Author Archives: Sharon Reid

More free EU information!

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The EU stand on Level 2 (next to the Information Desk) has just been restocked. Pop downstairs to pick up your free brochures and guides on:

– Travelling in Europe 2011-12

– Europe and you: a snapshot of EU achievements

– Combating climate change

– The European Union budget at a glance

– Finding a job in Europe: a guide for jobseekers

– Speaking for Europe: languages in the European Union

Please take whatever you need.

More guides coming soon!

The Library houses a European Documentation Centre (EDC) –  an extensive collection of publications and documents of the European Union. Click here for more information and who to contact for further details.

Domesday Reloaded

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Medieval Miracles, from the National Archives UK, catalogue reference 36/284

Interested in social and local history?  A unique snapshop of the UK in the mid-1980s is now available online for the first time.

The Domesday Project was a BBC initiative designed to capture everyday life across the UK using first-hand contributions from the general public. People were asked to write about everyday life and what they thought might still be of interest in a thousand years time! A million people took part, resulting in a fascinating archive of words and images.

Although made available for viewing at the time using the latest Laser-Disc technology, this rapidly became obsolete and the archive has been invisible for many years. Via Domesday Reloaded these personal memories and photos have been resurrected and made available for everyone to enjoy. To bring the project up-to-date and enable comparisons to be drawn, the public is being encouraged to re-photograph images and update text entries.

Overview  of the project: Story of Domesday

The Domesday project (1988?) [Video cassette]. London : British Broadcasting Corporation: 308.142/BRI

For a range of electronic social and historical resources see also the Social Sciences, Newspapers and History categories in MetaLib

Join the (book) club!

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By brewbooks, taken from Flickr, used under cc licence

Calling all students and staff – in fact, anyone who loves to natter about books!

The University’s thriving book club, run jointly by the Library and the arts programme Radar, is always keen to welcome new members.  We meet for an hour at 12.30pm, with sandwiches and a drink provided, on Tuesdays every 6 weeks or so in the Music Rooms. Why not come along to our  next meeting and meet us all?

The next two books we’ll be discussing are:

Tuesday 7th June: Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee – winner of the 1999 Man Booker prize

Tuesday 19th July: When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant – winner of the 2000 Orange Prize for Fiction

Take a look at the reviews for these books on the excellent GoodReads website: Disgrace ; When I Lived in Modern Times

If you’d like more information about the club, please contact:

Sharon Reid, Academic Librarian: S.D.Reid@lboro.ac.uk

Amelia Beavis-Harrison, Programme Assistant, Radar: A.Beavis-Harrison@lboro.ac.uk

Free EU leaflets now available!

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Anyone looking for free EU-related literature will be pleased to hear that leaflets and information sheets are now available from a designated area in the Library. Just pop down to the leaflet stand alongside the Information Desk on Level 2. A number of the slots have been stocked with leaflets and factsheets covering an array of EU topics including:

  • The European Union’s enlargement
  • The European Union’s budget
  • Road safety 2010: how is your country doing?
  • The European Disability Strategy 2010-20
  • Candidate and potential candidate countries

Just look out for the official EU emblem as displayed at the top of this post. Please feel free to take whatever you need.

Are you also aware that the Library houses a European Documentation Centre (EDC) –  an extensive collection of publications and documents of the European Union? Click here for more information and who to contact for further details.

Free books! Did YOU get a copy?

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Previously we announced a Library event to help celebrate World Book Night, the national initiative to encourage reading and the sharing of books. This event has now taken place and here’s the video to prove it! During the course of two hours nearly 100 people visited our display stand to enter a draw for a free copy of the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark.  These are now being distributed to the lucky people randomly selected after the event.

Don’t worry if you missed out this time, you can always borrow a copy of  The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie or a range of other Muriel Spark novels from the Library. Alternatively, you can choose from a huge number of  other novels covering the spectrum of English Literature. 

After the success of this year’s event, we’re hoping to take part in World Book Night again next year. So, keep your eyes peeled for more free books coming your way!

Click here to view the video.

Loughborough Students' Rag raising funds for Japan

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Recently, the Library was delighted to receive a collection of books donated by the Nippon Foundation in Tokyo. Since then Japan has had to face a national crisis following the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit the northeastern region of the country. The Library fully supports the Loughborough Students’ Rag initiative to raise funds to help the people of Japan at this time of great need. If you would like to make a financial donation please do so through the Just Giving web site:

http://www.justgiving.com/JapanTsunamiAppeal

Thank you

New collection on Japan now available!

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Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion in Kyoto Japan by mharrsch taken from Flickr and used under cc licence

The Library is delighted to make available a new collection of books on Japan and the Japanese. Nearly ninety books have been very kindly donated by the Nippon Foundation, Tokyo, as part of its Book Donation Scheme: 100 Books for Understanding Contemporary Japan.

The Nippon Foundation is keen to support study and research but also hopes to encourage understanding  between Japan and the UK. This is particularly timely in view of the University’s forthcoming role as host to the Japanese Olympic team in 2012 when interest in the Japanese nation and its culture is likely to increase significantly. The University also runs a number of modules relating directly to the study of Japan from a historical, political, business and cultural perspective and these books offer a valuable enhancement of our current holdings of Japan-related texts.

The collection includes books from all of the following fields: Politics, Government, International Relations, Economics, Business, Society, Culture, Literature, the Arts and History.

Simply type in “Nippon Foundation” into the Library Catalogue to view the full list of books in this exciting new  collection.

Creating an online assessment test: e-learning showcase, 12 January

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Last semester saw a collaborative initiative between English and Drama, the Library and E-Learning. As a result, a three-part, fully revamped online assessment test has been successfully incorporated into the First Year programme for undergraduates. The main aim of the test is to raise student awareness of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it, as well as ensuring familiarity with the Library’s resources and services. If you’d like to learn more about how this was achieved (warts and all!) come along to the E-learning showcase on Wednesday January 12th 11:00 to 3.30 in the James France building where a series of demonstrations and case study presentations will be taking place in CC011/CC029a.

The Big Bang cometh…!

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Copyright © Talke Photography - Creative Commons

Know any budding engineers, scientists or mathematicians aged 11-18? Would they like to showcase their work in a competitive arena? If so, point them in the direction of The Big Bang East Midlands Fair. This free, regional event takes place here at the University in the David Wallace Sports Hall on Wed. 7th July, 9.30am-3.30pm.   As well as all the judging and exhibiting there will be hands-on, interactive activities to enjoy. Winning entries from the regional fairs go forward to the the Big Bang: UK Young Scientists’ and Engineers’ Fair in March 2011.  Over £50000 in prizes to be won! Spread the word about this exciting event and do your bit to encourage the next generation of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)  specialists.  

 “The Fair aims to excite, educate, stimulate and enthuse young people about opportunities in STEM inspiring them to follow careers in this rewarding field. The Fair also hosts the finals of CREST and Young Engineer for Britain” [from website]

Click  here for full details and registration forms.

Spied SPIE yet?

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Although it makes for an interesting tongue-twister…..what we’re actually talking about is the Library’s subscription to the SPIE Digital Library. Without question this is THE resource for anyone looking for quality information on optics and photonics.

Areas covered by SPIE Digital’s Journals and Conference Proceedings include optical engineering, electronic imaging, biomedical optics, micro-nanolithography, applied remote sensing and nanophotonics.

Created in collaboration with the American Institute of Physics, SPIE Digital covers in excess of 230000 technical papers from 1990 onwards with more than 17000 new papers added each year.

On top of this, all articles on SPIE Digital are available in full-text, thus making it an extremely useful and popular resource for a range of engineering disciplines.

Take a look at SPIE Digital today. Don’t forget – full-text availability is via MetaLib.