Did you know that if you have requested a Putteridge Bury book in the last year, it came with an RFID tag? Putteridge was the first library in the University to be converted and this Spring all the other libraries are also making the switch. The dates and details are set out on this LRWeb's "RFID is coming soon" page.
RFID is used a lot in retail; shops can quickly track what stock is where (M&S use it a lot, apparently). Your student ID badge is RFID-ed already. In the library sector, RFID is really being introduced to benefit customers. Basically, instead of having to scan barcodes (either at the self-service machines or at the desk) for each book, RFID machines can read an unopened pile and automatically and issue each item to your card. Very quick and simple.
It is very popular in other university libraries like UEA, Nottingham and Swansea. I was going to add a video of a system in operation here but a quick search of YouTube has revealed lots of different machines and kit so I don't want to confuse you with a demonstration of the wrong one! There will be lots of publicity and help available in the library when the system goes live.
The returns machine outside the library entrance will still be available.
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Cambridge Science Festival
The Cambridge Science Festival opens today. Events are open to the public and there is a varied programme. For more details follow this link: Cambridge Science Festival 2011.
Teaching resource books
If you have ever wondered how publishers plan, publish and adapt teaching resource books, you may find this talk by Mark Bloch (who used to be a teacher himself) from Pearson interesting. The 30(ish) minute talk discusses how Pearson's ActiveTeach evolved from photocopyable, spiral-bound books, to CD-Roms and onwards to interactive whiteboards etc.
Friday 18 March 2011
Wireless based printing - a trial
We are trialing a wireless based printing service called EveryonePrint that will allow students and staff to send print jobs direct from their PC, Mac, laptop, or mobile device via a web interface or email attachment to the PCounter printing system.
The url is http://webprint.beds.ac.uk and users will need to login with their usual network username and password.
There is a simple browse function and supported files are Office files, PDF and text files. At present JPG, GIF etc are NOT currently supported so it will be necessary to place them in eg a Word document first.
Submission via email allows any file attachments to be submitted automatically to webprint@beds.ac.uk after an initial email registration process. Multiple email addresses can be used.
Once the job is submitted the user is presented with a choice of either mono or colour print queue and the option to print multiple copies or duplex. Options such as multiple pages as with Powerpoint will need to be printed in the conventional way from the software on a normal student / staff PC.
The print job, if successful will be processed and placed into the normal PCounter queue, ready for collection in the normal way.
The trial is operating until the end of March and we would really like to hear what you think of the service, so please send any comments to library.technical@beds.ac.uk
The url is http://webprint.beds.ac.uk and users will need to login with their usual network username and password.
There is a simple browse function and supported files are Office files, PDF and text files. At present JPG, GIF etc are NOT currently supported so it will be necessary to place them in eg a Word document first.
Submission via email allows any file attachments to be submitted automatically to webprint@beds.ac.uk after an initial email registration process. Multiple email addresses can be used.
Once the job is submitted the user is presented with a choice of either mono or colour print queue and the option to print multiple copies or duplex. Options such as multiple pages as with Powerpoint will need to be printed in the conventional way from the software on a normal student / staff PC.
The print job, if successful will be processed and placed into the normal PCounter queue, ready for collection in the normal way.
The trial is operating until the end of March and we would really like to hear what you think of the service, so please send any comments to library.technical@beds.ac.uk
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Teacher Reference Center
The Library has recently acquired access to the database 'Teacher Reference Center' from Ebsco.
Teacher Reference Center provides indexing and abstracts for 280 periodicals. In addition, 96% of journals indexed in the database are peer-reviewed. Topics include: Assessment, Best Practices, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Elementary Education, Higher Education, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Literacy Standards, School Administration, Science & Mathematics, and Teacher Education.
It's available here or via our subject guides.
Remember that you can cross search multiple databases on the Ebsco platform by selecting the 'choose databases' option.
Any problems, please contact your Academic Liaison Librarian.
Teacher Reference Center provides indexing and abstracts for 280 periodicals. In addition, 96% of journals indexed in the database are peer-reviewed. Topics include: Assessment, Best Practices, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Elementary Education, Higher Education, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Literacy Standards, School Administration, Science & Mathematics, and Teacher Education.
It's available here or via our subject guides.
Remember that you can cross search multiple databases on the Ebsco platform by selecting the 'choose databases' option.
Any problems, please contact your Academic Liaison Librarian.
Monday 7 March 2011
IOE Digital Education Research Archive is launched
The Institute of Education (IOE) has recently launched the Digital Education Research Archive (DERA)
DERA is a digital archive of documents published electronically by government and related bodies in the area of education. The IOE Library staff have developed this database to ensure that web content is preserved and remains freely available. It is a fully searchable digital archive and already there are approximately 1000 full text documents available. This includes BECTA‘s digital publication archive which is now permanently preserved and available for all.
Please take a look at this excellent resource online here
DERA is a digital archive of documents published electronically by government and related bodies in the area of education. The IOE Library staff have developed this database to ensure that web content is preserved and remains freely available. It is a fully searchable digital archive and already there are approximately 1000 full text documents available. This includes BECTA‘s digital publication archive which is now permanently preserved and available for all.
Please take a look at this excellent resource online here
Tuesday 1 March 2011
UK - RED (Reading Experience Database)
The Open University (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council) recently launched the open access database UK RED (Reading Experience Database) which captures the reading habits from 1450-1945.
UK Red is a great resource for exploring the history of reading in Britain and is fully searchable by keyword with browse lists of readers and authors. There are online tutorials to help you explore the database in depth and a section for adding contributions.
UK Red is a great resource for exploring the history of reading in Britain and is fully searchable by keyword with browse lists of readers and authors. There are online tutorials to help you explore the database in depth and a section for adding contributions.
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