Following the success of last year’s innovative ‘promenade’-style format, the 2024 MAH Research Away Day (Thursday 27 June) again circulated groups of faculty through a schedule of sessions, sustenance and summer sunshine.

The event opened with a welcome from Prof Mat Dimmock (Associate Dean for Research) and Medeni Fordham (Senior Research Manager), who celebrated the past year’s highlights; outlined the Institute Theme (Human Flourishing) and strategy for the coming year (Collaboration, Innovation, Reputation, Celebration and Engagement); and gave a refresher on the range of support offered by the MAH Research PS team.

This year, the day’s main sessions were largely co-led with colleagues from other areas of the University, and included: ‘The Future of the Book’: Open Access (Library Elements team); Impact/Collaboration Surgery (Impact/KE team and IDS); Library Show and Tell (Library Collections team); and Funding Bid Surgery (SHL Digital).

Read on for reflections on individual sessions.

Library Legacy Collections 'Show and Tell':

The Library Collections team ran a Show and Tell’ workshop focussing on primary sources in the Library Legacy Collections with examples of how they could be used to support teaching and research. The session consisted of an introductory presentation followed by everyone delving into the colourful display, which showcased the wide variety of topics represented in the collections.

The Library Legacy Collection is a collection of rare documents and ephemeral literature which represents 20th century UK social and political history through the eyes of the organisations that were active during this period, mostly focussing on the 1960’s-90’s. Themes include Social Movements, Social Welfare, War, Gender Studies and Feminism, Black Studies and Political Parties and Movements, plus a large collection of LGBTQAI+ magazines and rare books from the Library of Rosey Pool. More information is available in the Library's Legacy Collection Guide.

The British Library for Development Studies Legacy Collection tracks the history of development studies and consists of over 250,000 rare or unique documents originating from the Global South in 56 languages. The timeframe also covers 1960’s-90’s but includes earlier and later materials. Find more details on the BLDS Legacy Collection web pages.

The Library is very keen to work with academics to encourage our students, researchers and community beyond Sussex to use the materials. It offers bespoke workshops to show users the benefits of using primary sources in their research. Please email library.collections@sussex.ac.uk if you would like more information, to discuss potential collaborations or to arrange a look at the items in our Stores.

Contribution: Chloe Dobson, Collection Development Librarian (Library)

Participatory Methods for Impact and Upping the Ethical Ante

Fresh angles at this year’s Research Away Day included a super-relevant session on ‘participatory methods’ from Alice Webb and Jo Howard at the Institute for Development Studies. These methods help increase the impact of our research, including the important elements of ‘knowledge exchange’ with community groups, businesses, organisations and government. Participatory methods put the researched-about alongside the researcher-of. The aims are inclusive development and social change – aims that fire most of us up. IDS is offering us expert training but also the opportunity to get our own research onto their massively popular website – including in the global South – and, therefore, to get more impactful in turn. Contact Katherine Blackadder for more information!

Contribution: Margaretta Jolly, Professor of Cultural Studies and Director of Research (Knowledge Exchange and Impact).

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The Research Portfolio team would like to thank everyone who attended, especially those who joined us from the Library and IDS, and – above all – Michelle Gibson and colleagues in the PS team who were instrumental in organising the day.