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News and updates

News or updates on Library services and resources

You will find information about updates on the Library, our services and planned downtime for resources that we subscribe to.

Current

Past

  • Maintenance of Articles Plus and the EBSCO platform on December 1st and 3rd at 7.30am. Posted - 25 November 2025.

    Maintenance is scheduled on Articles Plus and the EBSCOhost platform (may affect EBSCO databases) and will take place on 1st December and 3rd December at 7.30am for one hour.

    During the maintenance period, if you are using the services, you may intermittently receive errors and be logged out. You will need to reauthenticate. Please consider the services to be at risk between 7.30am to 8.30am on both days.

    We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

  • In-person library workshop sessions. Posted - 10 November 2025.

    We are running a series of library workshops for students in the second half of this term, including three in-person sessions in a computer lab, with exercises, covering a variety of skills such as finding journal articles, books, ebooks, and referencing. You can click the links below to sign up for these events:

    Litmaps

    An introduction to Litmaps for literature reviews - webinar from Litmaps about how to use this dynamic tool designed to help academic staff visualise and explore scholarly literature, and sign up for a free Litmaps account to get the most out of Litmaps. Monday 10 November, 7pm.

    Saturday workshops:

    • Finding and Using Books and eBooks - in-person, with a chance to practice: Saturday 15 November, 13:00-13:45,
    • Finding Journal Articles - in-person, with a chance to practice: Saturday 15 November, 14:00-14:45,
    • Managing Your References using Zotero - in-person, with a chance to practice: Saturday 15 November, 15:00-16:00.

    Weekday workshops:

    • Using library resources to find academic information: Tuesday 18 November, 13:00-13:45,
    • Using library resources to find academic information: Tuesday 25 November, 12:30-13:15,
    • Finding journal articles: Thursday 04 December, 18:00-19:00.

    One-to-One support

    If you are unable to make any of the sessions above or prefer working in a one-to-one capacity, then please feel free to book a one-to-one session with your Academic Services Librarian. You can access our calendar through the link above, and we are generally available throughout the week to offer support.

  • Maintenance upgrade – Library catalogues 13 Nov 23:00-01:00. Posted - 10 November 2025.

    Maintenance upgrade of the Library catalogues has been scheduled for 13 November 23:00-01:00. During those two hours, please consider access to the library catalogues as at risk.

    We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

  • Get to know your library: tours and workshops. Posted - 01 September 2025

    To help you get to know Birkbeck Library and how it can support your studies, we are running workshops and tours in September and October.

    1. Tours

    We will be providing Library tours at 5.15pm during the week and 3pm on Sundays. Tours last c. 20 minutes and will give you an introduction to Birkbeck Library’s services and facilities. For further details, consult the Events page.

    Tours will take place on the following dates, no need to book, just turn up at Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street:

    • 22 September
    • 24 September
    • 29 September
    • 30 September
    • 1 October
    • 2 October
    • 3 October
    • 4 October
    • 5 October
    • 7 October
    • 9 October
    • 12 October
    • 17 October
    • 19 October
    1. Introduction to the Library

    These sessions will provide a short introduction to the library for Birkbeck students enrolled in subject-specific courses, last for 30 minutes, and delivered online:

    1. Saturday workshops
    1. September Workshops

    We are also running a series of pre-sessional workshops in September to help prepare you for the new year and new term ahead. We will be covering a range of topics suitable for all students to attend.

    All of our sessions will be online and will be ‘bitesized’, so they shouldn’t take any longer than 20 minutes to attend. Click here for a full list of ‘Get Ready’ sessions you can attend. The library sessions are as follows:

    ‘Get Ready’ workshops

    Week 1 (1st September – 6th September)

    Week 2 (8th September – 13th September)

    Week 3 (15th September – 20th September)

    Week 4 (22nd September – 26th September)

    If you have any questions about these workshop sessions, please contact the Academic Services Librarians.

    The User Services team located in the Library is available 7 days a week to answer your IT and Library questions and make sure that you have access to MyBirkbeck, Moodle, and the Library’s resources.

  • Catalogue unavailable for 10 minutes on 27 October. Posted - 27 October 2025.

    The catalogue will be unavailable for 10 minutes from 10:50 to 11:00 this morning, while a server is restarted.

    We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

  • Access to several resources and Articles Plus affected by AWS outage. Posted - 20 October 2025.

    The Amazon Web Service (AWS) outage in Virginia has impacted many apps (a worldwide issue) and also access to some of our digital resources, including Articles Plus, our resource discovery service that is provided and hosted by EBSCO. The following library resources and websites affected at this time (10:03), are:

    • EBSCO
    • JSTOR
    • Kortext
    • SCOPUS
    • Taylor and Francis

    For more details, see the BBC news item. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

    UPDATES:

    As of 08:31 21/10/25, JSTOR is back online.

    As of 16:50, Kortext and SCOPUS are back online.

    As of 12:43, Taylor and Francis platform is back online.

    As of 11:00, Articles Plus and the EBSCO platform are back online.

  • Scheduled maintenance of Library Catalogue - 10 September. Posted - 04 September 2025.

    Our Library catalogue will not be available for 30 minutes on Wednesday, 10 September, from 9pm to 9.30pm, while routine maintenance takes place.

    During that time, users will not be able to log in and use the My Account features or see item availability while using the catalogue.

    We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

  • Open Athens: all electronic resources unavailable - now resolved. Posted 28 August 2025.

    Update: Issue resolved. All electronic resources are now available.

    Issue: Due to a problem with Open Athens, there is currently no access to electronic resources (ebooks and ejournals). We are investigating the issue and will post a further update when the problem is resolved.

  • Trial Access: Overton Index AND Overton Engage for Birkbeck staff and students - 23 June. Posted - 18 June 2025.

    • From 23 June to 22 July, Birkbeck faculty, students, and staff are invited to explore Overton Index, a leading database of global policy and grey literature, and Overton Engage, a platform for identifying global policy engagement opportunities.
    • Access these via the Library website from Monday 23 June.
    • Take this opportunity to explore how your research connects with real-world policy. Register for the Overton Trial.

  • An Introduction to Litmaps - 4 July. Posted - 18 June 2025.

    • Discover how to supercharge your literature reviews with Litmaps.com! Join the library’s introduction to Litmaps and find out how to create an account, search for literature, visualise research connections by building a Litmap and track the citations.
    • Whether you're doing a literature review or just want a new way to search for articles, Litmaps offers a fresh way to engage with academic literature.
    • Join us for a practical introduction to Litmaps, a dynamic tool designed to help you visualise and explore scholarly literature. This one-hour session will demonstrate how Litmaps can support you in your research by making it easier to map citation networks, identify key papers, and track developments in your field.
    • When: 4 July 14:00 - 15:00. 
    • Where: Online.
    • Sign up for Introduction to Litmaps

  • Introducing Litmaps - 26 June. Posted - 18 June 2025.

    • Discover how to supercharge your literature reviews with Litmaps.com! Join the library’s introduction to Litmaps and find out how to create an account, search for literature, visualise research connections by building a Litmap and track the citations.
    • Whether you're doing a literature review or just want a new way to search for articles, Litmaps offers a fresh way to engage with academic literature.
    • Join us for a practical introduction to Litmaps, a dynamic tool designed to help you visualise and explore scholarly literature. This one-hour session will demonstrate how Litmaps can support you in your research by making it easier to map citation networks, identify key papers, and track developments in your field.
    • When: 26 June 13:00 - 14:00. 
    • Where: Online.
    • Sign up for Introducing Litmaps

  • Open Access Update Training Session for Staff - 17 June. Posted - 04 June 2025.

    • We are pleased to announce an Open Access update training session for staff, scheduled to take place Tuesday, 17 June, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Teams.
    • The session will cover the following topics:
      • Basics of Wellcome/UKRI policy
      • College’s Open Research Policy
      • REF 2029 OA Policy
    • Additionally, there will be a short demo of depositing on BIROn (Birkbeck Institutional Research Online) for beginners.
    • Please note that the session will be recorded and circulated afterwards.
    • Access the event via this link on the day.

  • Saturday Sessions: Boost your library skills - 17 May. Posted - 12 May 2025.

  • Library Catalogue (Enterprise) maintenance scheduled  - 21 May at 9pm. Posted - 12 May 2025.

    • The Library Catalogue will be unavailable on Wednesday 21 May from 9pm to 10pm while scheduled maintenance takes place.
    • We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

  • Library support for researchers (MRes, MPhil, PhD): Adding your thesis to BIROn, an introduction to publishing, and impact - 13 May. Posted - 30 April 2025.

    • Birkbeck Library is a key resource for postgraduate researchers. You are invited to attend this online session on library support for researchers (MRes, MPhil, PhD), which will provide you with valuable information on how to submit your final, post-examination thesis to BIROn, as well as open access options as you move towards potential publication. We will also examine impact metrics for publications. There will be opportunities for questions and discussion.
    • When:  Tuesday 13 May 2025 18:00 to 20:00. Where: Online - please book your place.
    • Aims and objectives
    • This session is aimed at those close to submitting their thesis, and will:
      • Provide information on adding your thesis to Birkbeck Institutional Research Online (BIROn).
      • Outline the College's Open Research Policy, and explore options for how to meet its requirements.
      • Consider approaches to measuring research impact.
      • Introduce options for creating a researcher profile online.
    • The session will be facilitated by: Paul Rigg, Senior Assistant Librarian (Repositories & Digital Media Management)
    • Mapping to the Researcher Development Framework:
    • Domain A: Knowledge and intellectual abilities.
      • A1 - Knowledge Base A2 - Cognitive Abilities.
    • Domain B: Personal effectiveness.
      • B1 – Personal Qualities B2 – Self Management.
    • Domain C: Research governance and organisation.
      • C1 – Professional Conduct.
    • Domain D: Communication, influence and impact.
      • D2 – Communication and Dissemination D3 – Engagement and Impact.

  • Planned Library systems upgrades in April. Posted 04 April 2025.

    • During April there will be two planned library system upgrades:
    • The Library Management System will be upgraded on Monday, 7 April at 8pm.
      • The upgrade will take between 1 and 3 hours.
      • During this period, some library services will be unavailable.
    • The Online Library Catalogue System will be upgraded on Tuesday 29 April at 8pm.
      • The upgrade will take between 6 - 8 hours, running through to approximately 4am on Wednesday 30 April.
      • During this period, the library catalogue service will be unavailable.
    • We apologise for any disruption this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

  • Kortext maintenance on April 24, at 7pm. Posted 23 April 2025.

    • Kortext will be performing an update on the evening of April 24, starting at 7pm.
    • You may not be able to login or use their services at this time. This update is expected to finish on April 24 at 9:30pm.
    • We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

  • Library and User services during the Easter break - Wed 16 April to Tue 22 April. Posted 02 April 2025.

    • The Library will be open during the Easter break – 16 April to 22 April – with some changes to opening times.
    • During this period, you will be able to contact the User Services helpdesk by email, ASK and telephone throughout our opening hours.
    • Library Disability and Dyslexia Service study materials and appointments, and Academic Services Librarians will be unavailable during this time. For Interlibrary Loans check the Birkbeck Interlibrary Loans website, as requests submitted during this period are unlikely to be processed until the service reopens on Wednesday 23rd April 2025.
    • The click-and-post service will be unavailable between 16 – 22 April.
    • If you are planning to visit other libraries during the Easter break, check their opening times and services available well in advance. Many libraries, if open at all, may not be processing new memberships during the break, so please ensure you join in good time beforehand.

  • Birkbeck climate festival 17 - 21 March. Posted 27 February 2025.

  • Articles Plus – launch of our new resource discovery service. Posted - 03 February 2025.

    • We are pleased to announce the launch of a new implementation and user interface for our resource discovery service. We are using EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) to facilitate the discovery of and access to most of our digital resources – ebooks, ejournals, and databases in one search – called Articles Plus.
    • Birkbeck students and staff should no longer need to access and search each of our many databases individually, these will be searched alongside any of our ebooks and ejournals subscriptions when a keyword search is undertaken.