February 5th, 2010
Just a reminder that the following survey can be completed anytime between now and the 12th February 2010: -
In December 2009, the Library and Students Union undertook a joint short survey to gather some initial data on Web 2.0. You are invited to take part in a follow up survey to investigate the use of Web 2.0 social networking tools among Loughborough students in more detail:
http://www.survey.lboro.ac.uk/web2point0questionnaire/
Web 2.0 sites are commonly characterized by individuals generating and sharing content; for more information on what constitutes a Web 2.0 site see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0. Survey responses are stored anonymously but there is the option to leave your email address to be entered into our prize draw for a £25 iTunes voucher. The results from this survey will be used to help us plan our services for the future.
Thank you for your participation.
Photo © A.J. Alfieri-Crispin reproduced by Creative commons licence
Posted in IT, Library, News, Surveys, e-Learning | Comments »
February 4th, 2010
In 2009, the Library undertook its first general user survey since 2002. The report can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/library/about/PDFs/usersurvey2009.pdf. The questionnaire generated 561 responses which have given various perspectives on our services. Don’t worry, there is an Executive Summary if you don’t have time for the full report!
Posted in News, Surveys | Comments »
February 3rd, 2010
“Covering the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, Historical Abstracts with Full Text provides information on world history, military history, women’s history, history of education and much more. The database includes full text of nearly 300 journals and 130 books and also provides selective indexing of historical articles from more than 1,800 journals in over 40 languages back to 1955”.
To access the database please go to this URL (for off-campus access please login to the Library pages via the Remote Working Portal )
We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn with your comments.
Available until 3rd March 2010
Posted in Databases, Trials | Comments »
February 1st, 2010
February 1st 1910 saw the first opening of an institution that was to have a profound effect on British society: the Labour Exchange.
Introduced by the then President of the Board of Trade Winston Churchill and beginning with an initial 62 branches, the Labour Exchange has since transformed into Jobcentre Plus, with now 750 offices and 78,000 employees countrywide.
To mark the occasion, the Hackney Museum in London, in association with the Department of Work and Pensions, has lauched an exhibition, 100 Years and Counting: Helping People into Work Since 1910, looking back over the hundred years since the scheme was introduced.
You can find a wealth of information about employment and unemployment via Metalib, including statistical information through sites such as National Statistics UK, as well as broader multi-disciplinary views from such sites as Sociological Abstracts and the British Humanities Index.
The exhibition runs from February 1 to March 6 and admission is free.
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February 1st, 2010
The National Student Survey allows finalists to tell the University – and the world – what they think about their experiences at Loughborough. The Library has often used the results when making changes to future services. It only takes 5 – 10 minutes and makes a good break from studying! Click on the following link to go to the survey: http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/
Posted in News | Comments »
February 1st, 2010
British Library by Xavier de Jaureguiberry (Taken from Flickr and used under cc licence)
In the Huffington Post today there’s an article, with pictures, of some of the most beautiful libraries in the world including Trinity College Dublin, The Library of Congress and Yale University. You can vote for your favourite. The nearest one to Loughborough is of course the British Library.
As a student you can apply for a readers’ pass to use the British Library’s reading rooms, if you cannot find the information resources locally. Please check with your Academic Librarian first to confirm that the resources you need for your studies are not available at Loughborough as applications are subject to the British Library’s Admission criteria, It is also a good idea to take your student card to show to British Library staff. New PhD students and researchers may also be interested in the British Library’s Training days.
Posted in Science | Comments »
January 29th, 2010
“The database National Socialism, Holocaust, Resistance and Exile 1933–1945 opens the series 20th Century German History Online . For this database fundamental primary sources on the National Socialist state and the NSDAP, Nazi ideology and propaganda, National Socialist justice and legislation, on resistance and persecution, and annihilation and expulsion in the “Third Reich” have been compiled and digitised”.
To access the database please go to this URL (for off-campus access please login to the Library pages via the Remote Working Portal )
We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn with your comments.
Available until 28th February 2010
Posted in Databases, Trials | Comments »
January 29th, 2010
J.D. Salinger, 1919-2010
J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye, one of the most moumental novels of the 20th Century, has died at the age of 91.
Notoriously reclusive – his final public interview was in 1980 – Salinger’s last work was published in 1965. There is already massive speculation about a cache of manuscripts locked away in his safe.
Catcher in the Rye provoked a storm of positive and negative criticism and became something of an iconic work for adolescents worldwide, reputedly selling over 65 million copies since its first publication in 1951 and having a massive influence on contemporary media and culture.
The Library holds various works by and about Salinger, and you can find a lot more about him through many of our databases on
Metalib, particularly
Literature Online,
Nexis UK and social sciences databases like
Sociological Abstracts which explore the culture and sociological impact of his work.
Posted in SSH | Comments »
January 26th, 2010
Sir Tim Berners-Lee - the man who is often described as inventor of the Web – and Professor Nigel Shadbolt have joined together to help create a website which makes government data freely available and more accessible. The team, assembled in a joint venture for the UK Government, want to draw together different communities which will be inspired to develop ways in which to find and present government data easily. The site has been live since September 2009 and has already attracted several thousand developers who have shared their expertise in working with open standards, open source and open data. The site has a blog, wiki and forum to enable it to become truly interactive.
Take a look at data.gov.uk and why not keep an eye out for future developments by subscribing to the RSS feed?
Unlocking government data
Photograph © by **Maurice** reproduced by Creative commons licence
Posted in Databases, New Resources, Politics | Comments »
January 21st, 2010
In a news story that you might have missed, a computer scientist has calculated the mathematical constant pi to a mind-boggling 2.7 trillion digits.
Perhaps equally astounding is that Fabrice Bellard not only exceeded the previous record for pi by 123 billion more digits, but that he used a desktop computer to perform and check the calculation!
If you’d like to know more about pi, here’s a selection of books from our stock:
Tags: computerscience, mathematics
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