Category: General

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General

Spotlight On: Decolonising & Diversifying Library Collections

Each month staff from the Spotlight Team at the Brynmor Jones Library create a Reading List and book display in the Reading Room based on a particular theme to create a ‘Spotlight On’ Collection. In June, we are highlighting work relating to Decolonising and Diversifying Collections, and sharing some book recommendations provided by students and staff.

Spotlight on Decolonising and Diversifying Collections

What is decolonisation and diversification?

Historically, academia has been dominated by white male voices. It is hard to believe that university study was once a male-only pursuit, with women very rarely admitted before the 19th century. Today, universities are incredibly diverse places with people from all walks of life and all over the world.

Yet this is not always reflected in library collections. The purpose of decolonising and diversifying libraries is to ensure that people who are marginalised by society’s perspectives – for example, by race, ethnicity, physical ability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and socioeconomic class – are better represented in universities and academia, by diversifying the books in library collections.

Diversification focuses on ensuring many voices and perspectives are heard. This means purchasing materials created by, and about, marginalised people.

Brynmor Jones Library

But decolonisation and diversification are not about the number of books by and about, for example, black and LGBTQ+ writers on the shelves. It is one thing to add books by marginalised authors to our collection – true decolonisation and diversification are about engaging with those voices while casting a critical view on the existing works of white, male writers who have dominated academia and publishing for so long. It is not about the erasure of those voices, but about challenging longstanding biases and widening our intellectual vision to include diverse perspectives and experiences.

Creating the Spotlight Collection

The Spotlight Team put a lot of work into discovering and promoting diverse library resources. Researching and creating the collections often reminds us just how extensive our resources are. We are always excited to discover hidden gems, but it can be difficult deciding which resources to include in a Spotlight collection. With this theme, we felt it was important to seek input from our academic and student community to ensure our list, while only a snapshot of the immense resources available, included the voices of those we seek to represent.

We initially contacted Dr Nicholas Evans of the Wilberforce Institute (WISE), who showed great enthusiasm and put us in touch with historian Channon Oyeniran and two WISE PhD students with interests in decolonisation, Jen Nghishitende and Fred Bricknell. We also received some excellent recommendations from Dr Catherine Baker, senior lecturer in 20th Century History.

Book recommendations

The book cover for Decolonizing Colonial Heritage

Dr Nicholas Evans’ top recommendation for the collection was Decolonizing Colonial Heritage: New Agendas, Actors and Practices in and beyond Europe (2022).

“Decolonizing Colonial Heritage is a fantastic series of essays that deploys a truly global approach to studying the legacy of European colonisation in multiple societies. Such comparative analysis highlights the need look beyond national frameworks when discussing the legacy of imperialism. I especially loved the essay on Cape Town a port city influenced by Portuguese, Dutch and British imperialism.”

Dr Nicholas Evans

Channon Oyeniran, historian, educator and author, is a former MA student of the Wilberforce Institute. Now based in Canada where she is Vice President of the Ontario Black History Society, Channon recommended How to Be an Antiracist (2019) by Ibram X. Kendi. She talked to us about why decolonising collections in libraries is important.

“Libraries are the gatekeepers of knowledge and should therefore have an abundance of knowledge in different subject areas by different people who have different experiences and who come from all walks of life. It is important for people to go into a library and feel represented, see themselves in the books that are on the shelves and learn about diverse subjects.”

Channon Oyeniran

Jen Nghishitende, a current PhD student at WISE, enthusiastically recommended Dr Roselyne Masamha’s thesis titled The education experiences of Zimbabwean nurses recruited to undertake pre-registration nurse education in the UK. Dr Roselyn Masamha is a University of Hull lecturer in learning disabilities nursing whose research interests include experiences of disadvantaged groups, inclusive education and decolonisation. Jen praised Dr Masamha’s thesis for offering “a new perspective on shaping knowledge production, challenging the ‘traditional’ way of knowing in academia by producing academic work that accentuates the voices of her co-producers while embedding herself in the research by occupying the dual role of researcher and participant.”

Book cover for The Brutish Museum

Fred Bricknell, also a PhD student at the Wilberforce Institute, has previously developed reading lists for the History module Global Britain. His recommendations were The Brutish Museums: the Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution (2020) by Dan Hicks and Museums and Atlantic Slavery (2021) by Ana Lucia Araujo. Fred described The Brutish Museums as “the one book anybody seeking to understand calls for cultural restitution in modern Britain must read”. Talking about Museums and Atlantic Slavery, Fred told us the book “explores how the histories foregrounded in our national museums often omit uncomfortable truths” while emphasizing that “the fact they are uncomfortable does not make them any less true”.

Book cover for EmpireLand

Dr Catherine Baker took time out of her very busy assessment period to suggest three resources. On Empireland: How Imperialism has Shaped Modern Britain (2021) by Sathnam Sanghera, Catherine said, “struggles over historical memory and national identity in former Yugoslavia are among my main research interests – this book offers food for thought about those same questions in the country where I live and work”.

Book cover for The Trans-gender Issue: An argument for justice

Also recommended by Catherine is a new addition to the Library: The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice (2021) by Shon Faye. Catherine described The Transgender Issue as “an accessible and empathetic account which connects up the inequalities facing trans people today into an explanation of what makes transphobia so systemic, and integrates them through focusing on the context of ‘justice’.”

Thirdly, Catherine highlighted LGBT Activism and Europeanisation in the Post-Yugoslav Space: On the Rainbow Way to Europe as “a thought-provoking collection that illustrates the complex ways that LGBTQ+ activism in former Yugoslavia relates to cities, nations, governments, and the idea of ‘Europe’ itself, by a team of authors with deep ties to LGBTQ+ scholarship and activism in the post-Yugoslav space”.

The spotlight bookshelves in the reading room showing our Spotlight on Decolonising and diversifying the collection
The Spotlight display in the Reading Room

These are just a few of the resources included in the Spotlight Collection, and all are available via the Library or Open Access. The full collection can be found in the Reading Room in the Showcase Corner.

How can I get involved?

You can find out more about the Library’s work on decolonising and diversifying the collections on the Library website.

We are keen to receive recommendations from students and staff for these collections. If you are a current student, you can do this by completing a Suggest a Purchase form and ticking the checkbox for diversifying and decolonising the Library.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you don’t miss our Spotlight On: Decolonising and Diversifying Collections posts throughout the month of June.

Special thanks to Jen Nghishitende, Channon Oyeniran, and Fred Bricknell, and to Dr Catherine Baker and Dr Nicholas Evans of the wonderful History@Hull department.

Read more about decolonisation in our Twitter thread, Maggie is our Collection Development Manager responsible for Library and Archive collections at the University of Hull. Sarah is one of the University Archivists at the Hull History Centre, and also an @RL_UK Professional Practice Fellow 2022.

Categories
General

Procrastination & Time Management

Learning how to manage your time effectively is crucial to any student’s time at university, but also something you will need to take into any job/career. We, interns, are no different, the techniques we learnt as students to help us tackle procrastination have helped us manage our time whilst in our current roles. Here are some tips from each of us to help you with your studies (and avoid procrastination along the way!).

A photograph of alarm clocks. Procrastination can make time disappear!
Image from pixabay: Alarm clocks

Beating procrastination the old fashioned way

By Joanna Rawnsley

I’m old fashioned because I keep everything in a paper diary, if I keep things on my phone, I end up looking at them more often which leads to me procrastinating. When doing my work, I always put my phone out of my line of sight: out of sight, out of mind. Back when I was doing my assignments, I’d even turn it off, or onto “do not disturb” and put it in a drawer. That way I wouldn’t be distracted by notifications, and I’d be solely focused on the task at hand.

Speaking of tasks, every morning before I start work, I write a daily to-do list for that day. As I go about my day, I tick off any tasks I’ve completed, you don’t realise how satisfying it is to tick off tasks until you do it. I also write down any deadlines in my diary when I get them, so I always know when things need to be in. I do, however, use my phone for reminders. Having an “annoying” alarm going off helps remind me of meetings and deadlines, this way I’m less likely to forget things and I always have a calendar handy.

via GIPHY

Another way to help with procrastination is taking short breaks between classes, studying and work, especially if you’re working at a screen. Now bear with me, I’m serious about this! It’s good to take a break every hour or so to give your eyes a rest and stretch your legs. According to the Well-being Thesis taking “micro-breaks” throughout your workday will not only improve productivity but will also help with stress and your overall well-being. Getting a drink and/or talking to a peer for a few minutes helps you relax and then when you go back to your work, you will be more focused and more efficient. This also helps prevent you from burning out at the end of each day. I for one have been known to turn my laptop off and spend my evenings scrolling through social media and watching TV due to feeling lethargic after work. So, take breaks when you can and stay hydrated!

Now I’m going to go get a drink and take a micro-break of my own.

Time management in the workplace

By David Moore

Throughout this Internship, I have had to schedule my time between different people and their required designs. How I started this, is a week at a time and planned the following week ahead of time for example on one occasion I had to finish editing videos and complete Halloween designs in the same week. I was stressed at first but planning and preparation and doing the video first left me enough time to complete two designs a day so I could finish the work by Friday. What stopped me from getting distracted was I tried to mix my design work, so I was not doing the same work repeatedly. So, one day I would do videos on After Effects and on another day, I would create my own images on Photoshop and create slides and descriptions of work ideas for new images on PowerPoint or I would separate hours of the day to do a mixture of them all.

This is my first work experience and I have found the time management quite challenging as I am not a morning person as it took some time to get used to the hours but once I got into a routine, I have enjoyed my experience. It is important to me to keep a routine, so I do not lose track of where I am.

via GIPHY

Avoiding procrastination with the right mindset

By Codey McShane

For me, the most important aspect of managing procrastination and my time for study was getting into the correct mindset. While I was at university, I found it easy to beat myself up for procrastinating, which would only make me want to study less. When thinking about doing my work evoked feelings of guilt or made me feel under intense pressure, it became way harder to get anything done at all. For me, what helped was accepting and forgiving myself for procrastinating – there was no point dwelling on what I’d already done, and all I could change was what I was going to do. I didn’t pretend that it hadn’t happened, but I recognized that I could still turn things around and give myself a fresh start.

via GIPHY

It was incredibly freeing to be able to let go of these feelings of anxiety and realize that so long as I began working now, whatever I produced would be the best work I could’ve done starting from my fresh start. Of course, this isn’t a method that will work for everyone – there is no magical cure-all for feelings of anxiety or stress that may prevent you from being able to work. The answer may be different for you (e.g., therapy, medication, journaling, exercise, dieting, mindfulness/meditation). But if you can get yourself into the right frame of mind in whatever way works for you, I found it way easier to apply some simple methods to mitigate my procrastination.

Here are some tips that worked for me:

  • Structure your time.
     The simple act of creating a daily schedule for when I would study helped a lot. Having a planned-out routine for when I would study and when I could relax made it a lot easier to power through it.
  • Find your incentive to work.
     Once I planned out exactly what and when I was going to be studying, I got a big sense of satisfaction by being able to cross that task off my list when I had finished doing it. Figure out what motivates you and use that to your advantage.
  • Starting is the hardest part.
    Once I was studying, I tended to not get distracted. But getting there in the first place sometimes felt impossible. Studying when you don’t want to requires discipline; I had to do the work even though I didn’t want to. It helped me to think things like “Just do this first task, and then you can stop if you need to.” Once I’d completed that first task I was past those initial feelings and could then continue with my schedule.

Cutting distractions to avoid procrastination

By John Weightman

Procrastination was a problem for me when I first started out as a student so much so that I would sometimes have YouTube clips playing in the background while I was supposed to be concentrating on work. However, I soon realized I couldn’t keep doing this as even though I would get the work done it would take much longer and lead to stress as deadlines loomed. As has already been mentioned one way to solve this was to turn off my phone or other distractions. But sometimes we find it difficult so what I would occasionally do is listen to relaxing sounds or music nothing loud or distracting. It was just something that helped me concentrate though now more frequently I also go along with the method of just turning off my phone.

A photograph of a mobile phone sitting on top of a book. This kind of set up leads to procrastination! Put the phone away and out of sight.
Image from Pixabay

Another good way to avoid procrastination is to think about the different places you have been when studying where were you the most focused? Where were you most distracted? Is there anything you can do to make studying enjoyable?

So, in my case, the music made it more enjoyable for me and I also found that working in a different environment to the one where I spent my free time was beneficial. For example, as a student, I found I did more work in the library than I did in my room as there were just more distractions but at the library, the people around me were working which motivated me to work. I carried this on after I was a student too as when I’m working now, I have a separate room where I can do work and it doesn’t have things like a PlayStation.

It is important to remember though that what works for one person might not necessarily work for you.  For example, studying with friends may limit your productivity. But for others, studying in groups can help to increase motivation and avoid procrastination.

Managing time

So, if we have got our procrastination under control how would I manage the time I have to work. Breaks as we have covered are important, I would often do something fun which for me is playing the guitar. I would say right I am going to write for maybe an hour then I’ll play the guitar for 20 minutes and let my mind concentrate on something else. Alternatively, you could try something like exercise which you may not believe but actually works in the same way sleep does. It can focus your state of mind, helping you to clear your head and boost your brainpower in between study sessions. If you don’t exercise much maybe aim for a 10-minute run/workout here and there, steadily increasing the amount you do as you go on.

via GIPHY

Finally, as a history student planning and research was also very important for me. If I managed my time well it would allow me to process new information and plan how I was going to use it which can help you to avoid having to re-read and repeat any research. One way of effectively planning before researching is to make a list of everything you want to find out so that you can make notes below each subheading as you go. Rather than writing out information just anywhere, if it is stored in the correct place on paper, it will then go to the correct place in my mind.

Categories
General

Explore Your Archives 2021

Endless discoveries to be made!

Every November the archives world takes a week out to celebrate our collections, encouraging everyone to #ExploreYourArchive.

At Hull University Archives we’re always discovering interesting things hidden away in our collections and the national #ExploreYourArchive campaign is the perfect opportunity to show them off.

Archive Animals

With so much to choose from, we found it hard to narrow down our choices for this blog so we set ourselves a theme, ‘Archive Animals’ because why not! The rules were simple: all items must feature an animal in some way, and no animal type could be repeated. After much ‘ruminating’ (sorry) these are our top five…

1. Dogs have feelings too

Who doesn’t love a dog?! Okay, some people, but here at Hull University Archives we just can’t resist their fluffy little paws and waggy tails. Our first selection was difficult, there are just so many options (including a rather stern looking Victorian lady wagging her tail at an upright lapdog). But, in the end, we went for this one:

U DBV2/30/8 – British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection stall, mid 20th cent.

From the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection collection, this old English sheepdog is just begging us to sign a petition against live animal experimentation in the early 20th century.

The British Union (BUAV) was formed in the late 19th century by Miss Frances Power Cobbe to raise public awareness of vivisection and to campaign against it. Aside from photographs, the collection contains publicity material, notes and reports, newsletters and publications, minutes and correspondence. The material is vital evidence of early animal rights activism.

Explore the contents of the collection further here.

And just because we’re nice, this is the one that almost made the cut:

U DDCA2/54/87b – Photographic print from the Stapleton Family of Carlton Towers collection, early 20th cent.

2. A bunch of asses

At 3pm on 23rd August 1837, a group of 10 students, accompanied by two staff from Haxby School near York, set out on a multiple day excursion around North Yorkshire. The trip was recorded in a wonderful little journal written by one of those students, Hewley John Baines.

Baines describes visits made to Hambleton Coxwold, Byland Abbey, Rivaulx Abbey, Duncombe Park, and Helmsley. He notes the sites and monuments visited by the group and includes sketches of the same.

But the reason we love this item is the central role played by animals in the trip. In the opening lines, Baines tell us that seven members of the party were mounted on donkeys, whilst five rode horses and ponies. He later recounts (with below illustration) how a Master Smith’s donkey took to sitting down, which caused the rider to slide off his mount backwards leading to much laughter amongst his companions.

U DDBH/27/3 – Illustration of Master Smith from the journal of Hewley John Baines, 1837

And finally, we are told that at Easingwold the group heard several remarks on the figure they cut:

Some cried ‘Tail them’! Others shouted, ‘These chaps have just come from the ass market’!

Journal of Hewley John Baines, 1837

Such accounts of youth experiences are rare in archives and so are a fantastic find when we do see them. This one comes from the Baines Family collection.

Explore the contents of the collection further here.

3. Do you think you can get an education by just swanning around!

Our next item is from the aptly named Miscellaneous Local History collection, a collated collection begun by our first archivist Norman Higson. The collection covers anything and everything local history related, from 19th century local recipes to Acts of Parliament. But one particular item stood out for us:

U DDX/16/227 – Inside cover of the arithmetic exercise book of Miss Ann Lamb of Rudston, c.1850

It is rare that we find evidence of female education prior to the 20th century in the archives. So, this exercise book, belonging to a Miss Ann Lamb of Rudston, is a fantastic discovery.

When we think of the education of young ladies during the 19th century we tend to bring to mind Jane Austen-esque images of embroidery, European languages, and rudimentary history or geography. But Miss Lamb shows us that women can be both logical and creative at the same time with her swan illustrated front cover. The subject of her studies, arithmetic, was traditionally considered a male province. Nevertheless, here we have an East Yorkshire girl learning maths, and, not only that, she’s doing it with an artistic flair!

Explore the contents of the collection further here.

4. Old McDonald had a farm

Here we have an ode written by poet Hubert Nicholson to that humble beast of burden, the ox:

U DNI/1/1 – Poem ‘A Yorkshire Farm’ by Hubert Nicholson (journalist, novelist and poet)

Part of Yorkshire’s rural landscape for longer than records can tell, the ox features regularly in agricultural records and accounts kept by ancient landowning families. In fact the ox was so entrenched in the daily life of our medieval communities that it even lent its name to a unit of measurement: the oxgang, a measure of area based on how much land could be tilled by one ox in a season.

Explore the contents of the collection further here.

5. The mower stalled, twice

Any Philip Larkin enthusiasts should recognise the above as the opening line of one of his more famous poems, The Mower. Inspired by a tragic incident with a hedgehog and a lawn mower, we really hope that the little guy in this next item was not the source of his inspiration:

U DLV/3/222/4 – Photograph taken by Philip Larkin at his Pearson Park residence, 20th cent.

Most people will know of Philip Larkin the poet, and those of us who work in the University Library are well aware of Larkin the Librarian, but Larkin the Photographer is a less well-known entity.

In recent years we’ve seen the publication of a number of illustrated works written about Larkin. These illustrations have been largely selected from his own photographic collection. Amongst the selfies (yes, Larkin was taking selfies before phone cameras even existed!) and the photographs of family members, holidays, and girlfriends, we’ve discovered lots of animal pictures – many of them cows, strangely enough.

Explore the contents of the collection further here.

Over to ewe

If your interest has been piqued why not discover more at Hull History Centre? Check out the website and our online catalogue.

Need support using archives? Check out our Archives SkillsGuides. Topics include the theoretical basics, search strategies, uncovering diverse collections, online primary sources, material held at Hull History Centre, and palaeography. Want to chat to someone about resources available for your own coursework or research? You can email us at archives@hull.ac.uk to ask a question or arrange a chat.

Categories
General

Final Blog – This is the End – David Moore

After 12 weeks of work experience and how time has flown by, my internship is at an end and what an experience it has been.  From meeting new people, learning new skills and gaining experience within a working environment. 

So, after the first week which was hectic but enjoyable my work began from learning how to do timesheets, something that I have never done before to drafting design ideas for projects.  Throughout this journey sometimes I felt that my head was going to explode with information, which included searching websites and mandated training, but I overcame each obstacle and enjoyed every moment.  With the help of Lee and members of staff including other interns (Jo & John), it showed me a guiding light into the unknown and this has been a good learning curve for me.

During this time, I have gained a clear understanding of my role Visual Design Intern which is to help the other Interns design images and videos for the Skills Guide and Digi skills.  This involved creating images, of which I used PowerPoint, to create these icons I had to change the size, colour and merge them together to create simple images.  For the videos, these are instructive videos on how to create blogs, magazine articles, letters, opinion pieces and wikis.

For example

Skill guides

  • YouTube Videos – These videos are to show how to do blogs and shows examples of letter to editor, magazine articles, newspapers etc. 
  • Public Communications SkillsGuide – I helped with images.
  • Helped with other designs and images as required.

Digi Skills

  • Digital Tools – created images for the titles of topics.
  • Images based around public holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Bonfire Night etc, for example the title was Fear of Missing Out and the holidays was Halloween.  The image I created is

Conclusion

The end of the journey has come around quickly and I am thankful for the experience and gained a lot of knowledge.  I have met a lot of new people, explored the university as a staff member which showed me how things work in a working environment and having the chance to work in an office if only for a few days (working from home was great too).  Thank you to all the staff members of the library for helping me along my journey and this opportunity for which I am grateful.

Categories
General

Mental Health Support in the University Library

By Katie Austin

Being away from home for the first time and having to juggle academic life, relationships, socials, and finances can be daunting. Some students thrive but others may need a helping hand. Many of our Library staff are trained Mental Health First Aiders so please reach out to one of us if you are feeling overwhelmed. We can give you our time, useful advice and direct you to specialist services in case you need extra support within the University or further afield.

The University Library can be a busy and bustling place however it also hosts areas of peace and quiet contemplation. In the corner of the Reading Room on the first floor, you will find our Switch off Zone. This is an area with comfy chairs, a peaceful view, mindfulness colouring books and word searches to complete at your leisure. It’s a place to switch off your devices and simply relax for a while. No need to book, please just settle in and unwind.

Nestled alongside the Switch off Zone is a collection of books aimed at supporting your mental health. The Reading Well collection includes books on managing stress, grief, shyness, depression, eating disorders and insomnia among many others. These titles can be borrowed just like everything else, please check them out using the self-service machines within the Reading Room.

Finally, please ask for help if you are struggling with any area of your student life. All of the Library staff are easily identifiable by their yellow lanyards and are happy to signpost and support in any way they can.

You can see the comfy seat and available activities in this photo of the Switch off Zone.
Reading Room Switch off Zone

Categories
Academic literacies General Skills Team

Can Music Help You Study?

In the past 30 years, there has been much debate over whether music can help you study. In 1993 Dr Gordon Shaw reported that a group of college students increased their IQ by as much as nine points just by listening to classical music. However, 10 years later some researchers looked into it and discovered very little evidence for this. This does not mean music has no benefits and though it can’t magically make you more intelligent there are ways, we can use it to assist in our studies and it may also help our brains in other ways.

Marco Verch Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Music as a reward

You probably remember those long nights of studying; you tell yourself I’m going to study this subject till this time, and you think you’ve planned everything perfectly. However, you find yourself losing motivation and by the end of the session you’ve only done half of what you wanted. This is where the reward method comes in, you promise yourself a reward for the end of the study session, such as the latest episode of a show or eating that delicious Ice Cream. Well, this works with music too, research from 2019 suggests music can activate the same reward centres in your brain as other things you enjoy. Rewarding yourself with your favourite music can provide the motivation you need to study, so you can listen to all your favourite music during study breaks.

Memorization

According to a 2014 study, listening to classical music while not making you more intelligent seemed to help people perform better on memory and processing tasks. These findings also suggest certain types of music can help boost memorization abilities and other cognitive functions. Music helps stimulate your brain, similar to the way exercise helps stimulate your body. The more you exercise your muscles, the stronger they become and much in the same way this stimulation is like a cognitive workout for your brain.

Increase focus

According to a 2007 study from Stanford University School of Medicine, music specifically classical music, helps your brain absorb and interpret new information more easily. They also found that music can engage your brain in such a way that it can train you to pay better attention to events and more accurately predict outcomes. So, when you are studying if you struggle to make sense of new material, listening to music could make this process easier. You can also link the ability to make better predictions about events to reasoning skills. Improved reasoning abilities won’t help you pull answers out of thin air, but you may notice a difference in your ability to reason your way to these answers based on the information presented.

Other ways to use music for study

Music can also help reduce stress and promote a more positive mindset. Studies have shown that a good mood generally improves your learning outcomes. You’ll likely be more successful in your studies when you’re feeling good. Also, if you are musically inclined, you could consider writing a song based on what you are studying as our brain seems to process learning songs differently, making it easier to remember. For example, have you ever listened to a song you haven’t heard in a long time and out of nowhere you can just remember the words.

Here It Goes In Living Color GIF by Justin - Find & Share on GIPHY

Music to avoid

Whilst research suggests music may benefit your studies it may not always help:

  • If you listen to loud music with lyrics while trying to read or write it tends to be less efficient and you may come away not making the most of your study session.
  • Loud or agitated music can adversely affect reading comprehension and mood, making focus more difficult.
  • Some Students who use music to help them memorize may need to listen to music while taking the test in order to reap the benefits of this study method,

What could you listen to?

As we’ve discussed most research suggests music without lyrics is the most beneficial for study so when choosing music for studying here are some genres you could try.

  • Classical – Most classical music is mainly instrumental
  • Electronic Music – As long as it’s not really loud and has no lyrics
  • Ambient – A form of instrumental music that uses layers of sound rather than a structured musical beat or melody meaning it has less distractions.
  • World Music – Various kinds of ethnic, folk, and indigenous music from around the world even songs with lyrics might work as long as you don’t know the language.
  • Instrumental Jazz – If you stick to more mellow songs.
  • Instrumental and Atmospheric Rock – If they aren’t loud songs

How to listen to your music?

Most streaming services like Spotify have playlists designed for studying. Whilst you can listen to these for free on some services you can subscribe and get a student account with a discount (available on most streaming platforms) and you won’t get blaring adverts. Most streaming services like Apple Music or Amazon Music have similar playlists, or you can create your own. YouTube is probably the best free source for music although you may get some adverts. Here are a few study playlists you could try.

Spotify Playlist

Apple Music Playlist

Apple Music playlist

Amazon Music Playlist

YouTube Playlist:

This article was written by John Weightman, Digital Skills Intern

Categories
General Internships

Introducing John Weightman

My Internship Adventure Begins

John Weightman

My adventure as an Intern first began with an e-mail from the Hull University Careers team. They were offering a whole range of interesting Internship opportunities for the university. After a difficult start to post-university life due to the COVID pandemic, when job opportunities were limited, I hoped to work in the media possibly as a writer or editor and so began writing my own blog about Music John’s Music Hub. I also worked a few part-time jobs such as writing for a music magazine MXDWN UK. This then led me to think, well I really enjoy writing and with my BA History degree I’ve also showcased my writing qualities. Therefore, I want to focus on an Internship that will give me knowledge in new areas, maybe learn some HTML, and also expand upon my writing abilities. That’s when I saw an internship with the Library Skills Team, where I would support the team in the writing and implementation of the Digital Skills course. Here was an opportunity to further showcase my writing ability and really get my career running and expand into new areas. 

The Lord Of The Rings Reaction GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
I’m going on an adventure!

Then I got to work, updated my CV, and wrote my covering letter and I waited a few days, maybe a couple of weeks I don’t recall exactly, and I got an e-mail from Lee Fallin asking me for an interview. The interview with Lee was very pleasant and relaxed he gave me the chance to ask him a few questions whilst he told me all about the internship and ended with him confirming I had the job. Now I just had to wait with bated breath for my internship to begin.

You may wonder how other than my writing skills I can help people learn about digital skills, well let me tell you. As a blogger who runs their own website I have experience in how media is implemented in the digital world as well as how to keep my information safe online. I also learned many digital skills during my time as a university student where I improved my proficiency in Microsoft office and used many digital tools to aid in my study. As a former student, I also feel I would know how best to adapt the information we are delivering to a student audience. I’ve always had an interest in computers and everything digital and since I was about 4 years old, I was already able to use a computer (although mainly for games).

The first day finally arrived after signing all the necessary documents a few days before, as with most people on starting a new job I was a mixture of nerves and excitement. I was also joined by 3 other interns with various different responsibilities for the library or Skills Team, we then got to meet some of the staff including Lee my intern supervisor. The first week mainly consisted of basic training and meetings with all the other staff members as well as going through all the health and safety details. 

I’m now into my second week and have already written a few small sections of the Digital Skills course as well as writing this, my first blog post for the University. This will be the first of several blog entries where I will write about various study skills mainly focused on digital skills.

Categories
General Internships

Introducing: Codey McShane

The start of my virtual internship experience

In the beginning…

Last week, I began an internship working with the Library at the University of Hull, with a focus on Customer Engagement and Communications. The role is entirely based online, and while there is the option to come into the library, it’s not as viable now that I am living back in London after finishing my degree. I studied Computer Science and having been told all that, you might have some of the following questions by now.

  • Who are you, mysterious blog writer?!
  • What is Customer Engagement, and why should I care about it?
  • How can you do internship from home? Who are you making the coffee for?
  • What does Computer Science have to do with customers? Get back to fixing printers!

(It is possible that you did not actually have any of these questions, but for the purpose of the blog, it’s important that you know these things so that in several weeks when I tell you about the amazing progress I’ve made, it’ll all make sense. So, bear with me!)

Wow, those are some great questions! Let me explain a little…

Unmasking the mysterious blog writer 

Codey McShane

Hi there! My name’s Codey. I’m 22 years old and I’ve been at Hull University since 2017. I like reading (fantasy novels mostly), writing (this blog post), martial arts, and dogs. I’ve got red hair, and I’ve got a rare birthmark on the entirety of my right arm. I wear glasses and my hearing isn’t great. I know, I know, I’ve made myself sound way too cool, please forgive me.

Customer Engagement, what is it good for? 

This is a subject we’ll get into a lot more in-depth in my next blog post, where I will have done a lot more work on the subject. For now, I can at least give you the same surface detail that I have. Customer Engagement is all about actively building, supporting, and managing relationships with customers. I’ll explain more about what that means to me and my role specifically next time.

An internship, from the comfort of my own home?

It’s interesting. I’ve spent the last year of my academic study working from home, so you would think I’d be used to it by now. But it still felt weird to be starting a job in my bedroom. However, it’s been very easy to settle in. There’s been so much support and being a part of a group of other interns helps a lot. Over the last week couple of weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time just meeting people and learning about what they do, and with daily meetings over the camera, I really do feel like I’m a part of a team of people, instead of just working alone.

Computer Science with a focus on the customer? You’re mad!

Despite being a Computer Science graduate, I’ve found during my volunteering that one of the things I enjoy most is the opportunity to help people and problem solve. Personally, I don’t think I’d be able to enjoy a job that doesn’t involve some essence of customer service. This internship offers me a great opportunity to look at a professional environment from the perspective of the customer, while also getting some great experience working in a professional environment.

So! Hopefully, that gives you a little bit of an introduction as to who I am and what I’m doing, and I can’t wait to tell you more in my next blog about what I’ve been up to. See you next time!

Categories
General

Beating your top study worries

We asked our volunteers what their top study worries were at the start of their studies. This has helped us come up with this list to address your most common concerns!

Time management

Time management is an important part of university life, especially as it is your responsibility to ensure you manage your university deadlines, alongside your social life and other commitments. If you’ve come to university from school, 6th form or college, this can be quite overwhelming! To help you make the most of time, we’ve developed a full section on Time management in our Introduction to university study SkillsGuide.

Academic writing

Your first piece of written work at university can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. We have several SkillsGuides to help you including the writing academically and essay writing. If you’re stuck where to start, check out our seven top tips for writing academically.

Recommended reading

Reading is an essential part of all university courses, and it is one of the primary ways in which you can engage in self-directed learning. If you’re unsure what to read or where to start, you should check out the reading lists for each of your modules. These are linked in each module within Canvas, but can also be accessed directly via ReadingLists@Hull.

Searching for information

While ReadingLists@Hull is a great place to start, you need to eventually find your own material. This is a particularly important part of written assignments as you will require evidence to support the specific points you are making. The Library has an excellent range of Subject LibGuides that will help you find all the specialist resources we have in your area of study. This can be used alongside our SkillsGuide on Finding books and journals which will help you get the most out of your Subject LibGuide.

Referencing

Referencing can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. For advice on getting started or our full referencing guidelines, check out our Referencing your work SkillsGuide. Think of referencing guidelines as a set of important rules. Follow those rules, and you have nothing to worry about!

Notetaking

We like to think of ‘notetaking’ as ‘note-making’. This is because the most effective notes are not copies of what you have seen, read or heard. If you want to make the most of the notes you create, check out our Notetaking SkillsGuide.

Exams

Whoa! While it may seem a bit early to be worrying about exams, this does seem to be a concern for a lot of students. The important thing at this stage is that you realise your revision starts now. We don’t say this to panic you – just to make the point that ongoing effective notes are a great way to ensure you’re keeping on top of your learning. Check out our Notetaking SkillsGuide for now, and closer to the time you can use our Exams and revision SkillsGuide to make the most of your exam preparations.

Mental health

The University cares about your mental health and wellbeing. Through our Student Wellbeing Team and a range of external partners, we offer a whole range of services to support you. You can find all of these services on the Wellbeing and mental health pages.