Thursday, 30 June 2011
New library system: Stack requests
As the date for the switchover to our new library system approaches, this is a reminder to place any requests for books you may want from the Bodleian stacks during the downtime (8th-18th July) as soon as possible. The absolute last date to place requests is Thursday 7th July, but if you want to guarantee that your books get delivered to the reading rooms before then, you should put your requests in now!
Friday, 24 June 2011
Important information: Switchover to new library system, 8th-18th July - UPDATE
The date for the switchover to the new library system is fast approaching! Here's an update on the planned schedule and things to be aware of for using the Bodleian Libraries in July.
Stack requests
From 5pm on Thursday 7th July to 9am on Monday 18th July, while the new system is being implemented, it will not be possible to order items from the Bodleian bookstacks. If you would like to use material from the Bodleian stacks during this period, you are advised to place your stack requests by Friday 1st July in order to ensure that the book can be delivered to the reading room before the downtime.
We will be able to fetch material from the VHL stacks (for consultation in the VHL only) using manual request slips. Please ask staff at the desk for a slip. You should also still be able to request special collections material in the Radcliffe Science Library or stack material in Rhodes House Library in those libraries in the same way.
Library catalogue
Both telnet and the web versions of OLIS (http://library.ox.ac.uk) will be switched off permanently at 5pm on Thursday 7th July. The only catalogue available for the new system will be SOLO, which will continue to be available throughout the downtime (except for a brief period towards the end). With the new system, SOLO's functionality will be increased to allow you to do all the things you used to have to click through to OLIS for. If you are not already familiar with searching on SOLO, we would suggest you start familiarising yourself now! Library staff are always available to provide help and guidance, and once the new system is in place there will also be further guides, courses and tutorials. For more guidance on searching SOLO in its current incarnation, please see the SOLO online guide.
OxLIP+ and e-journals
OxLIP+ and e-journals will be unaffected, and you will still be able to search for and access electronic resources as usual.
Password resets
As the staff system will be down, we will not be able to reset any library passwords (for logging on to the PCs or wireless or checking your record) from 8th-17th July. Similarly, you will not be able to log in to your record on OLIS and change it yourself. Please make sure you know your password before 8th July, and ask us to reset it if necessary before then.
Lending (for those registered to borrow)
It will still be possible to borrow books throughout the downtime, using a back-up system. However, transactions will not be recorded on the catalogue so you won't be able to see for yourself whether a book is out on loan. As check-in and renewal won't be possible, any books checked out from Thursday 7th July until Friday 15th July will be due back on Monday 18th. If you return books to us during the downtime, we will not reshelve them until we can check them in on the new system.
SOLO e-shelf - check your email address!
If you use the e-shelf function on SOLO, you will need to check that your email address is recorded correctly in your record in order that the records you have saved can be migrated to the new version. To do this, log into SOLO as you usually would, then click on 'my account' in the top right-hand corner. If you need to change the email address listed, then click on 'edit details'.
New books and purchasing
We are now not able to order any new books until the new system is up and running. You can continue to send us recommendations for books to buy, but please be aware that we won't be able to get them here until probably August (taking into account delivery time). Books that have already been ordered will continue to arrive, however from 6th-18th July we will not be able to add them to the catalogue. Likewise, we will not be able to record the arrival of new journal issues, but if you are particularly keen to see a book or journal issue that you know is on its way or should have arrived, please do ask and we will fetch it out for you if we have it.
18th July: new system!
The new system will go live at 9am on Monday 18th July, and all normal library activities and processes will resume (with the exception of telnet/old web OLIS as described above). Please bear with us though if there are bugs or if we're a little slower than normal, as we'll be getting used to it ourselves over the following few weeks.
More information
Keep an eye on the blog, as well as our Facebook page and/or Twitter feed for updates throughout the downtime. If you have any further questions, please ask us!
Stack requests
From 5pm on Thursday 7th July to 9am on Monday 18th July, while the new system is being implemented, it will not be possible to order items from the Bodleian bookstacks. If you would like to use material from the Bodleian stacks during this period, you are advised to place your stack requests by Friday 1st July in order to ensure that the book can be delivered to the reading room before the downtime.
We will be able to fetch material from the VHL stacks (for consultation in the VHL only) using manual request slips. Please ask staff at the desk for a slip. You should also still be able to request special collections material in the Radcliffe Science Library or stack material in Rhodes House Library in those libraries in the same way.
Library catalogue
Both telnet and the web versions of OLIS (http://library.ox.ac.uk) will be switched off permanently at 5pm on Thursday 7th July. The only catalogue available for the new system will be SOLO, which will continue to be available throughout the downtime (except for a brief period towards the end). With the new system, SOLO's functionality will be increased to allow you to do all the things you used to have to click through to OLIS for. If you are not already familiar with searching on SOLO, we would suggest you start familiarising yourself now! Library staff are always available to provide help and guidance, and once the new system is in place there will also be further guides, courses and tutorials. For more guidance on searching SOLO in its current incarnation, please see the SOLO online guide.
OxLIP+ and e-journals
OxLIP+ and e-journals will be unaffected, and you will still be able to search for and access electronic resources as usual.
Password resets
As the staff system will be down, we will not be able to reset any library passwords (for logging on to the PCs or wireless or checking your record) from 8th-17th July. Similarly, you will not be able to log in to your record on OLIS and change it yourself. Please make sure you know your password before 8th July, and ask us to reset it if necessary before then.
Lending (for those registered to borrow)
It will still be possible to borrow books throughout the downtime, using a back-up system. However, transactions will not be recorded on the catalogue so you won't be able to see for yourself whether a book is out on loan. As check-in and renewal won't be possible, any books checked out from Thursday 7th July until Friday 15th July will be due back on Monday 18th. If you return books to us during the downtime, we will not reshelve them until we can check them in on the new system.
SOLO e-shelf - check your email address!
If you use the e-shelf function on SOLO, you will need to check that your email address is recorded correctly in your record in order that the records you have saved can be migrated to the new version. To do this, log into SOLO as you usually would, then click on 'my account' in the top right-hand corner. If you need to change the email address listed, then click on 'edit details'.
New books and purchasing
We are now not able to order any new books until the new system is up and running. You can continue to send us recommendations for books to buy, but please be aware that we won't be able to get them here until probably August (taking into account delivery time). Books that have already been ordered will continue to arrive, however from 6th-18th July we will not be able to add them to the catalogue. Likewise, we will not be able to record the arrival of new journal issues, but if you are particularly keen to see a book or journal issue that you know is on its way or should have arrived, please do ask and we will fetch it out for you if we have it.
18th July: new system!
The new system will go live at 9am on Monday 18th July, and all normal library activities and processes will resume (with the exception of telnet/old web OLIS as described above). Please bear with us though if there are bugs or if we're a little slower than normal, as we'll be getting used to it ourselves over the following few weeks.
More information
Keep an eye on the blog, as well as our Facebook page and/or Twitter feed for updates throughout the downtime. If you have any further questions, please ask us!
Monday, 20 June 2011
Summer opening hours
From Monday 27th June, the library will move to Summer vacation opening hours: 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday only. We will be closed on Saturdays from 24th June onwards. Summer hours will apply until the end of September.
Friday, 10 June 2011
HFL training on electronic resources: EEBO and Historical Newspapers
The History Faculty Library is running a couple of training courses on electronic resources which might be of interest to US Historians:
Discover Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Friday 17 June (week 7), 14:15-15:30 – BOOK HERE
EEBO is an important database of early printed books from 1475-1700. If you need tracts, texts and pamphlets written in Britain and colonial America in this time, then this hands-on session will show how to search, manipulate and print the text.
Presenter: Rebecca Price (ProQuest)
IT Room, History Faculty, George Street
Read all about it!: Making the most of online Historical Newspapers
Monday 20 June (week 8), 14:00-15:15 – BOOK HERE
Join this session to get an introductory overview of the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database. This course covers the content, functions, and features of, as well as tips for using, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. US titles available via ProQuest include The New York Times (1851-2007), The Washington Post (1877-1994), The Chicago Defender (1910-1975), The New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993) and The Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002).
Presenter: Rebecca Price (ProQuest)
IT Room, History Faculty, George Street
Discover Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Friday 17 June (week 7), 14:15-15:30 – BOOK HERE
EEBO is an important database of early printed books from 1475-1700. If you need tracts, texts and pamphlets written in Britain and colonial America in this time, then this hands-on session will show how to search, manipulate and print the text.
Presenter: Rebecca Price (ProQuest)
IT Room, History Faculty, George Street
Read all about it!: Making the most of online Historical Newspapers
Monday 20 June (week 8), 14:00-15:15 – BOOK HERE
Join this session to get an introductory overview of the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database. This course covers the content, functions, and features of, as well as tips for using, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. US titles available via ProQuest include The New York Times (1851-2007), The Washington Post (1877-1994), The Chicago Defender (1910-1975), The New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993) and The Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002).
Presenter: Rebecca Price (ProQuest)
IT Room, History Faculty, George Street
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
New collection added to Digital National Security Archive
A new collection has been added to the Digital National Security Archive (available to Oxford users via OxLIP+): US Intelligence and China: Collection, Analysis, and Covert Action.
From the DNSA description:
This collection includes more than 2,300 documents providing new insights into aspects of intelligence operations, with the results of most of these efforts, naturally, kept highly classified. The resulting finished intelligence addressed a diversity of topics, ranging from military capabilities to domestic policies, and which was critical in helping to shape U.S. policy toward the emerging world power. This collection provides insights into all these aspects of intelligence operations, revealing U.S. concerns about its rival, China, and its ally, Taiwan.
For more information on the contents of this collection, see http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/collections/content/CI/intro.jsp.
Keep an eye on our resources blog for an upcoming post on sources for declassified documents, including the DNSA.
From the DNSA description:
This collection includes more than 2,300 documents providing new insights into aspects of intelligence operations, with the results of most of these efforts, naturally, kept highly classified. The resulting finished intelligence addressed a diversity of topics, ranging from military capabilities to domestic policies, and which was critical in helping to shape U.S. policy toward the emerging world power. This collection provides insights into all these aspects of intelligence operations, revealing U.S. concerns about its rival, China, and its ally, Taiwan.
For more information on the contents of this collection, see http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/collections/content/CI/intro.jsp.
Keep an eye on our resources blog for an upcoming post on sources for declassified documents, including the DNSA.
WISER coming up: Getting information to come to you & Reference management
WISER: Getting information to come to you (Wednesday 15 June 3.30 - 5.00pm) – Keeping up to date with the latest research, publications, announcements and other news is an essential but time consuming task. This session will cover setting up RSS and/or email alerts to journals, databases and websites so that new information comes to you quickly and easily. There will be opportunities to set up feed readers and/or email notifications during the workshop.
Book your place online at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TZD20
WISER: Technology Tools - Reference Management (Thursday 16 June 2.00 - 5.00pm) - Keeping track of your references and formatting them correctly for your thesis or publication is a chore. Reference management software makes it easy and is well worth investigating. This introductory session gives an overview of how it works and the pros and cons of RefWorks, EndNote, Zotero & Mendeley.
Book your place online at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TZW6
Not a current member of Oxford University? - If you are not a current member of Oxford university, you can book your places by emailing usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk quoting your Bodleian Libraries card number.
Why not follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com
Monday, 6 June 2011
Maximising the visibility of your research
Bodleian Libraries will be running a workshop on maximising the visibility of your research using ORA next Monday. This workshop is aimed at academic staff and post-doctoral researchers.
Maximising the visibility of your research (Monday 13 June 2.-00-5.00) - Ensuring that your research is visible is becoming more and more important as increasing emphasis is placed on research impact. One easy way to improve your visibility is to deposit your research in the Oxford Research Archive(ORA) where it will be easily available to other researchers. Come along to next Monday's training session on ORA to find how how to deposit your articles, posters, conference papers and other research output, to find out about using Symplectic to add items to ORA and to learn about copyright and other rights issues when making your research available online. The workshop will include opportunities for hands on practice so please feel free to bring electronic copies of your research outputs to upload to ORA.
This session will take place on Monday 13 June 2.00-5.00pm. Please book your place online at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/THAC
Maximising the visibility of your research (Monday 13 June 2.-00-5.00) - Ensuring that your research is visible is becoming more and more important as increasing emphasis is placed on research impact. One easy way to improve your visibility is to deposit your research in the Oxford Research Archive(ORA) where it will be easily available to other researchers. Come along to next Monday's training session on ORA to find how how to deposit your articles, posters, conference papers and other research output, to find out about using Symplectic to add items to ORA and to learn about copyright and other rights issues when making your research available online. The workshop will include opportunities for hands on practice so please feel free to bring electronic copies of your research outputs to upload to ORA.
This session will take place on Monday 13 June 2.00-5.00pm. Please book your place online at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/THAC
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
WISER next week: US History and Finding Stuff
WISER: Sources for US History
Introduction to key information sources for the study of colonial America & US history. Starting with finding tools to locate material, examples of source materials will then be shown including archival, microform, printed/online collections & useful web portals & audiovisual collections.
Presenter: Jane Rawson
Wednesday 8 June 3.30 - 5.00pm | Book now
WISER: Finding Stuff - Books etc on SOLO
A general introduction to finding books and journal titles in Oxford libraries using SOLO and OLIS. For detailed information about searching for journal articles, theses and conference papers please see other titles in the WISER Finding Stuff series.
Presenter: Angela Carritt
Thursday 9 June 12.30 - 1.30pm | Book now
WISER: Finding Stuff - Journal Articles
This session will focus on finding journal articles for your research using a wide range of databases as well as developing effective search strategies. There will be plenty of time for participants to try out their own searches using databases for their subject.
Presenters: Kerry Webb and Angela Carritt
Thursday 9 June 1.30 - 2.30pm | Book now
WISER: Finding Stuff - Theses and Dissertations
This session offers guidance on finding theses, both those submitted to and held in Oxford, and those from other institutions in the UK and abroad. It will demonstrate how to exploit some of the main sources of information : SOLO, Index to Theses (UK and Ireland); and Dissertations and Theses (International) EThOS and ORA.
Presenter: Angela Carritt
Thursday 9 June 2.45 - 3.45pm | Book now
WISER: Finding Stuff - Conferences
Conference papers can be difficult to find but they are valuable because they describe cutting-edge research. This session will enable you to find out about forthcoming conferences and also to locate the published papers of proceedings which have taken place.
Presenters: Sue Bird and James Shaw
Thursday 9 June 3.45 - 4.45pm | Book now
Not a current member of Oxford University? - If you are not a current member of Oxford university, you can book your places by emailing usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk quoting your Bodleian Libraries card number.
Why not join our WISER mailing list by sending an empty email to wiser-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com.
New books for May
The list of new books received in the library during May is now available on our website and LibraryThing page.
