Sometimes your eyes need a break from staring at a screen. Sometimes it’s just nice to listen and learn while you are on the go or doing something else. Sometimes you might want to hear the sound of a librarian chatting about the best resources for your subject and how to get the most from them.

Whatever the reason, the Library is now on SoundCloud, with our Faculty Librarians offering series of micro podcasts, each just a minute or so long but following on from one another to comprehensively cover topics close to your heart, from how to get the most from business reports to how you can switch from expensive subscription streaming services to our free indie movie and documentary streaming service Kanopy and save!

Having reached the top of their respective professions, Black women are reaching back down to help up their sisters, creating opportunities where none existed before. The availability of cash is the single most heavily limiting factor for almost every business and venture capitalists have historically been extremely reticent about lending capital to Black people and business women, let alone Black businesswomen. Happily, Black women are now stepping in to fill the gap and provide seed funding for Black-owned SMEs, as well as creating platforms to support networking between Black businesspeople and connecting venture capitalists with business founders. Others are supporting their communities by setting up community interest companies that enrich and develop people from disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraging them to succeed and thrive.

The costmetics industry has historically worshipped an exclusively white image of beauty, as if the sculptures and paintings of the Rennaisance were the sole yardstick by which the diversity of human beauty was to be measured. Black women are only now forcing the question about where there place is in the beauty industry, overturning the exploitative practices of hair straightening and filling gaping holes in the market with products that meet the needs of women with darker skin tones.

Libraries are for everyone. That’s why we make the extra effort to remove any potential barriers that might otherwise make it more difficult for you to use library products and services. We have introduced everything from book baskets to postal loans, and scanning to our click and collect service, all to make your life easier. Here is a potted overview of some of the ways we work to make your life easier.

Your University Card is as unique as you are.  It identifies you wherever you go on campus.  It lets you, and only you, into university buildings and allows you to access a whole range of other services, such as borrowing books from the Library and laptops on campus.  If you forget your card and would like to come into the Library, we have alternative ways to allow you access to the building. Just talk to one of our friendly staff at the Reception Desk. 

Frustrated by the lack of disabled Black women in the media, Kym and Jumoke created a platform that brought together a blog, YouTube channel and podcast for sharing stories and talking about the intersectional discrimination faced by Black, disabled women that led to careers as influencers with a regular circuit of public speaking at festivals, in the press and at universities. They were recently named #Merky Books superheroes.

This month we have taken some of our wonderful Outside In World Children’s Books in Translation collection out of the library to a fantastic event organised by our Global team here at Portsmouth University.  Also at the event were  Hive …

Family fun with the University Library Read more »