This may not answer your question, but there was a blogpost last year noting slight changes to the Z39.50 service on migration of the BL catalogue to Alma: www.bl.uk/stories/blog...
Bought a new plastic mac.
Author Phil Harris on his retirement with a view of the Round Reading Room of 1857. Photo: BL Corporate Archive, PH 034/342
We’re delighted to share that A History of the British Museum Library, 1753–1973 by P. R.
Harris is now digitised and freely available to all interested in the history of the Museum and librarianship.
Find out more here: link.bl.uk/vvx
Features me, commenting: no one "is choosing to build infrastructure that will support the information needs of future generations... we should pour our scant resources into fixing the aftermath of the cyber-attacks on the British Library" instead of this... www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Today the British Newspaer Archive reached 100 million pages! What an epic achievement! So many interesting pages to explore. And we’re not stopping there the BL & FMP will continue to digitise, so here’s to the next 100 million!
blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2026/02/16/c...
Despite recent challenges, our UK Web Archive team remains dedicated to safeguarding the nation’s online heritage.
Find out more about UK Web Archive recovery in this latest blog post here: link.bl.uk/aaq
I hadn't realised that Bindon Abbey in Dorset was the first English house to be returned to the Cistercian Order - in the 1790s when the Welds gave it to the refugee monks of La Trappe. Sounds like it was a fun place to be
Curling stones on an ice rink. Image by Felix from Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are underway in Italy where 2,900 athletes from 92 National Olympic Committees will take part in Alpine skiing, curling, ice hockey and more. Find out how you can help preserve web content for this historic event here: link.bl.uk/7yj
#Olympics @netpreserve.bsky.social
The front page of the Daily Graphic newspaper published Saturday 25 August, 1917, featuring portraits of 'Women in the Order of the British Empire', including Lady Byron, the honourable Mrs Alfred Lyttelton, Her Majesty the Queen.
Apply for our PhD placement scheme to get involved in extraordinary research at the Library. There are eight available placements exploring a variety of themes including war poetry, 21st-century digital tools, illustrated newspapers and decarbonisation.
Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements
Want to learn more about how libraries can promote positive climate action?
Join us on 26 February to explore how libraries can contribute to a circular economy.
Book your free place: link.bl.uk/9sy
Pas de Calais - Les ruines de Neuve-Chapelle après les combats de mars 1915 -
Pas de Calais - Les ruines de Neuve-Chapelle après les combats de mars 1915 - site
Would the UK need to rejoin the EU before trying this "proper Brexit"? 🤔
A dragon has landed at the British Library 🐉
Created exclusively for Fairy Tales, this new illustration from the legendary Chris Riddell will guard the doors to our magical family exhibition opening in March.
Tickets are now on sale at link.bl.uk/FairyTales
British Library placement profiles include illustrated & illuminated incunabula, Elgar's letters, law & legal studies, UK newsletter publishing, war poetry, digital sustainability, decarbonisation and more. Deadline 27 February. #Skystorians
In December, hundreds of library, museum, archive and research staff gathered at the British Library to share the state of the art in AI research for cultural heritage. Find out more: https://www.bl.uk/stories/blogs/posts/fantastic-futures-2025-highlights-and-resources #AI4LAM
Excellent post from @britishlibrary.bsky.social on the Fantastic Futures 2025 conf they hosted, on museums & libs use of AI www.bl.uk/stories/blog...
You could hold out for the quails' eggs, but be prepared for a catering-style insulated steel jug containing tepid water, with a collection of teabags; perhaps even nicely-branded teabags, with fruit and Earl Grey varieties! It will all taste the same, alas, with the tepid water!
A woman in an orange sweater looks at a pull-out panel of stamps in the British Library's collection.
Looking to grow your library career? Don’t miss the chance to join us this summer for our International Library Leaders Programme. Applications close on 5 February.
Learn more: link.bl.uk/ILLP2026
Image of writer and essayist Ronald Blythe, best known for book Akenfield, which explores changing rural life in Suffolk during the 20th century.
We're delighted to have acquired the archive of writer and essayist Ronald Blythe, best known for book Akenfield, which explores changing rural life in Suffolk during the 20th century.
Discover more in this blog post by curator Helen Melody: link.bl.uk/86s
An illustration of Battersea power station with a view of a boat from the river.
Have you completed a PhD in the last 10 years? Applications are open for our Postdoctoral Visiting Fellowship in Sustainability and Environment. Funding covers an £8000 bursary for part-time (0.5) research over 8 months, plus travel expenses. Apply by Monday 9 February. link.bl.uk/VisitingFellowship
Thank you! I've visited the site a few times, because a possible distant relative was in a "B" Battalion tank on 31 July 1917, possibly B.41 of No. 6 Coy; he died of wounds, and has a grave marker in Birr Cross Roads Cemetery
Was the dig related to this 2018 paper by Birger Stichelbout et al., or a different one?
doi.org/10.1002/arp....
The British Library is hosting a free event on 9 Feb, 18:30: Web Archive Research in an Age of Smart Data. Hear from Emmanouil Tranos, Thom Vaughan, Dr Andrea Kocsis, and Cameron Huggett. Chair: Jane Winters.
📍Location: BL Knowledge Centre, London.
events.bl.uk/events/web-a...
From the British Library:
Want to level up your library career this year?
We’re looking for international mid-career library and archive professionals to join us this summer at our International Library Leaders Programme. [1/2]
Discover the wartime service of composer Gustav Holst in my new Substack article:
open.substack.com/pub/kathryns...
The death of Dr Paul Ayris is huge loss to UCL, to @uclpress.bsky.social and to the open access/scholarly communications community more broadly.
His open access Thomas Cranmer’s Register
A record of archiepiscopal administration in diocese and province is published by the Press in January. 1/2
I am also very sorry to learn of this news; I used to meet Paul from time-to-time in Jisc and RLUK contexts, and our conversations would occasionally touch on Thomas Cranmer
British Library catalogue search page displaying the new main catalogue, designed to make finding and requesting published items easier.
We’re excited to share our new main catalogue, making it easier for you to find and request the majority of our published collection. We’ve also launched an interim version of our Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. Find out how to start searching and requesting on our website bit.ly/BLNewCatalogues
Person viewing an exhibition related to Jane Austen, featuring displays of historical clothing and documents.
Jane Austen was born 250 years ago today ✨
Our new display, Dancing with Austen, explores how dance shaped her social world and drove the plots of her novels.
Now on display at the Weston Library.
#JaneAusten
All sensible advice!
