On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me… Apps!

Over the last two weeks of term we’ve been running our very own Twelve Days of Christmas countdown in a 21st century style by highlighting some of the great free apps that you can download onto your phone or tablet.

Ranging from the academic to the irreverent, the helpful to the funny, we hope there’s something to tickle your Christmas fancy. The complete rundown is on our Twitter and Instagram feeds (if you’re not following us already, please do, we’d love to hear from you!) and can also be viewed complete in PDF form via this link: 12 Apps of Christmas.

From all of us to all of you going home for the vacation this weekend, we wish you safe journeys and hope you have a very Merry Christmas, and look forward to seeing you all in 2019. Cheers!

PC Clinic and Software Downloads Module page on LEARN

Want to keep track of the latest IT developments across campus, as well as news about software and hardware upgrades? Self-Enrol onto the PC Clinic and Software Downloads Module page on LEARN.

The PC Clinic page features essential information while highlighting the key IT services available to students such as printing and computer lab availability. Including tutorials for Printing and connecting devices to the Wi-FI.

The Software Downloads page features download links to a range of different software with FREE access to Microsoft Office 2016 also, including specialist software such as MatLab and SPSS.

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/

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.

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

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.

Learn Smart with Lynda, Digital Tools and Apps

Have you met Lynda yet? Why not acquaint yourself at our introductory session next week.

Lynda.com is a learning platform which has over 5000 video tutorials used to develop creative, software, technology and business skills for learning and teaching. Available to all students and staff, Loughborough University has purchased a subscription from Lynda.com to enhance your digital skills and personal development. Normally costing £250 for an individual annual subscription, you can use Lynda.com for free right now.

This session will introduce you to a range of web tools and apps which will help you with your studies.

  • Learn about the free online video tutorials available from Lynda.com
  • Discover a variety of apps which will help with all sorts of tasks from communicating and collaborating to problem solving and analysis

The session will be taking place next Friday, 27th April, in Library Seminar Room 1, between 12-1pm. To book your place, log in to Learn module LBA001.

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.