Lies, damn lies and statistics?

If you've ever doubted the truth of what you read in the papers (and who hasn't?) the Straight Statistics blog is for you.  Set up by journalists and statisticians from pressure group Straight Statistics,  its aim is to expose and correct some of the worst examples of  sloppy or garbled use of statistics.  Some of the examples are hilarious and make for a very entertaining and illuminating read.  You'll find here the stats behind Gordon Brown's infamous encounter with Gillian Duffy, the true cost of public sector pensions, and whether you'll really catch Legionnaire's Disease if you don't put screenwash in your car windscreen washer.

For anyone interested in this topic and in the kind of scare stories which the media relish so much, may I also recommend Ben Goldacre's book Bad Science.

Eavesdropping on the past

Today sees the launch of the John Johnson Collection: An Archive of Printed Ephemera, the product of a unique partnership between JISC’s  Digitisation Programme, the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, and ProQuest to conserve, catalogue and digitise more than 65,000 items drawn from the collection.

The material selected for conservation, cataloguing and digitisation comprises a wide array of different types of printed document, including posters and handbills for theatrical and non-theatrical entertainments, broadsides relating to murders and executions, book and journal prospectuses, popular topographical prints, and a wealth of different kinds of printed advertising material. The resulting online collection will form an invaluable resource for researchers interested in the histories of consumption, leisure, gender, popular culture, commerce, technology, crime, and a host of other areas. With each item presented as a full-colour, high-resolution facsimile, the John Johnson Collection will also be indispensable for researchers studying the development of printing and visual culture in modern Britain.

More information and a short video about the project can be found at JISC's website.

Lending Services Survey

Many thanks to everyone who took part in our lending service survey. We received over 1100 responses in total from the online and paper survey! We're looking at the feedback now and will get back to you after we've analysed your comments.

Documents on British Policy Overseas

The University Library has arranged a trial to the Documents on British Policy Overseas database.  This historical collection gathers together tens of thousands of UK Government documents relating to Britain’s international relations, including foreign policy instructions, letters and memos, business reports and more.

The database is produced in collaboration between ProQuest and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They say "Documents on British Policy Overseas offers researchers the opportunity to see beneath the surface of the major events of the twentieth century. Users can access contemporary accounts and follow the detailed exchanges that shaped British foreign policy from the origins of the First World War and beyond".

The trial  is available to all registered staff and students at the University until 31 July 2010.  Please let us have your feedback.

Have your say

Got something to say about the Library's lending service? In September 2009 we introduced some changes to the loans service and we'd like to find out what you think to them. We're conducting a brief survey for this week only and would welcome your comments.

Click here to take survey

Springer eBooks Trial

We currently have a trial running on the Springer eBook platform. Springer eBooks are grouped into 12 fully indexed and searchable subject collections and also include the Springer eReference collection. These include:

• Behavioral Science;


• Biomedical and Life Sciences;


• Business and Economics;


• Chemistry and Materials Science;


• Computer Science (including the highly regarded Lecture Notes in Computer Science);


• Earth and Environmental Science;


• Engineering;


• Humanities, Social Sciences and Law;


• Mathematics and Statistics;


• Medicine;


• Physics and Astronomy;


• Professional Computing and Web Design.

Access to the Springer eBook collection (MUSE log-in required) is available via Springerlink and only includes Springer ebooks with copyright years 2005-2010. It is available to registered staff and students of the University of Sheffield until 10 May 2010. If you have any comments please let us know as feedback always helps to assess the usefulness of resources and can influence our decisions over future access.

Etheses session for new PhD students

The University Library has arranged a further session for newly-registered research students on copyright clearance and the avoidance of unfair means. It’s compulsory for all research students to attend one of these sessions and further information can be found on the use of copyright material website.

This repeat session will be held on Thursday 11 March from 10-11am in the North Campus Graduate Research Centre seminar room. There’s no need to book in advance, just turn up on the day.