All is ephemera: will the information produced during the EU referendum last beyond 2016?

Now that so much campaign literature and political debate is produced and takes place online, libraries face different challenges in capturing and archiving it. Daniel Payne explains how the LSE Library is collecting ephemera relating to the June 23 referendum

Exhibiting information literacy: Site-specific art and design interventions at the Ontario College of Art & Design

The Ontario College of Art & Design is a university that provides undergraduate education to a markedly diverse student body. Although the Dorothy H. Hoover Library offers proactive information literacy programming targeting academic research needs, only peripheral support was traditionally given to studio practice. To rectify this gap the reference librarians, in dialogue with selected design and art faculty, endorsed a Library exhibition program using the Library as both case study and exhibition site. An analysis of several works featured in a recent exhibition demonstrates how art can establish an eloquent dialogue with a visually-oriented learning community and lead to the examination of key philosophical and ethical issues in librarianship

Peter Shore & Bangladesh in the LSE Library archives

n this unique post, Daniel Payne (Curator for Politics and International Relations, LSE Library), explores and summarises the papers of the late Peter Shore (1924–2001), Labour Member of Parliament (Stepney (1964–74); Stepney & Poplar (1974–83)), whose support for the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, engagement with the Bangladeshi diaspora in London, and concern for the impact of Britain’s joining the common market in the 1970s on countries like Bangladesh, remain little known and discussed

A Survey of the Vascular Flora of Beaufort County, South Carolina

Beaufort County has historically been one of the most poorly botanized counties in the state. Geographically, it lies farther from the major research institutions than most other counties and has therefore received little attention from modern botanists. Major waterways, numerous private communities and an oppressive summer climate further complicate botanical research. Beaufort has one of the fastest growing human populations in the state. Natural areas are rapidly being converted into residential and commercial developments. An understanding of the county\u27s flora is necessary to focus conservation efforts to preserve critical habitat and develop management plans for maintaining biodiversity. This project was conducted to help provide that data. Between 2003 and 2010, over 3000 voucher collections were made from various plant communities throughout the county. Previous collections housed at the Clemson and Citadel herbaria were also examined. Special emphasis was placed on documenting populations of rare plants, invasive plants and new state occurrences. In total 1597 native and naturalized taxa were documented. Prior to this study, 938 taxa were reported for the county. This study has added an additional 659. More than 200 of these were not previously reported for South Carolina in the most recent atlas. Some represent range extensions of native species which should be considered for inclusion to South Carolina Rare List. Information is provided about the new state records and the more significant county records. Many of the new records consist of species which are exotic and may warrant special attention due to the threat they may pose to natural ecosystems and agriculture

‘What does Brexit mean to you?’ Introducing 5 key items from LSE Library’s current exhibition (until 14 December 2018)

The history of the UK in and out of the European Union has been a long and complex one. LSE Library has unique collections that document this history, from the archives of MPs active in the debates, to think tanks and campaigning groups arguing for and against the UK’s membership of the EU. Running until 14 December 2018, a new free public exhibition at LSE Library, ‘What does Brexit mean to you?’, features some of the items from these collections. Invited curators from the LSE community interpret and explain these objects. Curator Daniel Payne picks out his 5 favourite objects from the exhibition