Christmas Vacation 2015

If you’re away from Sheffield for the Christmas Vacation remember that the Library can offer support to students in various ways:

• The Information Skills Resource features helpful tutorials on literature searching, referencing, plagiarism and more

• If you have a question about the Library, take a look at Library Connect, a database of frequently asked questions

• If you’re having trouble accessing electronic resources check the eResources service status page

• For further help you can contact the Library HelpDesk in the following ways:

        Email: library@sheffield.ac.uk
        Phone: 0114 222 7200
       
      
(Please note that the HelpDesk will not be staffed during Christmas closure days: Friday 25 December to Sunday 3 January inclusive)

Merry Christmas!  

The Map Collection

Western Bank Library houses the library's map collection. The whole country is covered at a scale of 1:25,000 and 1:50,000. Larger scale maps are available for local areas (North Derbyshire, South Yorkshire) at a scale of 1:2,500 and 1:10,000. Sheffield is covered in greater detail; 1:500 and 1:1,250.  There is a wide range of historical maps (mainly 1850s onward) as well as geology maps for England, Scotland and Wales at a scale 1:50,000. The collection also includes:

• Aerial photos covering Sheffield and Rotherham for 1992
• A good range of atlases and gazetteers
• A small collection of foreign maps used for teaching and research.

Alongside the physical map collection the library also has a subscription to Digimap

For information on how to consult maps in Western Bank Library see our Subject guide: Maps in the Library and on the Internet

Literature Review Help

Creating your first literature review can be a complex process requiring a number of skills. It involves identifying, evaluating and synthesising previous research in your field of study. Structured around research ideas, its purpose is to set the research scene by highlighting the main arguments and identifying gaps or shortcomings which need to be addressed with further research.

For help with writing your literature review take a look at the Library’s online tutorial: Producing a literature review. This tutorial will guide you through the process of writing a literature review in 7 steps. It also suggests sources of further advice and provides recommended reading.

 

Renew your books for Christmas

As you know, we usually renew your books for you automatically. But over the Christmas holidays things are a bit different.

Renewals

• We will try to automatically renew your loans on 12 December, but just in case there's any problems, such as another student requesting your book, please remember to check your library account through StarPlus, and renew any items due for return before going home for the holiday period.

• Once the book has been renewed, you’ll be able to keep it over the vacation period, and as long as no-one else requests it, we will continue to renew it for you once term starts.

• However, if someone does make a request for a book that you have on loan, we won’t be able to renew it after the vacation and you will need to bring it back to us by 18 January.

  Requests

 

• If we don’t have a physical copy of the book you need, remember to check StarPlus to see if we have it as an e-book.
• If you have made any requests for books that you no longer need over Christmas, please remember to cancel them online.
• If you need any more information about borrowing items from the University library, please contact library@sheffield.ac.uk

 

For more information, take a look at the video on this web page

 

 

Data Playground - database of political attitudes and choices

The Data Playground enables you to analyse the political opinions of tens of thousands of British people surveyed between February 2014 and May 2015. The data, which has been made available by the British Election Study, can be accessed by anyone who has an interest in politics. It can be used to create graphs and charts without the need for statistical expertise or specialist software. Find out the British public’s attitudes to a range of political issues, such as public spending and immigration, and compare these attitudes to the demographic details of the people surveyed. Please credit the British Election Study when using any of the data.

Visit www.britishelectionstudy.com/data and try it yourself

More information about the Data Playground is available here

Trial electronic resources

The Library has arranged trial access to the following online resources. These services can be accessed by University of Sheffield staff and students for a limited time only:

The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2011

 

The Economist was established in 1843 to campaign for free trade and freedom of the individual. The complete archive (1843-2011) is available, with editorial, advertising and tabular matter all fully searchable.

Trial access is available from this web page (see Quick links on the right hand side of the page). The trial ends on 31 December 2015.

The Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2010

 

The complete searchable facsimile run of the daily business newspaper, from 1888 to 2010.

Trial access is available from this web page (see Quick links on the right hand side of the page). The trial ends on 31 December 2015.

The Japan Times Digital Archive, 1897-2014

Japan Times Digital Archive includes digital and searchable scans of all pages published in The Japan Times between 1897 and 2014. The Japan Times is the English language daily newspaper published in Japan.

Trial access is available from this web page (see Quick links on the right hand side of the page). The trial ends on 22 December 2015.

 

Feedback

We welcome your comments on these trial resources: online feedback form

You can also request a trial by using this online request form

For a full list of trial electronic resources, please see this web page

 

What's in the news?

Information Skills Workshop at The Diamond – Wednesday 9^th December, 10am – 11am

Newspapers cover a wide range of issues, such as political and social affairs, the arts, company and financial information. In this workshop you will have the opportunity to explore a range of news and newspaper databases to research current issues and historical events.

Book your place on this workshop (and other information skills workshops) here

Commercial Awareness Workshop

“So you’ll have read about us in the news recently”…the start of a fairly standard question in a job interview, but this is the kind of question which many interviewees slip up on, according to Robert Shrimsley from the Financial Times.  

To help you avoid this nightmare situation, we have a brand new information skills workshop at 2pm on Wednesday 2 December in The Diamond.

The workshop introduces Commercial Awareness, shows how to prove you have it, then focuses on tools and resources you can use to improve your skills and knowledge to gain an edge in the job market.

Staff from University of Sheffield Enterprise, The Careers Service and The Library deliver the session and will be on-hand to help.

You can book your place here

The Pop-Up Library is coming to Mappin Street!

Our Pop-Up Library will be in the Common Room at 9 Mappin Street (Economics & Journalism), on Thursday 3^rd December, 12–2pm.

We’ll be giving out festive chocolates and other freebies, and answering your questions about library resources and support for learning and research.

Look out for the Pop-Up Library coming to your department soon!

Announcements about future Pop-Up Library sessions will be made on this blog and the @SocSciLibrarian Twitter account. We’d love to hear your thoughts on when and where you would like to see the next one #popuplib

Find the Librarian for your department

The Library’s Social Sciences Liaison team is here to help you with any subject-related library enquiries, such as literature searching and using specialised databases. To find the Librarian for your department or subject please take a look at this web page: Find the Librarian for your subject

Liaison Librarians are happy to answer your enquiries via phone or email, or you can email to book a face-to-face appointment.

Millions more items now available at Boston Spa

The British Library has recently announced a huge increase in the number of items available for visitors to Boston Spa. In fact, 85% of the collection items requested in the London Reading Rooms are now also available to Readers in Yorkshire.

More details can be found in this blog post

British Library Boston Spa minibus

The Library runs a regular free minibus service to the British Library Document Supply Centre at Boston Spa to give staff and students of the University the opportunity to use the extensive collections housed there. Visits are scheduled for the first Tuesday of every month and the next trip is on the 1st of December.

The British Library requires pre-registration to use their libraries and material must be ordered in advance. More details can be found on the Library’s web page

If you would like any further information or wish to reserve a place on the bus, please telephone (0114) 222-25097 or call in at the Western Bank Library. Staff and students can also book online

Doctoral Open Days at the British Library

The British Library is hosting a series of open days that are aimed at first year PhD students. Each one will introduce you to the library and its services by focusing on one aspect of the collections. For example, one of the open days will look at the unique collections for social sciences, which are vast and include: books, journals, government and legal documents, reports, oral history interviews, magazines and broadcast news. Another open day will explore the library’s news and media collections. These events will also provide you with the opportunity to meet expert staff and other researchers.

Further information

• For the full list of open days and to book your place on one, please see this web page 
• Please remember that BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL
• Each open day costs £5.00
• Lunch and refreshments are provided
• To make the most of your day, you may wish to register for a free Reader Pass before the event

Trial access to Mintel Trends –feedback welcome

The Library has arranged trial access to Mintel Trends, an insights and intelligence platform that delivers strategic, evidence-backed information on how today’s consumer thinks, feels and acts. Built on Mintel’s data, it allows you to analyse the latest consumer trends such as changes in culture, society, brands and markets.

Access

Trial access is available to University of Sheffield staff and students until 10 January 2016. Mintel Trends can be accessed on and off campus via this webpage (see Quick links on the right hand side).  Click on the Trends tab at the top of the Mintel home page to view.

Feedback

We welcome your comments on this trial resource – please use this online form

To request a new trial please use this online form

Join Up Your Skills

A new venture run jointly by 301 Student Skills & Development Centre, the Careers Service, University of Sheffield Enterprise and the University Library launched this month. We can work with you to strengthen a variety of vital skills which boost your academic credentials and enhance your personal and professional development. Discover how to get more from your time at University: Join Up Your Skills

Reading lists

The Library provides an online reading list service, myResource Lists, with links to electronic resources such as journal articles, ebooks and websites in addition to items physically held in the library. You can search for your reading lists by module code, lecturer or department. For more information, please see our short introductory video on the myResource Lists homepage.

You can access myResource Lists (on and off campus) in the following ways:

• via the link in your MOLE course menu
• via the My services menu in MUSE
• From the Library web pages, under the A to Z link
• From the StarPlus homepage

What if I have any problems, or can’t find a myResource list for my course? Email: readlist@sheffield.ac.uk

Help for Academic Staff

Information Skills Advisory Service – drop-in at the IC!

Do you require information skills support?  Would you like to speak one-to-one with a Liaison Librarian? The Information Skills Advisory Service, located on Level 1 of the Information Commons, can answer your questions about literature searching, referencing and other information skills.  There is no need to book an appointment; University of Sheffield members can drop-in between 13:00 & 17:00, Monday to Friday (during term time). For more information about skills support, please see our web page: Information Skills

Company and business information

You may need to find company and business information for your coursework, or to help you with applying for jobs. Knowing more about the structure, history and business of a company before you write an application, or attend an interview, is likely to improve your commercial awareness and employability. Our subject guide for Company and business information provides links to databases and web sites, which you can use to obtain this type of information.

For the full list of Subject guides, please see this web page: Subject guides to resources in the Library and on the Internet

The Overseas Koreanology Librarian Workshop

Youn-Hi Hughes (Liaison Librarian for East Asian Studies) attended the Overseas Koreanology Librarian Workshop at the National Library of Korea, held from October 11^th-17^th. The event covered: the National Library of Korea, and its programmes to support Korean studies overseas; reference sources for both historical and current Korean Studies; and old and rare Korean book digitization.

Please contact Youn-Hi for further information. Her contact details are available from this web page: Social Sciences Liaison team

Further information is available on the National Library of Korea website 

Plagiarism and referencing

“Plagiarism (either intentional or unintentional) is the using of ideas or work of another person (including experts and fellow or former students) and submitting them as your own. It is considered dishonest and unprofessional. Plagiarism may take the form of cutting and pasting, taking or closely paraphrasing ideas, passages, sections, sentences, paragraphs, drawings, graphs and other graphical material from books, articles, internet sites or any other source and submitting them for assessment without appropriate acknowledgement.” University of Sheffield, 2013

Plagiarism is an important issue that all students are expected to take seriously; failure to do so can have huge implications and could even lead to expulsion. It is important to remember that plagiarism is still an offence whether it was intended or not, and that ignorance is no excuse.

Online tutorials and further information

·         To help you dodge the pitfalls, the library provides a Plagiarism tutorial

·         Additional advice is also provided by The Academic Skills Hub (TASH): Avoiding plagiarism

·         Student services offer information regarding plagiarism in assessments

·         Knowing how to reference correctly can help you to avoid plagiarism. Use our online Referencing tutorials to learn how to reference correctly in the style used by your department.

Information Skills Workshop on plagiarism & referencing

Information skills workshops are delivered in The Diamond. Workshops are open to taught course students from all departments. In the Plagiarism & Referencing workshop you will explore what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. You will consider the purpose of referencing and ways to ensure correct, consistent referencing.

For further information, and to book your place on a workshop, please see: Information Skills Workshops

Welcome to the Diamond

Our new 24-hour learning space is now open and offers 1000 additional study spaces to all students in all departments.

 Innovative study spaces are distributed throughout the building, including distraction-free spaces, group study spaces and social study spaces. Power sockets and USB charging points are available in all study spaces and laptops are available to loan from the level 4 information desk.

The higher up the building you travel, the more study spaces you will find. This culminates in our exciting new service area on level 4 featuring a core print reference collection, extensive creative media facilities, information skills workshops and our most diverse range of study spaces yet, all with spectacular city views.

Take some time to visit Library Connect on the ground floor, situated next to The Diamond Kitchen. This space allows you to quickly organise yourselves, including quick look up of resources, printing, pick up of loans requested from any library, as well as convenience of returns. Call in to see us and find out more about information, space, skills development and answers to any of your questions.

If you need any help or have questions, our Library and CiCS staff are available and ready to help you experience all that the Diamond has to offer. Simply ask any member of staff wearing a yellow lanyard…Say Hello to Yellow!

 

A 3D animated fly-through of The Diamond

The Diamond website

Library staffed-hours within The Diamond

Information skills workshops