Your Subject Librarian

The Sheffield Mentors scheme provides peer support for new students at the University. Over the last couple of weeks the new cohort of mentors have attended training sessions in preparation for the arrival of their mentees in October. Myself and a colleague went along to talk about Library services and give some tips the mentors can pass on to their mentees at the start of next semester. During each session we asked for a show of hands to see if the Mentors knew who their Subject Librarian was. On the whole, two or three hands were raised, a very small percentage of those present! Our aim is that in future, every undergraduate will know who their Subject Librarian is and will see us as a point of contact, a friendly face and someone to turn to when additional, in-depth support with study skills and information searching is needed.

The Subject Librarians, or Academic Liaison Librarians to give them their official title, are subject specialists and work closely with departments to make sure the Library provides all the materials you need for your modules. This can include resource lists with links to journal articles and e-offprints, e-books, websites, course packs and of course trusty old books.

Subject Librarians are also here to assist you in acquiring the information skills you need to successfully complete your degree. You need to be able to locate, evaluate and organise information effectively - without any plagiarism!
DO NOT JUST GOOGLE IT!
Don't worry, help is at hand in the form of:
- Induction events when you start your course
- Your Subject Librarian is IN! Information Commons drop-in sessions at the level one counter, Mondays 2-4pm, Thursdays 11am-1pm.
- Information skills workshops and lectures - they may be part of your module, or may run as supplementary drop-ins.
- Surgeries - one-to-one specialist advice from library staff, we come to you in your department.

Also, don't forget the Information Skills Tutorials accessible through MOLE for interactive guidance on internet searching, referencing, database searching etc.

This blog will be updated with details of any sessions we are running, so keep checking!

Student guide to “Information Literacy”

If you have ever heard us library folk use the term "information literacy" but not really known what we mean by that, here are a few things to give you a student perspective.

The CILASS Student Ambassador Network have put together an excellent guide on Tips for Information Gathering.

Xpress Radio at Cardiff University have recorded a series of podcasts in a Student Survival Guide To Writing A Good Essay. The podcasts cover topics such as 'Quality control: information to use and avoid' and 'Going beyond the reading list: finding good web sites' and include tips from experts as well as student experiences.

And for a highly informative(!) student virtual tour of the Information Commons, try the IC Girls video!

As ever, leave a comment if you'd like to get in touch.

Oxford dictionary of national biography

We have a new Information Skills Tutorial on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography available. To access the tutorial, login to MUSE, then go into MOLE. In your course list you will see a 'Library - Information Skills' option (it may be buried towards the bottom, but it should be there somewhere!). Choose the 'subject-specific Information Skills Tutorials' option, then select 'English Literature' and there you will find the new ODNB tutorial. This will show you how to get the most out of this fantastic resource.

The ODNB contains around 56,000 biographies of significant Brits, including many notable literary figures. It provides a great introduction to the life and work of the subject as well as filling in the context in which they worked. A collection of  essays brings individuals and movements together thematically, well worth a browse.

You can be assured that the information on the ODNB is of excellent quality and written by experts. So ditch wikipedia as your quick 'who's who' one-stop-shop!

Cambridge companions to literature & classics

If you suddenly find you don't have all the books you need over the Christmas holidays, take a look at the Cambridge Companions to literature and classics - a collection of ebooks containing over 1400 essays on major authors, periods and genres. You'll need to login to MUSE to gain access.

There is a vast collection of full text Cambridge Companion ebooks available on everything from Arthur Miller to Chaucer, Christopher Marlowe to Margaret Atwood. There are also more general guides such as Eighteenth-Century Poetry, and Feminist Literary Theory, so whatever modules you are currently studying you are bound to find some useful material here.

See you in 2008!

Using library electronic resources over the Christmas break

Many of you will need to access electronic library resources while you're at home over Christmas, but accessing them can sometimes work differently when you are off campus.
Here's a few tips in case you get stuck.

ALWAYS access ebooks, ejournals and databases by logging into MUSE and going to the 'library' tab. See here for more information about on and off campus access.

If you are having problems accessing ejournals, there is help available on the library website. Each publisher / supplier is listed with some advice on how you can gain access with screen shots to guide you through.

If you are still having problems, don't give up! It's always worth trying again later in case a problem on the supplier's side has been resolved.

But if you are still having trouble after that, please let us know so we can try and fix it. Email us at lib-eservices@sheffield.ac.uk (though please note library staff will not be available from 24th December until 2nd January).


The Information Commons will be open throughout the Christmas break on a self-service basis.

Happy Christmas!

Internet resources for your studies

Increasingly you’ll find primary texts and secondary / critical material are available online. Brilliant! If you know where to look that is! To get you started, try this online tutorial for English students.  

As the internet is so vast and uncontrolled, it is important that you know how to spot reliable information. Try the Internet Detective tutorial and don’t forget to use the Information Skills Tutorials through MOLE where you’ll find general guides on ‘Effective searching of the internet’ and ‘Evaluating information’ as well as subject specific guides for English Language & Linguistics and English Literature.

The best way to go about accessing online material for essays and assignments is to use a ‘gateway’, which is basically a selection of web resources chosen and evaluated by subject specialists so you can feel confident that they are both reliable and academically credible. There are lists of recommended gateways available on the Library website for English Studies, and more specifically for Linguistics & Language Studies  and Literature.

Intute is a particularly good gateway to begin with, very easy to natigate and allows you to carry out advanced searches or browse by subject. You can keep up to date with new additions to the website too.  

BUBL is also worth exploring, it contains sections on Language and Literature & Rhetoric.

If you come across any internet resources that are really helpful, share your find by leaving a comment. 

Happy hunting!

JSTOR on Facebook

JSTOR provide electronic access to archives of Arts journals - it is a major resource for history students and one you will become very familiar with if you are not already! JSTOR are now on Facebook (further details here) - there are two JSTOR applications:
JSTOR Information gives guidance on how to search JSTOR, frequently asked questions and links to further help pages.
JSTOR Search application allows you to search for journal articles from within Facebook.

There are also JSTOR tutorials available on YouTube - How to Search JSTOR and How to Browse JSTOR.

If you find any other Facebook applications helpful for finding information for essays, leave details as a comment.