All across campus tomorrow the University will be hosting Lumps and Bumps, a 12-hour collaborative event hosted by Loughborough University and Loughborough Students’ Union which aims to equip attendees with the knowledge and confidence required to check themselves.
Each session will showcase a range of techniques that can be used to detect these life-threatening diseases, as well as raising the profile of the vital work carried out by our charity partners – CoppaFeel! and Ballboys.
The event is open to all regardless of any prior training that you may have received. We strongly believe that refreshing your memory of what to look out for is just as important as learning the techniques and signs in the first place.
There is no restriction on who can attend the sessions and we welcome attendees to learn how to check both breasts and testicles if they wish to.
The sessions themselves are simple and take around 30 minutes. The format will be a mixture of presentation-led content with an opportunity to then practice technique on specialist training mannequins.
Training locations
Room 1 – Union on the hour (starting 8am)
Hazlerigg – council chamber on half hour (Starting 8:30am)
New victory hall – half hour
Roaming Pod- on the hour
Roaming Pod Route
On the hour on each of the locations:
Towers dining hall, Design school – 8am-11am
Student village – 11am-2pm
Fusion – 2pm – 5pm
Holt – 5pm onwards
The Library will also be hosting sessions on the hour in Seminar Room 1.
With exams looming on the horizon, the Easter holidays are a good time to take breath and take stock before the Summer Term starts. It’s also a good opportunity to catch up with your reading – so why not stock up for the holidays safe in the knowledge that you won’t have to return or renew them until the start of term.
Our extended Easter vacation loan period begins next Monday, 18th March. All books borrowed from the Library or renewed after this date will be issued until the following dates for the following users:
Undergraduate Long Loan and Week Loan books will be due for return on the 1st May.
Undergraduate Finalist & Postgraduate Long Loan and Week Loan books will be due for return on the 3rd May.
Staff and Researcher Week Loan books will be issued until the 3rd May.
External & Alumni loans will continue on a 4-week rolling basis.
You’ll be pleased to hear that we do not recall books over the Easter Vacation. The last Recall notices will be sent out on Monday 18th March and recalls will restart on 29th April.
However, please be aware that any books issued from the Hold shelf that still have outstanding requests on them, will still only issue for One Week, so take care to check your receipt when borrowing.
Finding the right sources of information for any subject can be tricky, given the vast amount of resources there are available to you via our vast range on online resources. This is especially true of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (or STEM) disciplines. With that in mind, our Academic Librarians have created a set of online guides tailored to these subject areas.
You can find the complete A-Z list of all the guides by following this link:
Each link gives you a concise run-down of everything you need to know about finding information for your subject, including the contact details for the Academic Librarian responsible for the School/Department concerned.
Be sure to visit and bookmark the links for future reference – you’ll certainly find them useful!
This week is British Science Week, and to mark the occasion the Women’s Engineering Society at Loughborough University have launched a poster campaign across campus utilising images and information courtesy of our very own archives.
A Pioneering Woman of Loughborough showcases the life and work of two remarkable Alumni who both graduated from the then Loughborough Engineering College in 1922 – Verena Holmes and Claudia Parsons.
Verena Holmes became the first woman to be elected to the prestigious Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1924, and was President of the Women’s Engineering Society in 1931.
Along with Verena Holmes and Dorothea Travers, Claudia Parsons was one of the first women to be admitted to the Loughborough Engineering College, and went on to become the first woman as well to circumnavigate the world in 1938.
In her honour, the University launched a series of Memorial Lectures aimed at raising the profile of women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, given by such luminaries as Maggie Aderin Pocock, Kate Bellingham,Helen Czers and Jessica Wade, who delivered last year’s lecture.
The University further honoured Claudia by naming its newest Hall of Residence (to be opened this September) after her.
The photographs and accompanying information detailed for the campaign were provided by the University Archivist Jenny Clark, who is based here in the Library.
Would you know what to say to a friend or colleague if you suspected they were struggling with their mental health, and possibly having thoughts about suicide?
Today (Thursday 7th March) is University Mental Health Day, and Loughborough University is using its voice to ‘start a conversation’.
During transitions and periods of emotional distress, such as leaving home for the first time and arriving at university, some students can feel alone, isolated and at times have thoughts about death.
There are many support services available at Loughborough University and sometimes a friend, academic or warden will see signs that a student is having difficulties.
However, there are also things which staff and students can do to make people feel less alone and more confident to share difficult feelings.
This year the University is asking the Loughborough Family to pledge to start a conversation.
Specifically, we are asking you to pledge to:
Start a conversation if you feel overburdened or worried
Start a conversation with a friend, family member or colleague if you are worried about them
Start a conversation and ask for help if you need it
Keep an eye out for warning signs in others
The University’s Mental Health Team will be out and about on campus today with plaques featuring each of the messages above.
They are asking students to consider making one of these pledges, and if they feel confident enough, to share photos of themselves with the plaques on social media, using the hashtags #startaconversation and #lborofamily.
Below are some tips of what to do if you are concerned about someone:
Things to look out for – whether it is a friend, supervisee or colleague, know the signs to look out for. These include changes in behaviour, a loss of interest in activities or talking about hopelessness or feeling alone.
Offer help – There’s no better way to show that you’re a kind, approachable person than to be helpful. If you find yourself in a situation where you can lend a hand, do it. For example: “It looks like you are having a difficult time, do you need any support?”
Show empathy – Empathy is the skill of being with someone and showing that you understand their perspective. For example, as an academic you may have experienced the pressure or anxiety linked to research, so by talking to and showing your understanding to a colleague or student it can really help them.
Be authentic – Showing that you genuinely care and are worried about an individual’s wellbeing is the first step in an interaction. E.g. “I’ve noticed you’ve not been around a lot lately and I’m worried about you, is there anything I can do to help?”
Know where to go next – Having an understanding of both the University and wider community support services that can help students who are experiencing mental ill health or emotional distress is a good place to start.
The Library also has its own range of Mood-Boosting and ‘Books on Prescription’ self-help works among our Leisure Reading collection upstairs on Level 4.
The local community can offer support through the NHS’s Let’s Talk Wellbeing service, as well as Harmless – which supports people bereaved by suicide – and Turning Point, which offers a 24-hour crisis helpline.
Tomorrow morning (Friday 8th March) contractors will be in the Library to do some data cabling work in the foyer and other areas of Level 3. They are hoping to get the majority of the ceiling work done before the Library opens at 8.30 but other works will continue throughout the morning. The works are to sort out some issues which have arisen with the network.
Facilities Management and IT Services have apologised for
any inconvenience this may cause.
At the Library we pride ourselves on our openness to feedback, comments, and, when necessary, criticism. And thanks to you, we’ve made a number of changes to the ways we can help you get the best out of your studies.
We’d like your help to help us help you again! We’re running a Library Focus Group on Wednesday 13th March at 12.15pm in Library Seminar Room 1 to get your feedback about how we’re doing. We’re open to discussion on any subject related to the Library – our resources, study spaces, skills support, anything you like.
By way of an added incentive, we’re throwing in a free lunch as well!
If you are interested in attending, please email library@lboro.ac.uk to register.
We look forward to seeing you – and hearing your ideas.
