Library blog

eduroam companion app for iOS

2012-01-13T12:18:00.000Z

Our colleagues in Information Services have been made aware of an eduroamcompanion app for iOS, developed by JANET, which can be used by iPhone and iPadusers to locate their nearest eduroam point. Using this application whiletravelling should help you locate any local eduroam instances which can then beused to connect to the internet using your QMU username and password. Fordetails and an iTunes link to download the app visit:

http://www.ja.net/janetnews/2012/01/05/eduroam-companion-app-for-iphone-and-ipad/

As always eduroam should be configured andtested here at QMU before travelling. For instructions and more informationclick here.

Cambridge University Press eBooks trial

2012-01-12T12:49:00.001Z

We're currentlytaking part in trial providing access to e-books published by CambridgeUniversity Press (CUP). The trial has been made available by the Scottish HigherEducation Digital Library (SHEDL) of which QMU is a member.
The trial will last 6months and includes all current e-book titles from CUP and titles publishedduring the trial period. The books are listed the library catalogue andare accessible on campus or via the Remote Desktop service.
Asalways any feedback on the trial can be made to Barbara Houston or your Liaison Librarian.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the LRC

2011-12-12T09:15:00.001Z

Just a reminder to all users that the LRCOpen Access area will be fully available over the Christmas and New Yearholidays, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. However, we do advise to ring theUniversity on 0131 474 0000 just to check that the building is accessiblebefore travelling.

The LRC will operate as normal up to andincluding Wednesday 21st December. On Thursday 22nd December we will bestaffed until 19:00 (7pm) and on Friday 23^rd until 17:00(5pm). We will resume normal staffed hours on Thursday 5^thJanuary 2012.

Please remember that off-campus access to allelectronic resources is available through the Remote Desktop service. Check theLibrary Services website for details.

And finally, please remember to renew your loans! If you renew 21-dayloans now they will be issued until January; 7-day loans can be renewed intoJanuary from Saturday 17^th December provided they are not requiredby other readers.

Best wishes to all for the festive season.

MyRI at QMU

2011-12-07T12:37:00.001Z

The fantastic Irish-based MyRI (My Research Impact) project tutorials on bibliometrics have been adapted for Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. The QMU version is available here.

November book swap

2011-11-21T08:54:00.001Z

The next LRC Book Swap is today at 11amto 2pm at Foodfor Thought.

It's anotherchance to exchange those books that you don’t need or want for some new titles.

Abig thank you to those who have been contributing to the book swap already. Ifyou cannot make it on the day, please feel free to drop off books for the swapat the LRC Service Desk.

Seeyou all there.

Library Anywhere app

2011-11-01T15:21:00.000Z

Want to see what is available onthe LRC catalogue? Need to renew yourbooks? Our mobile-enabled catalogue isnow even better, with the introduction of apps for iPhone/iPad/iTouch orAndroid phones/tablets.

Visit iTunes orthe Android app store and search for “Library Anywhere”. Then choose Queen Margaret University fromthe list of available catalogues. Youwill also see a new feature on the app – in the top right corner, click on the3 dots. You can then scan the barcode onthe back of any book, and the app will link to our catalogue, so you can see ifwe have that book – or any other edition, which you can then reserve.

Any queries, email lrchelp@qmu.ac.uk.

Research Support lunch-time drop-in session

2011-10-13T09:24:00.004+01:00

The LRC will be hosting a drop-in lunchtime session from 12-2pm on Tuesday 15th November for QMU research staff. Please come along to find out more about our research support services including eResearch and its MePrints personal webpages, how eResearch is being used for the REF, open access publishing advice and our eData service. As lunch is being provided, it would be appreciated if you could let Helen Muir know if you are able to attend for catering numbers.

Check out the library catalogue on your smartphone

2011-09-19T09:06:00.006+01:00

On the move and want to search the QMU library catalogue or see what you have on loan via your smartphone? Point your browser to www.libanywhere.com/m/463 where you can also renew your books, using your QMU log in.

For more information, ask a member of Library Services staff or email lrchelp@qmu.ac.uk.

September book swap at Fresher's Fair

2011-09-16T12:56:00.000+01:00

The LRC Book Swap is back!

We will be at the Fresher’s Fair on the 19th of September, in the Sports Hall between 12pm to 4pm.

We have new titles, both fiction and non-fiction, available to be swapped, so do bring in those books that might be of use to others.

See you there.

Opening hours

2011-09-15T18:18:00.002+01:00

Now that the semester is upon us, the LRC is staffed from 09:00 to 21:00 Monday to Friday and 09:00 to 17:00 on Saturday and Sunday.

We're open 24 hours a day, seven days a week so don't forget your smartcard to show to Security Staff when entering the Academic Building outside staffed hours.

Bargain buys

2011-09-14T15:39:00.010+01:00

Come along to the LRC and pick up a bargain.

Have a look through our book sale trolley for withdrawn library stock. The books may be older and well used but with prices starting at 50p you might find something really useful.

HD 201 headphones, RRP £22.37 and available online for £15.00 are on sale at the LRC Service Desk for £5.00. Stock are limited so grab this fantastic bargain while you can.

New database - ProQuest Central

2011-09-13T09:07:00.003+01:00

Library Services now have a subscription to ProQuest Central (PCQ) - the largest multidisciplinary database on the market today comprising 26 individual databases, worldwide newspapers, dissertations and theses, various journal collections including Nursing and Allied Health, Psychology, Social Science, Education, Family Health and Business. Access PCQ via our Databases A-Z page and is seamless when logged in on campus or off campus via Remote Access.

The decision to subscribe to PQC was taken after a full consultation exercise, as we will no longer be subscribing to Emerald or BSP. However, PQC contains the majority of material in these two databases and as mentioned much more besides.

New year...new look for the home page

2011-09-12T14:37:00.009+01:00

We're starting off the new academic year with a new look to our home page. As you can see, it's a lot more colourful and - we're hoping - a lot more user-friendly.

The Library Services toolbar has been updated with a quick search box for the library catalogue and a 'Links to...' box which means the full library catalogue - where you can log in to renew your books, databases A-Z page, eJournals A-Z page and Subject Resources pages are still only a click away.

Information for Staff, Students, Distance Learners and Researchers pages can be accessed via the 'Information for...' box. We've been busy over the summer creating a new Referencing page and updating Reading lists that can be found by clicking on the 'Students' link.

Our workshop timetable can be found in the 'Contact us/Help' box along with links to the campus-wide Frequently Asked Questions site, FAQMu and the growing 'You said, We said' comments and feedback feature.

Our online Room Bookings system, Open Access Repositories and LRC induction information can be found in the 'Information about...' box.

What do you think? Do you like the new look?

Resits and resubmissions - opening hours

2011-08-01T13:53:00.005+01:00

We've been seeing lots of folk today in the LRC at the start of resits and resubmissions. During the vacation, we're still open 24/7 but have reduced staffed hours of monday to friday from 09:00 to 19:00. If you find that your smartcard is not working at the speedgates, please see Security Staff at the Reception Desk.

LRC Survey 2011

2011-06-10T14:04:00.003+01:00

It's been a while since we posted but we're turning over a new leaf with news of the LRC Survey 2011.

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to complete our survey. We had just under 100 responses and here are some headline figures:

91% are students; 92% are full time.
58% are from the School of Health Sciences.

The majority of respondents come in to the LRC to either borrow or renew books or to use an MFD. 26 respondents came in to ask a question at the Service Desk. 36 came in to use a Thin Client terminal.

Please keep reading the blog and we'll post further analysis over the coming months

New books display

2010-11-23T09:29:00.004Z

It's been a long time coming but we now have a new books display here in the East Wing of the LRC.

Unlike some of your more traditional libraries, if one of our new books catches your eye as you walk past, you don't have to wait to be able to borrow it...just pick it up and check it out on one of our self-issue machines.

Access to the College of Radiography Document Library

2010-11-10T14:39:00.005Z

We are pleased to announce we have access to the College of Radiography's Document Library. It contains a selection of documents from the Society of Radiographers relating to all aspects of the education and practice of Radiography.

Access is seamless when you are on campus or logged in to Remote Access. Find it on the Subject Resources page for Radiography or the Databases A-Z list.

"You said, we said"...further comments from the 2010 Student Survey

2010-09-17T11:34:00.002+01:00

This blog entry relates to your comments on our Resources. 60% of respondents were either very or fairly satisfied with the range of book stock, ebooks, print journals and e-journals. Satisfaction levels increased to 72% when asked about the range of databases. We understand that our users like to have full-text whenever possible. We are working with our academic colleagues to ensure that our range of material covers the whole of the QMU curriculum as closely as possible.

72% of our respondents were very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the availability of IT. However this falls to 58% when the same is asked of the availability of the MFDs. We have found that there is sometimes a queue for the MFDs nearest the Self-Service machines in the LRC and it may be this that is causing the lower response. We have lots of other MFDs elsewhere in the LRC, so please ask at the Service Desk if you are unsure of the nearest set of machines. The Self-Service machines themselves seem to be very popular – over 75% of respondents were very or fairly satisfied. We’ve just installed some new software on them this summer – if you have any concerns as to the operation of the new software just let the staff at the Service Desk know.

New catalogue - new look - login changes

2010-09-13T11:13:00.014+01:00

Some of you may have noticed that our library catalogue has changed over the summer. We waved goodbye to iLink on the 31 August and said hello to the new library catalogue on the 1st September. We don't have a new name for the library catalogue - it is what it is and that is what it's called. You can find it on our quick links toolbar on our homepage or clicking here.

The first thing you will notice when clicking on the link is that you are taken directly to the catalogue and not a log in screen. You can start searching for Lynch's Corporate strategy or Polgar's Introduction to research in the health sciences or whatever you desire to see if there are any lendable copies available straightaway.

You can still log in to your own library account to keep track of how many books you have checked out, renew books and cancel holds. The great thing about the new library catalogue is that you log in with your network username and password - the same one you use to log in to WebCT etc! Click on the My Library Account button or the more discreet login link on the top right hand side of the screen.

We understand that the new catalogue may take a bit of getting used to. We've added a few drop-in sessions to our workshop timetable in the first week of October to help get you started with Using the library catalogue.

Library Management System switch-over

2010-08-27T10:23:00.005+01:00

We are launching our new Library Management System on Wednesday 1 September. In preparation for the switch-over, the self-service units will be unavailable from 1630 on Monday 30 August until the morning of Wednesday 1 September. If you visit the LRC during staffed hours (0900-1700) during the switch-over process you will still be able to borrow/return items if you come to the Service Desk. However no renewals will be available at this time either in person, by phone or online. In addition, our online catalogues will also be disabled. However access to our electronic resources (either in the LRC or via Remote Desktop) will be unaffected.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but hope you will bear with us during the implementation process.

If you have any questions, please let us know and contact us by emailing lrchelp@qmu.ac.uk, by phoning 0131 474 0000 and asking for the LRC when prompted or in person at the Service Desk.

"You said, we said" - further comments on the LRC Survey 2010

2010-08-24T13:54:00.003+01:00

This blog entry relates to your comments on our Services. 90% of respondents were either very or fairly satisfied with the helpfulness of the LRC staff. 23% were either fairly or very dissatisfied with the physical environment within the LRC (the temperature, lighting, ventilation etc). We are very aware of the issues with some of the areas, and have started to address them where we can – for example we have put opening windows into the main IT area to aid ventilation, and have asked Estates to close/open some of the floor vents in the group study rooms (as appropriate).

45% of respondents were either fairly or very satisfied with the range of workshops available, with another 33% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. If you feel that we are not running the workshops that you need, please let us know and we will try to accommodate your preferences. Some workshops are very popular, and get booked up very quickly. Keep an eye on the workshop bookings page to see when a session is being held.

Check back soon for the next blog entry.

Comments from the LRC Survey 2010

2010-07-09T08:25:00.002+01:00

When asked about their space usage in the LRC Survey 2010, 116 respondents had used the Group Study rooms; 168 had used the Quiet Study/Quiet IT rooms and 77 had used the Silent Study room. Comments included that there were too few quiet study areas with IT and comments regarding the temperature in various rooms.

There were many comments on the levels of acceptable noise in the LRC. We know we can't please everyone on the noise issue - there have been some who have asked for the whole of the LRC to be made silent and others who think it's great as it is. All we can do is ask users to respect the quiet and silent areas and think of your neighbours. If you're in a Quiet Study room and need to make a call, please go to the Phone Zone or to the terraces. We're asking the LRC staff to be even more vigilant and if groups are spotted using the Quiet Study rooms, we'll ask them to move to another area. Likewise, we ask our users not to leave bags and coats on a chair at a terminal all day, even when you're in classes.

87% of respondents thought our term-time staff hours were just right. Comments included a lack of staff support through the night and asking for additional rooms to be made available such as the Post-grad room. We've listened to your comments and where practicable, we will open the Post-grad room during the night in term-time. Please note there is an additional fire exit in this space. We cannot, however, do the same with the Quiet Study rooms as there are no additional fire exits from these areas.

78% of respondents thought our vacation staffed hours were about right with only 9% saying they were too short. One person suggested that staff also needed to be present at the weekend in the summer. The LRC was staffed last summer at the weekends but the low number of users coming in to use the facilities meant that it was not cost-effective - especially now that we have 24/7 opening.

More feedback to follow soon so watch this space...

We really want our books back!!!

2010-06-30T12:12:00.004+01:00

We're launching a new library system in September. To help us prepare, we're holding a loan amnesty for the entire month of July.

This means you can return all your items - no questions asked, no fines charged - between Thursday 1st July and Saturday 31st July to qualify.

Please note: the amnesty applies to returned items only so any unpaid bills will stand. As we physically want to see the books returned - we've got shelf space waiting - the amnesty will not apply to phones or online renewals.

Springer eBook trial

2010-06-21T09:29:00.004+01:00

We have trial access to over 17,000 eBook titles from the publisher Springer Verlag which complements our existing journal access to their content in the Scottish Higher Education Digital Library.

All the books have been added to iLink, the library catalogue and can also be searched via the publisher's platform.

I've just done a quick search on the publisher's platform/website for 'interprofessional education' and limited the search to book chapters and got an impressive 23 hits. Please test it out for yourself and let us know what you think using our feedback form. The collection covers many subject areas including Business, Economics, Humanities, Social Sciences and Medicine and the trial lasts until 31 October 2010.

NB: Please note off campus access is possible via the Remote Desktop.

Headline news from the LRC Survey 2010

2010-06-10T16:08:00.005+01:00

Many thanks to everyone who completed our LRC Survey 2010. We had just under 180 responses. Here are some headline figures:

87.6% of you are students
88.6% of you are full-time
45% are from the School of Health Sciences but only 4% were from the School of Drama and Creative Industries (DCI)

The majority of respondents come in to the LRC to either borrow or renew books or to use a terminal. 42 respondents came to use a quiet study space, whilst 53 respondents came in to use a multi-functional device (MFD).

We'll post further analysis from the survey over the coming months so watch this space.

A new journal linking the chemistry and physics of food with health and nutrition

2010-06-04T10:01:00.003+01:00

It was announced last month, that a new journal is coming our way - Food & Function. RSC Publishing describe it as 'a new and exciting journal which will bring together high-impact research linking the chemistry and physics of food with health and nutrition'.

We are acquiring free access to this title so look out for it on our eJournals A-Z list soon. Their inaugural issue is due for publication at the end of 2010.

Vacation time!!!

2010-05-31T08:35:00.003+01:00

The glorious weather today can only mean one thing - it's Bank Holiday Monday! We're open today so for the studious ones amongst us, this means you can come in and pick up a few books for your dissertation, check out a Thin Client laptop for four hours from the Service Desk and enjoy the cool breeze on the decking outside Food for Thought.

We're very pleased our 24/7 opening has generated such a positive response. The good news is that 24/7 opening will continue over the vacation. However, since the end of the academic year, the times LRC staff are available has changed. During the vacation, the LRC will be staffed on Monday to Fridays from 09:00 to 17:00 only.

Normal service will recommence on Saturday 10 September.

Free trial to journals published by Mary Anne Liebert Inc

2010-05-28T15:16:00.002+01:00

We're currently running a free trial up until the end of 2010 to all journals published by Mary Anne Liebert Inc.

Titles are listed on our A-Z of electronic journals and include:

Alternative and complementary therapies
Diabetes technology and therapeutics
Journal of palliative medicine
Journal of women's health
Telemedicine and e-health

and many more!

LRC survey 2010

2010-04-25T10:33:00.002+01:00

It's that time again - survey time! We'd like to know more of what you think and we really do value your opinions on the services and facilities we offer. It helps us enable change where it's necessary.

10 lucky respondents will be drawn at random and will win a £10 Amazon e-voucher.

Click on the link to get started: http://surveys.qmu.ac.uk/lrc before saturday 22nd May.

Thank you.

Printroom help point

2010-04-20T11:55:00.006+01:00

For those of you not already aware, if you need to print something in colour or get your dissertation bound then you need to email your request - along with your attached file - to printroom@qmu.ac.uk. You can collect your print jobs and bound dissertations from the LRC Service Desk because the Printroom is housed in the basement on campus and not easily accessible.

Previously, if you wanted to know how much it would cost to print x number of pages in colour or to have three copies of your dissertation bound, you'd need to email the printroom and wait for a reply. Now, on weekdays between 11.00 and 12.00, you'll be able to come along to the LRC Service Desk and ask in person.

Coming soon - opening hours extended to 24/7

2010-04-15T12:20:00.005+01:00

We're pleased to announce that as of Monday 19th April at 08:30, we'll be opening 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

During our advertised opening hours, staff will be able to assist you with your queries and questions. Outwith these hours, the LRC will be monitored by security who are there to ensure your security only. There are lots of interactive tutorials on our website and we are in the process of updating our FAQs if you need pointing in the right direction out of hours.

Please remember to bring your smartcard with you as you'll need it to swipe into the LRC and on the way out. We will be monitoring and evaluating the 24/7 hour opening so if you have any comments, suggestions or feedback then please get in touch.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports now available

2010-04-05T08:55:00.004+01:00

Thanks to JISC, you can now access the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports either directly from this link or on our Databases page.

FBIS covers the period 1974-1996 in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe. The JISC selection of the daily summary includes a wealth of transcripts of broadcasts and news from around the world translated into English.

NB: Access is seamless if you are on campus or logged in via Remote Access. Off campus access outside of Remote Access is authenticated via Shibboleth.

New eJournal titles available via SHEDL

2010-03-09T16:04:00.004Z

In round two of the SHEDL negotiations, 288 eJournal titles from Berg, Edinburgh University Press and Oxford University Press have been added to our eJournals A-Z. Discover these titles and many more:

Dance research: the journal of the society for dance research

Enterprise and society

Fashion practice: the journal of design, creative process and the fashion industry

Food culture and society

Japanese journal of clinical oncology

Journal of British cinema and television

Occupational medicine

There is something to suit everyone!

Top 10 most borrowed books in the LRC

2010-03-02T08:59:00.004Z

I recently read an article in the Guardian by Simon Rogers who listed the top 250 most borrowed library books in the UK. It got me wondering who would top our charts in the most borrowed categories here at the LRC. My guesses of 'Corporate Strategy' by Richard Lynch and 'Gray's anatomy for students' by Richard L. Drake didn't make it into to the top ten.

So far, in the current academic year it appears that the Occupational Therapy students have been the busiest:

Hagedorn's foundations for practice by Edward A. S. Duncan 615.8515 HAG
A user's manual for the occupational circumstances assessment interview and rating scale (Version 4.0) by Kirsty Forsyth 615.8515 USE
Model of human occupation: theory and application by Gary Kielhofner 615.8515 KIE
Sociology and occupational therapy edited by Derek Jones, Sheena E. E. Blair, Terry Hartery, and R. Kenneth Jones 615.8515 JON
Occupational health and mental health by Jennifer Creek 615.8515 CRE
Introduction to the health sciences by Stephen Polgar and Shayne A. Thomas 610.072 POL
Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods by John W. Creswell 300.72 CRE
Event studies: theory, research and policy for planned events by Donald Getz 394.2068 GET
Promoting health: a practical guide by Linda Ewles and Ina Simnett 613.07 EWL
Fundaments of strategy by Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes and Richard Whittington 658.4012 JOH

CLA Survey starts on monday

2010-01-23T10:10:00.003Z

This monday sees the start of the Copyright Licensing Agency Survey which will run for six weeks. For the period of the survey, every time you make a photocopy from a book or journal in the LRC, a CLA Data Collector will record on a log sheet various details of the item being copied:

ISBN/ISSN
Publisher
Title
Author
Number of pages
Number of copies of each page

Please co-operate by passing the book/journal to the Data Collector so they can record this information.

The survey period is Monday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00 and Saturday and Sunday 11:00 to 15:00 and will cover all the MFDs in the LRC. The MFDs on the Terraces and on Levels 2 and 3 are not part of the survey.

Refworks trial

2010-01-22T15:15:00.002Z

We've arranged a trial to see what RefWorks has to offer. RefWorks is an online research management writing and collaboration tool - similar to Reference Manager - and is designed to help researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies.

Access information and links are on our Trial Databases page. Help is available from an online tutorial and quick start guide. Users are required to self-register to create an account first. Please remember that this is a trial so the Shibboleth logon has not been activated.

Let us know what you think - email bhouston@qmu.ac.uk or snoble@qmu.ac.uk.

Come along to an LRC workshop and get a head start in the new semester

2010-01-15T08:55:00.005Z

Get a head start for the new semester and learn how use our databases, ebooks and ejournals as well as basic referencing.

Click here to discover the full timetable and how to book a place.

We look forward to seeing you!

Access to new eJournal titles coming soon...

2010-01-11T13:40:00.004Z

We're increasing the number of eJournal titles you have access to thanks to Phase 2 of the SHEDL consortium. Over 200 titles from Oxford University Press, Edinburgh University Press and Berg will be visible on our eJournals A-Z list shortly.

New titles include:

Culture and social history - Berg
Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine - Open University Press
Health policy and planning - Open University Press
International journal of quality in health care - Open University Press
Journal of British cinema and television - Edinburgh University Press

Edinburgh University Press and Oxford University Press are Shibboleth compliant - which means you can access them anywhere that has an internet connection with your network username and password. Titles from Berg - such as 'Culture and social history' - are not compliant and therefore will only be accessible on campus or via Remote Access.

Access to the new titles has been enabled so click on the above links and check them out. We will keep you posted on when they are added to the eJournals A-Z list.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T09:17:00.007Z

Happy New Year everyone! We hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and you are all well rested.

We're open again as usual and are surprisingly busy. We understand that there are some exams scheduled for next week so if you want to do some last minute cramming, don't forget our Silent Study Room in the East Wing is quietest room in the LRC!

Top tip for finding the full name of a journal abbreviation

2009-12-16T12:18:00.003Z

Have you ever come across a fantastic quote from a journal article only to discover that the reference looks like this:

Sullivan, R. W. 1985. Correction of the hypermobile flatfoot by the subtalar arthroeresis procedure. Mil Med 150 (10), pp.546-8.

Sometimes the abbreviation of a journal title is easy to work out, the rest of the time it can be like doing The Times crossword without the clues! For those times when the abbreviation is not obvious, try using the Journals Database from PubMed. Enter the abbreviation and click go. Using the example above, we can see that Mil Med is short for Military Medicine.

Last book swap of 2009

2009-12-03T09:29:00.006Z

The last LRC Book Swap for 2009 will be held on Wednesday, 9th of December 2009, in Food For Thought from 11.00am to 2.00pm.

Also, on behalf of the LRC, we’d like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to those who have helped make the Book Swaps of 2009 a success by contributing so many books for others to take away.

If you can’t make it on the day, do feel free to drop off books for the swap to the LRC Service Desk.

Using concept maps in Credo Reference

2009-12-02T08:22:00.001Z

Scanning requests just got easier

2009-11-19T09:00:00.003Z

In cognisance of feedback from academic staff and in support of the university's aim to rationalise administrative procedures, we are simplifying scanning requests.

Academic staff will no longer have to complete the online scanning request form to request a chapter or article to be uploaded to their modules in WebCT. Simply email the following details to CLAScanning@qmu.ac.uk and the LRC Scanning Services team will do the rest:

1. Module code
2. Number of students
3. Module start date and end date
4. Title of book or journal
5. Title of chapter or article

We are also happy to work with bibliographic lists.

If you have requested the material before in a previous semester or academic year, simply email us to let us know if you wish to make the material available again and we will upload the digital copy to the current version of the module on WebCT.

Under the terms of the CLA Scanning Licence, the preparation and distribution of digitised copies is restricted to the LRC Scanning Services. Please do not make and upload digital copies (aka PDFs) of articles or book chapters/extracts yourself as this would be in contravention of our Photocopying and Scanning Higher Education licence.

The LRC Scanning Services can also provide you with permanent links to electronic resources which you can upload as web links to your modules.

We're ready and waiting for scanning requests for Semester 2 so get emailing!

Temporary blocked access to MyiLibrary eBooks

2009-11-04T15:51:00.003Z

There have been a few instances over the past week where users haven’t been able to access particular titles through MyiLibrary which have been temporarily blocked.

The explanation for this from MyiLibrary is as follows:

MyiLibrary uses advanced security software to protect the copyright of the eBooks available for access. This software is designed to detect and prevent any usage that is consistent with a breach in copyright such as spidering software attempting to copy a large amount of pages. As a result of this sometimes genuine accounts on MyiLibrary that have similar usage patterns are locked while the usage is examined.

They advise that the best way to avoid this lock-out happening is by using the Table of Contents or Search facilities rather than quickly moving from page to page through large sections of a book.

Lock outs will typically be for a 12 hour period and the time access is due to be reinstated is displayed when someone tries to access one of the affected titles.

This has happened before during busy periods and is something that has been raised as a concern with the supplier by QM and other libraries using this platform.

iTunesU coming soon

2009-11-03T09:29:00.002Z

Here at QM, we are building our iTunesU site and hope to go live very soon. There is a lot of amazing material that is already available via WebCT, various servers as well as our web pages. It is our aim to have these audio and video files accessible from one place and encourage interests in other disciplines.

There is a lot of new material being recorded such as professorial lectures and guess speakers. Arun Gandhi recently gave a talk at the university. Click here to see the video.

Databases: what they are and how to use them

2009-10-27T10:10:00.001Z

Green gown footage

2009-10-06T10:49:00.005+01:00

Queen Margaret University was delighted to win the JISC sponsored Green Gown award for green ICT this summer. Following on from this, the lovely people from JISC have visited QMU and you can see the filmed results of this here.

All good things come to those who wait...

2009-10-01T08:37:00.002+01:00

Some of you may have noticed that there are no power sockets in the single study carrels here in the East Wing of the LRC. The electricians are coming on Monday 5th October to put right this wrong! As they set about their work, there may be a slight disruption noise-wise but hopefully it won't take long.

WebCT related queries sorted!

2009-09-30T10:36:00.002+01:00

Following on from the success of the drop-in sessions for WebCT during induction week, there will be a WebCT drop-in session held henceforth on a weekly basis.

In October, these will take place every thursday at 12.15-14.15 in Room 1:127 and the first one is tomorrow.

Proud achievement...

2009-09-29T17:15:00.003+01:00

Each year all University libraries across the UK are asked to fill in a quesitonnaire about their services and facilities. The Learning Resource Centre at Queen Margaret University did particularly well in the latest survey, which covered the academic year 2007/2008.

One question asked for the percentage of overall library space devoted to IT provision. QMU scored the highest percentage in Scotland at 40% and we came joint third across the whole of the UK. The average for the 'new' universities in the UK was 19.6%!

Another question asks for the number of open access workstations. QMU was third highest in Scotland at 605 - just behind Edinburgh and Glasgow. The average for the 'new' sector was 414. Our LRC's study spaces were open for 47,493 hours in 07/08 - only Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities' figures were higher!

We also issued more items in 2007/2008 than three much larger Scottish Universities.

We are proud of our Learning Resource Centre - we hope you are too.

Parliamentary Papers now available online

2009-09-25T09:39:00.003+01:00

The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers are now accessible via our Databases A-Z page (skip/scroll to H rather P like I did!). Access has been made possible by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) for all UK Higher Education institutions.

What this means is that you can access over 200, 000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 up to the 2003/4 session with supplementary material dating back to 1688. The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP) website delivers page images to and searchable full-text for each paper along with detailed subject indexing. Further information can be found here.

Welcome to our new students

2009-09-17T11:09:00.003+01:00

Hello and welcome to our new students. We're very busy this week with inductions and meeting lots of new people. We realise it's a lot to take in so here are a few highlights:

The Library Services home page is where you will find links to resources that you will find most useful during your time here. Our Library Toolbar has a set of quick links that will take you to:

iLink - the traditional library catalogue
QUEST - the interactive library catalogue
renewals - renew your borrowed items online
databases - an a-z list of over 100 databases
subject resources - key resources for your subject area
eJournals - an a-z list of over 16,000 electronic journals
eBooks - links to our collections of over 41,000 electronic books

Workshops are scheduled at various times of the year. If you need help finding resources for your coursework, are struggling with searching databases or are not sure what an eJournal is then there will be a workshop to suit you. Click here to see what's coming up soon.

Top tips for setting up your computer workstation

2009-09-13T07:29:00.002+01:00

Netanatomy

2009-09-07T12:31:00.002+01:00

For those of you not in the know, we subscribe to Netanatomy. It's a database that covers three of the major disciplines of Human Anatomy including Gross Anatomy, Radiographic Anatomy and Cross-sectional Anatomy.

You can access Netanatomy via our Database A-Z list on-campus or via Remote Access if you are off-campus.

Staff accounts

2009-09-04T15:29:00.003+01:00

Calling all QMU academic staff - please remember that your LRC membership will expire on the 31st October 2009.

Come along to the Service Desk and you can now get it renewed until 31st October 2010. It won't take long and while you're here, pick up your free copy of the new edition of 'Write and Cite'.

New feature on eTheses

2009-09-03T12:03:00.003+01:00

You can now browse by degrees in eTheses, our online respository. It's an open access collection of our PhD theses and selected MSc dissertations by QMU staff and researchers.

Theses are an underutilised but significant information resource. The relatively restricted access to printed copies is the predominant reason for their underutilisation. Making the full-text available digitally, from any networked computer world wide, will greatly increase access and availability to this primary research.

Podiatry news from the LRC

2009-08-28T15:48:00.002+01:00

We're branching out in the blog arena with a Podiatry blog:

http://podiatrynewsfromthelrc.blogspot.com/

Need to know more about Shibboleth...

2009-08-24T10:28:00.002+01:00

Now is the time to get more acquainted with Shibboleth and what it means for you. Here at QM, we went live with Shibboleth on the 17th August and bid ATHENS a fond farewell.

If you're on campus or logged on to the Remote Access click here to find out more details on how it works, how the changes will affect you, who you can contact for help and why it is called 'Shibboleth'!

Remote Access available again!

2009-08-12T12:26:00.001+01:00

The Remote Access solution is now available again. We have carried out some updates, which will hopefully resolve the issue we have been experiencing recently.

If you have any further issues, please do not hesitate to contact the IS Helpdesk who thank you for your patience during this time.

Remote Access difficulties

2009-08-12T10:55:00.001+01:00

As you may be aware, we have been experiencing some difficulties with our Remote Access solution.

In order to enable us to investigate the issue further, downtime is required. From 11:00am this morning the system will be unavailable and whilst it may be possible to get connected, your connection will be intermittent and could result in data loss. Please refrain from attempting to connect during this time.

We will update you with progress in due course but you can also check the logon page for the latest status.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Zetoc adds abstracts

2009-08-12T08:36:00.005+01:00

Zetoc gives us access to the British Library's electronic table of contents or TOCs. Coverage starts from 1993 and is updated on a daily basis so is an excellent source of keeping you up to date in your subject area by setting up email alerts.

Up until recently, Zetoc was one of those databases that did not provide abstracts so you had to put in a little extra leg work to find either the abstract or the full-text elsewhere to decide if it was what you were looking for. Now, they are starting to provide abstracts and not only that but Linksource has also been enabled! This means that if you do decide from reading the abstract that your particular article is what you are looking for, you can click on the Linksource button and - if we have a subscription to that eJournal - you will be able to view the full-text in a couple of clicks.

The time has come...

2009-08-10T11:55:00.002+01:00

...to bid farewell to ATHENS. Obviously, the preferred route to accessing QM's electronic resources when you're off campus is via Remote Access but not everyone has access to their own PC or laptop and of course there are those times when you are in internet cafe and you just have to print off that journal article but logging onto the Remote Access is not possible. This is where Shibboleth comes in.

For those of you who haven't heard, Shibboleth is the new ATHENS. It is an authentication system that is based on your network id so one less username and password to remember! It will give you access to most of the electronic resources that we subscribe to (please note a small number of resources are restricted to on campus access only).

We hope you find it as easy to follow as we do but click here if you need some pointers.

How to find the online timetable

2009-07-21T14:33:00.003+01:00

Here at the LRC, we are asked about where to find the online timetable and how to use it. We thought these instructions may be helpful:

From the QMU website
Go to the 'Quick Links' at the top right hand corner of the homepage and choose 'Timetable' in the scroll down menu or
Click on the blue box at the bottom of the homepage entitled 'Timetable for Students' where you will be directed to the timetables information webpage

We suggest that you start by printing the 'Guide: how to view your timetable' as this will provide step-by-step instructions. You will then be ready to access your timetable and can do so by clicking the link 'Access your timetable: http://o.qmu.ac.uk/o!Web/ '

If you experience any technical difficulties in accessing your timetable, please contact either timetable@qmu.ac.uk or the relevant School Office.

Feedback from the student survey: Printing

2009-07-17T08:30:00.006+01:00

Printing - and in particular colour printing - featured in responses to the recent LRC user survey. Since we moved to the new campus two years ago, colour printing has been managed by our print-room provision through an external company called ServicePoint. Feedback, however, has usually highlighted the relative inaccessibility of this service and of course the prohibitively high colour print costs.

Up until recently, colour printing in our type of environment has only really been feasible using colour laser technology and this has been expensive both to procure the devices as well as in the final cost per page. However, the manufacturer of our imaging equipment - Hewlett Packard - has developed a new technology called Edgeline that dramatically reduces the cost of the final output.

As a result of this, we are undertaking a second trial of an Edgeline device this summer (the first trial earlier this year was unsuccessful) to ensure it operates within our infrastructure and we can use existing print accounts and smartcards to manage printing and copying on the device. We are hoping that this second trial will be more successful and if it is, we will deploy a device in the LRC for the coming academic year. All being well, costs for printing an A4 colour page will be dramatically lower than they currently are via the print-room.

Also this summer, we have undertaken the annual review of our print costs, looking at our supply chain as well as how we compare to others. Below is a comparison table for some other Scottish universities who openly publish their print costs:

With the exception to colour printing described above, we intend to keep our print costs as they currently stand. Please think of the environment before choosing to print or copy a document. Remember, you can reduce print costs by half by printing 2 pages per side (equating to 4 pages per sheet of paper). You can also scan to email or your Z: drive from all our MFDs, rather than photocopy.

Using digitised articles or book chapters in your WebCT modules

2009-07-10T09:16:00.003+01:00

It is not too early for Academic Staff to submit Scanning requests now to the LRC Scanning Services if you would like to include digitised copies of articles or book chapters/extracts as PDF files in your WebCT modules in the new academic year.

To fulfil the requirements of the Copyright Licensing Agency, you will need to submit a request form for each item - even if it is the same item that was included in the last academic year.

The online CLA Scanning Request form is available on the LRC website, at http://erc.qmu.ac.uk/library/index2.php.

May we please remind all Academic Staff that under the terms of the CLA Scanning Licence, the preparation and distribution of digitised copies is restricted to the LRC Scanning Service. Please do not make and upload digital copies of articles or book chapters/extracts yourself as this would be in contravention of our Photocopying and Scanning Higher Education Licence.

May we also remind you that instead of including articles from E-Journals or chapters from E-Books in your WebCT modules, you should instead include permanent links to these items. These links will then allow access to authorised users as required under the terms of the electronic resources licences. The LRC Scanning Services will be happy to provide you with the permanent links for articles from E-Journals or E-Books.

More information about what can be digitised and uploaded to WebCT under the terms of the Licence can be found on our Scanning Services webpage - http://www.qmu.ac.uk/lb/IFAS_CLATrialScanningLicence.htm

Please bear in mind that the CLA may carry out, at any time, an audit of any material included in WebCT and that non-compliance with the regulations could result in our Licence being revoked and a large fine.

Please contact Nik Hussin at the LRC if you have any questions about the Scanning Licence and the Scanning services that the LRC offers.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Top tip for the Remote Desktop

2009-07-08T09:56:00.004+01:00

If you need to open or save files to a USB drive, plug the drive into your local computer or laptop before connecting to the Remote Desktop.

Feedback from the student survey: Loan Periods

2009-07-06T11:58:00.002+01:00

Over the summer vacation the LRC is considering changes to loan periods and our charging structure. This is due in part to comments received from the recent LRC survey.

Students have commented in particular on the length of time that DVDs can be borrowed, which is currently 1 day. We are looking at ways of perhaps increasing this loan period to 2 or 3 days. However, we are aware that some students need a “quick turn-around” of stock, as they often need access to a particular DVD for a module, so their needs will be taken into account.

Other LRC users have said that they would like the books in the Short Loan Collection to be available for longer than 4 hours. The items in this area are reviewed at regular intervals with the help of the teaching staff of the University. We will continue to liaise with the teaching staff to ensure that the loan periods for these particular items best suit the needs of all users.

Our charging structure is in place to ensure that the maximum number of users get access to LRC material. Most libraries charge fines to encourage the return of items. However the charges we currently have in place will be revisited over the vacation to ensure that users are not charged unfairly.

Introduction to Scopus by the TrainingDesk

2009-07-02T10:08:00.002+01:00

We love Scopus and we hope you will too. Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Introduction to Scopus by the TrainingDesk

View more documents from Elsevier TrainingDesk.

Bidding farewell to ATHENS

2009-06-30T16:11:00.006+01:00

Due to changes in the way we access LRC electronic resources, we will not be issuing ATHENS usernames and passwords from the academic year 2009-2010. Existing accounts will remain valid until 30th September 2009 for students and 31st October 2009 for staff.

QMU will be moving to an authentication method using your institutional login rather than ATHENS accounts later this summer. During the week beginning 17th August all off-campus links will be directed to the 'Institutional login screen' on our subscribed database or e-journal homepages.

You may also find this called a Shibboleth or Federation login by our suppliers. At this page you should select "UK Federation" (where necessary) then "Queen Margaret University" from the drop-down list. This will take you to our login screen where you should enter your Institutional login details - i.e. the same one you use to login to the desktop or email.

More information about the changes can be found on the Intranet which is available from on campus or via the Remote Desktop.

Further information about the Remote Desktop is available here. Please remember that use of the Remote Desktop greatly reduces the need to use other usernames and password, this is the preferred route for access to all our resources.

If you have any queries about the changes please contact LRCHelp@qmu.ac.uk.

Moving spaces

2009-06-29T09:10:00.005+01:00

We're busy at the moment making room for extra study spaces in the Academic Reserve Room. As you can see from the photo, the shelves in the centre of the room have gone to make way for more desk space. These desks will be for quiet study - with terminals and sockets to plug in your laptop.

The StudySkills collection is currently being moved from this room and by September will be amalgamated into the main lending stock in the East and West wings of the LRC. Books in the StudySkills collection will no longer have the prefix of 'STUDYSKILLS' before the shelfmark.

Please ask at the Service Desk if you can't find what you're looking for.

We won!!!

2009-06-24T13:11:00.006+01:00

This is just a quick note to let you all know that QMU won the Green ICT category last night at the Annual Green Gown awards for our Thin-Client project, further emphasising the leading edge work we have done in this area.

Unfortunately we just missed out the sustainable construction award but we came away with 'highly commended' in this category.

Feedback from the student survey: LRC Spaces

2009-06-22T08:24:00.002+01:00

In the LRC User survey, we asked you which spaces you used in the LRC and this is how you responded:

Please tell us which learning spaces you have used within the Learning Resource Centre
Silent study room: 14.80% 86
Quiet study rooms: 19.28% 112
Quiet IT study rooms: 15.15% 88
Study carrels: 9.81% 57
Group study rooms: 21.17% 123
Post-graduate study rooms: 7.75% 45
Academic Reserve: 10.50% 61
Other (please specify): 1.55% 9

Some of the 'other' answers were:

computer workshops
Effective learning service
Far, far too few quiet study areas with PC access. This is a massive issue. I frequently come into uni at the weekend or wait until evening to get a quiet space to work, away from people laughing, shrieking etc
Group study areas, quiet comfy chairs
I have only used the carrel's once and I find they are claustrophobic, and there was no power point to plug the lap top into the bridge area

Our previous blog entry has dealt with quiet and silent study spaces, but we are also making some changes over the summer that we hope will make a difference and improve the service we provide.

We are reconfiguring the academic reserve room to become a quiet study space with 6 fixed terminals and power for using our loan laptops. Whilst the Short Loan collection and DVD collection will remain in this room, the Study Skills collection is being integrated into the main lending stock. Excess shelving has been relocated to the top of the LRC outside the post-grad room.

The LRC bridge area is being reconfigured as a mobile phone zone, so you can take and make phone calls in this area without having to leave the secure area of the LRC itself. Hopefully you will all use this rather than disturb those studying elsewhere. Please don't use your mobile phone anywhere else in the secure LRC as this really annoys everyone - staff will ask you to take your call elsewhere!

The IT labs which we piloted last semester as quiet IT labs when not in use for teaching will now officially be designated quiet areas.

We have requested that additional power points be installed in the study carrels with Estates and Facilities. Initial responses have indicated that this may be an expensive exercise but if it is affordable we will implement this.

There will be more terminals installed on the LRC terraces but we will also be providing one empty hexagonal desk per terrace for those that may want to study here without IT or who want to plug in their own laptop for using on our wireless network. We have also increased the number of printer/copiers on the terraces to 4 and they are now doubled up so that if one has a problem, the nearest device is immediately next to it. We know that this is important for 24/7 access when we may not be able to fix the device quickly.

The Great Musselburgh Book Swap

2009-06-17T09:23:00.001+01:00

In conjunction with the opening of the CILIP CoFHE conference on the 17th of June 2009, the LRC will be holding a community book swap event that we are calling The Great Musselburgh Book Swap in Food For Thought from 11am to 7pm.

It's a chance for you to pick up your summer read, get rid of those books you are not reading anymore and decrease the environmental burden of our voracious reading habit.

We have invited members of the local community to come along to the event. So, do join us on the day. Any books left over from the swap will be donated to the charity Book Donors.

If you would like to contribute books to the event, please feel free to drop them off at the LRC Service Desk.

Trial access to Stress

2009-06-16T08:52:00.003+01:00

We have arranged access for a 30 day trial period to the journal Stress: the International Journal on the Biology of Stress. The title can be accessed on campus via our ejournals web page or off campus by first logging in to the Remote Desktop.

The trial is set to end on the 10th July and as always feedback on the trial would be much appreciated.

Feedback from the Student Survey: Longer hours and 24 hour opening

2009-06-15T13:03:00.005+01:00

In the LRC user survey, 65% of respondents thought our term-time opening was just right, however 28% thought they were too short. You also commented that we should be open 24 hours and longer at weekends. A greater percentage - 75% - thought our vacation hours were about right, with only 14% saying they were too short. Some respondents didn’t know what the vacation hours were and some said that they should be the same as term-time.

So what's happening with 24/7 access to the main, secure area of the LRC? As you will know, we have our LRC terraces with IT access available at all times but the secure area of the LRC - through the speedgates - remains inaccessible. Despite being designed to be available at all times, with automated systems to issue and return resources and hi-tech security, we remain at the mercy of health and safety, the local authority and the fire service who remain reluctant to have such a large area without fire marshal cover. We are working closely with colleagues in Estates and Facilities to resolve this and rest assured it remains at the top of our priorities.

When we ultimately implement 24-hour opening, then you will be able to access all our printed resources as well as borrow and return items but the LRC will still not be staffed, as usage simply could not justify the expenditure which we think is better spent on additional physical resources. In the meantime, 24-hour access is still available on the terraces which contain terminals and printing/copying facilities. We have increased the number of multi-function devices on the top terrace to provide resilience during the night. Security are able to open all three terraced areas if demand is high. Catering have also installed a multi-vend machine which is accessible during the night and we are working with them to look at drinking water supply.

Feedback from the student survey: Quiet and silent study spaces

2009-06-08T09:21:00.011+01:00

In our recent student survey, when asked how they use the different spaces available in the LRC, 61% had used the Group Study rooms, and 56% the Quiet Study rooms. Comments included that there were too few quiet study areas, and a note that the study carrels were claustrophobic. With regard to noise levels, 58% were either fairly or very dissatisfied.

We have occasionally received requests from students to make the entire LRC a quiet area, like our old libraries at Corstorphine and Leith. We don't think that this would be a viable solution as the LRC is designed to facilitate all types of learning, including group and social study, which will inevitably create noise. What we have done is give you a large number of quiet, silent and individual study spaces. In addition, further quiet space is being created in the Academic Reserve area over the summer months.

Before the survey was launched we undertook a headcount survey of the usage of our 4 quiet study rooms and the silent study room, over 2 one-week periods. The results of this are below:

Week commencing 6 April 2009

Week commencing 20 April 2009

We would like to encourage all our students to make more use of rooms 1093 - 1096 and 1128. Remember that you can borrow a laptop from the Service Desk to use in the former but no IT is to be used in 1128. It goes without saying that mobiles should be on silent and all calls taken outside the LRC or in the new phone zone but more on that later.....

We've got 'The Lancet Specialty Collections' on trial

2009-06-04T11:25:00.003+01:00

We're offering free trial access to TheLancet.com Speciality Collections via our Trial Databases web page.

The Lancet Specialty Collections allow targeted access to selected articles within 15 areas of clinical practice and public health. Most of these collections are also clustered into a total of 96 topics to allow more focused browsing. The collection or topic provides a convenient, single, entry point to the original research, expert comment, and authoritative review articles published since January, 2006 in the four Lancet journals - The Lancet, Lancet Infectious Diseases, Lancet Neurology, and Lancet Oncology.

From the link on the trial database page select the collection you require, then click on the Free Trial button at the right of the screen and follow instructions from there.

The trial lasts until 30th June and any feedback would be much appreciated.

Feedback from the student survey

2009-06-01T08:56:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to all of you who completed the LRC User survey 2009. The 10 prize-winners will be announced here shortly.

All our feedback and analysis this year will be reported back through the blog only, so do check back regularly. It's easy to subscribe to our RSS feed or become a fan of our Facebook page.

To start the ball rolling, here are some statistics:

There were a total of 201 respondents -

88.8% are students
88.6% are full time

Just under 50% are from the School of Health Sciences but only 4% were from DCI.
The majority of respondents come in to the LRC to either borrow or renew books (57%) or to use a terminal (44%). 30% asked a question at the desk and 30% used an MFD.

Vacation time!!!

2009-05-22T11:19:00.005+01:00

We're now into vacation opening hours. This means that we're open at 9am to 7pm from monday to friday and from 9am to 5pm on saturday and Sunday.

If you require an overnight loan of a Short Loan book, this is now possible from 3pm.

The terraces - as ever - are accessible 24/7. Don't forget your smartcard!

PubMed on iPhone or iTouch

2009-05-21T09:09:00.003+01:00

For those of you lucky enough to have an iPhone or iTouch, you may be interested to learn that 'PubMed On Tap' is an application for your iPhone or iPod Touch that lets
you search PubMed while on the go.

Click here for more details.

May's Book Swap

2009-05-11T14:39:00.002+01:00

Bring along your unwanted books to our book swap on the 14th May from 12 pm to 4 pm at Food for Thought.

Come and browse the tables and remember they are all free to take away. Swap your tired textbooks for some chick lit to read on the beach.

If you cannot make it on the day, you are very welcome to drop books off for the book swap at the LRC Service Desk.

Free Access to Swine Flu Information from DynaMed

2009-05-01T09:46:00.000+01:00

Due to the recent global outbreak of Swine Influenza, EBSCO Publishing and the DynaMed Editors have made DynaMed’s information about Swine Influenza free to health care providers and institutions throughout the world. The DynaMed topic on Swine Influenza consolidates information from multiple sources for health care providers to stay current with recommendations for monitoring, diagnosing, and treating patients with flu-like illnesses during this outbreak. DynaMed Editors will continue to monitor information and update this topic as needed throughout this global crisis. Please click on the following link for information regarding Swine Influenza:
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/swineflu/.

DynaMed is a point-of-care reference resource designed to provide clinicians with the best available evidence to support clinical decision-making. DynaMed is part of the suite of medical products owned and provided by EBSCO Publishing and is updated daily by monitoring medical literature sources.

Have your say!!!

2009-04-20T11:52:00.009+01:00

To all students and staff.

Have your say! We want to know what you think about the Learning Resource Centre.

Go online to fill in our short survey for a chance to win one of 10 Amazon £10 e-vouchers.

Thank you for your time.

Henry Stewart Publications - journal trial

2009-03-30T16:01:00.003+01:00

A trial of Henry Stewart Publications is granting us access to their collection of 15 journals covering the areas of health, social care, finance and management.

Current articles include:

Barrow, B., Mehler P. and Price, C. 2009. A communications campaign designed to improve hand hygiene compliance and reduce infection rates. Journal of Communication in Healthcare. 2 (1) February, pp. 61-77

Haines, E. 2009. The dos and don'ts of proximity marketing in sponsorship. Journal of Sponsorship. 2 (2) February, pp. 113-119

The trial is available until the 19th April and is available on campus or off campus via the Remote Desktop. Let us know what you think - fill in the trial database feedback form or email Barbara Houston.

Film and Sound Online add Wellcome titles

2009-02-27T09:46:00.003Z

EDINA have recently announced that content from the Wellcome Film Collection have been added to their database Film and Sound Online with more to come throughout the year.

Subscription to this database is free to Further and Higher Education institutions within the UK which means that researchers and students will be able to access this unique collection. Highlighted titles include:

Conditioned reflexes and behaviour (1925) - with reported rare footage of Pavlov
Living with diabetes (1959) - where two patients discuss treatment of their type 1 and type 2 diabetes with their consultant and dietician

Some titles may be restricted due to their sensitive, medical nature. For more information on the collection go to: http://www.filmandsound.ac.uk/collections/wellcome.html

Extra quiet study spaces

2009-01-23T11:50:00.003Z

Starting next week Room 1:126 and 1:127 will be designated quiet study spaces in the East Wing. This is in addition to the five individual study carrels and the four quiet study rooms in the West Wing.

The new spaces are primarily used for teaching so you may occassionally be asked to leave if there is a class scheduled.

Blackwells bookstall is coming to QMU

2009-01-22T09:06:00.004Z

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas may be over but the singing carries on. Blackwell's bookstall is coming to town...

You'll be able to find them on the bridge area of the Learning Resource Centre from the 26th January to the 6th February. They will be bringing a wide variety of books from reading lists in all subject areas. If you can't find what you're looking for, you'll be able to place orders.

It's the season to be jolly

2008-12-10T12:55:00.005Z

Seasons Greetings!

Up to and including Monday 22nd December, we'll be open as usual. On Tuesday 23rd December, we will be open until 17:00 hours and then we'll be closed for the holidays.

We hope to ensure that the atrium will be available whilst the LRC is closed but as essential building work is scheduled for the 24th December to 5th January, there may be times when it is not. To avoid disappointment and unnecessary journeys in bad weather, please check by contacting the Security Team on 0131 474 0000.

We'll be back at the LRC and open as usual on Monday 5th January.

Atrium now open 24/7

2008-12-04T14:32:00.003Z

Some people call it the atrium, others call it the terraces - I even heard someone refer to it as the airport lounge!

Whatever you know it by - the area on the way down to 'Food For Thought' - is now open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 42 terminals are available for you to access electronic resources once the LRC is closed for the evening as well as an MFD to print, photocopy or scan.

Don't forget - you'll need to show your smartcard to Security after 9pm!

We're on YouTube

2008-10-14T11:59:00.002+01:00

As you may be aware, we had new speedgates installed over the summer which are taking some time to get used to. We've created some 'How to...' videos and posted them onto YouTube.

Entering the LRC through the Speedgates - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE6RVujndEk

Exiting the LRC through the Speedgates - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3D9AXMPrJU

For those of you looking for back issues of journals and are hesitant or weary of using the compact/revolving stacks, we've also created a few 'How to...' videos to help you:

How to move a single shelf - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOa97fp6yOI

How to move multiple shelves - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHka7vxJOSg

Safety features of the revolving shelves - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN6flmPl8-g

Instantly ask us...

2008-10-03T10:54:00.002+01:00

We're trialling a new enquiry service. You can instantly ask us your database, ejournal or ebook query via the Subject Enquiries Meebo widget which sits on our home page.

The green light shows when we're online to answer your query.

Need help with IT?

2008-09-24T08:37:00.003+01:00

Not sure which drive your memory stick is plugged into? Do you need to know how to change your network password?

Bring along your IT queries to our drop in session this friday between 2.15 and 3.15 in Room 1:124 and we'll do our very best to solve it for you.

Hopefully anyone who was having problems setting up their internet connection in Halls have now got it sorted. If, however, you are still having difficulties then come along to the Service Desk and we'll be happy to help you.

Write and Cite Version 4 now available

2008-09-19T09:09:00.003+01:00

The new version of QM's guide to the Harvard System of Referencing is now available online at:

http://www.qmu.ac.uk/lb/information/Guides/harvard_ref_guide.pdf

or you can buy a printed version from the LRC Service Desk for £2.00.

In compiling the new version, we have responded to all the comments received from staff and students over the last couple of years. New features include:

main sections rearranged in a more useful order
expanded advice on referencing electronic formats
clarification on referencing electronic journals
advice on covering a wider variety of formats including physical objects and images

Please let us know what you think - comments and feedback are always welcome.

Speedgates are now operational

2008-09-12T12:02:00.004+01:00

The new speedgates have arrived and are now fully operational.

This means to enter and exit the Learning Resource Centre, you have to have your smart card or visitors card with you at all times.

Take the left hand lane and place your card on the glass reader of the central island and the gates will open to allow you enter or exit.

If for some reason the gates do not open please see staff at the Reception Desk who will be able to update your smart card.

New speedgates

2008-08-25T13:15:00.002+01:00

The long awaited speedgates are arriving this week and are scheduled to be installed on wednesday 27th and thursday 28th August.

Obviously, for health and safety reasons, the main entrance to the LRC will be closed. An alternative access point is via 'The Bridge' (just beyond lifts on Level One passed the entrance to Student Services) so no need to panic and we're still open 09:00 to 19:00.

Students logging on to WebCT

2008-07-10T13:54:00.002+01:00

From Monday 14th July 2008, the WebCT password for students will change to your network password - the same one you use for Webmail, the Student Portal and Remote Access.

This means that after the 14th July, if you change your network password then your password for WebCT will automatically change also.

If you've forgotten your password and need it reset, you will need to:

ask in person at the Service Desk in the LRC or
email lrchelp@qmu.ac.uk or
phone 0131 474 0000 and ask for 'Learning Resource Centre' or 'LRC'

Changes to the way you access electronic books

2008-06-27T08:36:00.003+01:00

Access to ebrary - our electronic book collection - has changed. You are no longer prompted to enter your ATHENS username and password. Instead, access is direct through recognition of the IP address.

If you are on-campus, this means access is seamless through the staff or student desktop. Search for an ebook in iLink or Quest or the ebrary database as before and simply click on the URL, 'connect to this ebook via ebrary' or book title (in ebrary).

For those of you off-campus, this means that you will now have to log-on to the network remotely before being able to access ebooks the same way as those on-campus as above. Details of how to log-on to the remote desktop can be found via:

http://www.qmu.ac.uk/it/Remote_Access/remotedesktop.PDF

By logging on to the remote desktop, you will have seamless access to ebooks as well as databases, the majority of ejournals, Reference Manager and SPSS without any need for additional usernames and passwords so it is worthwhile spending 5-10 minutes setting it up.

Put out to pasture

2008-06-10T14:35:00.003+01:00

We've weeded some of our old stock which is now available for you to purchase in our Book Sale. With the arrival of the new shelving for Current Journals, the Book Sale shelves were moved to the West Wing and can now be found opposite the Postgraduate Study Room.

For your browsing pleasure, a selection of older edition textbooks and fiction have been put on a trolley near the Service Desk.

Speculation is rife over whether more fiction or textbooks will sell. Prices start from 50p so come along and have a look...

Going on placement over the summer vacation?

2008-05-21T11:00:00.005+01:00

Are you going on placement over the summer vacation? Would it be helpful to access other university libraries? If the answer is yes, come and see us at the Service Desk and we can issue you with a SCONUL Access card.

SCONUL Access is the largest scheme of its kind in the UK and Ireland. Staff, research students, part-time, distance learners, students on placements and taught postgraduates can apply for borrowing privileges under the scheme. Don't worry if you do not fall into these categories as reference-only access is possible - and sometimes all you need!

A large majority of universities have signed up to the scheme such as Edinburgh University, Glasgow University, Stirling University, Robert Gordon University as well as Manchester University, Birmingham University and many more... For a full list of participating libraries go to: http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/members.

Application forms are available from the Service Desk or can be downloaded at: http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/users_info/application_form_pdf.

Please bear in mind that this form needs to be authorised and signed by a member of LRC staff before you go!

We're still here

2008-05-16T09:25:00.002+01:00

Summer is nearly here and whilst some of you may be jetting off to sunnier climes, we're still here.

The academic year does not technically end until the 23rd May so we'll be open as normal up to and including Sunday 25th May. You can return your books, pick up a SCONUL Access card if you need to use other libraries during the vacation or print off your flight confirmation before you go.

From Monday 26th May to Sunday 14th September we will be open:

Monday to Friday: 09:00 to 19:00

Saturday and Sunday: 09:00 to 17:00