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.