BookCrossing launched!

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Debbie Smyth (Imago) and Sharon Reid (Library) launch the BookCrossing scheme

Calling all book-lovers! BookCrossing, the leisure reading phenomenon designed  to encourage us all to read for pleasure has been launched on-campus. The Library, with the support of Imago, has placed wicker boxes of donated novels in three food-outlets: the Village Bar, Fuel Box (EHB) and Martin Hall Bistro. Look out for them!

Designed as a ‘read me then release’ me scheme, the way it works is that you take any book you fancy, then, once you’ve finished reading it, pass it on for someone else to enjoy. To add to the fun, every book has been given its own ID number, so you can track its journey via the website.

To keep the scheme rolling we need more books! So, if you have any leisure reading books you’re happy to ‘release’, we’d really like to have them. We need your good quality novels (including graphic), and biographies/autobiographies/memoirs. Please drop them off at the Library and mention that they’re for the BookCrossing scheme.

Happy reading!

In the Merry Month of May

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Today is May 1st, or ‘May Day’, traditionally the first day of summer (not that you’d know it to look at the weather!!). And what better time to remind you of a few musical and entertainment events coming to campus this month to help get you in a sunny, summer mood… or at least, help take your mind off your exams!

Bank Holiday Monday (May 7th) sees the return of Freefest, the Student Union’s annual free pop festival, featuring a host of dazzling musical acts from across the country at the Student Union from noon until 6PM.

For those of a more classical bent, the University Choir will be holding its Summer Concert on Friday May 11th, featuring the premiere of a new sporting anthem, the winning entry in the University’s Choral Composition Competition, as well as performing a selection of classical and modern works (starts at 7.30PM).

On Monday 14th May (7-10PM), Speech Bubble, the Student Union free-form spoken word spectacular, returns for the third and final time this year. Don’t forget that as it’s an open mike session, you can take part too!

Finally, on Wednesday May 16th Tasmin Little (violin) and Piers Lane (piano) will be performing in concert at the Cope Auditorium (7.30PM). Internationally renowned soloists, they will be teaming up to treat the audience to a selection of Brahms, Respighi and Strauss.

For full ticket details, follow the relevant links.

See you there!

Essays? Dissertations? Projects? Need Help?

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Suffering from Dissertation Distress? Or Project Pangs? Maybe even an Essay ‘Eadache? Well, you don’t have to travel far for a cure! The Academic Librarians at Loughborough University are here to help you be successful in your studies.

With that in mind we’ve put together a helpful little page explaining how to get the best out of us, including contact details for the Academic Librarian responsible for your Department/subject matter, links to helpful online resources such as the Academic Practice module on Learn, and other sundry helpful hints & tips.

You can find the page here: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/support/

Go on – drop us a line!

Journal TOCs the easy way

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At the end of March 2012 we said a fond farewell to the journals’ table of contents service, TICTOCs. Training in how to use TICTOCS had become a regular feature of the Library’s workshop for PGRs on ‘Keeping alert to new information’, with many appreciative users, and so we glad that the service has been replaced by JournalTOCs. The benefit of the service is that you can add the RSS feed of your favourite journal to a newsfeedImage of journals reader service, such as ‘Google Reader’, and it will keep updating with details of the latest issue without you having to do thing!  You just go and look at it, when you have time, and find out about all the latest articles.

If you would like to know more about JournalTOCs, then why not visit its website or if you are a PGR student come along to the next ‘Keeping alert to new information session’ on 17th May.  If you are not a PGR student but would like advice about how to keep up-to-date with developments in your research field, why not arrange to meet with your Academic Librarian for some one-to-one advice?

 

Shakespeare, Globe to Globe

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William Shakespeare would have celebrated his 448th birthday on Monday, and doubtless he’d be pleased to know that his work continues to live on into the next millenium. And to further mark this fact, the Royal Shakespeare Company this week launched a new festival celebrating the Bard’s works.

The World Shakespeare Festival is a collaboration between the RSC and over 50 over companies joining together around the world to put together almost 70 productions and a multitude of other special events and exhibitions, including Globe to Globe, a nation-wide touring production during which all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays will be performed in 37 different languages!

But you don’t have to go too far to sample the Bard’s work – the Library has a vast amount of literature by and about Shakespeare, both on our shelves and electronically. Databases such as Literature Online (LION), the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC), the Theatre Archives Project and the Theatre Information Group in particular afford a wealth of information.

To find out more about the festival, visit their website here.

William Shakespeare portrait copyright Books18, reproduced under CC License from Flickr.

World Book Night a success!

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World Book Night has been celebrated with great success here in the Library! A total of 150 people entered the draw during a two-hour period for a free copy of one of four fantastic novels being given away this year.  A big ”thank you” to everyone who visited the stand to take a look at the books, enter the draw and enjoy some home-baked cakes and biscuits. The draw has since taken place and the lucky winners notified by email.

If you weren’t one of the lucky ones, why not take a look at our expanding leisure reading stock to see if anything takes your fancy? You can check out our collection via the recreational reading tags in Library Catalogue Plus.

Forthcoming English Language Support Service Workshops

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The English Language Support Service has two workshops upcoming in the next couple of weeks for those looking to improve their grammar and writing skills:

Grammar and Punctuation for native English-speaking Students

Date: Wednesday 2nd May 2012

Time: 2pm – 4.30pm

Venue: Stewart Mason Building, SMB103

Booking: Via Learn at:

 http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=184763

This practical workshop is free and specifically aimed at native English-speaking students at Loughborough who wish to refresh their grammar and punctuation skills for academic writing purposes. Up to 20 participants can be accommodated for the workshop, so please register early.   By the end of this session, participants will be able to identify and avoid common grammatical and punctuation errors.

Coherent Writing

Date: Wednesday 9th May

Time: 1.30pm – 3.30pm

Venue: Stewart Mason Building, SMB104

Booking: Via Learn at:

 http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=185793

This workshop is aimed at home students who would like to improve their communication in writing. By the end of the session, participants will be better able to logically organise their writing, write coherent paragraphs and link their main points effectively.  This workshop is a useful follow up to the ‘Grammar and Punctuation’ workshop above.

From pulp to pulpit

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CC licenced image from Flickr

Following the earthquake in Christchurch 14 months ago, the landmark cathedral suffered irreparable damage. A temporary replacement cathedral, partly made of cardboard tubes, will be constructed until something more permanent is sorted out. Needless to say the cardboard will be treated to make it weather-proof and fire-reistant. Even so, it is likely that the ‘temporary’ cathedral could be in place for up to 20 years!

This will not be the first building to be constructed from cardboard. One school in the UK has a classroom made from recycled cardboard. Indeed the story of the school in Wescliff-on-Sea is an inspiring one.

To find out more about cardboard construction why not search the Proquest collection of resources. Use the A-Z list within the Select databases feature of Library Catalogue Plus to jump to Proquest.

Its official! Librarians make a significant contribution to R&D

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A piece of research done by the publishing giant, Elsevier, has shown that “among researchers who work with librarians, 90% believe librarians make significant contributions to their R&D efforts.”  The sorts of activities they value include:

  • Locating specialized information researchers have difficulty finding 59%
  • Organising a firm’s internal documents for use by researchers 53%
  • Connecting researchers with the correct/most applicable resources 45%
  • Suggesting print resources not available electronically 42%
  • Saving significant search time for researchers, making them more productive 42%

Read the full report for yourself and talk to your Academic Librarian today about how they can make a significant contribution to your research!

The Top Five Institutional Repository Downloads For March

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The run up to Easter was a busy time for our Institutional Repository. Here’s a run-down of the top five most downloaded items for March:

1.  Effect of preharvest UV-treatment on shelf life of fruits and vegetables by Matthew A. Obande. (holding steady at no.1 with 340 downloads)

2. The effects of open access mandates on institutional repositories in the UK and Germany by Sabine Puskas (151 downloads, up two places from last month!)

3. Feasibility of zero carbon homes in England by 2016: a house builder’s perspective by Mohamed Osmani and Alistair O’Reilly (125 downloads, down one place from no.2 last month)

4. Protectionism to liberalisation : Ireland and the EEC, 1957 to 1966 by Maurice Fitzgerald (109 downloads) 

5. Silica fume concrete in hot and temperate environments by A.S.S. Al-Eesa (98 downloads)

Our repository increases the visibility of Loughborough’s research and the materials within it are centrally stored and preserved. The material in the collection includes journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and theses. To find out more about it, and how you can submit your research, visit the IR homepage here.