On this day in history...

...the world was shocked by the fatal shooting of Beatle John Lennon, outside his New York home in 1980. Though quite a young child at the time, I personally recollect seeing the story on the news and I'm sure they played one of his songs as a tribute, 'Woman'.

If you are interested in seeing videos of news stories or programme scripts relating to this story and others, take a look at our database 'NewsFilm Online'. It is a JISC funded service from the ITN and Reuters archive and contains over three thousand hours of footage and around sixty thousand stories.

SMU students and staff can access NewsFilm Online via the library web pages www.smu.ac.uk/library then click on the 'Online Resources A-Z' list, and then 'Databases'. You'll see Newsfilm Online on the list, and if you click on the title it will take you into the resource. Lastly, you can access it both on campus, and off-campus also with your current network login details.

Out of this world

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic first flight into space. Gagarin became the first man in space when he orbited the Earth in Vostok 1 on the 12th April 1961. You can find out more about the Russian cosmonaut and the history of space exploration through Oxford Reference Online, a comprehensive collection of reference material that's accessible from one database.

Gagarin's flight paved the way for human space travel, but how did people feel about it at the time? We've got a database that can help with that question! You can step back in time to see contemporary news footage of Yuri's 1961 visit to the UK on NewsFilm Online. For an up-to-date perspective on the mission, try Newsbank, which lets you search and read hundreds of archived and current newspaper issues from all over the UK.

If you'd like to know more about any of these resources, please ask a librarian.

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!

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!