The Library will be open as normal as things stand on Friday 15th September (9am-5.30pm). Thank you to our users for their understanding about a situation that was out of our hands yesterday.
Category Archives: News
Very Satisfactory!
The results from this year’s National Student Survey have just been announced, and not only has the University as a whole scored very highly, but the Library itself has increased its score!
Information about the Library is surveyed under questions related to Learning Resources which includes questions about the Library and its resources & facilities (question 16), general campus IT resource & facility access (question 17) and specialist software & resources (question 18). This year the University score for this section has increased by 4 points to 92% – well above the national average of 85%.
On its own, the Library scored a whopping 93% for question 16 – which we’re all incredibly pleased with, as you can imagine! We take this as a sure indication that the University’s investment in our refurbishment last summer has indeed paid off (with interest!), and that all the hard work put into the building and improving our facilities and services has struck the right chord for all our users over the last 12 months, particularly with the finalists filling in the NSS. With the start of term and a new academic year only just over a month away, we’re all looking forward to working with you all towards further success in the year ahead. Bring it on!
Bring Your Own Device to the Library Survey
In 2013, the Library and IT Services at Loughborough University undertook a small scale investigation into the impact of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and students.
In recent years an increasing number of people coming into the Library building were equipped with their own laptops or tablets or smart phones (or a combination of them all). At the same time it is becoming increasingly easy to access content via these hand held devices.
A short survey was completed by 129 Library users in February 2013 focusing on students and BYOD. Various similarities and differences were identified in how students were using laptops, tablets and smart phones. Other questions about using ICT also generated some valuable data. The ultimate purpose of this study was to inform the Library’s 2013 refurbishment.
The results of this survey are now available to read as a PDF file from the following link:
Mo-Friday!
Calling all 
Mo Bros and Mo Sisters!
Come and help us celebrate Movember in the Library this Friday! Don’t worry about not having your own Mo, the Library has a selection – as modelled by our staff – so anyone can come and join in. The best Movember mug shots will be posted on our Facebook site and shared with the Movember website.
Share 5 minutes of your time to give us feedback on the transformed Library and you can have a snazzy mug to take away with you. We will also be holding a Movember collection if you have any spare pennies for the cause.
Movember is a registered charity whose vision is “to have an everlasting impact on men’s health”, especially in the areas of prostate and testicular cancer. It has been running since 2007 and has gained momentum ever since – with sponsorship from shaving products and brown sauce suppliers as well as celebrity endorsements.
Celebrating Open Access Week – Taylor & Francis APC giveaway
To celebrate Open Access Week (21st-27th October) Taylor & Francis are currently waiving APCs (Article Processing Charges) for authors submitting papers for publication in the following Open Access journals:
Coevolution
Complex Metals
Development Studies Research
Economics and Finance Research
Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews
Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
International Journal of Smart and Nano Materials
Journal of Organic Semiconductors
Nanoscience Methods
Production and Manufacturing Research
Systems Science & Control Engineering
Urban, Planning and Transport Research
Papers submitted to these journals from 21st October until 20th November will be able to publish on an Open Access basis free of charge. For further details of this offer please click on this link.
For more information on Open Access please visit the Library web pages at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/research/openaccess/
International Open Access Week – Going for Gold!
This week is International Open Access Week! If you’re planning on publishing a journal paper soon, the Library has brokered some fantastic Open Access deals that you can get your hands on.
As you’ve no doubt heard, the outputs from all RCUK-funded research now needs to be available on Open Access. If you choose to publish your paper in a journal offering an Open Access option (called ‘Gold Open Access’), there is usually a fee involved (called an ‘Article Processing Charge (APC)’). However, the Library has signed up to some deals with certain publishers, including Elsevier, Sage, and Wiley that could make publishing your journal paper that much cheaper. This can vary from being completely free, to a 15% discount on the APC.
For further details visit the Library’s Open Access Discounts web page. You’ll need to sign in with your University username and password.
And for further information of events during Open Access Week, click on this link, or for any other information about Open Access, contact your Academic Librarian or one of the Institutional Repository Managers.
Scores on the doors – how have we performed against our KPI targets this year?
The second full year of measuring our KPI performance pledges to you have just been released. So how did we do? The good news is that we actually did better than last year, so improvements have obviously been made. In fact, there is only one KPI we didn’t fully meet – we were closed for 10 hours in the first week of the academic year in September while we arranged a new contract with our late night security company.
If you would like to see a full summary of our targets and performance levels, they are available on our website. Please feel free to give us some feedback – it would be great to hear from you.
Points of view – a summary of suggestions and replies
As usual, our users have had the opportunity to leave feedback and suggestions in one of our special boxes over the last 12 months.
All users get a reply from a relevant member of Library staff within one working day of submitting their suggestion card. We have also compiled a summary of all the comments and replies on our suggestions and feedback webpage.
We welcome all comments/feedback from our users as they help us develop our services.
Library on Tour over summer
Between the 20th June and the 29th September, Library services will be delivered in a different way over the summer. This is because the Library building is temporarily closed for a major refurbishment over this period.
- Library enquiry service and book pickup: In the FM (Facilities Building) there will be a staffed Enquiry Desk where staff and students can request and pick up books that will be collected for them from the Pilkington Library. The Library services will be provided here 9.00 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday.
- Library computer access: on Level 1 of Stewart Mason Building there will be access to nearly 80 pcs in Rooms 1.08 and 1.09 (available 24/7 with swipe card access). There will be additional small seminar rooms with comfy seating in the corridor. In S Building, there will be access to over 40 pcs.
- Study spaces: the Library will be providing 148 study spaces in the Keith Green Building.
There will be lots of improvements when the Library building re-opens on the 30th September including more study spaces, more pcs and more group study rooms.
You can contact us by calling into the Library in FM Building or by phone (01509 22 2360) or by e-mail (library@lboro.ac.uk). Go to the Library web site for more information.
Making it easy to use the Library via your mobile phone
The Library has recently developed a webapp to support access to a range of our services from your mobile phone. Services provided via the webapp currently include opening hours, your borrowing details and others. It has been designed and developed by the Library and is intended that further development will take place over the coming months to incorporate new features into the webapp.
Please note you will need to enter your standard University username and password to access the webapp when you access it. If you have any comments or suggestions about the Library webapp please use the “Leave feedback” option or email <bookworm@lboro.ac.uk>.
Picture available from Calotype46 @ Creative Commons