On 23 November, Senate House Library and the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) hosted History Day 2023. History Day is a free annual event bringing together students, researchers and anyone with an interest in history with collections professionals from galleries, libraries, archives, museums and research organisations. This year 64 organisations joined us to celebrate and explore library, museum, archive and history collections from across the UK and beyond. After being held online-only for the past few years, the event was held in-person on the ground and first floors of Senate House fo ..read more

This blog post was written by Jane Rosen and Dominic Hewett, Research Support Librarians at IWM London, for History Day 2023 and explores library material relating to the IWM’s current exhibition IWM’s new exhibition Spies, Lies and Deception opened in October with audience expectations of James Bond martinis and inventive car chases, or the love affairs of Sidney Reilly. The reality is perhaps more George Smiley, and the exhibition covers more than the standard Philby, Burgess, and Maclean material. Indeed, it covers more than conventional spying. Alongside the spies and the secret ..read more

This blog post was written by Kaili Smith and Charlotte Willsmore, Research Support Librarians at IWM London, for History Day 2023 and explores library material relating to the IWM’s current exhibition In May 2023, the Imperial War Museums (IWM) opened the exhibition Northern Ireland: Living with the Troubles. The exhibition was created to inform visitors about the 30-year conflict that took place in Northern Ireland between the 1960s and 1990s. The story of this conflict is complex, and many aspects remain unresolved and highly contested to this day. When visiting this exhibit visitors can en ..read more

This blog post was written by Maisie Brewster, one of the Library Graduate Trainees at the Warburg Institute Library, for History Day 2023 and explores library material relating eating in the Middle Ages. The act of drinking and eating is first and foremost to sustain. It is primarily a process essential for human survival and, secondly, a process to provide a source of pleasure. Within the collections of the Warburg, drinking and eating is classified as an action and can be found in Classmark DC (fig. 1 and 2). This classmark encompasses the sources and studies of ‘festivals’ with the titles ..read more

History Day is a free event for students, researchers and history enthusiasts alike to explore collections from 50+ libraries, museums, historical organisations and archives. This year we return to an in-person fair for the first time since 2019, while retaining opportunities to join in online. As part of History Day 2023 on 23 November the ‘Discovering historical collections‘ session will help students and history researchers of all types to explore and discover historical material. The expert panel will introduce a range of discovery resources, aimed at locating both published mate ..read more

This blog post was written by Jane Rosen and Dominic Hewett, Research Support Librarians at IWM London, for History Day 2023 and explores library material relating to the IWM’s current exhibition IWM’s new exhibition Spies, Lies and Deception opened in October with audience expectations of James Bond martinis and inventive car chases, or the love affairs of Sidney Reilly. The reality is perhaps more George Smiley, and the exhibition covers more than the standard Philby, Burgess, and Maclean material. Indeed, it covers more than conventional spying. Alongside the spies and the secret ..read more

This blog post was written by Kaili Smith and Charlotte Willsmore, Research Support Librarians at IWM London, for History Day 2023 and explores library material relating to the IWM’s current exhibition In May 2023, the Imperial War Museums (IWM) opened the exhibition Northern Ireland: Living with the Troubles. The exhibition was created to inform visitors about the 30-year conflict that took place in Northern Ireland between the 1960s and 1990s. The story of this conflict is complex, and many aspects remain unresolved and highly contested to this day. When visiting this exhibit visitors can en ..read more

Now in its ninth year, this free one-day event aims to bring together students, researchers, and anyone with an interest in history, with information professionals from libraries, archives and research organisations. Inspired by this year’s Being Human Festival theme ‘Breakthroughs’, the event explored collections on the history of science, technology and medicine under the banner ‘Human Discovery: Experiencing Science’. With a combination of two live sessions, a new iteration of the Discover Collections gallery, and other interactive online elements, the event explored this theme in its broad ..read more

This blog post was written by Naureen Ali, Cataloguer and Adlib System Officer at the Ismaili Special Collections Unit (The Institute of Ismaili Studies) as part of a series of posts on the theme of ‘Human Discovery: Experiencing Science’ for History Day 2022.  The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) holds a significant repository of heritage materials related to Ismaili communities and other Muslim traditions. These collections include nearly 3,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Indic and other languages, as well as coins, glass weights, medals and other historical artefac ..read more

History Day is a free annual event, produced by the Institute of Historical Research and Senate House Library, which brings together a wide range of libraries, museums, archives, and organisations with students, researchers, and anyone with an interest in history. The theme of History Day 2022 is ‘Human Discovery: Experiencing Science’. Alongside two live panel discussions, there are contributions from over 40 organisations, taking many different forms, including blog posts, videos, online exhibitions, and contributions to our ‘Everyday Technology Firsts’ Padlet. These shed light on a wide ran ..read more