May 4, 2016, by Sarah Colborne

Tri-Campus Contemporary Collecting

Good luck to all students sitting exams! Although you may feel like recycling the lot when it is all over, Manuscripts and Special Collections would like you to spare a thought for the material you might have accumulated which would make a good addition to the University Archives.

Front cover of Nottorama magazine (Nottingham University Chinese Students’ Society) for 1984 vol 2
EMSC Not U

Whether you’re vacating your room in halls, fleeing a term’s worth of washing up in your shared house, or leaving university for good to start your new career, there’s a good chance that while you are packing you will come across a few things that bring back memories of the time you spent at The University of Nottingham.

Chinese Student Society flyer 1980

Photographs, scrapbooks, ephemera (flyers, posters, tickets for events, etc.), records of involvement in student societies or activities such as elections, charity events, theatre productions, sports fixtures, and music performances, or even records of significant events in the development of departments, campuses, or halls of residence, can all help build up a picture of what life is like right now on your campus.

Agricultural students on a tractor, c.1948-1950
MS 292/1/45

Photographs donated by former students show how varied the experience of studying at university can be, as with the example of Heather Jarvis (née Beardall), a student at the School of Agriculture at Sutton Bonington from 1948-1950, whose studies involved bee keeping and tractor driving.

English students at a tutorial at The University of Nottingham, 1971
UMP/ACC 1266/75/246

It’s this rich variety of experience that we’re hoping to capture in order that the University Archives can become much more representative of our global staff and students.

Remember that we also want YOU to contribute by sending in photographs you’ve taken that represent:

• Accommodation
• Studies
• Interests
• Relationship to your campus
• What you like best about being a student

Send each photo with some information (who/what/when/where), and don’t forget to tell us your campus, year of study, and department. Contributions will be collected for inclusion in the University archives, and our favourite entries will be published here on this Time Capsule Blog for all to enjoy (anonymously if you prefer!).

We’re hoping for an international tri-campus response!

Submit your entries via:
• Twitter: @mssUniNott, #UoNTimeCapsule
• email: mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk

Follow this blog to find out more about the exploits of former students uncovered in the archives and to see the latest submissions: https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscripts/category/Time-Capsule

Find out more about Manuscripts and Special Collections at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss

Time Capsule Blogs by Sarah Colborne, Archivist (Collections), Manuscripts and Special Collections

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