24-7 Starts Today!

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Steven Lake

Exam season is upon us again, which means 24-7 Opening at the Library for the rest of term – starting today!

The Library will be open all day, every day from this morning right through until midnight on Tuesday 18th June. This includes Bank Holiday Monday on the 27th (though we’ll be operating a skeleton service on the day).

Judging from how busy we already are, you’ve already all determined to take advantage of the best study areas on campus (to say nothing of the best cafe!), so space is already at a premium. As usual, there are always a few who feel the need to take up more space than they actually need – even when they’re not actually in the building! So please, be kind and considerate and don’t leave your stuff lying about when you’re not there, as you’re depriving other people of a much-needed place to study. Please note that we WILL be removing any items left unattended to free up space (assuming someone else doesn’t help themselves to your stuff first!)

And although the building occasionally reverberates to the sound of the builders going about beginning Transforming the Library upstairs, please remember to keep the noise levels down to an absolute minimum on Levels One & Two – remember, they’re silent study areas only. And please, no picnics down there either! If you want to chat or have a snack, pop back up to Level Three – our squad of roving librarians will ask you to cease & desist if they spot you otherwise, and we really don’t like growling at people, honest!

But if you’re unlucky enough not to find a space in the Library, fret not - we’ve booked plenty of alternative study space in the James France Building, which is available in the following rooms:

D002
D102
D109
D201
D202

These will be available 24/7 from Friday 24th May until Wednesday 19th June.

Happy revising, and good luck with your exams!

Radar at the Movies: Questions of Value

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Steven Lake

A trio of award-winning thought-provoking films are being shown over the next month by Radar, the University’s contemporary arts program, as part of their spring theme, Questions of Value.

The sequence begins this evening at 6PM in the LUA Project Space with a showing of Andrei Tarkovsky’s enigmatic 1979 science fiction mystery Stalker. Based upon the novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Sturgatsky, the film is frequently described by critics as one of the best SF movies ever made.

On Wednesday 29th May the Oscar-winning 2010 documentary Inside Job will be screened in the Cope Auditorium at 6PM. Narrated by Matt Damon, the film takes a hard-hitting view of the 2008 financial crisis and the industry that caused it.

Finally on Wednesday 5th June at 6PM in the Cope Auditorium there will be a showing of King Vidor’s 1949 drama The Fountainhead, starring Gary Cooper. Based on the controversial Ayn Rand novel of the same name, the film charts the struggle of an idealistic architect to maintain his artistic integrity in the face economic, professional and personal pressures.

All three films are free to attend. For further details, visit the Radar site here:

http://www.arts.lboro.ac.uk/radar/radar__whats_on/questions_of_value1/

Child’s Play with Club 790

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Steven Lake

The student book club, Club 790, will be meeting twice before the end of term to discuss the first in the Jack Reacher series, Killing Floor by Lee Child.

If you’d like to see first-hand what goes on at a book club, feel free to drop in to either of these meetings. The first is an afternoon session at 2pm on Wednesday 5^th June in the soft seating area of the Village Dining room. If you’d prefer an evening session, we’ll be meeting in the Library at 5.30pm the following Wednesday 12^th June (come to the Customer Services desk when you arrive).

For more information, please contact Sharon Reid at the Library: S.D.Reid@lboro.ac.uk, ext. 222352.

Image by Timothy Valentine, reproduced under CC License from Flickr.

Finalist clearing

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Matthew Cunningham

University Library Hopefully you will have enjoyed using the Library over the course of your degree. There is just one thing to make sure you do before the last day of term – make sure your Library account is clear.

The Library is required to notify departments of any students who have NOT returned books/paid fines by the time their Board of Examiners meets.

You may check your borrower record on any Catalogue Plus terminal in the Library or on the self service units in the Library, but you must still present your card to be cancelled. Please do not leave it until the last minute, in case there is any query. Please also ensure your department knows where to contact you if necessary.

N.B. Due to the Library refurbishment works over the Summer period, all accounts MUST be cleared by 5pm on Wednesday 19^th June 2013 otherwise outstanding charges will be added to your account at Student Finance.

If you have any query about your record, please contact the Library asap.

Once you have graduated, you are welcome to come back and use the Library. We have our alumni membership scheme which gives you free membership of the Library for 5 years after you join as an alumni, letting you borrow up to 8 long/week loan books at a time. For more details on this scheme, please have a look at our alumni webpage or contact our Customer Services Manager.

Have a Laugh on Us with our Leisure Reading Collection

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Steven Lake

Howard Jacobson has just been announced the winner of this year’s prestigious Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, the only annual literary award for humorous literature, for his novel Zoo Time, making him the first author to have ever won the award twice.

The competition celebrates books that are deemed to have captured the comic spirit of P.G. Wodehouse, author of the immortal Jeeves & Wooster and Blandings novels.

Jacobson won the first ever Wodehouse prize in 2000 for his novel The Mighty Walzer. His prize consisted of a Bollinger Champagne, a complete set of Wodehouse’s works, and - perhaps most fittingly for the spirit of Wodehouse – a Gloucestershire Old Spot pig will be named after after his book!

Although we don’t (yet) have a copy of Zoo Time in our collection, we do have other works by Howard Jacobson among our collection, as well as previous winners of the award among our Leisure Reading collection, including Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre (2003), Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday (2007) and Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (2011 – pictured above with his award). That’s in addition to a variety of contemporary and classic comic works by the likes of Terry Pratchett, Stephen Fry, Alan Bennett and, of course, P.G. Wodehouse. So if you’re stuck for something to lighten your exam mood, why not have a browse today?

Gary Shteyngart with his 2011 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award, image by Katie A3, reproduced under CC License from Flickr.

Library Photo Competition – Last Chance to Enter!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Steven Lake

Midnight tomorrow (Friday 17th May) is the deadline to enter this year’s library photography competition and the last chance to win some fabulous prizes and join the immortal ranks of previous winners (including last year’s winning quartet above).

As an added incentive (as if one were necessary!) the winning images will be used as part of the public displays in the refurbished Library when it re-opens in October - given how popular the Library is, that would be a real feather in the cap for those aiming towards an artistic vocation and a wonderful way to get your snapping talents noticed!

Entries should be sent (post haste!) as an e-mail attachment to Steve Corn, Loughborough University Library, (S.C.Corn@lboro.ac.uk). He can be contacted on 01509 222338 for any questions relating to the competition. All entries will be judged by the Library’s Marketing and Publications Group and bluu, the building company responsible for the refurbishment. They will consider a range of factors including composition, technical ability, originality and interpretation of the brief.

Full terms and conditions are available on the Library website here:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/feature/2013-image-competition/

Help Innovate the British Library and win £3000!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Steven Lake

BL_labs_picture The British Library have just launched a competition inviting proposals for an innovative project utilising their vast digital collection. The eventual winner will receive £3000 and a residency at the British Library while their project is implimented.

The Labs competition is designed to attract scholars, explorers, trailblazers and software developers who see the potential for new and innovative research and development opportunities lurking within the British Library’s immense digital collections. Through soliciting imaginative and transformative projects utilising this content entrants will be giving the British Library a steer as to the types of new processes, platforms, arrangements, services and tools needed to make it more accessible.

A virtual discussion about the competition is being held this Friday (17th May) using Google Hangout should you wish to find out more. Full details and terms & conditions of the contest are also available via British Library website here:

http://labs.bl.uk/Competition+2013#Details

Planet Earth is Blue (and there’s something you should view…)

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Steven Lake

Space buffs and music buffs alike should be thrilled by a song video with a difference that’s just been posted to YouTube – all the way from the Earth’s orbit!

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, the out-going commander of the International Space Station, returns to Earth today and decided to mark the end of his tenure by performing and recording an acoustic cover of David Bowie’s immortal 1969 inter-galactic hit Space Oddity – while floating in zero gravity around his very own ‘tin can’ inside the space station against the backdrop of outer space, 230 miles above the Earth, making it the first ever music video to be filmed in space. Beat that, Major Tom!

The video marks a triumphant culmination of a six-month tour aboard the station that has seen Hadfield become a global social media superstar through his Twitter account, which he began with the aim of raising awareness and reigniting enthusiasm for space travel, recording every detail of his stay in space backed by some stunning shots of the Earth from orbit. To date he’s amassed over 770,000 followers – doubtless now a few music promoters among them!

To view the video on YouTube, follow this link:

http://t.co/dWXTf8a8Jq

International Space Station over the Earth, courtesy of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre, reproduced from Flickr under CC License.