New Resource – Statista

Coins by William Warby, reproduced under CC License from Flickr

Our London branch has recently opened up Statista, one of the world’s leading statistics, market research and business data portals to our users.

Consisting of over 1,500,000 statistics on over 80,000 topics from more than 18,000 sources, Statista provides business statistics and industry reports on consumer goods, trade and retail, media and advertising , sport and recreation, technology and telecommunications, transport and tourism.

Industry reports are available covering market trends, international brands, sales figures, companies and countries, with useful infographic on popular topics.

Access Statista direct on campus via https://www.statista.com/, or off campus via the Loughborough University Cisco AnyConnect VPN at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/it/student/vpn/vpn/

Changes to Electronic Resource Password Authentication

The University has set up a project group to investigate and implement the decommissioning of Athens authentication for accessing our resources and instead use a Single Sign-on system. This process already has begun with the resources among our Gale subscription being one of our first publishers to make the switch.

For Gale resources there should be no difference when accessing a Gale resource on campus but when accessing it from off campus, users not using the VPN will now be taken to the University sign on page (like the image at the top of this post)  rather than the Athens one. Once users have logged in they should be able to access the resource in the same way they can from on campus.

This week we have begun changing to this system for Proquest resources, including a number of databases and all of our Ebook Central ebooks. This means when users access a Proquest ebook they will no longer have to enter their Athens username and password but will instead be using their University details.

Over the next few months it is anticipated that all of our electronic resources’ suppliers will be switched over to single-sign on and Athens will be decommissioned. This will have the obvious advantage that users will no longer have to remember a separate password for off-campus or ebook access. There is no intention to switch off the Cisco AnyConnect VPN which will continue to work in the same way it does now (i.e. it allocates a campus IP address to the user utilising the VPN).

We will issue further updates as the project progresses. If you have any queries, or experience any issues with logging in to any resources during the changeover, please contact us for help and advice – Library@lboro.ac.uk

Database Trial – North China Herald Online

This month’s database trial from Brill’s Primary Source Collection takes a trip east as we explore the archives of a venerable Chinese newspaper.

The North China Herald is the prime printed source for the history of the foreign presence in China from around 1850 to 1940s. No other newspaper existed over such an extended period, and covers it in such incredible depth and variety. The fully text-searchable North China Herald Online will be one of the primary resources on a period which continues to shape much of China’s world and worldview.

To begin searching, visit this link:

 http://primarysources.brillonline.com/browse/north-china-herald-online 

Access is via IP address and the trial runs to 18th August 2018.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corns.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Socialism on Film now available!

We invite you to take a peek behind the Iron Curtain with our exciting new acquisition, Socialism On Film: The Cold War and international propaganda from Adam Matthew Digital.

A rare opportunity to look back at the communist world, this is an important and historic film resource. Much of the twentieth century is covered from the Russian Revolution to the 1980s and countries featured range from the USSR and China to Eastern Europe and Britain. This is a fantastic opportunity to explore socialism in context. Produced almost entirely in the communist world, this collection includes documentaries, newsreels and feature films revealing the world from the perspective of the filmmaker. Socialism is laid bare in this important primary source.

Access is via IP address. To begin searching go to: www.socialismonfilm.amdigital.co.uk

Roll Up, Roll Up! Dip into our Exciting New Resource!

We’re thrilled to bring you our new acquisition, Victorian Popular Culture from Adam Matthew Digital. This primary source archive is an important research resource for historians, social scientists and literary scholars, spanning the period from 1779 to 1930 and showcasing popular entertainment in Britain, America and Europe.

Explore a wealth of media history in the form of printed books, early film, posters, playbills, photographs, objects and ephemera as well as contextual essays and an interactive chronology. Collections include: Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments and the Advent of Cinema; Music Hall, Theatre and Popular Entertainment, Spiritualism, Sensation; Magic and Circuses, Sideshow and Freaks.

Access is via IP address. To begin searching go to:

www.victorianpopularculture.amdigital.co.uk

All IT Services Unavailable on Wednesday 11th July, 3pm to Midnight

The University is investing £1.3M on upgrading essential IT infrastructure, resulting in temporary downtime of all IT facilities across campus from 3pm on Wednesday 11th July. All University IT Systems will be unavailable during this upgrade, including telephones and printers.

The upgrade has an expected finish time of midnight, though services should also be considered as at risk the following day.

This upgrade will effect the Library considerably, as it will mean that there will be no IT access or provision at all once the work begins. As well as the printer and telephone networks across campus, the Library housekeeping system and Library Catalogue Plus will be unavailable as well.

In light of this, we have taken the decision to close the Library at 5.30pm on Wednesday July 11th instead of our usual later 8pm closing time. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

For further information, help and advice about the upgrade, please visit the IT Services website – http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/it/staff/status/ – or alternatively contact the IT Service Desk via IT.Services@lboro.ac.uk.

Database Trials – Adam Matthew Resources

This month the Library is trialing four databases from the Adam Matthew stable.

Gender: Identity and Social Change

Essential primary sources documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations from the nineteenth century to the present. This expansive collection offers sources for the study of women’s suffrage, the feminist movement, the men’s movement, employment, education, the body, the family, and government and politics.

To begin searching go to www.genderidentityandsocialchange.amdigital.co.uk – access is via IP address and the trial runs to 4th July 2018.

Literary Manuscripts Berg

The Berg Collection is recognised as one of the finest literary research collections in the world, and the Victorian holdings are the undisputed jewel in its crown.  A broad range of authors from across the nineteenth century make this an essential research tool for all scholars and students researching Victorian literature.  Most of these unique manuscripts are unavailable in any medium elsewhere. They are supplemented by some rare printed materials, including early editions annotated by the authors. Each author collection is included in its entirety, allowing users to browse and search the manuscripts as they would in the Berg Reading Room.

To begin searching go to www.literarymanuscriptsberg.amdigital.co.uk– access is via IP address and the trial runs to 27th June 2018.

London Low Life

London Low Life is a full-text searchable resource, containing colour digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 18th, 19th and early 20th century London. It is designed for both teaching and study, from undergraduate to research students and beyond.

In addition to the digital documents, London Low Life contains a wealth of secondary resources, including a chronology, interactive maps, essays, online galleries and links to other useful websites.

To begin searching go to www.londonlowlife.amdigital.co.uk – access is via IP address and the trial runs to 27th June 2018.

Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism

This resource presents a multi-national journey through well-known, little-known and far-flung destinations unlocked for the average traveller between 1850 and the 1980s. Guidebooks and brochures, periodicals, travel agency correspondence, photographs and personal travel journals provide unique insight into the expansion, accessibility and affordability of tourism for the masses and the evolution of some of the most successful travel agencies in the world.

To begin searching go to www.masstourism.amdigital.co.uk– access is via IP address and the trial runs to 27th June 2018.

Please note that PDF download options are not available from these databases during these trials.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn (s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk) with your comments.

Advanced Notice of BoB Service Downtime 11th -13th June

Television fans take note – the popular Box of Broadcasts (BoB) Service will be unavailable between 11th – 13th June 2018.

Owing to a necessary relocation of their servers, BoB will be switched off on the morning of 11th June 2018 and will be completely unavailable for 3 days. Forward scheduling on the EPG will be available up to 11th June and then will restart once the move is complete. Programmes broadcast during the down-period will be available retrospectively for most channels.

Database Trial – Archives of Sexuality & Gender

Our latest trial comes courtesy of the Gale Group, and will likely be of great interest to humanities, media and politics students.

With material drawn from hundreds of institutions and organizations, including both major international activist organizations and local, grassroots groups, the documents in the Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 present important aspects of LGBTQ life in the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. The archive illuminates the experiences not just of the LGBTQ community as a whole, but of individuals of different races, ethnicities, ages, religions, political orientations, and geographical locations that constitute this community. Historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals are featured, as well as publications by and for lesbians and gays, and extensive coverage of governmental responses to the AIDS crisis.

The archive also contains personal correspondence and interviews with numerous LGBTQ individuals, among others. The archive includes gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries, reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain from 1950 through 1980, and more.

To begin searching go to:

http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/loughuni?db=AHSI

Access is via IP address and the trial is available until 9th May 2018

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn ( s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk ) with your comments.

Database Trial – Oxford Art Online/Grove Art Online

Art students and art lovers alike will find our latest database trial of great interest, as we take a trip through the archives of Oxford Art Online’s Grove Art Online.

This trial provides access to the foremost scholarly art encyclopedia, covering both Western and non-Western art. First published as the landmark 34-volume Dictionary of Art, edited by Jane Turner, the content of Grove Art encompasses all aspects of visual culture.

To begin searching go to: www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart

No need to sign in as access is via IP address.The trial is available until 21st March 2018

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn – s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk – with your comments.