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!
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
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!
Thursday, 21 October 2010
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.
Saturday, 16 October 2010
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!
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
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.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
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!
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!
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