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!