London: the city as a phoenix [Part 2] – the Blitz and St. Paul’s
The Great Fire of London, which destroyed and devastated four-fifths of the city, began on 5th September 1666. 274 years and 2 days later, on 7th September 1940, the city…
The Origins of Bank Holidays
In the UK we owe our statutory bank holidays to John Lubbock, first Baron of Avebury, scientific writer (who studied ants and tried to teach his poodle to read), banker…
Behind the Scenes: planning an IT event
Wow! More than 2,000 sessions delivered? How did we do that? In the last three years the Information and Reference Library has planned and held 31 IT events alongside our extremely popular…
1966 and all that [Part 2]: Graphic Design
Fifty years ago Britain was in the midst of Psychedelia which manifested itself in vibrant patterned clothes, long hair (for both women and men), experimental music and films, and the blurring of…
Discover digital magazines!
RBdigital brings digital magazines to Richmond upon Thames residents and library customers. E-magazines are similar to e-books in that you can read them online or download them to your mobile…
London: the city as a phoenix [Part 1] – The Great Fire of London
On the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London we take a look at how London has risen, phoenix-like, from conflagrations, both man-made and natural, after the Great Fire…
Utopia to Dystopia: Utopian ideas in Twentieth Century architecture
Utopia The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word Utopia as 'An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect'. 'The opposite of Dystopia'. The word originates from the 16th century…
Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do In The Library
When did you last visit? Your first visit to the library was probably when you were a child. You may have scanned the shelves with eager eyes for your…
VOGUE: Part 2 – fashion on a budget
To celebrate 100 years since British VOGUE was published, we explore different aspects of the magazine from the 1950s to the present day. In this second article we look at how…
EU Referendum: online information sources
Our non-partisan pledge: You may already have had your fill of commentary, polemic, opinion, analysis, statements, examinations, reviews, overviews, argumentation, debate, contention and disputation that is the EU referendum. We can't offer…