Viewing archives for Libraries and Archive

Ms Jessica Woodward

Role in the College

Jessica is responsible for cataloguing and promoting the College’s special collections, particularly the early printed books in the Old Library.  She is the point of contact for readers who would like to consult rare books and manuscripts.  She also assists with digitisation requests and with the College’s programme of exhibitions and displays.

Background

Jessica holds a BA in French and Spanish from Keble College, Oxford and an MA in Translation from the University of Surrey. She started her career as a translator and subtitler before pursuing librarianship. Jessica has worked in a range of roles across Oxford’s academic library network, most recently at Pusey House, where she oversaw all aspects of library and archive services. She achieved a Distinction grade in her PGDip in Library and Information Studies via Aberystwyth University.

Ms George White

Role in the College

George works across all of Magdalen’s Libraries and is responsible for reader services, cataloguing gifts, project work, and providing overall support for the everyday running of the library services. This is in addition to maintaining and developing the online content and presence of the Libraries & Archives, which includes its social media, website, blog, and online exhibitions. 

Background

George has a BA in English Literature and History from the University of Sheffield and worked in public libraries in Rochdale before moving to Oxford. In 2017, she joined the Bodleian Libraries Graduate Trainee scheme which helped her decide that academic libraries were the place for her. During her time at the Bodleian, she completed a PG Dip in Library and Information Services Management with the University of Sheffield via distance learning. Before starting at Magdalen in June 2023, she has previously worked at the Old Bodleian Library, the Radcliffe Camera, and the Cairns Library in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Ms Rosie Claremont

Role in the College

Rosie supports the Librarians in the day-to-day running of the college libraries. She works primarily at the enquiry desk of the Longwall Library, helping readers and visitors with using the library and its facilities, as well processing new books and creating book displays.

Background

Rosie gained a BA in Film Studies from King’s College London an MSc in Psychology from the University of East London before pursuing librarianship.

Dr Emily Jennings

Role in College

I assist Magdalen’s Archivist and Records Manager, Dr Richard Allen, in collecting, preserving, and making accessible the College’s rich archival record, both physical and digital.

Background

Before joining Magdalen, I worked at The National Archives, UK, in the role of Archivist – Catalogue Data (maternity cover), having completed my MA in Archives and Records Management at University College Dublin in 2020. At The National Archives, I improved the existing online catalogue data for various collections, and also created new catalogue descriptions for early modern legal records, including deeds. Before taking up that role, I was a volunteer at the Planned Environment Therapy Archives in Gloucestershire, where I gained experience of appraising and cataloguing 20th-century collections.

My academic background is in English literature: I hold a BA in English and an MPhil in Medieval and Renaissance Literature, both from the University of Cambridge, and a DPhil in English Literature from the University of Oxford.

Research interests

My published research focuses on the uses of political prophecy in England between the accession of King James I (1603) and the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Through the study of manuscript and printed sources, I have explored how the motifs and, in many cases, the complete texts of medieval and Reformation-era political prophecies were adapted and repurposed in both panegyric and protest literature in the early- to mid-17th century.

Recent publications

Ms Anne Chesher

Role in the College

Anne works as a part of a job share as College Librarian with Dr Lucy Gwynn. They are responsible for the management of the libraries which are at the heart of the college’s academic life. They also oversee the curation of Magdalen’s exceptionally rich historic collections (its archives, manuscripts, and rare books), and facilitate and advocate for their use in research and public engagement.

Background

Anne read Classics at Durham University prior to undertaking postgraduate study in Library and Information Science. She has 35 years’ professional experience in academic libraries with over 20 years at UCL where she held a variety of managerial roles. She has a particular interest in rare books and special collections, having worked at Reading University Library as a rare books cataloguer, and at UCL as Project Manager for external project funding, raising external funding to support rare books and archives cataloguing, conservation and outreach activities.

Dr Lucy Gwynn

Role in College

Lucy works as a part of a job share as College Librarian with Anne Chesher. They are responsible for the management of the libraries which are at the heart of the college’s academic life. They also oversee the curation of Magdalen’s exceptionally rich historic collections (its archives, manuscripts, and rare books), and facilitate and advocate for their use in research and public engagement.

Background

Lucy read Modern History at St John’s College, Oxford before training to be a librarian specialising in the care of manuscripts and early printed books. She has worked at the Huguenot Library, based at UCL, and was Deputy Librarian and Deputy Director of Collections at Eton College before moving to Magdalen. She completed her PhD on the library of Thomas Browne (1604?-1682) at Queen Mary University London in 2016.

Her research interests include:

Academic publications:

Dr Richard Allen

Role in College

Richard manages the college’s rich archives collections, not only cataloguing them, but also answering enquiries about them, from both inside and outside Magdalen, and promoting them more widely. He also oversees the arrival of new accessions to the archives, be it transfers from offices within the college, or gifts from former members and others. He heads the Archives staff within the Library and Archives team, overseeing the work of the Assistant Archivist and the Wilson Project Archivist.

Background

Prior to arriving at Magdalen, Richard was Archivist and Research Fellow at St Peter’s College, Oxford, and a Junior Research Fellow in Medieval History at St John’s College, Oxford. He has also held positions (both academic and otherwise) at the Université de Caen and the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Glasgow and a PGDip in Archives and Records Management from University College London.

Richard is an Associate Member of the History Faculty, and continues to present and publish regularly on his chosen specialism, the ecclesiastical history of northern France (in particular Normandy) in the High Middle Ages. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Richard also serves as a Trustee of the Oxford Historical Society and of the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature.

Research interests

Richard’s research concerns the ecclesiastical history of northern France in the High Middle Ages, with a particular focus on ducal Normandy (911–1204). He works primarily with charters and other such administrative records, and is particularly interested in what this material can reveal about the political, legal, economic and cultural circumstances of the societies in which it was produced. He has also published widely on topics ranging from ecclesiastical rivalry, through excommunication, the nature of episcopal power, the Cistercian abbey of Savigny, and the role of relics in the Middle Ages.

Recent publications

Ms Leanne Grainger

Role in the College

Leanne is responsible for the smooth day-to-day running of the Longwall Library and the supervision of the library team. She is the lead on ordering and cataloguing all new acquisitions, as well as planning and managing project goals for the Longwall Library. This is in addition to supporting all tasks relating to the Old Library and Magdalen’s other specialist collections.

Background

Leanne gained a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from Aberystwyth University and an MRes in Complexity Sciences from the University of Bristol before pursuing librarianship. While working in libraries she completed an MA in Library and Information Services Management at the University of Sheffield. She has previously worked in public libraries, at Christ Church Library, Oxford, and prior to coming to Magdalen in September 2021 was Assistant Librarian at St Hilda’s College, Oxford.