For #DigitalPreservationDay we spoke to Caylin Smith, Head of Digital Preservation, about her team's efforts to foster a culture of digital stewardship that protects our digital heritage for future generations. #WDPD2025 Read more: https://loom.ly/UFJLE40#DigitalPreservationDay#WDPD2025💾🖥️

Look no further than John Babington’s Pyrotechnia (London, 1635) for inspiration for your #fireworks display. There are 'fizgigs' and fire-breathing dragons galore!🎆 Adams.4.63.1. #bonfirenight

A week to go until the Sandars Lectures 2025 📚 Join us in celebrating archival collections in Cambridge and beyond, on 11 & 12 November 2025, 5-6pm. Online spaces still available. Book your free tickets: https://loom.ly/Du7jSUs

How did medieval people treat an anal abscess? 🌹 John Arderne, a 15th-century English surgeon, relieved the pain with a suppository of oil of roses and raw egg yolk. This manuscript (@trincolllibcam.bsky.social , MS O.2.49) is on display at our Curious Cures exhibition. Tickets: loom.ly/kVqsPRY

A Visit to a Witch! Giving an account of the hovel she resides in, the fear she occasions in the neighbourhood of it, and the curious charges brought against her before a justice of the peace. London: J. Evans and Sons, [1814?] (CCD.7.50.28) #Folklore #Witchcraft #History #Superstition

Listen to two new choral works from the Timeline Choir inspired by our #CuriousCures exhibition! 🐀 ‘A Charm Against Rats’ by composer Charlotte Baskerville is inspired by a 15th-century manuscript (@caiuscollege.bsky.social, MS 457/395, f. 1v). Hear the full version: https://loom.ly/2fJO_xs

Don't forget to join us for this spine-chilling event!

Half-term planning got you hot under the collar? Fear not, our FREE exhibition on medieval medicine is here to keep you amused with all the leeches, urine flasks and weasel testicles you could ever wish for. 🔗Book now: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY Image: MS O.1.20 @trincolllibcam.bsky.social

This kitty was not a great mouser, but did catch a pear! (Still my favourite design from my days as a herald). #heraldry #catsofbsky Arms of Diane Marie Cecile Perry, Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada, vol. 6, p. 55. www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/...

Could this be him as a kitten? B.11.4 13th c Psalter written in a 'large and noble hand' according to M.R. James. mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/B...

Autumn days in Cambridge 🍂 @theul.bsky.social @clarecollege @corpuscambridge.bsky.social looking splendid on a crisp cold day. #CambridgeUniversityLibraries

May this black cat bring you good fortune and fill your Monday morning with positive energy. ✨ #NationalBlackCatDay Image: Black Cats are Lucky by A. Fielding (1937.7.2763)

Highly recommended!

When your cat is knighted for gallantry in mouse-catching and commissions a new coat of arms. 🐈🐁 Actually, these arms belonged to Sir Isaac Pennington (1745-1817). They were charmingly sketched by Richard Relhan (1797-1838). Cambridge Antiquarian Society / CUL (Views.Relhan.78)

October was a busy time in the medieval agricultural calendar. It was the season to sow new crops, an essential job to ensure a plentiful harvest in the following year. Image: 14th-century East Anglian Book of Hours (CUL MS Dd.4.17). See it in the #CambridgeDigitalLibrary: https://loom.ly/IxlTgO8

Ttakjibon (딱지본) are pocket-sized Korean novels featuring colorful illustrated covers. The name 'Ttakjibon' derives from 'Ttakji' (딱지),' a small disk used in a traditional children's game, which you might remember from Squid Game! Pictured: Ongnangja 옥낭자. FE.264.37 Sŏul, : Hyangminsa, 1978.

Get ready for a night of laughter and leeches! 😂🎭 Join us at the UL on 20 November for an evening of improv with The Cambridge Impronauts — inspired by our exhibition Curious Cures: Medicine in the Medieval World. 5.30-7pm. Tickets £5. Book now: https://loom.ly/ctOh268

⌛Time is running out for #CuriousCures! Don't miss your chance to see these fascinating medieval medical books and manuscripts, which are rarely on display together. 📍Open 6 Dec 2025 at the UL 🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY#CuriousCures Image: @caiuscollege.bsky.social, MS 336/725

Cassell crime, 1960. In the Tower at @theul.bsky.social. 📷 #WeekQforQuiet #AlphabetChallenge

Rainy days and Mondays always get Odysseus down 🐈🌧️ #CambridgeUniversityLibrary #Cambridge Photos by Julian Fuller

We’re pleased to invite you to an event exploring Publish, Review, Curate (PRC) – a flexible and community-driven model for scholarly publishing. 📅 3 Dec 2025 📍 King’s College 🎟️Designed for Cambridge students, staff and researchers 🔗Book now: https://loom.ly/PG2zGn0

Details of a fragment from an Abbasid Qur’an 📚 Iron gall ink on perfect parchment 🐑 @theul.bsky.social MS Add.1118, 3/4th century AH/ 9/10th century CE #IslamicManuscript #CambridgeUniversityLibraries #Parchment #JummahMubarak

157 feet of magnificent verticality. The Tower at @theul.bsky.social. #vertical #BlueSkyArtShow 📷 #photography

🎃Join us on 30 October for some spine-chilling real-life data horror stories! Open to all research staff, students, and anyone supporting research activities. 📍Thu 30 Oct 2025, 9:30am-2pm at the School of Clinical Medicine 🔗Find out more and book a place: https://loom.ly/QPCAFGk

Hello new @cam.ac.uk students! 🌞 It has been great to see so many of you visiting us. To help you find your way around the building and to make the most of our collections, please sign up for one of our orientation tours: https://loom.ly/rSlv9F0

From comedy improv to manuscripts by candlelight, the University Library's autumn event programme is here! 📚28 October: The Really Popular Book Club 😆20 November: Comedy Improv at the Library 🕯️4 December: Manuscripts by Candlelight 🎟️ Tickets and full details: https://loom.ly/QMtGQTI

Tours of the EFL are running all this week, but if you are feeling a bit shy you can enjoy this mini-tour put together by @theul.bsky.social! Book through⬆️link in bio⬆️, or just stop by for a friendly chat about how we support your English studies. (psssst....there are sweets at the staff desk🍬)

There’s so much origami in the wild at @theul.bsky.social, but this afternoon I think I found the Queen.

💾 Our Digital Archivist Chris Knowles is supporting the Future Nostalgia project, led by our friends at the @theul.bsky.social. 🕵️The project brings together old hardware to read rare and unusual floppy disks. Discover how this work is helping prevent a digital dark age in this BBC feature. ⬇️

Proof that your social media manager spent the weekend listening to Taylor Swift's new album. #TheFateOfOphelia #TheLifeOfAShowgirl These images of Ophelia are from Shakespeare's Heroines, illustrated by R. Anning Bell, 1901 (Lit.7.90.365).

Celebrating archival collections in Cambridge and beyond, join us for the 2025 Sandars Lecture Series by Joan Winterkorn MBE. 11 & 12 November, 5-6pm. 🎟️ Book your free tickets: https://loom.ly/Du7jSUs

So this #SHOT2025 panel has nearly wrapped up. But if you want to read more about historical issues surrounding multimedia and the preservation of born-digital collections, check out this piece on #DigiPres at @theul.bsky.social. (Thanks for bringing this to my attention, @rhiggitt.bsky.social!)

Excited to find drawings of moths by FW Frohawk (1861-1946) in the archive of biologist William Bateson @theul.bsky.social. They’re catalogued as ‘27 drawings of Milan Leps’, but think this should be ‘Melan[istic] Leps’? Do they look right for showing melanism, #TeamMoth? MS Add. 8634/J.3 #EntHist

New term, new academic year. How are you all settling in? 🍂 To make life easier, we’ve created a guide for new and returning University of Cambridge students, including online resources, top tips, skills training, tours, collections, and what’s new this term. Read it now: https://loom.ly/EmsWxrs

It's #BannedBooksWeek. Over the centuries, our duty to preserve the nation’s literary output has led us to collect works of all kinds, regardless of their content. Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Ulysses both entered our collections years before they were widely available.

A pleasure to welcome the new postgrads at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies for a @theul.bsky.social induction! We showcased UL's services & our world-class Middle Eastern collection, from ancient manuscripts to modern works, all ready to support their research. #CambridgeUniversity

Astley Lloyd Blair, aged 27 in 1964, standing on the steps of Gloucester Police Headquarters after being appointed a Special Constable. Blair had served as a police officer in Jamaica before coming to the UK. #BHM #BHM2025 #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistoryMonthUK

A few spaces have opened up at our Copy that Floppy Cafe tomorrow 💾 Got an old floppy disk lying around? Have the data transferred to a modern format for free at Cambridge University Library! Book here: https://loom.ly/keLho5k

Lauren Berlant reading group 📚 Join CRASSH Fellow @darlingorlaith.bsky.social in tracing Berlant’s understanding of normative fantasies and their role in maintaining and critiquing the social and political orthodoxies of given eras From 13 October, Alison Richard Building, CB3 9DP bit.ly/4nFi9C0

💫Today marks the 40th anniversary of the London premiere of Les Misérables! We are honoured to hold the archive of Herbert Kretzmer, the renowned lyricist of the English language version of #LesMis. 🔎Learn more: loom.ly/V0cRKHg @cam.ac.uk

Had a great time at Cambridge University Library on Wednesday afternoon - I was being an actual researcher (!) consulting the 1662 court records for the Isle of Ely. Huge thank you to the very kind and lovely staff of the @theul.bsky.social manuscripts reading room

Hyacinth will live on forever on the shelves @theul.bsky.social: here’s her ‘Book of etiquette for the socially less fortunate’ (1993). CUL L415:8.c.1.36977.

Interesting to find some nature printed butterflies @theul.bsky.social yesterday (‘lepidochromes’). The butterflies were pressed on prepared paper, which was folded, allowing the scales to transfer to create mirror images of both sides of the insects’ wings. 1/2 #enthist @camglamresearch.bsky.social

Our Conservation team enjoyed hosting a visit from Moriki Papers last week! We shared how we use Japanese paper in our studio and learned about the art of Japanese papermaking. #CULConservation #BookConservation #PaperConservation #JapanesePaper #PaperRepair #Papermaking

#OnThisDay 100 years ago, plans for a new University Library in Cambridge were gaining traction. By 2 October 1925, a site had been acquired and architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott RA had begun his sketches and costings. As this picture shows, by 1933, construction was underway! (Cam.a.934.2)

Another chance to attend a FREE tour of Curious Cures: Medicine in the Medieval World with Dr James Freeman, Medieval Manuscripts Specialist @theul.bsky.social - Tue 4 Nov. 12.15-1pm. Register here: www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...

The archive of the late Herbert Kretzmer, OBE, has been donated to Cambridge University Library! Learn more about the collection, which includes material relating to one of the most famous musicals in theatre history, Les Misérables: www.lib.cam.ac.uk/stories/Kret...

Welcome to the new academic year! We’ve created a guide for new and returning University of Cambridge students, including online resources, top tips, skills training, tours, collections, and what’s new this term. https://loom.ly/EmsWxrs

Hoverfly resurrection. 21 September 1901, @theul.bsky.social Librarian and dipterist Francis Jenkinson recovers a Marmalade hoverfly from a spider’s web, “tightly wound up … which being unwound came to life again in a pill-box by the evening.” #enthist #Diptera #Hoverflies

🍂Michaelmas term starts this week! We’ve created a guide for new and returning University of Cambridge students, including online resources, top tips, skills training, tours, collections, and what’s new this term. https://loom.ly/EmsWxrs