2006 Press Releases

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Moving with the times
December 20
British Library announces 2007 commitments on new content strategy.

Get into the festive spirit with Christmas number one albums at the British Library!
December 15
Pop Goes the Library: 50 Years of the Album Charts: extended until 25 March 2007 due to popular demand.

Turning the Pages™ nominated for 'best of the best' in e-Government National Awards
December 12
British Library system acclaimed for innovative use of technology to enable wider access to collections.

The British Library response to the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property (IP)
December 7
Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, broadly welcomed yesterday's publication of the Gowers Review on Intellectual Property and the Library looks forward to continuing engagement on this important issue.

British Library business team wins top international award
December 1
Business & IP Centre also short-listed in 2006 Growing Business Awards.

Commerce gets a conscience
October 30
The Body Shop founder explores social change and the entrepreneurial spirit at the British Library, Wednesday 15 November, 2006.

Business & IP Centre Appoint Business and Life Coach
October 30
Renowned business and life coach Rasheed Ogunlaru launches one-to-one creative advice sessions and workshops at the British Library's Business & IP Centre.

English Short Title Catalogue now free
October 30
'As people explore the immense resources of the ESTC ever more widely, so we understand ever more fully the significance of printing to all aspects of the English-speaking world between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries. As a resource it is simply matchless.'

British Library launches brand new range of stationery based on its Olga Hirsch Collection
October 25
The stationery is available in the British Library Bookshop or online

The Folio Society Gallery: new exhibition space at the British Library
October 23
The Painted Page: Images of medieval life in the Luttrell Psalter
26 October-7 January 2007
Admission Free

Save our written heritage: Making UK writers archives available to future generations
October 19
The Right Honourable Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury and Poet Laureate Andrew Motion are addressing an international conference at the British Library, Manuscripts Matter on 19-20 October 2006 to discuss the importance of UK institutions acquiring the archives of living writers.

The World of the Luttrell Psalter
October 16
Leading historian Michelle P. Brown investigates the origins of 14th century manuscript, the Luttrell Psalter, in her captivating new book published by the British Library on 25 October 2006. Lavishly illustrated with 90 colour images, the publication ties in with an exhibition in the new Folio Society Gallery at the British Library, The Painted Page: Images of medieval life in the Luttrell Psalter, 25 October-7 January 2007.

Velson Horie joins the British Library
October 3
The distinguished conservator, Velson Horie, has been appointed as Project Manager for two conservation research projects funded by a grant from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation.

Spoken Word: Bernard Shaw and H.G Wells Rare historic radio recordings published for the first time
September 27
The surviving BBC radio broadcasts of two of the most celebrated writers of the early 20th century, George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells, are published for the first time by the British Library today as part of a new series of historic literary CDs.

Breaking the sound barrier
September 26
Massive digitisation programme by the British Library and JISC makes 3,900 hours of historic sound recordings available to students, researchers and academics

Media industry's leading lights attend awards ceremony for British Library competition winners
September 25
The British Library held a high profile awards ceremony in support of the London Design Festival on Monday 25 September to celebrate the winners of its Make the Front Page competition.

Harvesting Digital Heritage
September 25
New Zealand-led partnership breaks new ground in the management of the world's digital heritage by developing new system for collecting web pages for digital heritage archives.

British Library launches IP manifesto
September 25
"The current stand-off on IP threatens innovation, research and our digital heritage" - Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive, British Library

Discovering hidden gems: Cultural figures support new British Library Learning website
September 19
“How tremendously exciting that there is something to explore here. It’s a resource with no limits. You make of it what you can. You are the adventurer. You are the traveller. It is surely one of the wonders of the world that you can have such easy, pain-free access to this stuff. What a treat. I hope everybody at every school everywhere in Britain can be guided to this astounding adventure.” Griff Rhys Jones

Media Moguls Loaded on a Free Red Hot Curry
September 07
On Monday 2 October, the British Library will host 'Hot off the Press' a super-charged panel discussion. This event will bring together four trail-blazing and controversial entrepreneurial editors who will debate how best to start and develop a business in the media.

Over £400K in Grants Helps Preserve Endangered Archives
August 31
Researchers throughout the world will benefit greatly from the Endangered Archives Programme, which in 2006 awarded grants of over £470,000 through sponsorship by the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund. This second round of funding by the Programme will cover 19 projects, preserving photographic archives, Islamic manuscripts, endangered musical collections and endangered court records from Africa, Asia, Russia, Latin America and Europe.

Coleridge family papers saved for the nation
August 21
The archive of the extended family of one of the greatest English Romantic poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, dating from the mid 18th to the early 20th centuries has been acquired by the British Library.

One-To-One insights from Apprentice winner Tim Campbell
August 07
Tim Campbell, the winner of BBC2's The Apprentice in 2005, launches one-to-one business and motivational advice sessions at the British Library's Business & IP Centre.

Magna Carta named an 'Icon of England'
August 01
Magna Carta has been voted by the public as one of the nation's favourite icons in the new list announced today in a national online poll at www.ICONS.org.uk.

British Library-led partnership chosen to run UK PubMed Central
July 31
UK to launch online research archive to further biomedical discovery.

Led Zeppelin Tops the Charts in Poll of MPs
July 31
Visitors can listen to their favourite summer sounds and discover some golden oldies as well as the latest stars at the British Library display celebrating 50 years of the album charts which first began on 28 July 1956. The display is supported by the Official UK Charts Company.

96% of British Library Readers rate services as excellent
July 20
Of the readers using the British Library Reading Rooms, 96% rated the services and facilities as ‘excellent’ or ‘good ‘as reported in the British Library Annual Report 2005/6 published today at http://www.bl.uk/about/annual/2005to2006/introduction.html.

Andrew Neil joins media industry's leading lights to chair British Library competition
July 06
Publisher and broadcaster Andrew Neil is to chair a judging panel which brings together David Viggers, Head of Reuters UK Picture Desk, Mark Porter, Creative Editor of the Guardian and Faisal Islam, Business Correspondent at Channel Four News and Young Journalist of the Year 2006.

Allenbuild appointed to build new storage facility for the British Library
July 04
West Yorkshire facility to provide optimum storage conditions for millions of items from the UK national collection.

The Asian Advantage - Discover the formula for success
June 27
Around the globe, Asian entrepreneurs are creating world-beating businesses. In the UK, Asian companies continue to be the fastest growing business sector, and contribute well over £20 billion a year to the London economy alone.

British Library scoops CIPFA/PwC award for second year
2004-05 Annual Report wins at Public Reporting and Accountability awards
June 15
The British Library has won a major award in the field of public reporting and accountability for the second year running. The joint Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers 2006 Public Reporting and Accountability Awards were announced at a ceremony in Harrogate last night. The UK national library won in the category of 'National organisations with an annual turnover of more than £50m' for its 2004-05 Annual Report.

Library warns of 'more restrictive' DRMs
June 07
British Library expresses concern about the impact of DRMs on access, fair dealing and digital preservation

Desperately seeking finance
June 06
Innovative start-up companies are critical to the success of the UK economy, yet many entrepreneurs face the challenge of finding the advice and support on how they can access finance.

Faces of the Living Dead:
The Belief in Spirit Photography by Martyn Jolly
May 31
Faces of the Living Dead
Ghosts, spiritualist mediums, séances, ectoplasm and auras..

Front Page
Celebrating 100 years of the British Newspaper (1906 - 2006)
May 25
An exhibition in partnership with the Newspaper Publishers Association
Politics, finance and circulation war! Explosive exposes and exclusives! Intrigue, in-fighting and infamy! From hot metal to hot gossip, this new exhibition brings to life the growth, development, rivalry and union of the newspaper industry in Britain over the past 100 years, staged to mark the centenary of the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA).

Symbols make it simple
Icons for Reading Room requirements introduced at the British Library
May 23
The British Library has introduced a series of icons to improve awareness of the "dos and don'ts" of using our Reading Rooms among our Readers.

Appointment of new Chair of the British Library
May 17
The Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has appointed Sir Colin Lucas as the new Chair of the Board of the British Library. The term will be for a four-year period, from 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2010.

Testing Treatments Better research for better healthcare
May 10
How well do we know whether a particular drug, therapy or operation really works, and how well? How reliable is the evidence? Are clinical trials truly unbiased? And is current research fully focused on the real needs of patients? For the first time, such timely and pressing questions are raised and resolved in this probing inquiry into modern clinical research, with far-reaching implications for daily medical practice and patient care.

British Library competition looks to the future of newspapers
May 09
"Newspapers will change, not die" according to Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Managing Director of News Corporation, quoted recently in The Independent. But what will the newspaper of the future be like?

Reflecting a changing world
April 24
As the amount of information produced and consumed around the world increases at an unprecedented rate - and appears in diverse and rapidly evolving formats - how are national libraries to ensure that they continue to collect material that is important and relevant to researchers now and for generations to come?

Leading libraries set the standard
April 24
British Library and Library of Congress to support common archiving standard for electronic journals
The British Library and the US Library of Congress have announced that they support the migration of electronic content to the NLM DTD standard, where practicable. The libraries hope that their advocacy of migration to this standard will help ensure long-term access to eJournal content.

Ever wondered what a Wart-biter sounds like?
April 19
Listen to the vanishing sounds of Britain's rarest wildlife
On 19 April 2006, the British Library will be launching Vanishing Wildlife, a new CD that showcases the sounds of some of Britain's most elusive and rare species of birds, mammals, insects and frogs. Highlights include the call of the Scottish Crossbill, Britain's only unique species; the last recording of a group of Pool Frogs before they became extinct and the echolocation call of the Greater Horseshoe Bat, one of Britain's rarest mammals. All of the sounds have been drawn from the British Library Sound Archive that holds the world's largest collection of nature sounds.

The Rise and Rise of the Black British Entrepreneurs
April 18
Inspiring future black business success
Four of the UK 's leading black business role models will reveal the secrets of their success at 'The Rise and Rise of the Black British Entrepreneurs' discussion panel and networking reception at The British Library on Monday 15 May.

Samuel Beckett: Works for Radio
The original BBC broadcasts now available
April 13
To celebrate Samuel Beckett's centenary, the British Library is publishing a 4-CD set of the works Beckett created for radio. The CD set is being released on Thursday 13 April, the Beckett centenary day.

British Library takes measures over busy Easter period
April 12
The British Library continues to see a rise in the number of people using our Reading Rooms, despite electronic resources being increasingly used as tools for research. Already vibrant and busy, we experience a significant increase in numbers during academic holidays. Over the Easter holiday period, we are implementing some temporary measures to manage the increase in numbers.

Ever heard a bird neigh like a horse?
March 22
Listen to the Starling that sounds like a chicken and the Blackbird that imitates a computer modem

Leading edge
New programme to develop library and information leaders of the future
March 20
SCONUL, UCISA and the British Library are supporting a new and ambitious programme to help experienced professional Information Services staff to develop their potential. The Future Leaders Programme, developed with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, is aimed at offering those with proven management experience the opportunity to enhance their leadership potential and to lead on a range of new and exciting projects.

One-to-one with Dame Anita Roddick
March 13
Legendary entrepreneur launches one-to-one creative advice sessions at the British Library's Business & IP Centre

25,000 Start-Up Success Stories
March 08
Business & IP Centre's ambitious target: to help launch 25,000 new UK businesses
On Thursday 9 March, the British Library opens the doors of its enhanced Business & IP Centre. This trusted service will cut costs for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and is designed to support entrepreneurs from the initial spark of inspiration through to successfully launching and developing a business. The Centre aims to help the launch of 25,000 new UK businesses in its first five years.

Discovery to desktop delivery.
March 02
The internet's search engine and the world's greatest research library are joining forces to offer researchers, students and academics desktop delivery of millions of full text scholarly research articles.

'How do I love thee?'
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806-61
14th February - 5th April 2006
February 06
On 14th February 2006, 'How do I love thee?' Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806-61, opens at the British Library. This exhibition, drawing on manuscript and printed items, photographs and memorabilia from the British Library and the collection of rarely seen and important material relating to the Brownings and their circle at Eton College, celebrates the bicentenary of her birth on 6th March 1806.

The British Library submits evidence to APIG on DRMs - 2/2/06
February 06
As part of its statutory duty to collect, preserve and provide access for the nation to a comprehensive archive of publications, the British Library spends around £16 million each year on the acquisition of commercial information resources, many of them digital, and is also the recipient of UK legal deposit including, in due course, digital legal deposit.

Minister highlights importance of Intellectual Property
January 31
Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions, speaks at the British Library

Debating the future of the UK's Higher Education information infrastructure
January 25
In early 2005, CURL and The British Library commissioned CHEMS Consulting to conduct a study into storage space in UK research libraries, particularly those in Higher Education.

Love the British Library this Valentines Day.
Adopt a book and save it for the nation
January 23
Are you looking for an unusual and original Valentines gift that will last longer than the traditional red roses or chocolates? The British Library's Adopt a Book appeal is the ideal way to show your love for the world's greatest book collection and give your Valentine one a unique present that will last for a lifetime.

'Pause on the Landing' Patrick Caulfield tapestry installed at the British Library
January 18
On 19th January 2006 Pause on the Landing, a large scale tapestry designed by the prominent artist Patrick Caulfield will be hung in the British Library Conference Centre. The tapestry was one of the final projects by Caulfield who died in September this year aged 69 and will be hung days before what would have been Caulfield's 70th birthday.

Mozart Manuscript Reunited: Composer's early musical ideas reconstructed
January 10
12 January 2006, a Mozart manuscript cut in half over 170 years ago will be reunited for the first time at the British Library. The reunion of the manuscript brings to a close its long and convoluted history and marks the start of a series of events to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.

St. Helena 150th Stamp Anniversary
British Library Philatelic Rarities to feature on St. Helena issue
January 09
150 years ago, on January 1st 1856, the remote island of St. Helena issued its first postage stamp. "The St. Helena Herald" announced the 6d. blue stamp, which was to pay the postage on letters to the United Kingdom. At that time mail was carried by Royal Mail Packet ships or other sailing ships that called at the island on an occasional basis. The stamps were printed in England by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., who at this time were leading stamp printers. To commemorate this anniversary a set of six stamps and a miniature sheet are to be issued on January 16th, 2006. The set was commissioned by the Crown Agents Stamp Bureau on behalf of the St. Helena Post Office, and show a selection of stamp treasures from the British Library Philatelic Collections.