Thursday 27 January 2011

Save Our Libraries Day

A day of action on Saturday 5th February

I am a Chartered Member of CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals. CILIP is supporting Save Our Libraries Day, a day of action to bring greater attention to the cuts and closures facing many public libraries.
Please help out my public library sector colleagues.

We want everyone who cares about reading, literacy and libraries to use their public library on the 5th February and tell as many people as they can to do the same.

Find out how you can get involved, using the 'sliding scale of spare time' at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/advocacy/public-libraries/Pages/savelibrariesday.aspx

Another campaign is Voice for Libraries, which has a website at: http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/

Thanks!

Friday 21 January 2011

New acquisitions

New books:

Biological diversity: frontiers in measurement and assessment, edited by Anne E. Magurran and Brian J. McGill. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GG (270i-ii) (Overnight Loan shelves)

Choosing and using statistics, 3rd ed., by Calvin Dytham. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EBB (63ci-iv) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 2 x Open Shelves)

An empirical synthetic pattern study of gars (Lepisosteiformes) and closely related species, based mostly on skeletal anatomy: the resurrection of Holostei, by Lance Grande. Lawrence, KS: American Society of Icthyologists and Herpetologists; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qVA (4) (Large size shelves)

Evaluating the impact of your library, by Sharon Markless and David Streatfield. London: Facet Publishing; 2006. Balfour Library shelfmark: D.11 (59)

Mammal teeth: origin, evolution, and diversity, by Peter S. Ungar. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qGDO (1) (Large size shelves)

Not by genes alone: how culture transformed human evolution, by Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press; 2006. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (326) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 2 x Open Shelves)

Novel insights into adipose cell functions, edited by Karine Clement, Bruce M. Spiegelman, and Yves Christen. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GC (28)

New theses:

The dynamics and impacts of trawl fishing along the Coromandel Coast of India, by Aaron Savio Lobo. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (490)

The ecological consequences of diverse management systems in a private conservancy network, by Matthew F. Child. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (492)

'How the rook sees the world': a study of the social and physical cognition of Corvus frugilegus, by Christopher David Bird. Cambridge; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (491)

Book donations:

Biological adhesive systems: from nature to technical and medical application, edited by Janek von Byrne and Ingo Grunwald. Vienna: Springer-Verlag; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GD (75)

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Go digital 2011!

Are you making the most of new technologies in your research?

The British Library and Vitae are running the Digital Researcher 2011 to help researchers make the most of new technologies in their research. Vitae will publish information, advice and resources online so that researchers can either get started or develop their use of digital research techniques from the middle of January. Researchers will be encouraged to start talking and sharing their experience online through the Vitae site and using technologies such as Twitter. This online activity will culminate in a one day event on 14 February 2011. This event will provide hands on experience and will allow researchers to explore the use of Web 2.0 in research, networks and building their own online profiles.

The interactive event, which will be held at the British Library, is for postgraduate researchers and research staff. It will include presentations and interactive sessions on subjects such as microblogging, RSS feeds, social networking and social citation sharing. Participants will explore and develop the skills needed for research in an increasingly digital world and gain ideas for managing information.

On the day participants will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of:

  • the role that online networks can play in supporting research and researchers' careers
  • how to manage your online profile (positively)
  • how to build networks to support your research and career
  • the range of different tools that are available to support you and your research

Please note: This event takes an experiential learning approach and participants are required to come equipped with a laptop in order to connect to the internet (other technologies such as notebooks, phones, itouch etc can be used in the place of a laptop if necessary).

Wellcome Library workshops - free for everyone!

The new Spring programme of Wellcome Library workshops is now available on the Library website at: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/workshops

The workshops provide introductions to research and information resources at the Library, and are aimed at the general public.

The programme includes:
  • thematic workshops such as Science in the News, Medicine and Literature and the History of medicine;
  • training on specific resources such as PubMed Central, and Web of Science;
  • and introductions to the Archives & Manuscripts Collections catalogue, and the Wellcome Images digital image database.
All workshops are free and available to members of the library (library membership is free and open to all).

To book a place on any of the workshops, please use the online booking facility on the library web site: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/workshops

With best wishes,

Louise

Louise Simon
Systems Support Officer
Digital Services
The Wellcome Library

Research Skills sessions for Lent Term 2011

From the Research Skills & Development Librarian, Dr Emma Coonan:

Research Skills sessions for Lent Term 2011 are now available at
http://www.training.cam.ac.uk/cul/event-timetable. This term's focus is on information skills - where to look for the kind of information you need and how to manage it once you've found it!

Courses include:

* Newspaper research - both current and archival sources, printed and online
* Literature searching skills
* Reference management - tips for good practice and an overview of
available software
* the DSpace@Cambridge repository: how uploading your PhD, MSc or MLitt
can help increase the visibility of your research

Please note that booking is now required for all courses, including sessions held in the UL's Morison Room (previously not bookable).

With best wishes for your study and research this term,

Emma Coonan.

--
Dr. Emma Coonan, M.Sc.
Research Skills & Development Librarian
Cambridge University Library

Tuesday 4 January 2011

The Balfour Library will be unstaffed on Thursday 6th January

This is due to library staff attendance at the annual libraries@cambridge conference.

However, the library photocopiers and PCs will be switched on and available for use during normal library opening hours. The scanner and the self-issue facility will be also available 24/7, as usual.