Introduction to the Tower Project
- Tower Project blog
Find out what's really in the Library Tower ...
The Tower Project “Triumph and disaster: Britain in the 1910s” catalogues books of popular interest published in Britain between 1910 and 1919. The books were originally acquired by the library under legal deposit legislation and categorised as ‘supplementary’ or non-academic material, not required for research or undergraduate teaching. Examples of such material are: popular fiction, books for children, school textbooks, and titles covering scientific and technical subjects not taught by the university at that time.
The historical period covered by the proposed project lacks obvious labels but is the subject of research across several disciplines. Traditionally the period has been seen as a time of sharp contrast between the “golden Edwardian age” as lived by the leisured classes until the summer of 1914, and the subsequent horror of the First World War. Modern scholars prefer to see it as a time of transition focusing on dialogue within the expanding British Empire, the introduction of a welfare state and the development of new communications technology.
Until now these books were catalogued in the ‘supplementary card catalogue’ which stands in the corridor outside the University Library Reading Room, but we’re now cataloguing them for the Libray’s Newton catalogue, Library Search, and databases such as Worldcat and COPAC.
When you’ve found the book you want on Newton, click on the text ‘Place a stack request’ and follow the instructions. Library staff will get the book from the tower and take it to the West Room for you to read. More information is available here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/westroom/services.html#ordering
What is it like in the Tower?
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