Monday 30 January 2012

WISER coming up: Using images and Reference management

Bodleian Libraries will be running  the following workshops next week:

ARTstor and Bridgeman: Using images in teaching and learning
Tuesday 7 February 2.00 - 4:00 
This  course examines two major digital image collections subscribed to by the University - ARTstor and Bridgeman Education - geared to research and teaching in the humanities, history of science and medicine, and social sciences. Viewing, presenting and managing images are also covered.
Presenters: Clare Hills-Nova and Vicky Brown. 
Book your place

WISER: Tech Tools - Reference Management
Wednesday 8 February 2.00 - 5.00
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 worth investigating. This introductory session gives an overview of how it works and the pros and cons of RefWorks, EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley. 
Find out more about courses in reference management
Presenters: Ljilja Ristic, Ollie Bridle and Angela Carritt
Book your place

Keeping up to date with the WISER programme - Why not follow  us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser  or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com. You can also check the timetable on the WISER web site at http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/workshops or join our mailling list by sending an empty email to wiser-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk

Not a member of Oxford University? - If you are not a current member of Oxford University but would like to attend a workshop please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Please quote your Bodleian reader's card barcode number.

If you have any questions please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Tuesday 24 January 2012

WISER coming up: RefWorks and Reference Management

Bodleian Libraries will be running  the following workshops on reference management this term:

RefWorks for Humanities [Friday 3 February 2.00 - 5.00] and RefWorks for Sciences and Social Sciences [Friday 2 March 9.15-12.15]
RefWorks is a powerful online tool which  can help you to manage your references, insert them into your papers, easily switch between citation styles and automatically generate bibliographies.  These workshops will introduce you to the main features of RefWorks. 
Book your place at RefWorks for Humanities | Book your place at RefWorks for Sciences and Social Sciences  
If you can’t come along to the RefWorks session that is most appropriate to your discipline please come along to the other session. The two sessions are similar although they use different examples in the demonstrations.  

WISER: Technology Tools – Reference Management [Wednesday 8 February 2.00 – 5.00] introduces four software options for managing references and inserting them into your papers including the two market leaders, RefWorks and Endnote and two popular free packages, Zotero and Mendeley.  We will discuss some of the pros and cons of each package and factors to consider when making a choice. Participants will also have opportunities to try out the different packages.
Book your place

Keeping up to date with the WISER programme - Why not follow  us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser  or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com. You can also check the timetable on the WISER web site at http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/workshops.

Not a member of Oxford University? - If you are not a current member of Oxford University but would like to attend a workshop please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Please quote your Bodleian reader's card barcode number.

If you have any questions please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Monday 16 January 2012

WISER coming up: Finding stuff, Getting information to come to you, Your thesis and ORA

Bodleian Libraries will be running the following classes during week 2:

WISER: Finding Stuff – Books etc on SOLO
Monday 23 January 9.15 - 10.00
Effective search techniques for finding books and other library materials using SOLO, ordering from the book stacks and using the SOLO eshelf and saved searches
Book Now

WISER: Finding Stuff – Journal Articles
Monday 23 January 10.00 - 11.30
How to find articles and papers to support your research using a wide range of bibliographic databases and how to develop your search strategy.  This workshop will include plenty of time for participants to try out their own searches using databases for their subject as well as a demonstration.
Book Now

WISER: Finding Stuff – Theses and Dissertations
Monday 23 January 11.30 - 12.15
How to find dissertations and theses from Oxford, other UK institutions and overseas.  
Book Now

WISER: Your thesis, copyright and ORA
Friday 27 January 9.15 - 10.15
Oxford DPhil students are required to deposit a copy of their thesis in ORA (Oxford University Research Archive).  This session will focus on copyright and other issues that DPhil students need to take into account when preparing and writing their thesis so that they do not encounter problems when they deposit.      DPhils are encouraged to attend this session early so that they can make sensible decisions regarding rights from the start of their research.
Find out more | Book now

WISER: Getting information to come to you
Friday 27 January 10.30 - 12.00
How to keep abreast of new publications and papers in your research area and research news and opportunities on the web using RSS feeds and email alerts. The session will include a demonstration and also time to set up your an RSS reader or email notifications.
Book Now

Keeping up to date with the WISER programme - Why not follow  us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser  or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com You can also check the timetable on the WISER web site at http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/workshops or join our mailling list by sending an empty email to wiser-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk

Not a member of Oxford University? - If you are not a current member of Oxford University but would like to attend a WISER workshop please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Please quote your Bodleian readers card barcode number.

If you have any questions please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Minor disruption to photocopying and printing, Wednesday 11th January

On Wednesday 11th January there will be some minor sporadic disruption to PCAS copiers throughout the Bodleian Libraries. This is due to background reconfiguration, and each device will need to be individually reset and tested by remote access. This will mean the copier will be unavailable for a few minutes whilst this is done.  If you find the photocopier is not working or is busy (with no user present), please try again in 5 minutes. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Monday 9 January 2012

New Year Resolution? Get WISER and improve your search/research skills

The timetable of WISER training sessions being offered by the Bodleian Libraries during Hilary Term is now available on the Bodleian's online workshops guide at: http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/workshops. You can also find handouts of past sessions to download.

WISER (or Workshops in Information Skills and Electronic Resources) is a  programme of classes designed to help you to make effective use of electronic and other library resources in your research and learning. Although the workshops are free, booking is essential, and can be done via the page above or the OUCS website.

WISER sessions give you all sorts of tips and guidance on how to search for books, journals, and electronic resources on SOLO, OxLIP+ and other catalogues, as well as on how to manage your research and references effectively. If one of your New Years resolutions is to improve your information skills, it would be well worth your time signing up for a few!

Tuesday 3 January 2012

New Year News - change to default sort order within clustered search results, inter-library loan price rise, opening hours

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas break! The library is now open again for 2012.

A few pieces of news for the new year: 

Change to default sort order within clustered search results

This morning, the Bodleian Libraries have implemented the first stage of a plan to improve the display of records in SOLO with clusters of versions (where SOLO has grouped together ‘versions’ of the same work). To achieve this, the default sort order for search results within clusters will be changed to relevance rather than date-newest. If you prefer to see your results in date order you can still do so – please use the sort option at the top of the results screen.

While clustering is beneficial to and highly valued by a large number of readers, it can cause problems for others, particularly where searching for very specific editions or antiquarian/non-book material. The long-term aim is to exclude certain categories of material from clustering, which will solve the small number of problematic cases while retaining the benefits of clustering for the majority of searches and readers. 

The decision to retain clustering in SOLO and work to improve it was taken following extensive consultation and user testing. The change to sort order within clusters is a first step to mitigate against some of the major problems caused by clustering while we work to develop an improved solution for everyone.

Inter-library loan price rises

The January 2012  ILL price increase has now been implemented. 

This represents an annual increase since the charges were last revised in January 2012, and are in line with a recommendation that was passed by the Curators to apply a 25p annual increase to our charges for Inter-library loans and document supply.

The ILL charge increases are as follows:
  • Loan, photocopy, or delivery of an item by secure electronic delivery for University members from £4.50 to £4.75          
  • Urgent requests for University members from £10.50 to £10.75 
  • Worldwide searches for University members from £12.50 to £12.75.
The full revised price list can be found on the Bodleian website at: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/ill/prices

After this price rise, the annual price increase will take place in line with the beginning of the budget year so there will be a further rise of 25p from August 2012.

Saturday opening Hilary Term

The VHL will be open on Saturdays throughout Hilary Term (10am-2pm), from 14th January - 10th March.