Brrrrrrrr!

It’s cold out there and it looks like the snow and ice will be with us for a while. If you can’t get to your SMU library, or would prefer to stay in the warm at home, don’t forget we have a wealth of material available for you online via the Library web pages (www.smu.ac.uk/library). Find ebooks on the Library catalogue, search for ejournals using the eJournal Quick Search box, and look for journal articles online using our Databases. Now you can keep up with your studies wherever you are and whatever the weather!

If you are feeling intrepid enough to make the journey in, you’ll find our vacation opening hours on the website too. We at SMU Library and Learning Resources hope you’re keeping safe and warm this winter and wish you all the best for the festive period. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year everyone!

Just a little reminder!

Don't forget to renew any items you have borrowed from the library if you would like them over the Christmas vacation! Both weekly and ordinary loan items are now due back in January when issued/renewed, with two-day loan items following suit from Thursday, and overnight loan items from Friday. If you have any queries, please just ask a member of library staff!

For details of when your SMU Libraries are open during the Christmas vacation, please see the notices link on our library homepage...

Need a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia?

Have you checked out Oxford Reference Online yet? It’s a collection of dictionaries and reference works which is accessible at any time from the database pages of the SMU Library website. It’s perfect for finding reliable information about people, places and events. For instance, if you’d like to know more about Winston Churchill (whose birthday it is today), a Quick Search of Oxford Reference Online finds entries from the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, A Dictionary of Political Biography and the Oxford Companion to Military History among many other results.

It’s not just history buffs who will find this database useful. Oxford Reference Online has reference books for science, art, literature, computing, business, social sciences... The list goes on! And for the linguists out there, Oxford Reference Online includes language dictionaries for Welsh, French, Spanish, German, Irish and Latin, plus a number of English language dictionaries. So, if you’d like to know what a “logophile” is, try the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. (Go on, look it up!)

Music to their ears!

It was great to welcome so many new students to all three SMU libraries at the start of this academic year and it was encouraging to see lots of freshers completing our library quizzes at the end of their induction tours! This year, for the first time, we were pleased to be able to enter all correctly answered student quizzes from each campus into a free prize draw for the chance to win a £15 i-Tunes voucher. The winning entries were drawn earlier this month and we would like to congratulate our three winners: Video student Sally Stapleton (pictured), Performing Arts student Daniel Jones and Accountancy student Rubin Phan. Well done!

Christmas vacation borrowing

From tomorrow, Saturday 20th November, all ordinary loan category items borrowed or renewed by students will be due back in January! So you can take advantage if you wish to get lots of reading done over the Christmas vacation.

Other loan categories will also follow suit but nearer the end of term - please ask library staff if you would like more information.

Calling all Muggles!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part one) is released in cinemas this week. If you can’t wait to see it, or you just want to get yourself in the mood for the film, you can catch up with the adventures of Harry, Hermione and Ron at Townhill Library. We have all seven books in the series available to borrow from the Junior Fiction section of the Teaching Practice collection. You can even read about Harry in Welsh with Harri Potter a Maen yr Athronydd (the Welsh translation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone). Perfect for some light relief when you need a break from all that studying! (Don't forget, if you can't make it to Townhill Library, you can ask for books to be sent to your home library at Dynevor or Mount Pleasant. Just ask at counter for details.)

Remembrance Day Display

To mark Remembrance Sunday this weekend, our SMU Records and Archives Officer, Gill Fildes, has put together a small display in honour of some of our past students who gave their lives for their country whilst undertaking military service during World War One. The exhibit is on view in the glass display cabinet at the Owen Library, Mount Pleasant Campus, until Monday 15th November. We also have Royal British Legion poppies on sale at the main issue desk for those wishing to show their support.

Drop-in session on library e-resources for Art & Design students (and staff!)

All Art & Design students and staff are welcome to attend a drop-in session at 2.00pm on Friday 12th November in Lecture Theatre 2 on the Dynevor Campus. We will be looking at our electronic library resources for Art & Design– how to access ebooks, e-journal articles, images, newspaper articles and more. The session will be informal, and suitable either as a refresher session or if you haven’t previously attended something similar!

New Datamonitor360

Marketline and Business Insights have a new name and improved interface. They are now combined in one database - choose Datamonitor360 from our list of databases on the library web pages and have a look! With the equivalent of over 200,000 pages of up-to-date business information at your fingertips, you can now access in-depth professional analysis of company, industry and country information and a full library of strategic management reports in one, easy-to-use format.

The Foundation Phase

The Welsh Assembly Government is in the process of rolling out the Foundation Phase for children in Wales aged 3 to 7 years old. From September 2011, school children in Wales from Nursery to Year 2 will be taught according to the Foundation Phase curriculum. What does this mean?

The Foundation Phase curriculum is based on seven Areas of Learning:-
· Personal and Social Development, Wellbeing and Cultural Diversity
· Language, Literacy and Communication
· Mathematical Development
· Welsh Language Development
· Knowledge and Understanding of the World
· Physical Development
· Creative Development

These areas were identified from research into the way children learn and encourage a curriculum which focuses on development of skills and experience. Find out more about early years education at shelf mark 372.21 in Townhill Library and try 155.413 to find out how children learn. There is more information about the Foundation Phase and access to supporting documents on the Welsh Assembly Government website: http://tiny.cc/7snet.

If you’re a student or member of staff at SMU and are looking to support your work with young children, don’t forget to try the Teaching Practice Collection on the first floor of Townhill Library. We have a wide range of picture books, junior fiction and non-fiction books to support all sorts of themes and topics. Come and have a look!

Calling all new International students...

...come and see us at the Library stand at the second International Student Welcome event this Thursday! (It's taking place in the red brick building on the Mount Pleasant campus). We'll be happy to talk to you about your Library service here and the resources we have to offer you whilst you are studying at SMU!

Need a journal article at 2am? No problem!

You can access thousands of journals from the Library website at any time of the day or night. Use the e-Journal Quick Search on the Library homepage (www.smu.ac.uk/library) to check if we have online access to the journal you need. Just type the journal title into the search box and follow the links to the issue you need. You can read articles on screen or print them out if you’d rather.

Needing quiet time for study?

If you are looking for somewhere more peaceful to study during term-time, why not visit one of our SMU Libraries during the evening, or on a weekend, when it is quieter?

Please see our website for each library's individual opening hours www.smu.ac.uk/library - with less hussle and bussle than at peak times hopefully it should prove productive for you!

Database of the day - Art Full Text

For all you SMU Art & Design students (and staff!), Art Full Text is an excellent resource for journal articles, offering access to over 600 electronic titles. Featuring full-text articles, abstracting and indexing of an international array of peer-selected publications, podcasts, and page images, Art Full Text is an unmatched resource for art information.

The database covers fine, decorative, and commercial art as well as photography, folk art, film, architecture, and much more. In recent years, coverage of Latin American, Canadian, Asian, and non-Western art has expanded greatly, along with its material on new artists, contemporary art, exhibition reviews, and feminist criticism.

You can access Art Full Text both on and off-campus too, via the library webpages www.smu.ac.uk/library. Click on the Art & Design subject area link followed by the Databases link - you'll see it at the top of the list! Lastly if you have any queries or need any help, please contact the Art & Design Librarian.

A day in the life of a SMU Librarian

My name is Philippa Price and I’m an Assistant Librarian in Townhill Library where I’m responsible for the subject area of Education. My job is quite varied and no two days are ever the same. Here’s what Wednesday 6th October 2010 brought:-
I arrived at work about 8.10 this morning to find I couldn’t get through the door as I couldn’t find my ID card. Shame on me! I’ve spent the last month lecturing new students that they must always bring their cards with them and today I've forgotten my own. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait too long for another member of staff to arrive and let me in. As I suspected, my card turned out to be on my desk. Doh! I must make sure to take it with me tonight.
I was away on a course yesterday, so had a few emails to catch up on when I got in and logged on. The course was really interesting – all about how librarians can support the new Foundation Phase in early years education and child care. I think it’ll be really useful in helping teachers and other Education students that I support. I must find time in the week to look back over the notes and write up the points of interest.
Last week I was booked to speak to groups of PGCE students about using online resources for their assignments. One of my jobs this week is to make a version of the PowerPoint presentation I used available on Blackboard. The students will be able to refer to it as a reminder when they come to use the resources for their own research. Before I make it available to them, though, it’ll need to be translated into Welsh so they can access the information in their preferred language. I've tweaked it so it makes sense on its own and sent the slides off to be translated today, so it should be ready to go on in a day or two.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time cataloguing and classifying some of our new books today. It’s quite a good job to keep me occupied between enquiries when I’m on the enquiry desk. It involves checking that there’s a full and accurate record of the book on our system so that library users can find it when they search on our catalogue. I also assign a shelf mark to each book using the Dewey Decimal System. This should ensure that books on similar topics all end up with similar numbers and can be found together on the shelves. That’s the theory anyway!
I usually work till nine o’clock on Wednesdays, but I’ve swapped this week, so it’ll feel very strange getting home in the daylight today! I am staying on a bit later than usual today, not because I’m trying to make myself out to be really dedicated, but because I had a group of students to see about library resources last thing today and I’ve now come back to the library to finish off a few things. Meeting students is one of the best bits of my job and it’s been a lovely end to the day.
Once I’m done here, I’ll be off home. It’s a quiet night for me tonight, though I am hoping to fit a swim in later. I’ll be working the late night tomorrow, so I’ve got a lie in to look forward to as I won’t need to be in work till one o’clock. I hope they’ve got some good guests on This Morning tomorrow!
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, my ID card is safe and sound in my bag, so I won’t be wondering where it is tomorrow morning!

Borrow, borrow, borrow!

All three SMU Libraries have quick and easy to use self-service kiosks, where you can issue, renew and return our books/DVDs/videos yourself!

Make the most of our free resources - undergraduates can borrow up to 15 items at any one time, postgraduates 20, and staff 30.

So why not try self-service the next time you visit us, and if you need any help just ask a member of Library staff!

New e-books available

Check out our new selection of e-books covering a wide variety of subject areas. Over 400 titles have been added to the collection and you can locate them via the Library catalogue or the A-Z listing of e-books on the Library webpages . They can be accessed from home as well as on-campus.

Calling all freshers...

...come and visit the Library stand this Friday at Freshers Fayre to have a chat with us about all the services & resources we have to offer you to help with your studies, plus we are giving away chocolate!! See you there...

Getting to know your library

Have you looked at our Library Guide yet? It’s available online and can be accessed from the Library Website (www.smu.ac.uk/library). Just look for the link down the left hand side of the Library Web Pages (you might need to scroll down the page to see it). The Library Guide has information about loan periods, borrowing rights, fines, renewals, reservations and other Library services, so it’s well worth a look!

You can find out about your campus Library by clicking on the link to Dynevor Library, Owen Library or Townhill Library on the homepage. This is where you’ll find the contact details for your library, as well as opening hours and even a virtual tour.

Happy birthday Agatha Christie!

Yes, it seems to be everyone’s birthday this month. If she was still alive, Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie, would have been 120 years old today. The writer, who gave us both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, was born in Torquay on the 15th September 1890. Find out more about Dame Agatha on her official website (http://www.agathachristie.com/) and check out the BBC Archive pages for interviews and features (http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/agatha_christie/). For more scholarly analysis, the databases JSTOR and Literature Online, which are accessible from the Library Web pages, have a number of journal articles on the subject of detective fiction and Christie in particular.

You’ll find a selection of books by Agatha Christie, including her autobiography, in Townhill Library at shelf mark 823.912. To find out more about Torquay, try the Great Britain travel section at shelf mark 914.1 in Owen Library on the Mount Pleasant campus. Please check the Library Website for our opening hours.

Happy birthday TES!

The Times Educational Supplement is 100 years old this month. Take a look at the very first issue, published 6th September 1910, by following the link on the TES Connect website: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6057545.

TES will celebrate its centenary over the next 12 months by looking back at education news over the years. There will be a weekly look through the archives and every month TES will focus on a topic that has been constantly debated since its launch.

TES is available to read in Townhill Library, where you’ll find the latest issue on the ground floor and back copies on the first floor landing. If you prefer, you can read articles online via TES Connect (http://www.tes.co.uk/), which also has free classroom resources to download and a number of community forums to contribute to if you so desire. Well worth a look!

International Literacy Day

Today is International Literacy Day. Why not celebrate by borrowing a book from your nearest SMU Library? Or go mad and borrow a few! Undergraduates can borrow up to 15 at a time and postgraduates can have up to 20. You’ll find books covering all sorts of topics on offer in the three libraries, so why not take this opportunity to browse around outside you subject area?

You can find out more about International Literacy Day 2010, which focuses on Literacy and Gender, on UNESCO’s website: http://tinyurl.com/2apydj8.

New read aloud feature on some databases

Our EBSCO databases – Business Source Premier, CINAHL Plus, Education Research Complete, GreenFILE, PsycARTICLES and SPORTDiscus – have a brand new look and some exciting features ready for the new academic year. One development means that you’ll be able to listen to some journal articles being read aloud through your computer. You’ll even have the option to choose the accent you hear – British, American or Australian! A similar feature is available on Art Full Text.

To listen to an article on any of these databases, simply look for one that is available in HTML Full-Text. Click on the HTML option and look for the Listen option at the top of the article. You’ll need headphones to use this feature in the Library. You can bring your own, or buy them at the Library counter. As ever, if you have any trouble, please ask a librarian for help.

Hospitality law made simple...

If you're a hospitality student looking for a quick and easy information resource to help you make sense of the industry's legislation minefield, then why not try one of our newest databases, Accommodation Know-How. All the industry regulations and guidance you will need are at your fingertips in one easy to use legislation checklist, which includes:

• Health & Safety law
• Marketing law
• Premises and building regulations
• Food hygiene
• Consumer protection
• Disability discrimination
• Working time regulations
• Tax advice and guidance

You can also read all the latest industry news and features, join the discussion forum, or get advice about setting up your own hospitality business. Check out this great resource now from the A-Z list of databases on our library website.

Nothing on the telly?

Are you a film buff? Fed up of paying astronomical prices at the cinema? Did you know that SMU libraries have lots of DVDs available to borrow for free? You’ll find a selection at shelf mark 791.4372 in each of our three libraries. Choose from vintage classics, foreign-language favourites or more mainstream films. Don’t forget, any items borrowed now won’t have to be returned until the 30th September, so you’ll have a whole month to enjoy your movies. You’ll have to supply the popcorn yourself, though!

I'm a Celebrity Librarian...Get Me Out of Here!

When we think of librarians most of us have a stereotypical image in our minds of what they look like...so for your collective amusement I’ve compiled a little selection of some of the most famous real life and fictional examples!

FACT:
· Giacomo Casanova – More famous as a lothario than a librarian, Casanova spent the last 13 years of his life working as a librarian for the Count of Waldstein at his chateau.
· Benjamin Franklin – One of America’s founding fathers. He also founded the first American library where he served as a librarian for a brief period of time.
· Jacob Grimm – Famously of the Brothers Grimm, he worked as a librarian in Kasel after graduating with a law degree.
· Lewis Carroll – This famous author worked briefly as a sub-librarian at Christ Church, Oxford.
· Laura Bush – Former First Lady of the USA...also happens to have a Masters degree in Library Science.

FICTION:
· Batgirl – Her alter-ego Barbara Gordon was the Head Librarian of Gotham City Library.
· Rupert Giles – School librarian of Sunnydale High in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
· Evelyn ‘Evy’ Carnahan – Rachel Weisz famously played this ditzy librarian in The Mummy.
· Flynn Carsen – Noah Wyle played the part of the adventurer librarian in a series of TV movies.
· Mary Bailey – In the film It’s a Wonderful Life, George’s wife Mary was almost condemned to a life as a spinster librarian, poor girl!

If you were surprised by this list, why not pop into one of the SMU libraries today and meet our friendly subject librarians in person...we may not have super powers like Batgirl, but we’re ready and willing to help!

Calling all sports fans!

Were you doing a victory dance or crying into your beer after watching Manchester United’s 3-0 victory over Newcastle this week? Whatever your reaction, as a keen sports fan you’ll always want to be kept up-to-date with the latest news and information about your favourite team or sport...and your library can help!

· Why not try Sport Discus, one of our full-text Journal databases?
· Look for all the latest regional, national and international sporting news on Newsbank.
· Visit one of our recommended websites, such as London 2012 or the Department for Culture Media & Sport.
· Browse our extensive collection of sport related e-books.

All this information and much more is available online now via the library website (www.smu.ac.uk/library).

How green is your library?

Libraries have been in the business of ‘recycling’ for many years, leading the way as environmental champions, so if you’re looking for ways to be greener why not pop into one of our campus libraries today?

You can:
· Save your pocket as well as the environment by borrowing books, CDs, DVDs and much more.
· Use one of our mixed recycling bins for your used paper, card, metal and plastic items.
· Recycle your old mobile phones and Inkjet/Laser printer cartridges in the designated bins.

Did you also know that the electricity used at the Owen Library on our Mount Pleasant campus is supported by solar panels on our roof? Following successful planning permission, the panels were installed during the Easter vacation and will generate 6.6 kW of electricity, providing the library and its users with a more sustainable source of power for the future.



So go on, give your green credentials a boost and start using your library today!

Wyclef for president?

The latest celebrity to enter the political arena is Wyclef Jean, musician and record producer, who intends to run for the presidency of Haiti. If you want to find out more about Wyclef’s plans, try Newsbank, our online database of local, national and international newspapers. It’s accessible from the Library website. You can use Newsbank to search for past and present articles from nearly 300 newspapers. It also includes some journal articles, as well as video and web sources. Try searching for Wyclef Jean AND Haiti for news on this story. If you need any help accessing databases, just ask a librarian. We’ll be happy to help!

New website celebrates Welsh culture and history

Have you ever wondered why there are so many Joneses in Wales? You can find out using the People’s Collection Wales (http://www.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/), a new, bilingual website with access to an archive of reminiscences, photographs, videos and audio clips on the subject of Wales and the Welsh. The website has been launched by the Welsh Assembly Government and it is hoped that it will be a useful tool for the tourism industry and a learning resource for schools and colleges.

If you’re still wondering about all those Joneses, you can find out here: http://www.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/Story/267-why-are-there-so-many-joneses-in-wales

Top five most popular SMU Library databases!

Following on from our top five most borrowed books post, we can now reveal details of our top five most popular databases, from September 2009 through to the end of June 2010...

1. Ebsco Business Source Premier
2. PsycARTICLES
3. Art Full Text
4. Science Direct
5. Education Research Complete

All of the above are available both on and off-campus, and if you need any help using them please contact your subject librarian!

An interesting quote for the day...

"Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, but a librarian can bring you back the right one" Neil Gaiman, the award-winning science fiction, fantasy and graphic novel author speaking on You Tube briefly about both the value of libraries and librarians.

Top five most borrowed books from SMU Libraries!

From September 2009 through to the end of June 2010, the five most borrowed books from our libraries were:

1. 'Exploring Corporate Strategy' by Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes & Richard Whittington
2. 'Management and Organisational Behaviour' by Laurie J. Mullins
3. 'Research Methods in Education' by Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion & Keith Morrison
4. 'Ways of Learning : learning theories and learning styles in the classroom' by Alan Pritchard
5. 'The Theory and Practice of Change Management' by John Hayes

The above titles (except for no.4) are also available as e-books through our library catalogue!

New government website collates 800 years of British Laws

For those of you that may be interested, The National Archives department has just launched a new government website which brings together for the first time all UK legislation, and contains every single law made/revised since the Magna Carta...

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

Summer vacation borrowing...

As it is the summer vacation period, we are currently issuing all loanable items - books, videos, DVDs etc. until 30th September. It's a good opportunity therefore to borrow these for more relaxed summer reading/viewing!

Library e-resources

Don't forget you have 24/7 access to hundreds of journal articles, e-books and other useful e-resources via our library website. And if you need help using these, please contact your subject librarian who will be able to advise!

Summer vacation 2010

All three SMU campus libraries are open during the summer vacation, and you can check our opening hours on the library website before your visit www.smu.ac.uk/library - we look forward to seeing you!