A few months ago the onomatopoeic call of the Eastern Whip-poor-will was featured in the sound archive’s Recording of the week series. Listen to the voice of this North American nightjar and it’s easy to see how the standard common name, at least in its English form, is a direct…

Extracts from An Oral History of British Science on the subject of working from home.

This week’s recording of the week comes from Emma Burman, Learning and Engagement Coordinator. Having spent many a childhood holiday on Cromer Pier in Norfolk, you’d think I would know the sounds of the area well. However, having never been adventurous enough to fully submerge myself in the freezing East…

Hazem Jamjoum joined the British Library Qatar Foundation Partnership Project in April 2019 as Gulf History Audio Curator and Cataloguer. In this blog post he explores what record sleeves have helped him learn about the early 20th-century music industry in the Arab world. For some decades, the British Library’s sound…

This week’s selection comes from Michele Banal, Audio Project Cataloguer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. The Kankurang is a Mandinka masked figure from the Senegambia region, associated with male societies and more specifically with boys’ initiation ceremonies. It is a protective figure and an enforcer of rules, but, as masked…