Mass Observation Online

Mass Observation Online can now be accessed from StarPlus, the Library catalogue. Use the University Collections tab to search for 'Mass Observation Online' and follow the link to 'View Online'. You may be prompted to log into MUSE if you are not already logged in. 

Mass Observation Online is a database that provides access to digital images of materials kept at the Mass Observation Archive, which is located at the University of Sussex. The archive holds all of the materials produced by Mass Observation, a social research group that was established in 1937.  Mass Observation aimed to understand the popular views of the British general public towards everyday activities and topics as well as national events.  The information was generated from and by volunteers who were observed, interviewed and asked to record their everyday experiences.

The material in the collection dates from between 1937 and 1949, although there is some additional material dating from the 1950s and 1960s.  The archive has also preserved other collections that relate closely to the Mass Observation materials, such as personal diaries and letters from the same period.  Users can choose to search the entire collection or only the materials that have been digitised and are available online.  The types of material available include:

File reports , which summarise the studies conducted by the group

Mass Observation publications

The raw material collected by the investigators, including survey papers and questionnaire replies

Material submitted by volunteers including diaries

Photographs

Box of Broadcasts Trial Available until 12 December ONLY!

We have secured a trial account to Box of Broadcasts at the request of Modern Languages. BoB is an off-air recording and media archive service. BoB is available to staff and students of member institutions of the British Universities Film & Video Council that hold an ERA+ license. This TV scheduling service allows you to record TV and radio programmes that are scheduled to be broadcast over the next seven days as well as retrieving programmes from the last seven days from a selected list of recorded channels.
After a programme is recorded users can stream a Flash video in a web page - in a similar way to BBC's iPlayer. BoB stores recorded TV and Radio programmes in an archive indefinitely* for all users to enjoy. The archive currently offers over 45,000 TV and radio programmes covering all genres, and that number is set to rise as more further and higher education institutions join BoB

Please contact Clare Scott for details of how to access this trial.
This trial is only available until 12 December. It is expensive to subscribe so we really need to know what you think. Please let give us your feedback on this service here:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/trialfeedback

Day lockers available at Western Bank Library

Day lockers are available to use as temporary storage while visiting Western Bank Library. 

To use a locker ask at the Welcome Desk and if one is available a key can be issued to your Library account. 

The lockers are free to use but if you do not return the key 15 minutes before the end of staffed hours a charge of £10.00 will be added to your Library account.

Spotlight on Business Source Premier

Business Source Premier is a new resource for global business literature and data, such as country and industry reports. It also provides company profiles, which will be useful for any student preparing for job applications or interviews.

The database has text to speech functionality (in English) for documents in html format. The search interface can be translated into a number of different languages, and articles in html format can also be translated.
If you create a personalised account within the database, you can organise your search results in folders and add notes to documents that you save. You can also save searches, create alerts and RSS feeds.
Apps for iPhone and Android devices are available.This database will be of interest to students and researchers in a range of disciplines across the University. To get access, open StarPlus from the library tab in MUSE and click the Log in link in the top right corner. Type Business Source Premier into the University Collections search box.

Trial Access to Archives Unbound - Spanish Civil War Collection

We currently have trial access to the Archives Unbound Spanish Civil War collection. This collection contains approximately 3,000 rare pamphlets and includes publications from Spain, Portugal, Latin America and the Philippines. There are also over 100 German pamphlets published in Spanish.

Trail access is available until 26th November 2012. If you would like to comment on this trial please do by completing the Trial Electronic Resources feedback form.

New web pages to improve your information skills

Be sure to have a look at our fantastic new web pages on information literacy.

Find out what information literacy is and what it can do for you by watching the video ‘What is Information Literacy?’

Find out how information literacy can help you with writing assignments and conducting research. The pages are split into useful sections to support you at different stages: Getting started, Writing assignments, Research skills, and Employability.

The information literacy pages are one part of our Learning and Research Services web pages which have also had a face lift to make finding information easier.

Find useful subject resources, get help with research, find your librarian, and see how they can help you.

All from Learning and Research Services on the Library home page.

Effective Internet Searching

The Information Skills tutorial Effective Internet Searching has been completely overhauled and updated, please take a look.

In this tutorial you will:

• Understand in broad terms how search engines work
• Discover what the invisible web is and why it matters
• Try out a selection of handy techniques and tips for quicker, more effective searches
• Learn about other sources of information and when to use them

Effective Internet Searching is just one of a number of tutorials the Library provides through the Information Skills Resource

Access it from the Library tab in MUSE and/or from the Library web home page

Doctoral Open Days at the British Library

The British Library are running Doctoral Open Days from November to February. The events are free and may be useful if you have just started your PhD and would like to find out more about the research materials available at the British Library. At each event you will learn about the collections, find out how to access them and meet the British Library's expert staff.

Different subjects are covered on different days and include Music, English and Drama (19th to 20th Century & Pre 1900), History and Art and Design. For more information about dates and how to book take a look a the British Library's website.

Trial to Official Publications Online

The Library has a new trial to Offical Publications Online.
This database from The Stationery Office includes access to:

• UK Legislation: including Scottish, Northern Ireland and Welsh Legislation
• Command and House Papers: Green Papers
• White Papers, Annual Report and Accounts, Departmental Reports and Treaty Series
• Parliamentary Publications: Hansard, Bills and Amends and Select Committee Reports

Publications are available online, as soon as they are published and there is early morning delivery of key parliamentary titles.  The trial will be made available until 31st December 2012 . Please tell us what you think of it by using our feedback form.

Temporary access to the Churchill Archive

Anyone interested in Modern British history might be interested to know we have an electronic trial available to the Churchill Archive until 9th January 2013. The archive contains over 800,000 pages from original documents from the Churchill Archive centre in Cambridge.

Ebooks - your essential guide

So ebooks, we all know what they are but do you know how to make the most of them? How to annotate online, when to download and how much you can print? The Library buys hundreds of ebooks each year and you can find them all via our Library catalogue StarPlus but they don’t all come from the same supplier. As a result there are lots of different rules governing how you can use them. Here is a quick guide to our main supplies and some top tips on how to make the most of your e reading experience... 

Dawsonera:

This is our main supplier. If there’s an ebook you want and dawsonera has it we’ll be buying it from them. Dawsonera allows you two options with ebooks. You can either ‘read online’ or you can download the book onto a memory stick or your computer drive where it will last as a pdf format for 24 hours. This is great if you know you’ve only got a short internet connection. 

If you’re reading the ebook online you can also annotate the text, just click on the yellow notes tab. The reader portal recognises who you are each time you log in and your notes will be saved for your next session. 

If you want a hard copy of the text Dawsonera allows you to print up to 5% of any ebook per user. 

MyiLibrary:

You can generally download or print 10 pages of a MyiLibrary ebook, although this may differ slightly as the publisher sets the limits.

The MyiLibrary software works best if you use the chapter navigation on the left-hand side to navigate the book.

NetLibrary:

You cannot download from NetLibrary ebooks, but you can print a percentage of the book. This percentage is again set by the publishers so will vary book to book, if you click on the print button within a book it will tell you how many pages you're allowed for that book.

If you're using a Mac to view NetLibrary ebooks, you will need to install a PDF Browser plug-in which can be found in the help section.

Taylor and Francis archive:

With these ebooks, you can save or print one chapter, or 5% of the book, whichever is greater.

Welcome everyone!

Welcome to all our new and returning students. There's lots we can do to help you in your studies - why not check out our new induction presentation and have a chance to win an Amazon voucher!

How to find 'Find it'

You may have noticed that we've recently made some changes to the links you see from the Library tab in  MUSE. In particular we've removed the link to 'Find it', our e-journals database. But don't panic! You can still access all the Library's e-journals only now we recommend that you use our new Library catalogue StarPlus. 

From StarPlus you can search for and access all our Library content (both print and electronic) so it's no longer necessary to have separate links for e-journals and ebooks. So to search for books, journal titles and databases simply use the 'University Collections'  tab on the StarPlus homepage. 

However 'find it' is still available if you want to use it  - for example it can be useful for browsing a list of journals by subject. To find it simply go the StarPlus homepage and there will be a link at the top of the page 'Findit@sheffield ejournals A-Z'.

For any queries or problems just contact the Library helpdesk. 

email: library@sheffield.ac.uk

Tel: (0114) 222 7200

Welcome new students!

Congratulations to our new students who received their results yesterday. You can relax now you know you are coming to The University of Sheffield, Times Higher Education UK University of the Year.

If you’d like to find out about our library services in advance, you can find the introductory information you will need here: www.shef.ac.uk/library/services/induction

You can also follow the library on Twitter @UniSheffieldLib, and follow this blog for news relating to your faculty.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, fingers crossed for some more sunshine!

Looking forward to meeting you all in September. 

New additions to Archives Unbound

Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of primary source historical documents. The University of Sheffield has purchased six collections, including papers of the Nixon Administration 1969-74, Intelligence Reports from the National Security Council’s Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975 and Tiananmen Square and U.S.- China relations, 1989-1993.

You can access the collection easily from our new catalogue StarPlus by typing 'Archives Unbound' into the University Collections search box and clicking 'View Online'. StarPlus is available via the Library tab in MUSE. If you haven't used it yet, try it out and let us know what you think. We'll be continuing to add new features based on your requests and new technological developments.

New Tutorials for Modern Languages

I have updated the Information Skills Resource for Modern Languages so that there is now a Referencing Tutorial for Harvard Author-Date style and for MHRA footnote style for each of the four main languages: Spanish, German, French and Russian.

This may help dual students in particular. School of |Languages and Cultures does not ask you to use one particular referencing style but you must be consistent with whichever style you do use for your essays and assignments

Need help with your dissertation?

The Library can help with advice on referencing, finding literature, data and other materials.

Have a look at our online tutorials about StarPlus, writing a literature review and referencing.

If you’d like some individual help face to face, contact the library subject specialist for your department. Alternatively, pop into the IC skills suite on level 1. Staff are normally available between 9-5 Monday-Friday. Ask at the information desk for directions.

Web of Knowledge Mobile Access

Web of Knowledge have recently brought out a new mobile version of their database so now you can search for articles on the go. The mobile interface contains many of the same features; so there's all the advanced search options, you can set alerts, view your search history and send references to endnoteweb.

To get started all you need to do is go to http://m.webofknowledge.com/ from your phone and log in with your personal WoK username and password.

 If you haven't created a WoK account before just follow the steps below;

 From a normal PC log into MUSE and go to Web of Knowledge from the library tab.

1. Once in Web of Knowledge click on 'sign in'.


2. Then click 'register' to create a new account (when registering it's best to use your @sheffield email address).

You can now use your new password for the mobile interface as well as accessing all the database's advanced features. All you need to remember is to log into your new account at least every 6 months from an IP authenticated computer to ensure your account stays active.

 

 

 

For more information or trouble-shooting see the WoK webpages below;

http://wokinfo.com/about/mobile/

http://wokinfo.com/media/pdf/wok-mobile-faqs.pdf

Library News for Arts and Humanities

Take a look at the latest newsletter for Arts & Humanities.

This edition includes information on dissertation support, a spotlight on primary sources and details of the some of the new books recently added to stock:

Tips for using Oxford Language Dictionaries Online

A few people from School of Languages and Cultures have said they are not finding Oxford Language Dictionaries Online (OLDO) very user-friendly. Here are some top tips from your friendly librarian:

Choose which language you want to search for - you can use the arrows to switch between languages for translations e.g. French to English or vice versa. Use 'Search' tab to do a quick search - click on the dropdown keyboard to put in accents or different alphabets/characters. Choose 'Browse' tab to access alphabetical entry lists.

• Used advanced search to search the full text of the dictionary.
• Restrict search to specific parts of speech, subject area or language register
• Perform Boolean searches
• Get click-through explanations of phonetic symbols
• Insert accented characters (letters from a different alphabet) using a handy virtual keyboard
• Print, email, cite or link
• Find language learning and usage tools and resources
  • Grammar notes
  • Verb tables
  • Cultural information
  • Advice on applying for jobs
  • Sample letters, emails and CVs
  • Downloadable kits to help teach and learn essential dictionary skills
• Oxford Language Web gives you a translation of a word into 13 languages

Please do try it out and give me feedback. Thanks, Clare

RILM - enhancements for Music searches

EBSCOhost the provider of RILM Abstracts of Music literature have updated their site to  make subject indexing searchable within four areas: Names Subjects Instrument Families Countries Try it out. If you need help check out the EBSCO Support site

Archives Unbound

Calling all Historians - particularly those interested in Vietnam. I have obtained access to the Gale Cengage Collection: Archives Unbound. We have access to three collections of documents/primary sources

1.America in protest: Records of anti-Vietnam war organisations

2.Intelligence reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group 1967-1975

3. U.S. Civilian advisory effort in Vietnam...1950-1954

You can access this via MUSE and the Library eResources here

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/au

Hopefully this will help with some dissertations.

Clare

Improving Learning Resources

We know from your feedback that book availability is an area
where we can improve. The University has made additional money
available to the Library in 2011/12 to strengthen our collections for
students in the Faculties of Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences.
We are currently exploring ways of targeting the funds but we would also like your help.

Let us know about books that you'd like to see added to our collection, or titles where you think extra copies would be useful, by filling in the book recommendation form available on the Library web pages.

We can't promise to buy everything that you suggest, but all your
recommendations will be carefully considered.

Thanks for your help.

Closure of Level 3 at Western Bank Library

Level 3 of Western Bank Library will be closed from Wednesday 4th January to Tuesday 10th January inclusive. During this time a request service will operate for stock on Level 3.

This closure is to allow the remaining B sequence books on Level 1 to be moved to Level 3. The move will allow full access to the books that were previously located on Level 1.

The lift will be unavailable for periods of time during these moves. If you would like more information on accessing the library please contact lib-support@sheffield.ac.uk

Apologies for any inconvenience this closure may cause.