Wednesday 28 November 2007

Photocopier update III: the saga continues

The photocopier is stubbornly resisting all attempts by the Xerox engineer to fix it. He is now calling in the expert photocopier repair man, who will hopefully be here in the next couple of days to see if he can do any better.

We apologise for the continued interruption to the service (needless to say we are just as frustrated as you are!) and we will continue to copy for you if you have urgent photocopying requirements.

WISER: Remote access to databases

Because of exceptional demand we are running the following session twice on Thursday. Booking for the second session at:
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TZWH

WISER: Remote Access to Databases and Datasets
Thursday, 29 November 2007 2.00 - 3.00
OUCS, Banbury Road (week 8)
This session will help you to set up access to Oxford online resources from your home computer through passwords (Athens and Single-Sign On) and the Virtual Private Network.
Presenters: Peter Higginbotham (OUCS) and Judy Reading (OULS)

Information is also available in the guide "Access to online resources..." see http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/guides (or collect from your library or request from usered@ouls.ox.ac.uk). You should hopefully find if you read through the guide that you would not need to come to the workshop but all very welcome.

Information about the full WISER programme at:
http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/services/information_skills
All enquiries to: usered@ouls.ox.ac.uk

Tuesday 27 November 2007

OLIS records for Evans

Records for the new e-resource Early American Imprints I: Evans 1639-1800 are being loaded into OLIS so titles in this collection can be searched for and linked to within the catalogue.

Monday 26 November 2007

Photocopier update continued...

I'm sorry to have to report the photocopier is still not working. The engineer has been this morning with the new parts but the copier stubbornly refuses to come back to life, so he will be back tomorrow with more new parts. We're keeping our fingers crossed and praying to the photocopying gods for mercy...

Tuesday 20 November 2007

Photocopier update

Mixed news for all of you waiting with baited breath for the resurrection of our dead photocopier. The good news is the Xerox engineer has finally come to look at it. The bad news is it needs new parts and so will be out of action for another couple of days. If you have urgent photocopying requirements, please let staff know - we have made arrangements with the RAI to use their machine in the meantime.

I'm sure you will all be delighted to hear that we are in the home strait with this ancient and cranky machine, and will be getting a new copier in January.

Tuesday 13 November 2007

Online database tutorials

Two introductory tutorials for US Studies databases (America: History and Life and The New York Times Historical Archive) have been created by library staff and are available online:

The tutorials are designed to take you through the first steps of running basic searches with the database, and therefore will only work within the Oxford network.

What's in the blog? You tell me!

One of the big advantages of having a blog like this one for library news is that it is so easy for me to post things. This means that I've been posting all sorts of different bits of information, but I have no way of knowing what you find useful or otherwise. So, in an attempt to find out, I've set up a quick poll on the sidebar of this page for you to vote on what kind of information you want to see here.

Please vote if you have a second, the feedback monster is hungry...

WISER sessions next week

WISER Humanities: Quality information on the Internet. Friday, 23 November 12.30 - 1.30 at OUCS, Banbury Road (week 7) This session will help you to develop effective web searching techniques for use with search engines and introduce you to strategies for evaluating resources. Some guidance on how to cite electronic resources will also be provided.
Johanneke Sytsema and Judy Reading
Book at: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TZC15
Information about the full programme at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/information_skills

Thursday 8 November 2007

New quick database guides available

New quick reference database guides are now available in the library for the following OxLIP databases:
  • America: History and Life
  • Declassified Documents Reference System
  • Early American Imprints I: Evans, 1639-1800

Online versions of OULS guides can be found at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/guides.

Wednesday 7 November 2007

The Library of the Future

A review of the VHL by Isis Magazine's Toast.

Tuesday 6 November 2007

WISER sessions next week

WISER Humanities: Electronic journals and citation indexes. Friday, 16 November (6) OUCS Banbury Road 12.30 - 1.30 Electronic journals provide online, full-text access to journal articles. We will demonstrate the Oxford University e-Journals interface and also some key online journal citation indexes for the humanities including MLA, ATLA and Historical Abstracts Kerry Webb and Elizabeth Crowley Book at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TZC21

WISER Social Sciences: Google and beyond. Tuesday 13 November (week 6) This session will help you to develop effective web searching techniques for use with search engines and introduce you to strategies for evaluating resources. Some guidance on how to cite electronic resources will also be provided.
Angela Carritt and Penny Schenk - Social Science Library IT Training Room - no need to book

Full details of the WISER programme at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/information_skills/wiser

Friday 2 November 2007

Information skills training

WISER (Workshops in Information Skills and Electronic Resources) sessions next week:

WISER Humanities: Keeping up-to-date. Friday, 9 November (5) Make your own current awareness service. Discover ways of using electronic bibliographic resources to keep up with the literature in your field by creating personal research / interest profiles.
Kate Petherbridge and Judy Reading
Book at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TZC13

WISER Social Sciences: Is IT all a bit much? Getting information to come to you. Tuesday 6 November (week 5) 12.30-1.30 at Social Science Library IT Room Make your own current awareness service. Discover ways of using electronic bibliographic resources to keep up with the literature in your field by creating personal research / interest profiles.
Katherine Melling and Clare Jarvis
No need to book

Full programme and further details at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/information_skills/wiser

Also, advance notice of a session at the end of term:

WISER: Remote Access to Databases and Datasets Thursday, 29 November 2007 12.30 - 1.30 OUCS, Banbury Road (week 8) This session will help you to set up access to Oxford online resources from your home computer through passwords (Athens and Single-Sign On) and the Virtual Private Network. Presenters: Peter Higginbotham (OUCS) and Judy Reading (OULS) Book at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TZWH
Information is also available in the guide "Access to online resources..." see http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/guides or collect from your library.

Thursday 1 November 2007

New books in the library - October

A list of new books which arrived in the library in October is now up on our website: http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/vhl/collections_and_services/accessions.