Searching for Researching workshops

Do you need to find literature for an independent research project? Not sure where to start? Tried searching but retrieving too many or too few results? Then come along to a Searching for Researching workshop at 301: Student Skills and Development Centre.

Run by the University Library, the workshop will show you how to find the best resources for your research project. You will learn about different information sources and how to create an effective search strategy to produce a manageable set of relevant results. You will also consider evaluating information, referencing and plagiarism - making sure you use your own ideas and reference the work of others properly.

         
Places are still available on the workshop for the following dates:

Thursday 20 November 18.30-19.30
Tuesday 2 December 12.00-13.00 

For further information and to book your place: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/301/services/workshops/searching

IC in The Diamond

The Information Commons has long been a recognised success for the University: it truly integrates services and departments into a single transparent facility; and secondly a user centric design approach was (and is) taken to every aspect of the facility. When the design for learning facilities in the Diamond started about 2 years ago, it was obvious that we wanted to take that same approach again.
The process of designing the Diamond has also provided an opportunity to rethink learning spaces a bit more widely. Rather than replicate the success of the IC in a single new building, we should perhaps be looking to disseminate it across the campus. All our learning and teaching spaces are complex environments that bring together services and facilities from many departments. Improving the design and integration of those spaces is likely to be a good way to enhance them.

 

This is why the library and CiCS have taken the step to create a secondment for a ‘Learning Architect’. The idea behind this secondment is to bring together the departments that create and support our spaces, and work with students and academics to make sure the spaces are designed in the best way to suit their requirements. Rene Meijer, the Information Commons Manager, has taken up this post.

While some of the ideas on how to best do this are still very much in development, a few things are already on their way:

• One of the interns from the IC intern scheme is working on engaging with students on their learning spaces. So far we’ve had almost 1000 respondents to our survey and more than 100 people signed up for the workshops that will run early November.
• We’re working on an integral overview of all learning spaces (libraries, IT labs, departmental facilities). This will be published so that students can easily find a suitable space. The overview will also help us prioritise future developments of learning spaces.
• We’ve started a Strategic review of teaching spaces. Sessions with academic staff have started, helping us to better understand how they teach, and how our current spaces work for them.
• In semester 2 we will be opening a Teaching Lab, probably in the Hicks building. This will be a space where we (support staff and academics) can experiment with technology, furniture and other elements of the classroom. This will be an opportunity to make better informed choice when we design these spaces, and also a way to deliver training and share practice.

 

 

The most important thing is to make sure we get a lot of feedback from staff and students on how our spaces work. If you have any comments concerns or ideas with regards to our learning spaces, please do get in touch! There is also some trial furniture for the Diamond in the Flexispace on level 4 in the IC, so please try it, and let us know what you think

 

 

 

Western Bank Library - Saturday 8 November 2014

Due to essential work being carried out to the district heating system, Western Bank Library will be closed on Saturday 8 November.

The University Library will operate services as usual from all other sites:

Information Commons - 24/7
Health Sciences Library (Royal Hallamshire Hospital) - 14:00-18:00
St. George's Library - 14:00-18:00

(Normal service will resume on Sunday 9 November)


We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

We welcome our new University Librarian

We look forward to welcoming Anne Horn who will be joining us as the new Director of Library Services & University Librarian.
She will be taking over from Martin Lewis when he retires in March.
Anne will be our ninth University Librarian and the first woman to hold the role.


For more information, please see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/staff/news/anne-horn-university-librarian-1.413913

International Open Access Week 20-24 October

Our Open Access Team have organised some events to celebrate International Open Access Week. If you are interested in open access, and want to know more about funders such as RCUK research councils and the Charity Open Access Fund, please come along to one of the events:

General Sessions:
Open Access Coordinator Carmen O'Dell will give two sessions on Tuesday (1-2pm, Firth Court FC02) and Wednesday (1.15-2.15pm, Arts Tower LT09). These will consist of a short presentation covering the basic concepts of open access, funder requirements, and the implications for researchers. There will also be time available for discussion and questions.

Drop-in sessions:
Thursday (10am-12pm, White Rose Room, ScHARR, Regent Court)
Friday (10am-12pm, David Ryan Room, Medical School Library, Royal Hallamshire Hospital)
Our OA Team would be delighted to answer your questions on compliance with funders' mandates, the University Publication Fund, green open access for non-funded research, the HEFCE open access policy, our institutional repository (White Rose Research Online), and anything else you'd like to know about the open access landscape.

If you're interested in coming to one of the general sessions, please register through Eventbrite (Tuesday 21st or Wednesday 22nd). (There is no need to book for the drop-in sessions)

Nature Publishing Group

In November last year, The University Library conducted a survey for staff and students.  Many of our customers commented that although we had access to some Nature journals, we did not subscribe to some important titles.
After negotiations with the publisher we now have a subscription to the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) complete collection. This includes all ejournals published by NPG.
For a full list of etitles and access to the Nature website, please see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/nature

To access individual titles, please search for them on StarPlus.

For more details of the Library Survey, please see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/libnews/libsurvey2013

Marvelosa: Art inspired by the National Fairground Archive

Come and see the latest exhibition in Western Bank Library including new works of art specially commissioned to celebrate 20 years of the National Fairground Archive.  In addition to the new commissions, we have acquired the work of internationally renowned artist Zoe Beloff.

10 September 2014 – 8 January 2015

For more details, please see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/exhibition

British Library Boston Spa Minibus

The Library runs a regular free minibus service to the British Library Document Supply Centre at Boston Spa to give staff and students of the University the opportunity to use the extensive collections housed there. Visits are scheduled for the first Tuesday of every month. For details of dates and booking, please see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/services/illmini

From 10 September, The British Library are introducing major changes to the way readers access the reading room.  This requires pre-registration and ordering items in advance.

For more details please see http://www.bl.uk/notices/boston_spa_readingroom.html

Copyright videos now available on iTunesU

We are pleased to announce that the first Library content collection is now available in iTunesU
The copyright collection - 'Clare Does Copyright', by our Copyright Officer Clare Scott - comprises three cat-based videos, and a 6-part lecture, and is the first Library material to be included as part of our iTunesU offering.

The videos are:
1) Creative Commons Licences
2) What is Copyright?
3) How long does Copyright last?

Please see https://itunes.apple.com/gb/itunes-u/clare-does-copyright/id895395998?mt=10
For more information on copyright, see the Copyright Hub (www.sheffield.ac.uk/copyright).

Research Data Management EPSRC drop-in session

Our University's Research Data Management Coordinator, Laurian Williamson will be holding a drop-in session for those members of the University that are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
She will be able to answer your questions about research data and advise about:

• compliance with EPSRC requirements
• securely storing and backing up data
• data management planning tools
• subject and disciplinary repositories
• legal and ethical issues

The session will be held at St. George's Library (Mappin Street) on Tuesday 1 July between 12 - 2pm.

For further information, please contact Laurian at rdm@sheffield.ac.uk
For information about RDM, please see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/rdm/index


  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

University of Sheffield Library wins award for Outstanding Library Team

We're pleased to announce that we won the award for Outstanding Library Team at the recent Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards (THELMAs). The Library was recognised for the improvement in student satisfaction and the focus on the student experience, including the continued investment in improving student learning spaces. Read the full story here.

Library Faculty Newsletters

Every few months, our Faculty Liaison Librarians produce newsletters highlighting our latest acquisitions, training sessions and guidance specifically aimed at the departments within their Faculty.  These newsletters can be accessed via the Learning & Research Services Team web page or on their blogs.
The latest newsletters are special issues focusing on Academic staff and Researchers produced by our Science and Engineering teams.  Please see the links below for more details:
http://librarysupport.shef.ac.uk/Science Newsletter_latest.pdf
http://librarysupport.shef.ac.uk/Engineering Newsletter_latest.pdf

Summer Vacation Loans

Vacation loans begin at 9am on the 9 June

Normal loan to Staff, NHS & Postgraduate Research students:

Issued or renewed between 9 June & 5 September will be issued until 3 October (unless requested by someone else)

 

Normal loan to part-time Postgraduate Taught and Undergraduate students:

 

Issued or renewed between 9 June & 19 September will be issued until 3 October (unless requested by someone else)

 

Normal loan to full-time Postgraduate Taught and Undergraduate students:

 

Issued or renewed between 9 June & 26 September will be issued until 3 October (unless requested by someone else)

 

Loans already requested by someone else:

 

Issued from 12 June will become a 2 week loan or issued until 29 September (whichever is shorter)

 

 

Please note:

• The loan period for external borrowers will remain at one week throughout the vacation
• Performance material (8 week loan) is not affected
• A normal loan item may be recalled by the library if someone else requests it. Recalled items must be returned within 15 days of the recall
• Charges may apply on overdue loans so please ensure that borrower accounts are kept up to date

Any enquiries regarding loans please contact the Library HelpDesk on (0114) 222-7200

The Library win bronze at the University Green Impact Awards

Even though we have some sites that are quite old (one of which is a listed building) we are trying to be a greener library.

Our Library Green Impact team have worked hard to make improvements including:

• encouraging staff and students to use double-sided printing
• ensuring recycling bins are present in all staff and student areas
• communicating with staff via email/bulletins rather than printed material
• encouraging staff to turn off lights, portable heaters, fans, PC equipment when not in use
• introduction of webinars and teleconference facility to reduce staff travel

Our Green impact team at the awards ceremony

Additional study space

From Tuesday 27 May to Friday 13 June, the Library is providing additional study space (weekdays only) in the following locations:

Hicks Building (09:00 – 21:00)
Room F28
Room F41
LT 4 (D Floor)
LT11 (H Floor)

Dainton Building (09:00 – 18:00)
Room 12c (Ground floor)
Room 12h (Ground floor)

 

Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2014-15

The University of Sheffield has been voted number 1 overall in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2014-15. Thanks to all our students who voted the University Library number 3 of the 111 institutions included in the survey. We appreciate this feedback and will continue to invest in spaces, services, and collections to give our students one of the best learning experiences in the UK!

Further investment in our ebook collection

As we are committed to enriching our eresource collection for staff and students, we are spending a further £40,000 on ebooks.

For the next 12 months, we will have full-text access to 'Cambridge Books Online Evidence-based Monographs' collection.  This includes over 17,000 ebooks spanning all subjects on the Cambridge platform.

We will continually monitor usage, and at the end of the 12 months, we will obtain perpetual access to the ebooks that you have decided are the most relevant.

 

To access these and other ebooks, please go to StarPlus; sign in, and search for your chosen field.

Alternatively you can go to the Cambridge platform

 

 

 

 

 

 

New online resources

Times Digital Archive, 1785 – 2008

The Times Digital Archive is an online full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times, detailing every complete page.
For registered staff and students, please go to http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/times or search StarPlus.

State Papers Online, 1509 – 1714 
State Papers Online is a searchable archive of 16th and 17th century State Papers. The University of Sheffield has access to the following collections:

• Part I - The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic
• Part III - The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic

For registered staff and students, please go to http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/spo or search StarPlus

  

IC in The Diamond

We are delighted to report that the building previously known as the new engineering building has been formally named as 'The Diamond'.  What's even better is that in addition to labs and lecture theatres, The Diamond will offer state of the art 24-hour learning spaces and facilities to all students of all departments.  From September 2015 The University Library and CiCS will deliver services and support students to truly bring the IC experience to The Diamond.

Exam Opening hours

From Sunday 27th April:

Site	Open	Staffed
Western Bank Library
*Monday - Thursday	08:30 - 24:00	09:00 - 19:00
Friday	08:30 - 21:00	10:00 - 19:00
Saturday	10:00 - 18:00	12:00 - 18:00
Sunday	10:00 - 24:00	12:00 - 18:00
*Bank Holiday Mondays 5th and 26th May	09:00 - 24:00	09:00 – 17:00
St. George’s Library
*Monday - Thursday	09:00 - 21:00	09:00 - 19:00
Friday	09:00 - 21:00	10:00 - 19:00
Saturday - Sunday	10:00 - 18:00	Self-service only
*Bank Holiday Mondays 5th and 26 May	09:00 - 21:00	09:00 - 17:00
Health Sciences Library – Royal Hallamshire Hospital
Monday - Thursday	09:00 - 21:00	09:00 - 19:00
Friday	09:00 - 21:00	10:00 - 19:00
Saturday - Sunday	10:00 - 18:00	Self-service only
*Bank Holiday Mondays 5th and 26 May	09:00 - 21:00	09:00 - 17:00

(Information Commons open 24/7)

Final Year Students

Please remember to keep your library account up-to-date. All library material must be returned by the end of service hours on Saturday 14th June.

Please make sure that you check your weekly borrowing statement and if you have any queries about your library account, please ask staff at any library site or email us at library@sheffield.ac.uk.

Easter Vacation

Opening times
The Library sites (excluding IC) are normally closed over the Easter Weekend, but this year we are opening limited hours:

Site                                                   Open                   Staffed             
Western Bank Library                                              

Friday 18 April	09:00 - 17:00	09:00 - 17:00
Saturday 19 April	10:00 - 18:00	12:00 - 18:00
Monday 21 April	09:00 - 17:00	09:00 - 17:00

St. George's Library
Saturday 19 April                           14:00 - 18:00     Self-service only
Health Sciences Library - RHH     Saturday 19 April                          14:00 - 18:00     Self-service only

The Information Commons is open 24/7

Borrowing over the vacation
Over the Easter vacation your books will continue to be renewed by us.
From Monday 31st March, if a book is requested by someone else we will send you an email to let you know and to ask that you return the book by 28th April. Requested books will not be renewed beyond this date.

Requesting books over the vacation
You can still request books however the person who has the book out on loan over the vacation will not have to return it until Monday 28th April

Jisc's Summer of Student Innovation 2014

Jisc, is the UK's expert on digital technologies for education and research.
Their Summer of Student Innovation is an experiment in funding ideas from students that will use technology to improve education and research in UK higher and further education.
Successful entrants will receive a £5,000 grant from Jisc to transform their ideas into prototypes and gain a ‘feel’ for their product or service. The selected students will also receive user feedback so that missing or difficult functionality can be easily identified and students can go on to develop better solutions that will potentially be adopted by universities, colleges and learning providers across the UK.
To enter, students must submit a two to five minute video pitch on the Jisc Elevator website alongside a short summary and a 300-500 word description which includes details on the benefits of their idea and its impact on research and education. To be considered for funding, entrants must hit a target of 500 votes before 30 May 2014. Voting is open to everyone but votes must come from 15 different FE and HE institutions.
The successful entrants will be announced in July and given opportunities to join networking workshops with fellow students and experts to further their ideas. Volunteer education organisations will trial the technology developed and those products that are successful will be provided to other interested parties through sustainable routes.
The winners’ ideas will be showcased later this year to Further Education and Higher Education IT directors, learning technologists, librarians and commercial companies, offering them the chance to learn more about the benefits of these newly developed technologies.