New web pages to improve your information skills

Be sure to have a look at our fantastic new web pages on information literacy.

Find out what information literacy is and what it can do for you by watching the video ‘What is Information Literacy?’

Find out how information literacy can help you with writing assignments and conducting research. The pages are split into useful sections to support you at different stages: Getting started, Writing assignments, Research skills, and Employability.

The information literacy pages are one part of our Learning and Research Services web pages which have also had a face lift to make finding information easier.

Find useful subject resources, get help with research, find your librarian, and see how they can help you.

All from Learning and Research Services on the Library home page.

Effective Internet Searching

The Information Skills tutorial Effective Internet Searching has been completely overhauled and updated, please take a look.

In this tutorial you will:

• Understand in broad terms how search engines work
• Discover what the invisible web is and why it matters
• Try out a selection of handy techniques and tips for quicker, more effective searches
• Learn about other sources of information and when to use them

Effective Internet Searching is just one of a number of tutorials the Library provides through the Information Skills Resource

Access it from the Library tab in MUSE and/or from the Library web home page

 

Trial to Official Publications Online

The Library has a new trial to Offical Publications Online.
This database from The Stationery Office includes access to:

• UK Legislation: including Scottish, Northern Ireland and Welsh Legislation
• Command and House Papers: Green Papers
• White Papers, Annual Report and Accounts, Departmental Reports and Treaty Series
• Parliamentary Publications: Hansard, Bills and Amends and Select Committee Reports

Publications are available online, as soon as they are published and there is early morning delivery of key parliamentary titles.  The trial will be made available until 31st December 2012 . Please tell us what you think of it by using our feedback form.

Just started your PhD?

The British Library is holding a series of Doctoral Open Days, from November until February. The events are free and are aimed at first year PhD students who are new to the British Library. You will learn about the collections, find out how to access them, and meet the British Library's expert staff and other researchers in your field. To book a place use the Book Now link beside each listed session. You might also want to get a free reader pass before attending the event.

Guide to Bibliography of Asian Studies

The Information Skills tutorial Guide to Bibliography of Asian Studies  has been updated to take into account the new much-improved user-interface. This now offers an up-to-date search engine with refining facets and all the entries have been converted into Unicode Formats.

Guide to Bibliography of Asian Studies is just one of a number of tutorials the Library  provides through the Information Skills Resource

Access it from the Library tab in  MUSE and/or from the Library web home page.

Ebooks - your essential guide

So ebooks, we all know what they are but do you know how to make the most of them? How to annotate online, when to download and how much you can print? The Library buys hundreds of ebooks each year and you can find them all via our Library catalogue StarPlus but they don’t all come from the same supplier. As a result there are lots of different rules governing how you can use them. Here is a quick guide to our main supplies and some top tips on how to make the most of your e reading experience... 

Dawsonera:

This is our main supplier. If there’s an ebook you want and dawsonera has it we’ll be buying it from them. Dawsonera allows you two options with ebooks. You can either ‘read online’ or you can download the book onto a memory stick or your computer drive where it will last as a pdf format for 24 hours. This is great if you know you’ve only got a short internet connection. 

If you’re reading the ebook online you can also annotate the text, just click on the yellow notes tab. The reader portal recognises who you are each time you log in and your notes will be saved for your next session. 

If you want a hard copy of the text Dawsonera allows you to print up to 5% of any ebook per user. 

MyiLibrary:

You can generally download or print 10 pages of a MyiLibrary ebook, although this may differ slightly as the publisher sets the limits.

The MyiLibrary software works best if you use the chapter navigation on the left-hand side to navigate the book.

NetLibrary:

You cannot download from NetLibrary ebooks, but you can print a percentage of the book. This percentage is again set by the publishers so will vary book to book, if you click on the print button within a book it will tell you how many pages you're allowed for that book.

If you're using a Mac to view NetLibrary ebooks, you will need to install a PDF Browser plug-in which can be found in the help section.

Taylor and Francis archive:

With these ebooks, you can save or print one chapter, or 5% of the book, whichever is greater.

Welcome everyone!

Welcome to all our new and returning students. There's lots we can do to help you in your studies - why not check out our new induction presentation and have a chance to win an Amazon voucher!