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Thursday 18 December 2008

Problems with missing History books?

I have had quite a few queries about missing books this term. Here are a few tips. 9 times out of 10 a missing book is not actually missing just misshelved. Before you try making a reservations for a book apparently not out but not on the shelf try these things and you may find your missing History Library book…
• Try adjacent shelves to left and right.

• Try a few shelves above and below.

• Mistakes often compound themselves so occasionally there can be two sequences within a few shelves.

• If Shelfmark starts with 3 e.g. 338.1, try 538… or even 838…

• 942.**** can often be found mis-shelved at 943.****

• Often worth trying in the “Q” section.

• Check on the “Re-shelving” shelves

Good Luck! If this doesn’t work and a book is really essential for a particular reason you can always get in touch with me.

Happy Christmas, Clare

Wednesday 10 December 2008

A plea for help with my research

I am doing some research into librarians teaching and I want to interview participants from the Level 1 English workshops on referencing that Bob and I are running on Fridays at the end of this term (28th November, 12th and 19th December). The purpose of this project is to establish whether information literacy teaching in workshops improves the information literacy and resarech skills of School of English undergraduates. I also hope to explore whether this teaching is enhanced by the intervention of a librarian in the teaching as well as a subject specialist: an English lecturer. If any of you who are attending the workshop would be prepared to consent to being interviewed and taking part in a focus group I would be really grateful. The interview will be really short - probably no longer than 10-15 minutes long. I have booked a room in CILASS for the interviews and you can pick a time to come along between 2-4pm on either 12th or 19th December. I really hope some of you can help. If you want to volunteer please drop me an email to c.scott@Sheffield.ac.uk. I have an information sheet and a consent form available if you want to take part.

Many thanks, Clare

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Level 3 Dissertation Session 10 December

Hello Level 3 History Students,

Amanda Power has asked me to run a session for you on Library Resources that will be useful for your dissertations. The session is planned for Wednesday 10th December in the Student Auditorium 3-5pm. I hope to see you all there. I am planning to cover:
1. Western Bank as a research library
Are you aware of Special Collections and the National Fairground Archive?

Image from the Special Collections archive

Have you ever made use of the Wolfson Suite and the microfilms housed there? Do you know the best way to access newspapers and which ones we have historical access to? Do you know about the Record Societies materal and the Parliamentary Papers and where to find them in the Western Bank Library.

2. I also plan to have a look at some electronic resources that you may find useful for your research. Have you ever made use of the main history databases: Royal Historical Society and Historical Abstracts? Do you know how to search effectively? Are you familiar with the useful online collections: ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online) and EEBO (Early English Books Online)? Are you confident that you understand the difference between a database and a journal provider such as JSTOR or Swetswise)? Do you know what to do when the linksolver between a database and the Library catalogue does not work quite as it should?

3. Have you ever considered searching for material in other libraries and how to go about it? This last two issues may be particularly relevant to you over the Christmas break.

I look forward to seeing you all and hope it will prove useful,
Clare

Tuesday 28 October 2008

eTheses sessions for new Postgraduates

Hello!

If you are a new Postgraduate Research student in English you should be aware that I am running an important session about the new electronic submission of Theses, which is compulsory for all new research PhDs, MPhil students etc. from the start of this academic session.

As well as submitting the usual three print versions of your thesis you will need to make an electronic submission to our Repository: White Rose Etheses Online. This has major implications for third party copyright in your theses which you will need to know about.

The session for Faculty of Arts students is on 4th November 10-11am in CILASS Collaboratory 1 in the Information Commons.

I look forward to seeing you there,
Clare

Monday 27 October 2008

eTheses sessions for new Postgraduates

Hello!

If you are a new Postgraduate Research student in History you should be aware that I am running an important session about the new electronic submission of Theses, which is compulsory for all new research PhDs, MPhil students etc. from the start of this academic session.

As well as submitting the usual three print versions of your thesis you will need to make an electronic submission to our Repository: White Rose Etheses Online. This has major implications for third party copyright in your theses which you will need to know about.

The session for Faculty of Arts students is on 4th November 10-11am in CILASS Collaboratory 1 in the Information Commons.

I look forward to seeing you there,
Clare

Thursday 9 October 2008

Early American Imprints

Hello Everyone,

 Hope you are all settling into the semester and your new modules and getting used to things. The Library has recently started a new subscription to Early American Imprints. It is a definitive resource for researching every day  aspects of 17th and 18th century America. Early American Imprints series 1 is based on Charles Evans' "American Bibliography" and Roger Bristol's supplement. This incomparable digital collection contains over 36000 printed works including virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in American over 160 years. This collection can be seen as a complement to ECCO Eighteenth Century Collections Online because ECCO is focused on British and European titles. Other publications included in the collection are advertisements, almanacs, bibles, catalogues, charters, cookbooks, elegies, eulogies, maps, narratives, novels, operas, plays, poems, primers, sermons, songs, speeches, textbooks, tracts, travelogues etc. Please do go and have a look at this resource. I hope it will help some or all of  you with your studies. It is available at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/eai.html

Monday 28 April 2008

Your Subject Librarian

The Sheffield Mentors scheme provides peer support for new students at the University. Over the last couple of weeks the new cohort of mentors have attended training sessions in preparation for the arrival of their mentees in October. Myself and a colleague went along to talk about Library services and give some tips the mentors can pass on to their mentees at the start of next semester. During each session we asked for a show of hands to see if the Mentors knew who their Subject Librarian was. On the whole, two or three hands were raised, a very small percentage of those present! Our aim is that in future, every undergraduate will know who their Subject Librarian is and will see us as a point of contact, a friendly face and someone to turn to when additional, in-depth support with study skills and information searching is needed.

The Subject Librarians, or Academic Liaison Librarians to give them their official title, are subject specialists and work closely with departments to make sure the Library provides all the materials you need for your modules. This can include resource lists with links to journal articles and e-offprints, e-books, websites, course packs and of course trusty old books.

Subject Librarians are also here to assist you in acquiring the information skills you need to successfully complete your degree. You need to be able to locate, evaluate and organise information effectively - without any plagiarism!
DO NOT JUST GOOGLE IT!
Don't worry, help is at hand in the form of:
- Induction events when you start your course
- Your Subject Librarian is IN! Information Commons drop-in sessions at the level one counter, Mondays 2-4pm, Thursdays 11am-1pm.
- Information skills workshops and lectures - they may be part of your module, or may run as supplementary drop-ins.
- Surgeries - one-to-one specialist advice from library staff, we come to you in your department.

Also, don't forget the Information Skills Tutorials accessible through MOLE for interactive guidance on internet searching, referencing, database searching etc.

This blog will be updated with details of any sessions we are running, so keep checking!

Friday 11 April 2008

Student guide to “Information Literacy”

If you have ever heard us library folk use the term "information literacy" but not really known what we mean by that, here are a few things to give you a student perspective.

The CILASS Student Ambassador Network have put together an excellent guide on Tips for Information Gathering.

Xpress Radio at Cardiff University have recorded a series of podcasts in a Student Survival Guide To Writing A Good Essay. The podcasts cover topics such as 'Quality control: information to use and avoid' and 'Going beyond the reading list: finding good web sites' and include tips from experts as well as student experiences.

And for a highly informative(!) student virtual tour of the Information Commons, try the IC Girls video!

As ever, leave a comment if you'd like to get in touch.

Thursday 13 March 2008

Oxford dictionary of national biography

We have a new Information Skills Tutorial on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography available. To access the tutorial, login to MUSE, then go into MOLE. In your course list you will see a 'Library - Information Skills' option (it may be buried towards the bottom, but it should be there somewhere!). Choose the 'subject-specific Information Skills Tutorials' option, then select 'English Literature' and there you will find the new ODNB tutorial. This will show you how to get the most out of this fantastic resource.

The ODNB contains around 56,000 biographies of significant Brits, including many notable literary figures. It provides a great introduction to the life and work of the subject as well as filling in the context in which they worked. A collection of  essays brings individuals and movements together thematically, well worth a browse.

You can be assured that the information on the ODNB is of excellent quality and written by experts. So ditch wikipedia as your quick 'who's who' one-stop-shop!