A-Z of UWTSD Libraries...

Image courtesy of: Josh Filhol / Library A-Z

We’ve been working our way through the alphabet to highlight some of the great services your UWTSD libraries offer! Today we continue with the letter F…

F is for:

·      Facebook: Like us on Facebook and we’ll keep you up-to-date with all the latest news and developments within your UWTSD library service. If the library has to close at short notice or there are problems with the IT network, you’ll hear it here first…if we’ve got a fab new journal database or some new books have just arrived, we’ll publicise it via Facebook…or if you just want to have a laugh at photos of the library staff in fancy dress for World Book Day (tomorrow!!) this is where you’ll find them!         

·         Fiction: If you want a break from the serious textbooks you have to read for your course, why not borrow a novel from your UWTSD library too? You’ll find plenty of fiction available - take look at our library catalogue to locate something of interest. Swansea students will also find a selection of novels chosen by the librarian on display at each campus library to whet your appetite, plus items can be requested from other sites if required.

·     Films: You’ll find a vast selection of films available for loan from your UWTSD libraries. From mainstream to art-house or foreign language cinema, we have something for everyone! We’ve got all your entertainment needs covered!

·        Free: The best part about our library service is that it’s completely FREE! Free to loan books and other items (including laptops!), free computers, free WI-FI, free scanning, free newspapers, free online library, and free professional advice from your subject librarian! The only thing you’ll ever need to pay for is printing and photocopying…and perhaps the odd fine if you’re late returning your books!

Meet your library elves (aka your subject librarians) - Townhill Library

Time for our final post on this! We hope you’ve enjoyed finding out about our Christmas favourites. Remember, though, our most favourite thing is students who ask for help when the need it, whatever the time of year, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about the library or our resources.

Today we’re turning our attention to Townhill Library, where you’ll find librarians Philippa Price and Erica Fothergill.

Philippa supports the education programmes at Townhill, including Educational Studies, PGCEs, Graduate Diplomas and Masters.

Favourite Christmas movie

Miracle on 34^th Street (the 1947 version, though Sir Richard Attenborough was perfect as Kris Kringle in the 1994 version!)

Favourite Christmas book

Philippa and her new pal in Townhill Library

Hmmm, tricky… Can I choose two? Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are two of my Christmas stalwarts (and the Muppet movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol was a contender for my favourite Christmas movie!).

Favourite Christmas food

Chocolate!

Best thing about Christmas

Having a snooze in front of the TV on Christmas afternoon.
 

And  last but not least, Erica Fothergill can also be found at Townhill Library and supports students of Performing Arts and Psychology & Counselling.

Favourite Christmas movie
My choice for this year is The Snowman, which is based on the book by Raymond Briggs.  It is not a lengthy epic film (it is approximately of 30 minutes duration) but it is certainly viewing that I recommend if you are looking for a short animation with attractive artwork telling a warm, sensitive and seasonal story. 

Favourite Christmas book
Having chosen The Snowman as my choice of favourite film, it seems appropriate to select the book, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs, to accompany the film.

Favourite Christmas food
For me there is no single winner; a meal of turkey, vegetables and cranberry sauce is highly enjoyable, however, I have found that a nut roast with cranberry sauce is a good alternative.  For dessert, it is usually Christmas pudding but alternatives are welcome as I can’t think of a Christmassy dessert I don’t like. (I’m glad tapioca pudding is not a Christmas dish as I don’t like that!)

Best thing about Christmas
Christmas carols and thinking about the celebration of Christ’s birth helps make Christmas special and a way of helping to avoid overdoing the materialism of the Christmas shopping frenzy!

So there you go! Those are a few of our favourite things about Christmas. We’d love to hear what you love about the festive period, so please do let us know in the comments below, or via Facebook and Twitter. If we’ve inspired you with our choices, many of our favourite books are available to borrow on our shelves, so pop in and take a look!

Meet your library elves (aka your subject librarians) - Griffith Library, Dynevor

Library number three today - Griffith Library at Dynevor! The elf in residence there is Helen Beale, who would love to hear from you if you have any questions about the library or are struggling to find what you need. Helen should be easy to spot - she's likely to be found wearing a Christmas jumper of one sort or another as she's gone a bit mad for them this year! (As have we all - look out for library staff at all four UWTSD Swansea libraries sporting some festive pullovers on the 12th December!)



Helen in her Christmas jumper,
admiring the Griffith Library displays

Helen Beale is based in the Griffith Library and supports the programmes delivered by the Faculty of Art & Design at both Dynevor and Alex.

Favourite Christmas movie

Decisions, decisions … which to pick? I do have a soft spot for ‘Elf’ with Will Ferrell as it’s a family favourite and you know what they say, the family that laughs together stands a chance of getting through the festivities unscathed (well one lives in hope!). A few years ago the Taliesin put on a showing of a re-mastered ‘White Christmas’ with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. It was a real treat experiencing an old classic on the big screen, there was such a feel-good factor about it and yes I’m afraid to say we came out singing as well!  

Santa's little helper!

Favourite Christmas book

I’m with Emily on this one, it’s all about the children when it comes to Christmas books. My immediate reaction was to say ‘The Night Before Christmas’ as it brings back happy memories of reading to my three children when they were very young. We also have a beautifully illustrated copy of ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, although I think I enjoyed this one more than the children.

Favourite Christmas food

Everything – as long as there are no nuts involved!

Best thing about Christmas

Having all my family under one roof for the holidays, eating, drinking and laughing together in front of the fire, with re-runs of Morecambe and Wise Christmas Specials on the TV. Although watching my daughter try and dress up our Jack Russell as Santa’s little helper, complete with a hat with a bell on it was a pretty close second!

Meet your library elves (aka your subject librarians) - Owen Library, Mount Pleasant

Here’s part two of our little series introducing you to your magical, mischievous, ever-so-helpful, elf-like subject librarians! Today we’re turning our attention to Mount Pleasant, where your resident librarian is Suzanne Taylor. Mount Pleasant students, please get in touch with Suzanne if you need any help in finding or accessing library resources.

Suzanne Taylor our librarian at Owen Library and supports the Faculty of Architecture, Computing and Engineering at Mount Pleasant.

Suzanne's dog, looking forward to Christmas!

Favourite Christmas movie

‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ as it shows the positive impact one person can have upon so many lives or ‘The Holiday’ because I would love to spend Christmas in Kate Winslet’s  country cottage.

Favourite Christmas book

It would probably have to be A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Favourite Christmas food

A roast turkey or chicken dinner with all the trimmings, minus the sprouts.

One of the best things about Christmas

There’s something very special about driving to see family early on a frosty Christmas morning when the roads are empty. Also walking my dog on a beach on Boxing Day and seeing him chase the ball along the tide’s edge.

The fabulous book tree at Owen Library

Spooky reads (and films!) at The Griffith Library, Dynevor

 

 



For some Halloween-inspired reads, or scary films, look no further than the Griffith Library at Dynevor! We've put together a little display (complete with a book-eating pumpkin!) highlighting some of our choice films and books for this spooky time of year. The display will be up until Saturday, and you are welcome to come in and choose something from there, if you dare...

Happy 4th July!

Photo by Denise Krebs (mrsdkrebs),
available from Flickr under Creative Commons licence

Yes, it’s the 4^th July, also known as American Independence Day. Take a look at our database Oxford Reference Online to find out more about the history of the day and to see how it’s celebrated in the USA today picnics and fireworks!). You could also brush up on your American history by browsing the shelves in Townhill Library at shelf mark 973. For a more British perspective, try looking at some of our books on George III, who was monarch when America won its independence. George III, of course, is famous as the ‘mad’ king in Alan Bennett’s play The Madness of George III and the later film The Madness of King George. You can find the play script in Townhill Library at 822.914/BEN (not much mention of America, to be honest, but it is a good play!).

If novels are more your thing, you’ll find all sorts of classic American fiction at Townhill. The Great Gatsby had its show-stopping release in cinemas this year, but the original novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald takes some beating. If you’re more interested in 1950s and 1960s counter-culture, try Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and The Big Sur. For the ultimate American novel, though, perhaps we need look no further the Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, full to the brim with adventure, friendship and freedom.

If all this gives you a taste for travel and exploration, pop in to Swansea Business School Library to take a look at their travel guides. You’ll find a whole host of countries covered, including the USA, so you’ll have no trouble planning a trip to rival Kerouac’s!

If that’s a bit beyond your budget, or your planning expertise, you could always watch other people living, and struggling with, the American dream. Griffith Library at Dynevor has a whole host of American movies on DVD: Once Upon a Time in the West, Thelma and Louise, American Beauty, Malcolm X, Bowling for Columbine, The Social Network and loads more are available to borrow for free! Remember, we’re into the summer loan period now, so even two-day loans will be issued out until the 4^th October.

As seen on screen

You might have spotted our tweet and Facebook post on Monday when we recommended Ang Lee’s new film Life of Pi and let you know that the novel is available for you to borrow at Townhill Library. That got us thinking about some of the other books on our shelves that have made their way to the big screen.

Great Expectations and The Hobbit are two lavish productions that I’m sure lots of us are looking forward to seeing this festive period. Both films are adapted from wonderful novels which are well worth a read (though it’s worth noting that Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit is the first in a trilogy, so you’ll have to decide whether you want to read the book and find out how it all ends before or after you’ve seen all the films!). As for Great Expectations, well, you’ve got to have a bit of Dickens at Christmas, haven’t you? I’m looking forward to seeing Helena Bonham-Carter’s interpretation of Miss Havisham!

Speaking of Dickens, it’s been a while since the last big screen adaptation was released, but A Christmas Carol is always a firm favourite at this time of year. There are sure to be lots of versions popping up on the TV over the next few weeks (A Muppet Christmas Carol is surely the best!), but it’s well worth going back to the source. The spooky tale of Scrooge’s redemption is available in Townhill Library, along with some of Dickens’ lesser known Christmas stories.

 

The due dates for our ordinary and weekly loans have already gone over to next term, so if you stock up on your Christmas reading this week, you can keep the books until the 10th January! (Two-day and overnight loans will still be due back this term, so keep an eye on those!)

Looking for a scary movie or a spine-chilling book?

Happy Halloween everyone! It’s the scariest time of the year again – ghosts, ghouls, witches, and probably some assignment deadlines looming! Pop into your Swansea Met library to borrow something suitably creepy to get you in the mood.

Last week, we put the spotlight on the black cat / Halloween display in Townhill Library’s Teaching Practice collection, but we’ve lots more to offer too! Search for horror fiction on our catalogue and see what takes your fancy. If you’re looking for a recommendation, Edgar Allan Poe is surely the king of the spooky story, especially with all those Simpsons tributes through the years which seem to have have linked him inextricably with Halloween.

And we’re not just about books! Speaking of The Simpsons, you’ll find the seventh series in Townhill Library at 791.457 SIM, so you can re-visit some old adventures, including Treehouse of Horror VI  to continue with our Halloween theme. Griffith Library on the Dynevor campus has an excellent selection of DVDs which includes genre classics from kitsch Hammer Horrors to modern chillers like The Ring.

Remember, you can ask for books and DVDs to be sent between our four libraries, so you don’t need to miss out if the item you want is on another campus. Just ask staff for a request form. And don’t have nightmares!

(If it's your assignment deadline keeping you up at night, you might want to take a look at some of our study skills books!)

Fiendish fiction and devilish DVDs at SMU Libraries

It's Halloween on Monday. Get yourself in the the mood with a suitably spooky book or DVD from your SMU Library. There's plenty of horror fiction to read at Townhill Library, from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Daphne du Maurier's Don't Look Now. For younger readers, or young at heart adults, how about Winnie the Witch, or Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak? You'll also find Hammer Horrors and Hitchcock classics in the film sections (that's 791.4372, Dewey Decimal fans) of Townhill Library and the Griffith Library on the Dynevor campus. Mount Pleasant staff and students needn't miss out as you can visit and borrow from any SMU library, or ask to have items sent between libraries for you to collect.

We're not the only ones thinking about a good read for Halloween. Author Neil Gaiman is encouraging people to give scary books as a Halloween gift. You can read about his plan in this blog post from the Guardian. You can also borrow some of his books from your SMU library!

Let us know if you have any favourite creepy reads. I like a bit of Edgar Allan Poe myself.

Horrid Henry

Have you come across Horrid Henry yet? He's the loveable scamp from Francesca Simon's popular series of children's books. Think Generation Y's answer to Just William or Dennis the Menace! Henry has been a fixture on the small screen for some time with a cartoon series on CITV, but he is now to make his live action, 3D debut on the big screen too. Horrid Henry: The Movie premiered in London on Sunday and will be released nationwide on Friday.

Henry, though, is ultimately a literary character. You can read all about his adventures with Perfect Peter and Moody Margaret in Francesca Simon's books, some of which are available in the Teaching Practice section of Townhill Library. We've even got some translations of Henry's stories, so you can brush up on your Welsh as you read about Henri Helynt!

If you just can't get enough of Horrid Henry, why not take a look at the official website? You can find out all about the books, get the latest news and read about Henry's friends and enemies. You can even find out your Horrid Henry name! ("Lippy Library", since you asked.) Hours of fun!

Olympic torch date for your diary!

The route the Olympic torch will take on its destination to London next summer has been announced, and Swansea has been revealed as one of the locations it will stop at overnight! Saturday 26th May 2012 is the scheduled date, and more details about the route will be announced later on in the year.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Olympic Games, whether it's the history of the event, the environmental impact, or you just fancy watching 'Chariots of Fire' take a look at our library catalogue for a comprehensive range of titles. We also have e-resources on the subject, for example both journal and newspaper articles are available through the databases JSTOR & Newsbank, and images through the Bridgeman Art Library Digital Image Database.

If you won't be in Swansea next May, you can view the other UK destinations where the torch is heading via the BBC news website - in total it's estimated that it will travel 8,000 miles before reaching London on 27th July, 2012!

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!