Library Resources Blog Posts: Spotlight on

Spotlight On: O'Reilly for techy books, videos and much much more

O'Reilly is one of the many databases the Library subscribes to that you can access free from anywhere with your Roehampton login -  find it on our A-Z List of Databases and relevant subject guides. O'Reilly - which may be more familiar under its previous name of Safari Books - provides access to hundreds of up-to-date ebooks in computing, business, digital media, film, photography and many other related subjects, as well as videos and blogs for you to dip into at your leisure. Much of the content is fully discoverable on the UR Library Search platform, so you don't need to go directly to O'Reilly to access it, but if you do, you can find a wealth of other resources and tools to support your learning and teaching. 

Ebooks and videos appear on UR Library search  -  just follow the links to access, as usual: 

However, on the O'Reilly platform itself, you can explore so much more. If your learning style is more creative and non-linear than the more traditional linear style, O'Reilly is designed for you to find the information you need as you need it, without having to follow a set pattern. So you can jump in and out of book chapters, conference proceedings, articles etc. at will, following your own unique thought processes. You can even use the O'Reilly Answers feature to just ask about any subject, and O'Reilly will immediately deliver the best answers from across its vast range of content. Go to Start Learning at the top of the screen, select Answers, and simply type in your question:

For those who prefer a more logical style of learning, there are numerous courses or "learning paths" you can undertake at a pace that suits you, on all sorts of subjects, from computer languages and software programmes to Blockchain or Generative AI. There is content to help you with business and management projects, while students in the creative arts will find plenty of material on cinematography, graphic design, theatre stage lighting, sound, photography and more.

.

There is also content to help you develop your general digital skills, such as the Excel courses that take you from Beginners to Advanced level, at your own pace - so you can spread out your spreadsheet journey. 

You can explore O'Reilly by topic - either select from drop-down menus, or type in whatever interests you to see what is available. You can also specify the format you prefer within your chosen topic, such as books or audiobooks, videos or courses, and restrict search results to certain dates if you want to ensure you get the most recent content.
 

One special feature of the O'Reilly database is the Playlists, which enable you to curate and share your own selections of content, in much the same way as you create playlists on music and film streaming services.  For instance, academic staff can set up playlists of themed content, with added notes to help students get the most from each item. This is an easy and engaging way of directing your students to useful resources such as book chapters or conference proceedings on a certain subject. You have the option to make the playlists shareable with anyone who has access to O'Reilly, or only to Roehampton staff and students, and/or you can insert the link into Moodle. As an example, here's one we made earlier: Film and Photography playlist.  

The O'Reilly database is well worth exploring, whatever subject you are studying. You can find plenty of content to help with leisure interests as well, such as film, sound and photography, including how to take the best digital photographs. For instance, there are ebooks on nature, wildlife and pet photography - so you can learn to take photos like this stunning portrait of "Mr Stinky":

Source: Levine, N. (2016) “Photographing Cats”. In Levine, N.: Pet Photography. Rocky Nook, 2016, chapter 8. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/pet-photography/9781457189739/Text/chapter08.xhtml (accessed 29/11/2023).

Whatever your interests, academic or personal, there is a whole world of content for you to explore on the O'Reilly platform!