Christmas vacation opening hours

From Monday 9th December, the library will be open Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm. We'll be closed on Saturdays from then until the start of Hilary Term.

The library will close at 5pm on Friday 20th December for the Christmas break, and will reopen at 9am on Thursday 2nd January.

The assassination of President Kennedy, 50 years on: an exhibition

To mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, we have set out an exhibition drawing on our collections, including materials donated by two Distinguished Fellows of the Rothermere American Institute, to commemorate his life and death.

The exhibition may be seen in the three cases by the enquiry desk on the ground floor of the library. The first case contains materials relating to Kennedy from the Philip & Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaigns Archive - these include a 1958 ballot paper from Massachusetts, buttons and other ephemera from his campaign for President in 1960, and a copy of the official program for his Inauguration in January 1961. Accompanying these materials is a display of copies of clippings of news articles written by Godfrey Hodgson about President Kennnedy from his time as Washington Correspondent for The Observer which began in 1962. These news clippings have been donated to the RAI by Mr Hodgson as part of his collection of papers from his long career as a journalist and researcher on the United States.

The second and third cases cover the events of November 22, 1963 and their aftermath, drawing on the library's extensive holdings of official publications such as the Public Papers of the Presidents, Congressional Record, and the Report of the Warren Commission, as well as further articles from Godfrey Hodgson's collection.

The exhibition will remain on display in the library for the next few weeks.

WISER coming up: RefWorks and Web Archives

Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops on RefWorks and Web Archiving next week. Please find more details below.

RefWorks for Sciences and Social Sciences (Wed 20 Nov 2.00 - 5.00) (wk 6)  - RefWorks is an online tool which allows you to manage your citations/references, insert them into your word processed documents as footnotes or in text citations, automatically generate bibliographies and easily switch between citation styles. This introduction is open to all but the section on importing references will focus on Science/Social Science examples.

Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers, academics and undergraduates wishing to use reference management software.

Venue: IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.

Presenters: Nia Roberts, Cathy Scutt and Angela Carritt > Book Now

WISER: Web Archiving - Time Travel on the Web (Fri 22 Nov 10.30 - 12.00) (wk 6) - A basic introduction to the world of web archives. This session introduces selected web archives and their potential uses.

Who is this session for?  Anyone new to the idea of archiving web sites, wishing to obtain an overview of current provision especially postgraduate students, researchers, academics and university staff.

Venue: Radcliffe Science Library

Presenter:  Susan Thomas  > Please book your place online.

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our 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

Questions? - Please contact angela.carritt@bodleian.ox.ac.uk 

WISER coming up: Research impact, Reference management, Web archives

Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops and talks in the areas of research impact and reference management over the coming weeks. Please find more details below.

WISER Research Impact I: Who's citing you? (Tuesday 12 November 14.00-15.00)  This workshop introduces citation tracking as a technique for finding out who is citing your work using Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar.  The session will cover how to track citations using the three tools and the pros and cons of each.    We will also include time for you to try out each tool to find citations to your own work.
Who is this session for?:  Researchers, Academics, Research Support Staff and Research Postgraduates.
Presenters:  Juliet Ralph and Karine Barker
Venue: Radcliffe Science Library  > Please book your place online.

WISER Research Impact II – Tools of the Trade (Tuesday 12 November 15.15 - 16.15). Following hard on the heels of Research Impact I, this workshop will focus in on using Web of Science and Scopus to calculate h-indexes, find highly cited journals and to measure the impact of individual institutions and countries.    In addition we will look at using Essential Science Indicators to find "hot" papers and authors and the use of altmetrics to measure downloads and mentions in social media.
Who is this session for?:  Please note that this session is for researchers, Academics, Research Support Staff and Research Postgraduates in the Sciences and Social Sciences.    
Prior knowledge: If you are unfamiliar with citation tracking please attend Research Impact I: Who's citing you? first. 
Presenters:  Juliet Ralph and Karine Barker
Venue: Radcliffe Science Library  > Please book your place online.

WISER: Web Archiving - Time Travel on the Web (Fri 22 Nov 10.30 - 12.00) (wk 6) - A basic introduction to the world of web archives. This session describes how web archives came into being, and introduces selected web archives and their potential uses.
Who is this session for?  Anyone new to the idea of archiving web sites, wishing to obtain an overview of current provision especially postgraduate students, researchers, academics and university staff.
Venue: Radcliffe Science Library
Presenter:  Susan Thomas  > Please book your place online.

WISER: Tech Tools - Reference Management (Fri 22 Nov 9.15 - 12.15) (wk 6) -  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.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers,  academics and undergraduates wishing to use reference management software.
Venue: IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.
Presenters: Oliver Bridle, Pamela Stanworth, Kelly Schultz and Angela Carritt > Please book your place online.

WISER: Mendeley for reference management (Wed 27 Nov 2.00 - 5.00)  (wk 7)  - Mendeley is a reference management package that helps you build libraries of references and then add citations and bibliographies to word processed documents.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers, academics and undergraduates wishing to use reference management software.
Venue: IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.
Presenters: Oliver Bridle and Owen Coxall  > Please book your place online.

The Research Skills Toolkit (week 8 of Michaelmas Term and week 1 of Hilary Term)   - A hands on workshop for research students introducing key tools, techniques and resources for research   Topics covered in this 2 hour session include:

• Reference management software
• Literature searching and advanced search techniques
• Keeping up to date with emerging research
• Managing your thesis with Word
• Analysing data with Excel pivot tables
• Podcasting with Audacity and Weblearn
• Free software for image manipulation
• Measuring research impact

Who is this session for? These workshops are open to graduate researchers > check dates and book your place online.

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not join our 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

Questions? - Please contact angela.carritt@bodleian.ox.ac.uk 

PC replacement Wednesday 6th November

Our reader PCs will all be replaced on Wednesday morning this week. We have requested that they be replaced in two batches so as to ensure that there are always some PCs available for readers to use, but there will inevitably be fewer available at any one time that morning.

The PC at our enquiry desk is also due to be replaced that morning, so please bear with us while that happens!

WISER coming up: Images, E-books and Finding scholarly materials

During 4th week Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops on finding and using digital images in your research, locating and manipulating academic e-books, working with e-book readers and finding scholarly materials.  Please find full details below:

Digital images: ARTstor, Bridgeman Education and VADS for teaching and learning (Thu 7 November  9:15 - 11:15) (wk 4) – This workshop examines two major digital image collections subscribed to by the University - ARTstor and Bridgeman Education - and a third resource, free for educational use, VADS. All of these are geared to research and teaching in the humanities, history of science and medicine, and social sciences. Finding viewing, presenting and managing images will be covered.
Presenters:  Clare Hills-Nova and Vicky Brown > Book your place.

WISER: E-books  (Thurs 7 Nov 2.00 - 3.00) (wk 4) - An overview of academic e-books looking at what is currently available in e-format, how to find and access e-books and how to make the most of e-book functionality.
Who is this session for?  All members of Oxford University and other Bodleian Libraries readers
Presenter: Hilla Wait  > Book your place

WISER: E-book readers (Thurs 7 November 3.15 - 4.15)  (wk 4)  How useful are e-book readers in academic work? Can they be used for accessing library materials? What are the features to look out for when considering purchase? These and similar questions will be considered with reference to the i-Pad, the Amazon Kindle and Sony Touch e-readers and smart phones.
Who is this session for? All members of Oxford University and other Bodleian Libraries readers
Presenter: Hilla Wait  > Book your place

WISER: Finding stuff – scholarly literature for your research (Fri 8 Nov 2.00 - 5.00 ) (wk 4)
A practical introduction to searching for scholarly materials to support your research, covering a range of tools for finding monographs, journal articles, conference papers, theses and more.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics
Presenters:  Joanne Edwards, Craig Finlay, Sue Bird and Angela Carritt  > Book your place

Coming soon:

The Research Skills Toolkit (week 8 of Michaelmas Term and week 1 of Hilary Term)  - A hands on workshop for research students introducing key tools, techniques and resources for research   Topics covered in this 2 hour session include:

• Reference management software
• Literature searching and advanced search techniques
• Keeping up to date with emerging research
• Managing your thesis with Word
• Analysing data with Excel pivot tables
• Podcasting with Audacity and Weblearn
• Free software for image manipulation
• Measuring research impact

Who is this session for? These workshops are open to graduate researchers and take place > check dates and book your place online.

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our 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

Questions? - Please contact angela.carritt@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

History Information Fair 2013

30 October 2013, North Writing School, Examination Schools, 3-5pm

Designed to help graduates prepare for their research project, all graduates are encouraged to drop in on this fair. The fair is conceived as a gateway to the university's information resources.

Oxford is fortunate in having rich library and archival holdings and electronic resources. Discover more about the resources available and how to access them at the Fair.

The event is your change to speak to expert archivists and librarians from the Bodleian Library, rich in British and European collections, and of libraries holding collections in US, Indian, Latin American, Slavonic and African and Commonwealth history.

Further information

Ends soon! Readers' Guide Retrospective Trial

Our trial to Readers' Guide from 1890-1982 ends next Thursday (31st October). If you have been intending to make use of this resource while we have access, now's your last chance to do so!

Readers' Guide Retrospective provides access to the archive of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature from 1890-1982, indexing articles in the popular American press by subject, as well as to over three million articles from approximately 375 periodicals, many in full text. Please send comments and feedback to jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. 

Research skills toolkit for postgrads: Book now!

A free hands-on workshop for research students introducing key tools, techniques and resources.   Topics covered in this 2 hour session include:

• Reference management software
• Literature searching and advanced search techniques
• Keeping up to date with emerging research
• Managing your thesis with Word
• Analysing data with Excel pivot tables
• Podcasting with Audacity and Weblearn
• Free software for image manipulation
• Measuring research impact
• Your thesis, copyright and submitting to ORA

During the sessions you will also meet with subject specialists for help and guidance on further training.

These workshops are open to graduate researchers and take place in week 8 of Michaelmas and week 1 of Hilary Term.

Read more and book your place

Open Access Week @ Oxford 2013

Welcome back! New term/new year round-up

Welcome back to all those returning to Oxford after the summer, and welcome to all those who have newly arrived!

Here's a summary of a few things you might have missed over the summer:

SOLO upgrade
The software that powers SOLO was upgraded in early September, and this brought with it several new features, including browse searching, date range search, improved export options, and multiple selection/exclusion of facets (refine your results). > More information.

New VHL website
Our website had a makeover earlier in the summer, in line with the other Bodleian Libraries websites. We took the opportunity to review and revise all the content and it now contains much more useful information than previously. > Take a look

84,000+ more ebooks now available
Following a successful trial in Trinity Term 2013, Oxford readers now have access to over 84,000 extra e-books in the Ebrary Academic Complete collection. The books are all now available in SOLO. > Find out more

For those of you who are new to Oxford, I'll be running a quick induction tour of the VHL on Thursday of 1st week (17th October) at 1.30pm. No need to book, just turn up at the library!  You can also find lots of information about how to find resources and use the library on our new website at http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/vhl/getting-started

Term time hours begin Monday 7th October

The library will revert to term time opening hours on Monday 7th October. From then until the end of term (7th December), the library will be open 9am-7pm, Monday-Friday, and 10am-2pm on Saturdays.

Trial until 31st October: Readers' Guide Retrospective

We now have trial access to the online archive of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature from 1890-1982. Access is available via OxLIP+ until 31st October (sign in for remote access).

Readers' Guide Retrospective provides access to the archive of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature from 1890-1982, indexing articles in the popular American press by subject, as well as to over three million articles from approximately 375 periodicals, many in full text. Please send comments and feedback to jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. 

Brief network interruption Tuesday 24th September, 9.30am

There will be a brief network interruption around 9.30am on Tuesday 24th September while we switch over to a new router. This will affect library PCs and the wireless networks in the library.  The interruption should only last a few minutes, and we apologise for any inconvenience it may cause.

84,000+ ebooks now available: Ebrary Academic Complete comes to Oxford

Following a successful trial in Trinity Term 2013, Oxford readers now have access to over 84,000 extra e-books in the Ebrary Academic Complete collection. The books come from 500 prestigious academic publishers and range across all disciplines. The books are all displayed and searchable on SOLO or in OxLIP+ as Ebrary Academic Complete. The ebooks are mounted on the ProQuest platform with multiuser access and and University members also can download ebooks for a 14-day onto mobile devices. The package will be updated regularly. Our subscription runs until August 2015.

Reader comments during the trial described the resource as ‘incredibly awesome’.

Want to learn more about ebooks?

WISER: E-books  (Thurs 7 Nov 2.00 – 3.00) (wk 4)
An overview of academic e-books looking at what is currently available in e-format, how to find and access e-books and how to make the most of e-book functionality. Who is this session for?  All members of Oxford University and other Bodleian Libraries readers
Presenter: Hilla Wait  > Book your place

WISER: E-book readers (Thurs 7 November 3.15 – 4.15)  (wk 4)
How useful are e-book readers in academic work? Can they be used for accessing library materials? What are the features to look out for when considering purchase? These and similar questions will be considered with reference to the i-Pad, the Amazon Kindle and Sony Touch e-readers and smart phones. Who is this session for? All members of Oxford University and other Bodleian Libraries readers
Presenter: Hilla Wait  > Book your place

Window cleaning in the library week beginning 9th September

The windows throughout the building will be cleaned during the week beginning 9th September. Apologies for any minor disruption that this may cause.

SOLO upgrade: new features

The software that powers SOLO, the Bodleian Libraries’ online catalogue, has now been upgraded.  While SOLO will function the same following the upgrade, the new version of the software brings with it various additional new features, many of which have been requested by readers.

1.    Browse searching
The new browse search allows users to browse records using A-Z lists of authors, titles or subjects.  The browse lists cover the holdings of the majority of libraries within the University, but they do not include the databases indexed in OxLIP+ or research papers and theses indexed in the Oxford Research Archive (ORA). You can browse OxLIP+ or ORA within their own dedicated search interfaces.

2.    Date range search (Advanced search)
This is a new option in the advanced search screen which allows users to limit searches by specifying a publication date range. Results from the search will only include material where the publication date falls between the start and end date set.

3.    Improved export options
The facility to export records to reference managers has been greatly improved in this new version of SOLO.  It is now possible to export directly from individual records without saving to e-shelf and to export to desktop reference management software such as Endnote and RefWorks.

 
4.    Multiple selection/exclusion of facets (Refine your results)
It is now possible to refine your results using more than one option in the facet list on the left-hand side of the page. To do so, click on ‘refine further’. This will also offer the option to exclude facets.

Please note: Readers using the “Libraries” facet are strongly advised to avoid excluding libraries.   This is because if an item is held in a number of libraries and you choose to exclude one of them, you will not see the item at all, even though it is also available in other libraries that you have chosen to include.  For example, if you exclude the Bodleian, you will not see items in other libraries if they are also held in the Bodleian.  To refine your search by library you are advised to use the “include” option but not “exclude”.

We continue to work to develop and improve SOLO, and welcome comments via the feedback link on the SOLO front page. For help and guidance using SOLO, please see the SOLO online guide at http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/solo or ask library staff. The Bodleian Libraries Live Help service is also available on the SOLO front page from 9am-5pm on weekdays.

Library closed Monday 26th August

The library will be closed on Monday 26th August for the bank holiday. Enjoy the long weekend!

Free access to Alexander St Press resources throughout August

Alexander Street Press have opened up access to many of their online resources for the whole of August. You can see and access the collections available for American Studies at http://alexanderstreet.com/americangateway. Between them, the collections cover a wide range of subjects and formats, including audio-visual material, letters, diaries, newspapers, magazines, comics and drama.

Many of these collections are on our (extensive) e-resources wishlist. If you have comments or feedback, or would like to suggest that we consider any for purchase, please do email jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

If you are prompted for a username or password when trying to access any of the resources, please email jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk to receive it.

WISER: Open Access Oxford - What's happening (14 August, 2pm)

Are you in receipt of a grant from one of the UK Research Councils or involved in supporting researchers in receipt of such grants? If so, you will need to ensure that articles and conference papers arising from the research are made available on an Open Access basis. Need to know more?  Bodleian Libraries will be running a briefing on open access for research publications and Oxford's position on Wednesday 14 August 14.00-15.00. 

We will be covering: 

• What is open access?
• Gold and Green routes to Open Access
• How to find out your funder's requirements and what your publisher will allow
• How to deposit in ORA or claim for APCS
• Where to get more help.

The session will take place at the Radcliffe Science Library (though will be relevant to all disciplines). Please be sure to book your place online at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZW7 

SOLO unavailable weekend 3rd-4th August

The software underlying SOLO will be upgraded this weekend. SOLO will therefore be unavailable from 8am on Saturday 3rd until 9am on Monday 5th August.

OxLIP+ will be unaffected, so if you wish to access electronic resources or e-journals, please use OxLIP+. If you want to search for books in Oxford libraries, try using Mobile Oxford or COPAC.

Welcome to UNIQ History students; mezzanine reserved all week

This week we are pleased to welcome students on the UNIQ History: Race & Protest summer school. UNIQ Summer Schools are week-long, subject-specific courses designed to encourage talented school students from less privileged backgrounds to apply to university, and the History programme has taken place at the Rothermere American Institute in the past. 

As part of their course, students on the History: Race & Protest summer school will be spending some time each afternoon studying in the VHL, and the mezzanine area will be reserved for them during the afternoons this week.

New VHL website launched

We are delighted to announce the launch of our brand new website! The design of the site has been overhauled in line with other Bodleian Libraries sites, and we took the opportunity to also review and revise the site's content and structure. We hope that the new site will therefore not only look nicer, but will be more friendly to use and provide far more information about the library than the old one did.

We will continue to work on the site now that it has been launched, and welcome feedback, comments and suggestions. If there is information missing that you would like to see on there, or if you think things are in less-than-logical places, please do let us know. As the site design is part of the Bodleian-wide project, we have no control over the look and feel of the site, but we can make changes to content and structure. Please take a look and let us know what you think!

Trials until 9th August: African American Periodicals and African American Newspapers

We now have trial access to two major databases of African American Periodicals and Newspapers until 9th August.

African American Periodicals, 1825-1995
African American Periodicals, 1825-1995, features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations bulletins, annual reports and other genres. 

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998, provides online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This unique collection features papers from more than 35 states—including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles. 

Both are now available via OxLIP+ (sign in for remote access). Please send comments and feedback to jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Summer opening hours begin next week

From next Monday (17th June), we will switch to our summer opening hours of 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday. We are closed on Saturdays now until the start of Michaelmas Term.

WISER coming up: Sources for Philosophy, Theology, African Studies, Medievalists; Alternatives to Google Reader; Mendeley

During the next few weeks, the Bodleian Libraries will running the following workshops to support your research:

WISER: Electronic resources in Theology and Philosophy (Wed 5 June 14.00-15.30) (wk 7) - This presentation is especially suitable for undergraduates preparing to work on a thesis or extended essays. It will also serve as a refresher, for all levels of study and research, covering Bibliographical databases, Primary texts and Bible studies, and will include new databases such as 20th Century Theologians.
Venue:  Graduate Training Room,  Radcliffe Humanities.
Presenters:  Hilla Wait > Book now

WISER: Information Sources for African Studies (Fri 7 Jun 9.15-10.45) (wk 7) - This session will cover finding tools for locating African Studies materials, key portals and gateways for African Studies and online archives of primary texts. Starting with a presentation the session will also include time for participants to try out some of the resources demonstrated.
Venue: IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.
Presenters: Lucy McCann and Sarah Rhodes > Book Now

WISER: Alternatives to Google Reader (Fri 7 Jun 11.00-12.15) (wk 7) - Google is closing its popular feed reader, Google Reader on 1 July.  This session will show case alternative RSS feed readers and advise on transferring your favourite feeds with minimum effort.
Venue: IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.
Presenters: Jane Rawson and Angela Carritt > Book Now

WISER: Sources for Medievalists (Wed 12 June 14.00-16.00) (wk 8) - This interdisciplinary session will provide a general overview of  e-resources relevant for British and Western European medieval studies. It will cover bibliographical databases, biographical and reference tools, web portals and collections of online primary source materials including Anglo-Saxon sources, Greek/Latin texts, chronicles, charters and literary works.
Venue: IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.
Presenters: Isabel Holowaty, Hilla Wait, Charlotte Goodall, Sue Usher, Eva Oledzka > Book Now

WISER: Mendeley for Reference Management (Fri 14 Jun10.15-12.15) (wk 8) - Mendeley is a relatively new reference management tool and one which is receiving a great deal of extremely positive feedback. It does all the things that traditional reference management packages do (for example allowing you to build up a database of citations and insert them into word processed documents) but also has collaborative features for researchers.   This session will be of interest to anyone looking for an alternative to Endnote and RefWorks as well as those who are new to reference management.
Venue: IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.
Presenter: Oliver Bridle  > Book Now

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our 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

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

WISER: Sources for US History, Tuesday 28th May, 10.45am @OUCS

I'll be running a course on sources for US History as part of the WISER series this coming Tuesday (28th May) at 10.45am. This session is designed to provide an overview of the sources available in Oxford and online for those researching US history, and is a good general introduction for those either starting their research on US topics or for those who want to know more about the range of print, microfilm and electronic resources we offer.

The session will begin with guidance on locating books, journals, articles and theses, but the bulk of the time will be devoted to primary sources, covering a wide range of topics, periods, and formats. I'll also spend some time giving tips on how to start identifying useful sources from the vast amount of digitised material increasingly freely available on the internet. There will be time for you to ask questions and have a look at particular sources of interest yourself.

The session will take place at OUCS. Please register with them at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZE9 if you wish to attend.

If you are unable to come but want more information and guidance on finding sources for your research in US history, I'm always happy to arrange individual meetings - feel free to get in touch! Our online guide to US History sources is also a good place to start.

WISER coming up: Open Access, History Sources, Reference Management

During the next few weeks, the Bodleian Libraries will running workshops on open access, sources for historians, RefWorks and reference managements:

Open Access Oxford – What’s Happening? (various dates – see below) Researchers in receipt of grants from RCUK funding councils issued after 1April 2013 are required to make their research papers open access. Come along to one of our briefing on open access to find out about Green vs. Gold open access publishing; funder mandates and publisher policies; the Oxford Research Archive (ORA) and Symplectic; and how to find more information and help on open access.
Who are these sessions for?  These session are open to current members of Oxford University only and are designed for research support staff, librarians, academics and researchers
Dates:

• WISER: Open Access Oxford – what’s happening? (all subjects) (Thurs 16 May 11.00-12.00) (wk 4) > Book Now
• Open Access Oxford – what’s happening?  A guide for social scientists (Tue 28 May 14.00-15.00) (wk 6) - Note this session is for Social Scientists only and will focus on the ESRC.  No need to book in advance – please just turn up at the Manor Road Lecture Theatre.
• WISER: Open Access Oxford – what’s happening? (all subjects) (Wed 29 May 11.00-12.00) (wk 6) > Book Now

WISER: Online Resources for Historians (Tue 28 May 9.15-10.30) (wk 6)- A general introduction to the vast range of electronic resources which are available for all historical periods for British and West European history including  bibliographical databases, biographical and reference research aids, e-books and ejournals, web portals and collections of online primary source materials.  > Book Now

WISER: Sources for US History (Tue 28 May 10.45-12.15) (wk 6) - Introduction to key information sources for the study of colonial America and US history up to 1990. Starting with finding tools to locate material, examples of source materials will then be shown including archival, microform, printed/online collections and useful web portals and audiovisual collections. > Book Now

RefWorks for Humanities (Wed 29 May 9.15 – 12.15) (wk 6) - RefWorks is an online tool which allows you to manage your references, insert them into your work, automatically generate bibliographies and easily switch between citation styles. This introduction is open to all, but the section on importing references will focus on Humanities examples.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics and undergraduates wishing to use reference management software > Book Now

WISER: Tech Tools - Reference Management (Fri 31 May 9.15-12.15) (wk 6) - 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.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics and undergraduates wishing to use reference management software > Book Now

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our 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

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Reading room occupancy survey, Wednesday 8th May

Along with several other Bodleian libraries and reading rooms, we will be conducting an occupancy survey on Wednesday 8th May.

You will find a sign-in sheet and a survey form on each of the desks in the library on Wednesday. Please help us by indicating the time you arrived in the library on the sign-in sheet, and also by completing one of the survey forms. Completed survey forms may then be left in the box by the enquiry desk.

WISER coming up: Images, Open Access, and Finding Stuff

During weeks 3 and 4 Bodleian Libraries will be running the following workshops:

Digital images: ARTstor, Bridgeman Education and VADS for teaching and learning  (Tue 07 May 14:00-16:00) - The course examines two major digital image collections subscribed to by the University - ARTstor and Bridgeman Education - and a third resource, free for educational use, VADS. All of these are geared to research and teaching in the humanities, history of science and medicine, and social sciences. Viewing, presenting and managing images will be covered.
> Book Now

WISER: Open Access Oxford - what's happening? (Thursday 16 May 11.00-12.00 and repeated Wednesday 29 May 11.00-12.00) -   As of 1st April, researchers funded by RCUK funding councils are required to make their research papers open access.   Come along to a briefing on open access for research publications and Oxford’s position. We will be covering: Green vs. Gold open access publishing; funder mandates and publisher policies; the Oxford Research Archive (ORA) and Symplectic; and how to find more information and help.
Who is this session for?  This session is op en to current members of Oxford University only and is designed for research support staff, administrators, librarians and researchers
 > Book now

Also don't forget that this Friday we have workshops on finding materials on SOLO and on finding theses and dissertations to support your research:

WISER: Finding stuff – books etc on SOLO (Friday 3 May 9.30-10.30)  – introduces SOLO for searching Oxford Libraries and effective ways of using SOLO to find books, journal titles and other library materials in print and online.  The workshop will also cover placing “hold requests” for materials in the  bookstacks, how to use your SOLO “MyAccount” for book renewals and other administration and using  the SOLO e-shelf and alerts.  We will also talk about the new Electronic Legal Deposit service.  This session is designed for all Oxford Libraries readers.  Please book your place online at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZWA

WISER: Finding Stuff – Theses and Dissertations  (Friday 3 May 10.45 – 12.15) – An introduction to finding theses in Oxford and from Universities around the World. The session will cover SOLO for theses, EThOS and Proquest’s Dissertations and Theses.  This session is designed for Oxford postgraduates and researchers but is open to all members of Bodleian Libraries. Please book your place at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZW4

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com.

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Trinity Term library use: some points to note!

Trinity Term is a busy and stressful one for everyone, and as every year (like all other Oxford libraries) we are seeing a lot more people than usual coming into the library.  It's wonderful to see so many people using the library, but please note the following minor points to help everyone get through the term without further adding to the stress levels!


Reserve shelf system
We operate a system whereby if you wish to hold on to books to come back and use either later the same day or the following day, you can bring them down to our reserve shelf at the enquiry desk and leave them there to pick up later. Please do not therefore leave piles of books on desks if you want to hold on to them; any books left on desks at the end of the day will be cleared and reshelved.
If you use the reserve shelf, please make sure that you fill out a green slip for the books with your name and the date of the day that you leave them. If you want to hold onto a book for several consecutive days, you must update the date on the slip each day. This is how we know whether to leave or reshelve the books! You cannot post-date this slip to hold onto something for a few days hence; if you won't be back for a couple of days please leave the book for reshelving so that it may be more easily found by other readers.
Please also note that this system is not staff-mediated, and we cannot guarantee that your book will still be there for you when you return if other students are looking for it.
This system is only for VHL library books. Please do not leave books from other libraries on this shelf. Space is limited and if you have borrowed books from an Oxford library then you are responsible for them and should not leave them unattended.

Reshelving areas
There are seven areas throughout the library where books may be left for reshelving, marked with green dots - three on each of the first and second floors (by the stairs, and in the middle), and a trolley by the photocopier on the ground floor.  If you have finished with a book, it would be a great help if you would return it to one of these areas so that it may be more easily found by others.  Please do not attempt to reshelve books yourself!  Any books left on desks will be cleared and reshelved each day.
If you are looking for a book that is not in place on the shelf, please check the reshelving areas first - it is most likely that the book will be there if it is not in use by another reader. Do let us know if you cannot find a book even after checking all the reshelving areas.
We aim to reshelve all books by the end of the following day (excluding Saturdays). Please ask staff if you are having difficulty finding books or journals.

First floor study carrels
As the notices say, the individual study carrels overlooking the mezzanine on the first floor are reserved in the first instance for named DPhil students connected with the Rothermere American Institute. If the carrel-holder is not working there, you are welcome to use the desk, but please be aware that you may be asked to move if they turn up and want their desk. Reserving these carrels is only available to RAI DPhils. All other desks are first-come, first-served! 

Second floor quiet (no laptop) area
The desks by the windows on the second floor are designated as a quiet area with no laptop use permitted. We appreciate that pressure on desks this time of year makes it difficult to find a space to work, but please do try not to use laptops at these desks unless you are really unable to find anywhere else to sit. The need for this quiet area is also greater this time of year as the library is so much fuller.

Taking a break
The common room of the RAI (on the lower ground floor) is available to library users, but please be aware that offices and seminar rooms are nearby and keep noise to a minimum to avoid disturbing others. Likewise the garden is overlooked by libraries and offices, so if the weather is nice enough to sit outside, please keep the noise down!
There is a water dispenser available in the common room, but the kitchen facilities are restricted to RAI staff and fellows. Unfortunately there is no cafe or vending machine or other provision of food/beverages at the RAI; the nearest place to purchase food or drink is the Alternative Tuck Shop at the bottom of Mansfield Road. It should go without saying, but please don't eat or drink (other than water in closed bottles) in the library itself.

Wireless network
We are aware that our wireless network is rather flaky at the moment. We are waiting for a replacement router which should be installed in the next week. Until then, apologies if you are having trouble connecting (or staying connected) to the wifi in the library.  If you are having problems, try connecting to an alternative network (see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/vhl/services for more information), try again later, or use one of the library PCs.

Many thanks for your consideration. We wish you a productive term and all the very best to those of you taking exams!  If you have any comments, questions or problems, please do speak to a member of library staff or contact us through whichever means you prefer. We are very happy to help!

May Bank Holiday Opening

The library will be open as normal on both bank holidays during May, 9am-7pm.

WISER coming up: Finding stuff and RefWorks

During week 2 Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops on RefWorks and on finding a range of scholarly materials including journal articles, conference papers, theses and dissertations and library materials on SOLO.

WISER: Finding stuff – Journal Articles  (Monday 29 Apr 9.45-11.15) - an introduction to finding journal articles to support your research and learning. We will focus on searching for articles by subject and keyword and will cover sophisticated bibliographic databases and journal indexes as well as more basic search engines such as the SOLO 'Journal Articles' services.    The session will include  time for you to practice using a scholarly database in your subject area.   This session is designed for Oxford postgraduates and researchers but is open to all members of Bodleian Libraries.    Please book your place at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZW3

WISER: Finding Stuff - Conferences (Monday 29 Apr 11.15-12.15)  - ever had difficulty tracking down a conference paper?  This session introduces the  secret art of tracking down conference  proceedings and papers.    In addition we will introduce tools for keeping up to date with up and coming conferences in your research area.  This session is designed for Oxford postgraduates and researchers but is open to all members of Bodleian Libraries. Please book your place at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZW5

WISER: Finding stuff – books etc on SOLO (Friday 3 May 9.30-10.30)  – introduces SOLO for searching Oxford Libraries and effective ways of using SOLO to find books, journal titles and other library materials in print and online.  The workshop will also cover placing “hold requests” for materials in the  bookstacks, how to use your SOLO “MyAccount” for book renewals and other administration and using  the SOLO e-shelf and alerts.  We will also talk about the new Electronic Legal Deposit service.  This session is designed for all Oxford Libraries readers.  Please book your place online at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZWA

WISER: Finding Stuff – Theses and Dissertations  (Friday 3 May 10.45 – 12.15) – An introduction to finding theses in Oxford and from Universities around the World. The session will cover SOLO for theses, EThOS and Proquest’s Dissertations and Theses.  This session is designed for Oxford postgraduates and researchers but is open to all members of Bodleian Libraries. Please book your place at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZW4

RefWorks for Sciences and Social Sciences (Wednesday 1 May 2.00-5.30)  introduces the main features of RefWorks including:adding references to RefWorks from a range of databases and online resources, inserting references into Word documents, formatting (and reformatting) references using citation styles and creating bibliographies.  The sessions include plenty of opportunities for participants to use RefWorks.  This session is designed for all members of Oxford University with an interest in reference management. Please book your place at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TDBL

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our 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.

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 readers card barcode number.

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Library CLOSED this Saturday (27th April)

The library will be closed this Saturday (27th April) due to a planned demonstration and march in Oxford for World Day for Animals in Laboratories. University Security will be locking down the Science Area, including our access gates from both South Parks Road and Mansfield Road, so no access to the building will be possible.

We apologise for the inconvenience and the short notice. Other Bodleian Libraries will be open as normal, and we will be open as advertised on Saturdays throughout the rest of Trinity Term.

Trinity Term Opening Hours

During Trinity Term the library will be open 9am-7pm, Monday-Friday, and 10am-2pm on Saturdays.

News round-up: scan & deliver, paying fines at any library, trial of new ebook databases

A few bits of recent news:

Scan & Deliver now available to ALL current Bodleian Libraries readers (trial for six months)
The Bodleian Libraries' Scan & Deliver service has now been extended to all Bodleian Libraries readers for a trial period of six months. Previously the service was only available to Oxford University staff and students. For more information about the service, see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/using/scan-and-deliver

Pay fines at any Bodleian library
It is now possible to pay your fines at any lending library within the Bodleian Libraries, no matter which library the fine is associated with. Previously, fines had to be paid at the library where the fine was incurred. If you have queries about any of your fines though, those must be dealt with at the relevant library. 

Two major E-book Collection trials: EBSCO’s Academic Collection and Ebrary’s Academic Complete
Over 100,000 extra e-books for Easter and Trinity Term, available from SOLO and OxLIP+

From 18 March – 18 May, 2013, the Bodleian Libraries is trialling The Academic Collection from EBSCO. This is a collection of 110,000 e-books from a wide range of academic publishers, including Ashgate, Cambridge University Press, De Gruyter, Edinburgh University Press, Harvard University Press, MIT Press, Oxford University Press, Peter Lang, Princeton University Press etc. Subject coverage includes: Art, Business & Economics, Education, History, Language, Literary Criticism, Mathematics, Medical and Life Sciences, Philosophy,  Physical Sciences,  Poetry,  Political Science,  Religion, Social Science,  Technology & Engineering. The books range in date from 1963-2012, with 30% from 2009 or later.

All titles may be located individually or browsed on SOLO, and the full collection may also be browsed from OxLIP+, or via the URL: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,shib&profile=ehost&defaultdb=e000tww&custid=s8580219

All trial titles are available with multiple concurrent user access within the Bodleian Libraries. University members may also download books to mobile devices and access remotely via their single sign-on.

At the end of the trial the records and links will be removed from SOLO. From 18 May - 28 June 2013, we will be trialling a similar product, Ebrary’s Academic Complete.
Feedback on both trials will be much appreciated and should be sent to hilla.wait@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
This will assist in deciding whether the Bodleian Libraries should subscribe to either package for 2013-14.
Meanwhile, as the two trials will run consecutively, library users will have the benefit of over 100,000 extra e-books for the Easter vacation and the whole of Trinity Term, 2013.

Easter closure

The library will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday (29th March - 1st April).

Easter vacation opening hours

We will be open Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm throughout the Easter vacation, with the exception of Good Friday and Easter Monday when the library will be closed.  We will be closed on Saturdays after 9th March until the start of Trinity Term.

Trial until 31 March: Constitutions of the World

Oxford users are invited to trial Constitutions of the World (from the late 18th Century to the Middle of the 19th Century Online). The trial ends on 31 March.

This resource provides online access to constitutional documents from all over the world, written from 1776 to the end of the year 1849. It includes about 1,600 constitutions, amendments, human rights declarations, and draughts of constitutions that never came into force, from this period. These early constitutional documents were collected and examined in archives and libraries all over the world, as part of a project by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation). Using the original documents, experts from American and European universities reconstructed the authentic constitution texts for each country, and annotated them in their respective original languages. Each volume contains a short introduction, a main part with the edited constitution documents of a country, comments and an index.

The online edition is of particular value, being the first publication to provide easy access to all the previously scattered and in many cases unknown constitutions from the early phases of modern constitutionalism, as edited and annotated constitutional texts. This edition offers uniquely rich and valuable source material, supplying comparative constitutional history of the early period of modern constitutionalism with new perspectives.

Users can search the documents full-text or browse the subject index.

Countries covered to date: Europe (United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Lichtenstein, Russia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Croatia, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia, France, Corsica, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta) Americas: United States, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Haiti and Mexico.

Please send feedback by 31 March to isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or leave / view comments on History eResources Desiderata.

Free access to ProQuest resources during February and March for Black History Month

ProQuest have opened up several of their resources for free access during February as part of Black History Month. You can now access the full text of their collection of African American newspapers, their Civil War Era collection, Black Studies Center and African American Heritage collection until the end of the month. More details and links as follows:

UPDATE: We now have access here in Oxford until the end of March using the following link: https://www.proquest.com/trials/trialSummary.action?view=subject&trialBean.token=IUZK8J9FV2FXZNI52RYR

Historical Newspapers
Access the full text archives of the following titles:

• Atlanta Daily World, 1931-2003
• The Baltimore Afro-American, 1893-1988
• Chicago Defender, 1910-1975 (Note, we have permanent access to this title)
• Cleveland Call and Post, 1934-1991
• Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2005
• New York Amsterdam News, 1922-1993 (Note, we have permanent access to this title)
• Norfolk Journal and Guide, 1921-2003
• Philadelphia Tribune, 1912-2001
• Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2002 (Note, we have permanent access to this title)

Black Studies Center 
A fully cross-searchable gateway to Black Studies including scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, reference books, and much more. It combines essential resources for research and teaching in Black Studies, including The Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, Index to Black Periodicals Full Text, Black Literature Index, and the Chicago Defender historical newspaper from 1912-1975.

Civil War Era
Comprehensive full-image primary source materials, previously unavailable digitally, cover a vast range of topics including the formative economic factors and other forces that led to the abolitionist movement and the emancipation of nearly 4 million slaves.

African American Heritage
Groundbreaking digital resource that not only brings together records critical to African American family research, but also connects to a community of research experts.

WISER coming up: RefWorks, Keeping up to date, Open access

During week 5 Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops on RefWorks and keeping up to date with new research:

RefWorks for Humanities (Wed 13 Feb 14.00 – 17.00) (wk 5)
RefWorks is an online reference manager which allows you to save citation,  insert them into your work, automatically generate bibliographies and easily switch between citation styles. This introduction is open to all, but the section on importing references will focus on Humanities examples.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics and undergraduates wishing to use reference management software
Presenters: Valerie Lawrence and Alice Nelson > Book Now

WISER: Getting information to come to you (Fri 15 Feb 15.30-17.00) (wk 5) 
This session will show you how to set up alerts to journals, databases and websites, so that you receive notifications when new content is added. Participants will have the opportunity to set up RSS feed readers and/or email notifications during the session.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics.
Presenters: Jane Rawson and Sonya Adams > Book Now

Advance notice that our new session on Open Access at Oxford will take place on 21 February:

WISER: Open Access Oxford - what's happening? (Thursday 21 Feb 11.00-12.00) 
From 1st April researchers funded by RCUK funding councils will be required to make their research papers open access either via free unrestricted access to the final version on the publisher’s web site or by deposit of the accepted manuscript (after peer review) in an open access repository within 6 months (or 12 months for AHRC and ESRC). Come along to a briefing on open access for research publications and Oxford’s position. We will be covering: Green vs. Gold open access publishing; funder mandates and publisher policies; the Oxford Research Archive (ORA) and Symplectic; and how to find more information and help.
Who is this session for?  Research Support staff, administrators, librarians and researchers
Presenters: Juliet Ralph and Linda Atkinson > Book now

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our 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.

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 readers card barcode number.

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

WISER coming up: RefWorks, Bibliometrics, Finding Stuff

During week 4 Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops on RefWorks, measuring impact using bibliometrics and finding books and journals:

RefWorks for Sciences and Social Sciences (Mon 4 Feb 9.15-12.15) (wk 4)
RefWorks is an online tool which allows you to manage your references/citations, insert them into your work, automatically generate bibliographies and easily switch between citation styles. This introduction is open to all but the section on importing references will focus on Science/Social Science examples.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics and undergraduates wishing to use reference management software
Presenters: Shona McLean and Nia Roberts > Book Now

WISER: Bibliometrics I - Who's citing you? (Tue 5 Feb 10.00-11.00) (wk 4)
An introduction to citation tracking as a tool for finding out who has cited your work. We will cover citation tracking using Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar and will include time for you to use each tool to find citations to your own work.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics, staff involved in the REF or measuring impact.
Venue: Please note – this session will take place at the Radcliffe Science Library
Presenters: Juliet Ralph and Karine Barker > Book Now

WISER: Bibliometrics II – Tools of the trade (Tue 5 Feb 11.15-12.15) (wk 5)
An introduction to tools such as Journal Citation Reports, Web of Science, Scopus and Essential Science Indicators for calculating research impact in the Sciences and Social Sciences.  We cover: finding journal Impact Factors, calculating your h-index, finding  ‘hot’ papers and authors,  comparing  research output of institutions and countries, and the emerging area of altmetrics.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics, staff involved in the REF or measuring impact.
Venue: Please note – this session will take place at the Radcliffe Science Library
Presenters: Juliet Ralph and Karine Barker > Book Now

WISER: Finding Stuff – Books etc on SOLO ( Fri 8 Feb. 14.00-15.00) (wk 4)
An introduction to SOLO for finding books, journal titles and other materials in Oxford libraries. The session will cover effective search techniques, placing hold requests for items in the stacks, reservations and using the SOLO eshelf and saved searches.
Who is this session for? All members of Oxford University and other Bodleian Libraries readers
Presenters: Joanne Edwards and Angela Carritt > Book Now

WISER: Finding Stuff – Journal Articles (Fri 8 Feb 15.00-16.15) (wk 4)
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.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics.
Presenters: Kerry Webb, Isabel McMann and Angela Carritt > Book Now

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our 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.

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 readers' card barcode number.

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk