Last week we held our first code club online and, whilst it was nerve-wracking initially, the new format worked well. It allowed all the attendees to connect with a facilitator and other learners. By utilising Zoom's breakout room functions, we can put everyone who is learning a particular language into a specific room to receive tailored help. We're also planning on having rooms set up for those interested in Library and Data Carpentry.

If you have an idea, would like help with code, or if you just fancy a chat about a particular language, come along to DigiLab Code Club online, every Thursday, 4pm to 6pm. Sign up to receive the Zoom link

Please also get in touch if you have any level of coding knowledge and would be happy to help people to get started learning to code - we're always looking for friendly helpers. You'll be part of a great team and fully supported. Get in touch with digilab@manchester.ac.uk for more information.

• - Monday, 10 February, 1-2pm
• - Tuesday, 11 February, 2-3.30pm
• RDM Drop in: ask us anything – Wednesday, 12 February, 3-4.30pm

No booking required for this session, just turn up with your research data management questions. We will also have some of our research data management games set out to try. Come and see what Lego has to do with metadata, and play our file organisation game. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available.

If you can’t make it to one of our sessions then we will also be releasing a podcast, blog post and several 60 second videos about creating your Data Management Plan using DMPonline. Keep an eye on our Twitter account for details

(Image:  by Mot Studio is licensed under )

Curated by Professor Peter E. Pormann and Dr Natalia Smelova in collaboration with The John Rylands Library, the exhibition is based on ground-breaking research resulting from the AHRC-funded project ‘The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Galen's On Simple Drugs and the Recovery of Lost Texts through Sophisticated Imaging Techniques.’ The international team of scholars working on this project has revealed how medieval Syriac Christians in the Middle East shaped medical knowledge.

What’s in the exhibition?

Visitors can view the Syriac Galen Palimpsest and cutting edge multi-spectral images of its hidden undertext side by side. Other items on display trace the surprising roots of modern medicine, from mysterious occult books and talismanic objects through to medical textbooks from Renaissance Europe.

What is a palimpsest?

Around 900 years ago, Syriac creators erased some of their predecessors’ original writing, recycled the materials and overwrote the manuscript with a new text, creating a palimpsest – a multi-layered manuscript with a visible overtext and an undertext, mostly invisible to the naked eye.

As researchers using advanced imaging techniques began deciphering traces of the original undertext, they were able to identify the medical text hidden underneath the religious writings as an early translation of an important work by the ancient Greek thinker Galen of Pergamum. In this palimpsest, the Syriac translators created a link through which the great thinkers of the medieval Arabic speaking world could access the ancient wisdom of classical Greece.

Where can I find out more?

to find out more and watch video interviews with curator Peter Pormann.

• 11am – 4pm, Monday to Friday 
• 4 – 15 November
• Blue Ground, Main Library

Drop in to DigiLab’s dedicated space at Main Library to explore virtual, augmented and mixed reality, learn to code and experiment with 3D printing.

You can also see demonstrations from companies and take part in on e-textiles, coding and 3D design.

Open to all staff and students, DigiLab gives you the opportunity to expand your digital and technical skills, and help you adapt to the continuously changing landscape of technology.

The Library is committed to making Open Access as easy as possible for researchers and so provides a range of support services. This year, we will be holding four events during Open Access Week for postgraduate researchers and academics. Don’t miss the opportunity to speak with our experts, find out about the benefits of Open Access and how we can support you to make your work openly available.

Choosing a Credible Journal: And how to avoid ‘Predatory Publishers’

12 - 1pm, Tuesday, 22 October 2019

Main Library, Ground Floor Seminar RoomJoin this new workshop to find out how to decide where to submit your work for publication. Learn how to assess a journal using established criteria, and make sure you avoid publishing with so-called ‘predatory publishers’.

Open Research Showcase

1.30 - 3.30pm, Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Roscoe Building, Foyer

Join the Library’s Open Access experts to find out more about making your research openly available. Enjoy a hot drink and a cake, help to increase the visibility of the University’s research in our Wikipedia edit-a-thon and play some Open Access games.

This is a drop-in session, so just come along whenever you can.

Open Access in Five Simple Steps

12 - 1pm, Thursday, 24 October 2019

Main Library, Ground Floor Seminar Room

Find out more about Open Access in the Library’s bite-sized workshop for staff and postgraduate researchers. Learn about the most appropriate Open Access method for your work and how to be compliant with institutional and funder Open Access requirements.

Open Access Week AMA

All day, Friday, 25 October 2019

Twitter:

The Library’s Open Access experts will be answering your questions about Open Access, open research data and much more on Twitter. Follow and use the hashtag #OAWeekAMA to ask your questions.

For more information contact the Library’s Open Access team uml.openaccess@manchester.ac.uk

The Library is one of the most important and regularly used facilities for most students throughout their years with us, meaning our role in the Open Day must give a true flavour of the learning support, access to resources and friendliness that students will encounter.

Caroline Boyd, Marketing and Communications Officer, said, “We’re taking a fresh approach to our UG Open Days this year – and we don’t just mean the fresh fruit on offer on our Whitworth Hall exhibition stand as opposed to sweets!

“We know that we are a ‘home from home’ for many students. This is why we created a short dramatic film that really conveys how we are the nurturing, constant support that is there for students in the good times and the hard times of their student journey.”

The Library prides itself on having friendly, helpful staff and providing a wide range of resources that stand out against the competition. The Open Days films – including a short four minute documentary as well as the more dramatic one minute Library journey story - will convey some of our key messages on the benefits of studying here.

Format for the day

A Library Open Day leaflet has been produced and will be handed out on the days in order to help parents and students navigate between three sites – the Whitworth Hall exhibition, Main Library and the AGLC.At the Whitworth Hall exhibition, Library staff will be on hand to answer questions and to direct attendees to either AGLC or Main Library. At AGLC, Library staff and Student Team members will help with tours of the facilities whilst at Main Library there will be an exhibition and film viewing area on Blue Ground Floor.

Caroline added, “At previous Open Days, we noticed that lots of parents and students seemed tired and in need of refreshment and rest when they visited our sites. So this year, we’ll be encouraging them to get a drink in our cafe, take a comfortable seat in front of the Blue Ground video wall and sit back to hear about what makes 91直播 special. We’ll also have a small exhibition area featuring easels and beautifully designed foamboards – each one conveying different parts of our offer including Exam Extra, Get Started, Textbook Rescue and site library facilities.”

Want a taste of messages from the day? See the film below:

, takes a look at the lives of some of the Armenian diaspora who have been making the region their home since the mid-nineteenth century.

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust, part of The University of Manchester, has supported the project.

The free exhibition includes photographic portraits of and interviews with first-to-fourth generation Armenians who have settled in the area, along with historical images of Greater 91直播’s Armenian families.

Fifteen people, aged from 22-66, have recorded oral histories interviews where they talk unguardedly about their lives, experiences , family stories and memories. The portraits were taken at locations chosen by the interviewees, by photographers Robert Binder and Darren Bullock.

Galina Baghishyan-Manders, 43, is an ethnic Armenian who was living in Azerbaijan when war broke out between the two neighbouring countries. In 1986, aged, 11, she was airlifted to Armenia. Now married to an English man and living in Worsley, Greater 91直播, where she is an accountant, Galina's portrait and interview are included in the exhibition.

"It was horrible," she said. "I’ve still got really bad memories about that. I remember the day that we left. My father bought us tickets for the plane … just to save us from being killed. They were selling those tickets three times more expensive, I remember that. But they were priceless. At the time no one was looking at the price as long as you get those tickets just to be out, to be safe.

Helen Drummond grew up in West Didsbury in the 1970s, attending Cavendish Community Primary School. During her interview she recalls memories of her Armenian grandfather, who lived in Northenden. Towards the end of his life he began to hint at the atrocities he had witnessed during the Turkish capture of Smyrna.

"Grandad Mezbourian used to have quite a lot of melancholy spells when he used to just go and play the piano,” she said. "My mum was led to believe that was to do with missing his mother. It was only afterwards, as he was coming to the end of his life that he said ‘go to the library and find out what you can about the Armenians.’ It’s only after that and reading what he wrote on a trip he made to Armenia in 1922, that we’ve realised he saw some terrible things in the burning of Smyrna."

The project was initiated and managed by Zara Hakobyan - an Armenian researcher living in the north west- and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Once the exhibition is over, the recordings will continue to be available on an Aratta website, and will be preserved in the archives of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre at 91直播’s Central Library.

Zara said: "The aim of Aratta exhibition is to draw attention to people with Armenian heritage or intricate ties to Armenia – the seldom-acknowledged faces that make up the fascinating world of the Armenians in 91直播.

"It focuses on the constructs of identity and Armenianness, showing people’s differences and similarities through combining photography and oral history interviews.

Jennie Vickers, community engagement manager at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust, has been supporting Zara with the project, ensuring that that the researcher and her volunteers produce archival quality materials. She said: “Community histories project like Aratta are vital if future generations are to retain a connection with their past. And they help all of us to gain a deeper understanding of the people we call friends, neighbours and colleagues.”

The Armenian Diaspora and Armenians in 91直播

Today, there are around 20,000 ethnic Armenians in the United Kingdom, the majority based in London and 91直播. Approximately 3 million Armenians live in Armenia and over 10 million live in other countries. Since the earliest recorded times, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. However the modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed as a result of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, when the Armenians living in their ancestral homeland in eastern Turkey, were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman government.

The first Armenians who settled in 91直播 in 1835 were silk merchants. And by 1862, it is estimated there were 30 Armenian businesses in the city. The Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, on the city’s Upper Brook Street, was consecrated in 1870 and is the oldest Armenian church in the UK

Aratta: Armenian Heritage in the North West
Until 16 June 2019
Central Library basement, St Peter's Square, 91直播 M2 5DP
Monday-Thursday 9am-8pm, Friday and Saturday 9am-5pm, Sunday closed
T: 0161 234 1983

Those of you who or will have seen the build up to the exhibition, which marks the 200^th anniversary of this tragic and poignant event.

On 16 August 1819, people flooded into the heart of Manchester to demand political representation. Fearing revolution, the state crushed the peaceful protest without mercy. Peterloo tells the story of Manchester’s fight for freedom, as the city marks two centuries since one of the darkest moments in its history.

When crowds gathered at St Peter’s Field to attend a radical political meeting no one expected the bloody massacre that followed. The Library’s exhibition features fascinating items that bring both sides of a volatile debate to life – from the people who were brutally cut down by armed soldiers, to the magistrates who spread lies to cover up the horror.

Uncover the personal stories behind the protest that shocked Britain. Explore original handwritten records to learn the names of the ordinary Mancunians who sacrificed their lives for liberty. See the documents that show how the city authorities tried to conceal the atrocities they committed against their own citizens. Get up close to historic newspapers, and be inspired by the journalists who tirelessly sought to report truth, expose corruption and seek justice.

The Peterloo Massacre was a crucial step on Britain’s long journey to democracy. In today’s climate of heated political debate, viral media and clashing opinions, the story of these 91直播 radicals resonates more than ever before. Come and consider: how different is Britain 200 years later?

Find out more

Visit The John Rylands Library section of the website to find out more:

What to expect

At this event, you’ll have the chance to:

• interact with a whole host of robots, including some designed and handmade by visiting developers;
• try out 3D printing and talk to the printing pros about their adventures in building their own 3D printer from scratch;
• chat to hacker extraordinaires from the National Videogame Museum who will be bringing their incredible creations and interactive LED art; and
• take part in research aimed at combating hate crime through a VR experience.

It promises to be a fun-packed day with something for everyone.

Join the DigiLab team on the lower ground floor of the AGLC, between 11am and 4pm on Thursday, 14 February 2019.

Find out more

Visit the DigiLab section of the Library website to find out more:

Over the next three weeks, we’re going to be showing you how to Find, Use and Ask to get the most out of the services available in The University of Manchester Library.

The best place to start online is the ; they’ve got useful links to the most important bits of the Library website, to kick start your journey. On every page you’ll see a banner at the top that takes you straight to these pages.

You can also chat to our staff online, using the Library Chat tab on the right-hand side of our webpages.

You can come into the , , or one of our , and see us in person. We’re happy to answer any questions you might have, no matter how big or small. You can identify Library staff during the first three weeks of term, as we’re all wearing a rather fetching purple!

Lastly, make sure to follow us on social media for tons of useful info, service announcements (and the occasional cat GIF). Links to all our social media channels can be found on the left-hand side of our pages.