ceramics collected by Sir Thomas Barlow and donated to the University in 1974 has been transferred to the Library with the Librarian, Debby Shorley as the new Curator. The gallery, which is housed within the Library building, has been completely redecorated for the first time since 1974!  A recently launched online illustrated catalogue is available at www.sussex.ac.uk/barlow.

The Mass Observation Archive Online

Adam Matthew Digital (http://www.amdigital.co.uk/) has just launched the first phase of the Mass Observation (MO) Archive online and a number of HE libraries in the UK and abroad have already signed up for a four week trial.  Plans to extend the database in future are already under discussion with Adam Matthew (who also published MO material on microfiche).

University of Sussex introduces Institutional Repository

The University of Sussex has recently launched an Institutional Repository (IR) ‘Sussex Research Online’, developed by the Library and running on the Eprints software from the University of Southampton.  We saw this very much as an exercise in encouraging academics to submit their publications.  During Summer 2006 we worked with two academic departments in a pilot phase and during the Autumn term the IR was opened to all researchers on campus, and – with the help of many meetings, emails and hand holding – the deposits started to roll in.

So far 2007 is maintaining the momentum of 2006.  The IR currently has 575 records, many with the full text of the article or document.  We are already seeing many hits from all over the world, including Africa and Asia, accessing the documents and records, largely thanks to Google.  In the future we aim to make depositing new research into the IR second nature for academics (no small feat), and to include postgraduate theses into the collection.

Debby Shorley
Librarian
University of Sussex