Your Library's Got Talent!

Never mind Britain's Got Talent, watch out Simon Cowell because our SMU library has some homegrown talent of its own! Some of you may remember Matthew Cox who was a library assistant in the Griffith Library at Dynevor until a couple of years ago when he left us to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Well, it seems as though he's doing rather well as he's recently popped up on our TV screens in one of the fabulously funny BBC Wales promotional adverts for the Six Nations.

Have a look at the video here to see our Matthew in action...he's the lead actor with the opening speech.

Well done Matthew...don't forget us when you're rich and famous!

Carnegie and Kate Greenaway award 2012 shortlists announced!

It’s that time of year again! The shortlists have been compiled for the Carnegie Medal, awarded to an outstanding book for children and young people, and the Kate Greenaway Medal, awarded to outstanding illustration in a book for children and young people. The winners are due to be announced on the 14th June. We’ll keep you posted!

These prizes are awarded annually by CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals, an organisation which some of us at SMU belong to) and shortlists and winners are chosen by children’s librarians. These awards are highly respected and represent the best in children’s literature.

Find out more about the 2012 awards here.Some of our favourites are up for the prize this year – past winners Emily Gravette and Catherine Rayner are up for the Greenaway award, whilst David Almond is amongst those competing for the Carnegie Medal. Let us know if any of your favourites have been nominated!

Our Teaching Practice section is well worth a browse over the next few weeks as we’ve put some orders through for quite a few new children’s books. They’re not necessarily prize winners, but they are all jolly good! We’ve also got lots of the past Carnegie and Greenaway winners here, so pop in and have a look at those too.

SMU Libraries are open during the Easter vacation!

Just a reminder that our three libraries will be open during the Easter vacation if you wish to use them! For further information on opening hours for each library please see the following link:

http://apollo.smu.ac.uk/library/index.asp?page=newsdetail&newsID=23

Wishing you all a Happy Easter from the SMU Library & Learning Resources team.

How satisfied are you?

Don't forget - it's your opportunity to let us know how you rate our library resources and services this week! You have until Sunday to feedback to us either via this link:

http://apollo.smu.ac.uk/library/index.asp?page=survey

or by completing a paper questionnaire in one of our three SMU Libraries.

It will only take a few minutes of your time, and you could win a 4GB memory stick!

Olympic torch route and bearers revealed for Wales!

Yesterday it was revealed which cities, towns and villages in Wales will see the Olympic torch passing through, between 25th - 30th May.

For more information and to see how close to where you live/work/study the Olympic flame will be burning, take a look at this link from the BBC News website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17380922

For locals, the torch will arrive in Swansea on 26th May, and after staying in the city overnight will move on to Aberystwyth the following day.

If you are interested in finding out more about the 2012 Olympic Games or past Olympic events, you can use your SMU Library resources - we have lots of information in both print and e-format, just ask one of our librarians!

Have your say on your SMU Library...

We are running our annual SMU Library satisfaction survey from Monday 19th - Sunday 25th March which SMU library users can complete - either at one of our libraries in paper format, or online via this link:

http://apollo.smu.ac.uk/library/index.asp?page=survey

We really value your feedback as it helps us to assess the library service we provide to you, and would appreciate the few minutes of your time it takes to complete a form. All completed forms will then be entered into a prize draw for someone to win a 4GB USB memory stick!

Many thanks - SMU Library & Learning Resources team.

Competition winner collects chocolates

Student Mark Lambert, winner of the 2012 SMU Library Valentine's Day promotion, with his prize!

Are you interested in using other university libraries?

If you are an academic member of staff, postgraduate student or part-time undergraduate student at SMU and would like to be able to borrow material from other UK university libraries, then the SCONUL Access scheme is for you!

SCONUL Access is a reciprocal access scheme, granting borrowing privileges to many types of library users working or studying at participating higher education libraries in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The scheme also provides a reference only service for most full-time undergraduate students.

For more information see their comprehensive website at http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/ and if you would like to join please come and speak to one of the SMU Librarians!

Calling ALL Swansea Metropolitan University students...

This week is SMU Student Union election week, and to see why it is important to take part and vote take a look at this video :-)

Calling all final year undergraduates...

Have your say on your University course by completing the National Student Survey online at http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/

It's your chance to give your opinion on your student experience which will help prospective students make an informed choice of where and which course to study.

Those SMU students who complete the survey will automatically be entered into a draw to win some amazing prizes (including an iPad, Kindle, Flip Camera & VIP tickets to the SMU Summer Ball) plus everyone who completes it is eligible to receive 10 printing credits!

Here come the girls!

Today is International Women’s Day. Since 1911, this annual celebration has tried to highlight issues which concern women and bring recognition to all that has been achieved in the name of women’s rights. To begin with, campaigns such as the right to vote, to work and to be treated fairly inspired the conception of an annual day for women, but in more recent years International Women’s Day has grown to encompass issues such as hunger, poverty and social deprivation.

International Women’s Day is not a designated holiday here in Wales, nor do we have a tradition of honouring women with gifts on this day (though feel free to start one!) as they do in other countries round the world. There are other ways you could acknowledge the day, though! You can brush up on the history and development of women’s rights, as well as looking at some of the controversies, with Feminism for Beginners, which is available at Owen Library, Mount Pleasant and Griffith Library, Dynevor. You’ll find plenty more about women and feminism in all three SMU libraries at shelf mark 305.42. If you’re looking for something a little less academic, why not pick up a book by a female author? Novels by Margaret Atwood, Sylvia Plath and Mary Shelley, as well as many other texts from women writers, can all be found on the shelves of Townhill Library. If art is more your thing, Griffith Library has a host of books about women in art, as well as resources focusing on individual artists such as Gwen John or Tracey Emin.

Learn more about International Women’s Day from the United Nations and from the global hub which has been set up to share information, news and resources across the world.

aBook - The device that revolutionized libraries!

Following on from our eBooks feature last week, we thought we should also cater for the traditionalists (and technophobes!) amongst you...so here it is, an invention so revolutionary it has been taking libraries by storm for centuries! Pop into your nearest SMU library to borrow aBook now!

Anyone else think the guy in this video looks strangely familiar...?

World Book Day 2012

As well as being Saint David’s Day today (come and buy your Marie Curie daffodil here at the Owen Library!) you may be interested to know that it is also World Book Day, when we celebrate all things related to books and reading. Last year the library staff shared some of their favourite reads with you here on the blog and you responded in your droves to let us know what books you loved too. This year we thought we’d go all hi-tech and focus on e-books!

Advances in technology mean that we can now have a portable library in our pocket; we can read our favourite books on virtually any mobile device, anytime, anywhere (I have many of the classics on my iPhone!). But perhaps the most exciting feature of e-book technology is its ability to add fantastic interactive dimensions to the reading experience. We can now see our favourite characters literally come alive on the page, sound effects and atmospheric music can be added, maps and diagrams can be manipulated by the reader, and children can ‘step into’ and actively participate in the fantasy world created by their bedtime stories.

We’d like to know what you think about e-books; whether you’ve used them, what devices you read them on (Kindle, iPad, iPhone), what you like and dislike about them etc. Imagine your favourite book...what interactive features would you like to see on an electronic version? I’m a big fan of gothic literature and I’ve found a great example of Bram Stoker’s Dracula as an e-book for iPad. Have a look at the video above to see some of the fantastic interactive features that are now possible and let us know what you think...

By the way, many of the core textbooks for SMU courses are also available as e-books. Have a look at your subject area on the library webpage to access them for free!

Happy World Book Day from all your SMU library staff.