RefWorks seminars

The university started subscribing to RefWorks last summer, and it’s great to see some of you using it. RefWorks do some good tutorials to get you started, including basic and more advanced sessions.

For those of you who might have already been using it, you might want to join in the webinars that are being held on some of the more advanced features.

RefWorks 2.0: The new User Interface

This webinar will show you how to easily navigate the primary functions on RefWorks 2.0 -our new user interface. RefWorks 2.0 uses intuitive Web 2.0 conventions and a cleaner layout, making it easier to navigate and find the features that make RefWorks an efficient tool to manage research. We’ll show you what has changed on the new interface, including:

• Adding new references via Direct Export, and importing citations as a .txt file
• Organizing newly imported citations; creating a new folder and accessing the folder list Create a bibliography (stand alone and Write N Cite III)
• Refshare: Now a component of every RefWorks’ subscription

This webinar is primarily for RefWorks administrators, those who train on RefWorks at an institution, and experienced users. However, all are welcome to enrol.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010
2:00 pm GMT Time (London, GMT)
Register
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
9:00 am GMT Time (London, GMT)
Register
Thursday, February 11, 2010
3:00 pm GMT Time (London, GMT)
Register
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
10:00 am GMT Time (London, GMT)
Register
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
3:00 pm GMT Time (London, GMT)
Register
Monday, February 22, 2010
9:00 am GMT Time (London, GMT)
Register

Write-N-Cite III for Windows

This 30-minute session introduces the Write-N-Cite utility in RefWorks. In this brief session we will discuss how to install Write-N-Cite III,, and how to use it to insert citations and create bibliographies in your documents – including while working offline. Attendees should have a basic knowledge of RefWorks functionality.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
3:00 pm GMT Time (London, GMT)
Register

New resource: ICE Virtual Library

The Library has recently has recently added the ICE Virtual Library collection to it’s range of e-resources. This great resource includes access to all the e-books available, as well as access to archives of journal and transactions of the ICE and ideal for Civil Engineering students.

You can access the ICE Virutal Library here (you will need to log in using your Library barcode and PIN) or if you want a guided tour of getting into the resource check out this talking slideshow taking you through the steps.  Remember, there are lots of other resources that you might find useful (see the Civil Engineering subject guide for more information).

And if you’re not a Civil Engineer? Check the other subject guides and help available on this page to see if there’s anything of interest. And if there isn’t, please email me your suggestions for further resources, or make an appointment to see me.

Engineering Subject Centre Student Award 2010

This essay competition is open to all undergraduate students studying for a degree in engineering. Students are asked to express their views about how they are being taught and have the chance to win £250. This year students are being asked to use their imagination, put themselves in their tutors’ shoes and answer the question ‘imagine you are an engineering lecturer for a day: how would you teach your students?’  Find out more and enter here.

New look catalogue!

If you’ve had a look at our Library catalogue recently, you’ll have noticed that it looks a little different. This is Encore, our new and improved way of searching the Library catalogue!

For a guided tour, have a look at this presentation, where our Social Sciences librarian, Antonella, talks you through some of the new features.

The quick search now brings together the information in a more dynamic screen, with tags to find the information you want, highlighting our latest additions to the collection and quick and easy ways to refine your search to the materials or locations you want.

And never fear, the old version is still available for you to use whenever you want – just search for title, author or use the advanced search.

Need more help getting the most out of the catalogue? Let me know!

What you think of the new Library…

Over the summer, levels 2 and 3 of the Library were refurbished. This is what  students think of it.

Christmas opening and closed hours

It’s that time of year again!

• Opening hours remain on the term time pattern (midnight weekdays, 9pm at weekends) until Sunday 20th December.
• We then open until 9pm from Monday 21st – Wednesday 23rd with Library staff here till 5.
• Early closure at 3pm on Thursday 24th December.
• When we reopen on Monday 4th January, it’s 24/7 opening until 22nd January.

Opening times for all library sites can be found on the website . Check when your books are due back by logging in to your Library record online or giving us a call.  No books will be due back over the Christmas period that we’re closed, but don’t forget to renew them if they are due back before the vacation to avoid a fine in the new year.

iPhone=e-book reader

E-books are being marketed as a great Christmas gift. Me, I’m not so taken (so far) as I quite like taking my battered paperbacks around with me. Besides, the chances of me losing (or dropping) such an expensive piece of kit is quite likely (!) and they just don’t seem as friendly. However, I can see the positives – why carry a dozen heavy textbooks and hurt your back when you can have a sleek all-in-one tool that can hold hundreds of texts?

A halfway point might be the new free Kindle app for the iPhone, which was launched back in March and launched internationally this week. Kindle is the e-book reader that Amazon have lauched – the theory is you download the app and have access to the e-books you have purchased through Amazon on your iPhone. This Guardian story looks at the app when it was launched in March.

And remember, the Library provides access to e-books available on your computer through the Library catalogue – simply search for your title or by keyword, and if we have it follow the link through the catalogue and log in with your Library barcode and PIN.

Do you Google for your news? Perhaps no more…

Earlier this month, it was reported that unlimited free news via Google may be a thing of the past. Reports include that you may now be limited to five free news stories, and anything after you may find yourself being asked to register if the publisher charges for content. For more information, this story from the BBC. The Guardian has also just launched its iPhone app for its content at a cost of £2.39.

Through your Library account, you can access our news databases – entirely free, full text stories from global newspapers and major publications – oodles better than Google! Check out Nexis UK (you will need your Library barcode and PIN to access). Any problems, let me know.

iPhones: IEEE Xplore in the palm of your hand

iPhones are usually a pretty good distraction from getting work done, but now you can access certain resources on your iPhone, meaning you can do your research on the move.

Our IEEE Xplore resource is available online. Simply search for your keyword, and email results that you like to yourself to collect at a later date. You will need to log into the full IEEE Xplore site using your library barcode and PIN, and remember you will only be able to access the full text of resources that we subscribe to.

Facebook and you

Saw this post recommended by someone else on our new collaboration tools at City. We share an awful lot of information on Facebook with our ‘friends’ – but think about who, how and what information you want to be made available to anyone who searches online (be they old school friends, your parents or a future employer).

This article goes through some of the key privacy settings that you might want to use to control who sees what about you.