2005 Press Releases
NEW! Subscribe to our press releases RSS feed using your feed reader
Debating the future of the UK's Higher Education information infrastructure
16 December 2005
On Tuesday 13 December leading Higher Education representatives responded to proposals for the development of a 'National Research Reserve' (NRR) to store low use print collections. The NRR was presented as one of several options for the most efficient and cost-effective solution to the shortage of research library storage. All options are detailed in the report by CHEMS Consulting, 'Optimising storage and access in UK research libraries'.
Mozart's musical diary unlocked
8 December 2005
Previously unheard composition now available online
Beautiful Minds: capture the spirit of nobel achievement
6 December 2005
A British Library Exhibition: 7th December 2005 - 15th March 2006
Creative insights at the British Library January – March 2006
1 December 2005
Eminent names from science, business and the arts reveal secrets of the creative impulse at the British Library
29 November
Digital technology has transformed access to the British Library for both the public and researchers over the past year through a range of initiatives detailed in the British Library’s Annual Report, which was published today.
British Library Direct hits 5000 registered user mark
24 November
Service attracts researchers from academic and corporate markets worldwide
"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." Coco Chanel
14 November
Fashion Lives – a new exhibition at the British Library
11 November 2005 – 7 February 2006
Evolution or Revolution? Debating the future of the UK's Higher Education information infrastructure
8 November 2005
Leading Higher Education representatives provide their responses to the recent report by CHEMS Consulting Optimising storage and access in UK research libraries.
Microsoft and the British Library work together to make 25 million pages of content available to all
4 November
MSN Book Search, launched earlier this month, to deliver search results.
Microsoft continues to work with the British Library on its development of the infrastructure for the National Digital Library.
Black Europeans and Caribbean Views - African ancestry of well known Europeans revealed
31 October 2005
Caribbean Views and Black Europeans, two new virtual exhibitions created by writer and broadcaster, Mike Philips, will be launched online at the British Library's website www.bl.uk on 2 November 2005.
The Essential Shakespeare - Live
26 October 2005
A two CD set, The Essential Shakespeare Live, featuring scenes from Royal Shakespeare Company performances from 1959 to 2003, recorded by the British Library Sound Archive and personally selected by RSC Associate Director Gregory Doran, is made commercially available for the first time on Wednesday 26 October 2005.
Innovators, inventors and pioneers Voices of History 2: Arts, Science and Exploration. Previously unpublished, rare and historic recordings
Available for sale from 28 September 2005
23 September 2005
For the first time, the voice of the eminent Victorian scientist and founder of modern-day physics Lord Kelvin (William Thomson), best-known for his work on thermodynamics, can be heard on the British Library's Voices of History 2, amongst other rare and historic recordings from the early 20th century.
Fashion Lives - a new exhibition at the British Library
14 September 2005
For the first time at the British Library, Fashion Lives, a new exhibition, has brought together a collection of post-war fashion leaders who have defined their profession and played a unique role in shaping the fashion industry as we know it today.
'.where is the use of a book' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?'
13 September 2005
On 21 September 2005, the original manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, one of the world’s most popular and well known children’s books, will be available to internet users for the first time.
British Library presents a piece of Ashes history
8 September 2005
Cities of the World: A History in Maps by Peter Whitfield
5 September 2005
From Athens to Moscow, San Francisco to Saigon, and Cape Town to Constantinople – enjoy a historic tour of the world’s great cities from the comfort of your armchair.
London Search Facility of UK Patent Office moves to the British Library
31 August 2005
Search facilities to boost business and innovation hub.
Natalie Ceeney joins The National Archives
17 August 2005
Natalie Ceeney has been appointed the new chief executive of the National Archives and leaves the British Library in October.
Archive treasures to be saved
16 August 2005
First grants from Endangered Archives Programme
Sleeping cheetah discovered in the British Library!
9 August 2005
Sounds of Africa - a new sound exhibition at the British Library 10 September - 6 November 2005.
The original celebrity gossip
4 August 2005
Trace the social lives of European royalty with Renaissance Festival Books.
Centre for Conservation
21 July 2005
Construction starts in August.
Overcoming barriers: Pioneering entrepreneurs win top honours
12 July 2005
Biotech Entrepreneur of the Year Award & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Knocking haddocks to squirming silk worms
7 July 2005
Wake up to the sounds of an Australian bushland dawn chorus, relax to dusk in an oriental rainforest or even discover the noise made by captive haddock in Aberdeen at the click of your mouse, with the British Library's new Listen to Nature site on www.bl.uk. Users can listen to 400 examples of nature sounds, many available for the first time from the British Library's Sound Archive.
British Library predicts 'switch to digital by 2020'
29 June 2005
Speaking at the launch of the Library’s new three-year strategy, Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, today predicted a switch from print to digital publishing by the year 2020.
Chief Executive accepts permanent contract
28 June 2005
Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library has accepted a permanent contract from the Board of the British Library, following her successful five year tenure as Chief Executive.
A kick-start for start-ups
27 June 2005
A portfolio of services launched today by the British Library combine the Library's unrivalled business collections - including 600 online databases and 50 million patent records.
Unfolding Andersen
23 June 2005
A free show for 4-8 year olds and their families. inspired by the British Library’s Hans Christian Andersen exhibition and designed by theatre-rites.
Best in show
17 June 2005
British Library wins 2005 CIPFA/PwC Public Reporting and Accountability Awards
The British Library has been named overall winner in the 2005 CIPFA/ PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Reporting and Accountability Awards.
Partnership boost to UK higher and further education
13 June 2005
The British Library’s unrivalled collections and the pioneering technology of JISC will combine to the benefit of researchers and students across the UK with the signing today of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) committing both partners to a wide range of innovative development projects.
Unlocking the top 20,000 titles
1 June 2005
British Library launches new research resource
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and independent researchers are to benefit from a versatile new pay-as-you-go service launched today by the British Library. BRITISH LIBRARY DIRECT provides, for the first time, access to a fully searchable database of article titles from the top 20,000 international research journals. These records go back five years and currently number around nine million - with 150,000 new entries added each month.
24 May 2005
The British Library plans to build a Centre for Conservation to provide a world-class facility for all aspects of book conservation including education and training, as well as state-of-the art technical facilities for the nation's Sound Archive, enabling unrivalled standards of care for the Library's priceless collections have been approved by the London Borough of Camden.
British Library awarded £1m to support small businesses and entrepreneurs
11 May 2005
Trusted service secures London Development Agency funding to expand support for innovators, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
Monitoring success
26 April 2005
British Library records increase in readers
The British Library is currently seeing a marked increase in the number of people using the Library's Reading Rooms. Latest figures up to March 2005 show that we are seeing double the number of people applying for reader passes at the British Library and the number of collection items consulted is up by 20%. The number of visits to the Reading Rooms has varied over the last yea,r with the busiest months being November, December and January, but there is a growing upward trend.
Texts in Context
7 April 2005
Texts in Context, a major new online resource for English and History with hundreds of sources from the British Library's unique collections, is launched on Thursday 7 April 2005 on www.bl.uk/learning.
Theses unbound.
7 April 2005
Around 14,000 academic theses are produced in the UK each year, representing perhaps the richest resource of primary research in fields ranging from molecular chemistry to medieval history. Today, JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), CURL (Consortium of Research Libraries in the British Isles) and the British Library announced the development of a new national framework for the provision, preservation and accession of theses - both printed and electronic - to help researchers in higher education, science and industry to tap this currently underused resource.
Tilting at windmills – from fool to hero, 400 years of Don Quixote
5 April 2005
Four hundred years ago the first part of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, arguably the first modern novel, was published in Madrid. It was an immediate success with five editions printed in 1605 and translated into English seven years later. It has now been translated into every major language - and many minority languages - in the world. To celebrate the influence and impact of the book, a range of illustrated editions through the ages, drawn from the collections of the British Library, will be on display from 6 April to 24 June 2005.
Rarities at the click of a mouse…
31 March 2005
New website features 80 highlights of the British Library's philatelic collections
A selection of the world's rarest and most fascinating stamps is now available online for philatelists to explore at the British Library's expanded Collect Britain site. 80 items, many of which are from the renowned Tapling Collection, can be viewed as high-quality images at: http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/philatelic/
Geoff Hamilton voted favourite garden writer by a blade
30 March 2005
The late Geoff Hamilton, the longest serving presenter of Gardener's World, is Britain's favourite garden writer according to a recent web vote organised by the British Library in association with the Royal Horticultural Society to complement the Writer in the Garden exhibition.
It's all relative: Previously unpublished and rare recordings of Einstein
14 March 2005
A rare recording of the celebrated fund-raising dinner at the Savoy Hotel in 1930, at which Bernard Shaw famously described Albert Einstein as a 'maker of universes', is the centrepiece of a new CD published by the British Library today, Einstein's birthday. It also contains what is believed to be the first commercial release of Albert Einstein explaining his Special Theory of Relativity, the formula e=mc 2.
World's oldest Bible goes global: Historic international digitisation project announced
11 March 2005
An ambitious international project to reinterpret the oldest Bible in the world, the Codex Sinaiticus, and make it accessible to a global audience using innovative digital technology and drawing on the expertise of leading biblical scholars is officially launched today.
T'way us were - Bostin' British Library website now includes over 650 sound recordings of English accents and dialects
1 March 2005
Regional accents are back in fashion and spoken with pride. England’s rich assortment of accents and dialects are featured on an updated website from the British Library. Visitors to the site can listen to the incredible variety of spoken English, and hear the sounds and words which define people from all four corners of the country.
British Library appoints two new department heads
9 February 2005
The British Library is pleased to announce the appointment of Jackie Marfleet as Head of Reference & Research and Tony Llewelyn as Head of Scientific, Technical and Medical Information.
MORI survey uncovers major new trends in UK web use
3 February 2005
A new MORI survey published today shows that over half of all current users (53%) of the Web use it as their preferred information source. In addition, some 59% are confident about internet Internet use, and three quarters of those surveyed said that they find it easy to access the Internet.
Wilde about Mary - The legacy of Lady Eccles
2 February 2005
In celebration of the life of Mary Hyde Eccles, collector and bibliophile, the Library is exhibiting a selection of books, manuscripts, works of art and memorabilia relating to Oscar Wilde and his circle from her renowned collection which forms an important part of her legacy to the British Library. The Hyde Eccles collection contains over 1,500 items and has been valued at over $7 million dollars.
24 January 2005
Three of the UK’s leading business women will reveal the secrets of their success at the Mothers of Invention discussion and networking reception at The British Library on Wednesday 23 March.
Sowing literary seeds with 'Writer in the Garden' competition
21 January 2005
If gardens or gardening inspire you to write, here is your chance to enter this exciting competition, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society and the British Library.
The end of the office as we know it?
19 January 2005
The British Library and Building Zones present the first fully integrated wireless working environment.
Page turning treasures 'Find of the Year'
18 January 2005
British Library site wins Yahoo! Finds of the Year 2004 award.
9 January 2005
The British Library is planning a purpose-built Centre for Conservation to provide a world-class facility for all aspects of book conservation including education and training, as well as state-of-the art technical facilities for the nation’s Sound Archive, enabling unrivalled standards of care for the Library’s priceless collections.