Category Archives: Resources

World Space Week 2018

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Boldly going where no one has gone before, it’s World Space Week, the annual celebration of mankind’s exploration of outer space.

Each year, the World Space Week Association (WSWA) selects a theme for the upcoming World Space Week (WSW) to provide a focus of the activities and events that take a place throughout the world, during 4th-10th October . The 2018 theme is Space Unites the World, which celebrates the role of space in bringing the world closer together.  The theme is inspired by UNISPACE+50, an historic gathering of world space leaders which will occur in 2018. UNISPACE+50 will promote cooperation between spacefaring and emerging space nations and help space exploration activities become open and inclusive on a global scale.

Launched specifically on 4th October by the UN General Assembly to mark the successful launch of Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, in 1957, and the signing of the ‘Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies’ on October 10th 1967, World Space Week has been held every year since 1999, and seeks primarily to educate people about the positives of space exploration and encourage better public understanding and support for space programmes.

We have many and various astronomical and astronautic resources in the Library, including access to the  National Geophysical Data Centre database, which provides the latest satellite geophysical data from the Sun to the Earth and Earth’s sea floor and solid earth environment, including Earth observations from space, and the NASA Scientific & Technical Information database, which includes up-to-date information about NASA’s space projects. We also hold a good selection of books about space & space exploration in general.

To find out more about World Space Week, visit their website here:

http://www.worldspaceweek.org/

PC Clinic and Software Downloads Module page on LEARN

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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 – Global Digimap

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We’ve recently added a new resource to the Digimap stable, our popular geographic database.

Global Digimap provides access to global datasets in cartographic styles and downloadable formats that are useful to you. The service provides the following:

  • An easy to use interface to allow you to browse, annotate and print global maps.
  • A data download facility to providing access to global datasets for use in GIS software.

Please note that as this is a new service and still in development it is subject to change and may be unavailable while Digimap works on it.

Visit https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/global to find out more.

While You’ve Been Away… Changes in the Library Over the Summer

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A warm welcome back to all of our returning students! As usual we haven’t been resting on our laurels during the long summer break, and we’ve made a few changes since June…

Single Sign On. Over the summer we’ve begun work on streamlining access to our electronic resources by moving away from Athens authentication to a single sign on process using the University username & password. The project is ongoing and so you need to be aware that there are:

  • Some resources which have moved from Athens log in to Single sign on
  • Some resources are in progress
  • Some resources are still Athens authenticated.
  • You can keep up to date on developments through our news link here.

Self Collection of Hold Requests. We have started storing hold requests on the shelves in the High Demand section on Level 3 so that users can collect them and issue them without having to ask for them at the main desk. This only applies to our stock – Inter Library Loans will still be stored in the office behind the desk.

It’s very easy to use – books can be found in alphabetical order on the shelves filed under the first three letters of the user’s surname and the last three numbers of their ID. For example, our own Matt Cunningham would be CUN331. Where a user only has two letters in their surname, just use those two letters followed by the last 3 digits of their ID number.

New Decor. All the old workstation desks on Levels 1 & 2 have been replaced with new ones. We’ve added plasma screens displaying booking details outside of every Group Study Room in the Library, and the Help Desk on Level 4 has been removed to expand the study area.

Wifi Upgrade. IT Services completed their upgrade of the Wifi coverage throughout the building, so hopefully you won’t encounter any more dead spots!

Oh yes – and as you can see from the picture above, we had the Red Arrows fly over for the Graduation Ceremony. As the old police recruitment poster used to say – “Dull it isn’t!”

Welcome to the Library

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So, you’ve made it to Loughborough – congratulations! At the University Library we take great pride in how we support all our new users – if you ever have a question about how we can support you, ask one of our friendly staff.

As a new student you are automatically enrolled as a member of the Library. your student ID card is also your Library card. Don’t lose it as you need to swipe in through the barriers to enter the Library and to use our self-service machines to borrow your books.

Getting the most of out of your Library

Academic Librarians will be out in the schools during induction week – look out for the Library session in your timetable. You don’t have to wait for the session to use us though – feel free to pop in when you arrive and have a look round, or just come along to one of the quick library tours & induction sessions we’re running over the first week of term.

We’ve also set up a dedicated web page for new starters full of handy tips about how to use the library and get the best out of us. Check it out here – http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/students/about/welcome/

Get the Know How Library workshops

During the autumn term Library staff will be running workshops offering helpful guidance on a wide variety of academic practices including essay writing, note taking, time management and presentation skills. You can find more information about these workshops on our webpages.

Using the Library

Enquiry Desks

The Library offers an Enquiry Desk Service across all levels of the Library during standard office hours (Monday – Friday 9AM to 5:30PM).  User Services staff will be able to help you with most of your enquiries and if necessary will refer you to a colleague with more specialist knowledge.

The Enquiry Desks are staffed by a smaller team of Library staff until 10pm on weekdays, and throughout opening hours on Saturday and Sunday. The staff will be able to help you with most of your enquiries but may need to refer you to a daytime member of staff for detailed assistance.

Finding Information

For specialised help in finding information in your subject area, each School has its own Academic Librarian to offer support and guidance.

Academic librarians are available to assist all University staff and students to find and use information resources effectively, develop library collections to meet your needs and to be your contact point for any information related enquiry.  They have all developed expertise in the subject areas of their Schools and are very happy to help.

Study Spaces

The Library has a range of different study spaces, from silent and quiet spaces to group and social areas. There are also a number of spaces that you can book online including grpup study rooms, bookable booths on Level 4 and individual study carrels on Levels 1 & 2 . Ask at the Enquiry Desk to be shown how to book these rooms yourself.

IT Facilities

There are 250 PCs (excluding those dedicated to accessing Library Catalogue Plus) available in the Library with the majority of these located on Levels 3 & 4. The Library also has a wireless network throughout the building, enabling users to connect to the University’s network from their laptops.

The Library provides basic A4/A3 monochrome and colour printing/copying facilities. Before being able to print or copy you will need to purchase printer credits. You can pay for this at the main Enquiry Desk on Level 3 of the Library.

PC Clinic

The Student PC Clinic is now situated on Level 3 of the Library and is available to help with any IT queries you may have. It is staffed during standard office hours through until 6PM (Monday – Friday) and is open 12pm-2pm at weekends.

Library Café & Shop

We have a café situated on Level 3 which is one of the most popular on campus, not least of all because of their amazing breakfast cobs – as Library staff will testify! We also have a small shop situated near the entrance which sells a variety of snacks, stationary and basic essentials.

Leisure Reading

Here at the Library we’re championing leisure reading! Why? Well, not only is reading for pleasure a great mood enhancer, it’s also strongly linked to academic achievement. So, if you want to give your grades a boost, why not come and browse our dedicated Leisure Reading Collection? The Collection comprises a broad range of genres including contemporary fiction, graphic novel, biography, memoir, crime, fantasy, horror and science fiction – something to suit all tastes!

… And of course, look out for our favorite feline, Charlie the Cat. Your Loughborough experience isn’t truly complete until you’ve had a selfie with him!

Changes to Accessing Online Resources

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The Library is currently working with IT Services to remove Athens authentication for accessing online resources and moving to Single Sign-On using your University username and password. This means that when you access resources that previously required your Athens username and password, you will be taken to a University sign on page and prompted to enter your University username and password.

Some resources have already switched including Box of Broadcasts and ProQuest resources. Over the course of the next few months we will be continuing to switch other online resources to Single Sign-On. In most cases you should notice no difference when accessing resources on campus. While we are in a transition phase, we recommend that you use the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client to access resources off campus.

We will update the list of resources that are changing on this post as they make the switch. If you have any queries or experience any issues with logging in to resources during the changeover please contact us at library@lboro.ac.uk

The following resources have made the transition:

Emerald Insight Resources Access Changes

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We have now moved our access to the Emerald Insight database to Single Sign On from Athens authentication, and are in the process of updating all catalogue links and Subject Guides.

However, there is an off-campus access issue with journals linked from the catalogue to Emerald. Until it is resolved, to access these off campus you need to follow these steps:

  • Log into the VPN or Emerald first.
  • Select Institutional Log in, then UK Federated, then Loughborough University.

If you experience any further issues or problems, please let us know.

Box of Broadcasts Moved to Single Sign-On Access

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As part of our ongoing project to move all of our resources to a Single Sign-On system from Athens authentication we have just completed transferring Box of Broadcasts (BoB) across to this new system, and we encourage users to take the following steps to ensure their access is uninterrupted.

  • Clear any cookies on your PC.
  • Either from the Library Catalogue, or from any other link, please update your BoB bookmark to: https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp.lboro.ac.uk%2Fsimplesaml%2Fsaml2%2Fidp%2Fmetadata.php&target=https%3A%2F%2Flearningonscreen.ac.uk%2Fondemand . This should enable you to link direct from on-campus without the need for any login and from off-campus would direct you to the blue Loughborough University login screen.
  • The first time you use this route you should be asked to re-register and then there should be a pop-up giving you the option to import playlists and so forth. This can be a bit slow in appearing, though some users may find that their playlists automatically migrate across.
  • Once you have re-registered and imported your lists subsequent access will be much simpler and quicker.
  • If you are using BoB for teaching purposes please re-register ASAP so that we can address any problems with playlists etc. before teaching commences.

New Resource – Statista

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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

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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