library
news
October 2011
W
elcome to the autumn
edition of the Library
newsletter.
We have been very busy over the
summer completing the refurbishment
of the Library and would like to thank
our users for their patience and
understanding during the disruption that
such a project has inevitably caused
over the past 18 months. We are now
looking forward to working with you
in getting the most out of the new
and enhanced spaces and services
that have been created. We are also
pleased to welcome the Careers and
Employability Centre, who have joined
us from Falmer House as part of the
Library refurbishment works.
As well as improvements to the physical
infrastructure of the Library, we have
added some significant new online
resources to our collections in areas
including history, current affairs, science
and culture and have continued to build
our e-book collections with the aim of
maximising access to core content. We
have also re-launched our website and
updated its content.
You can read all about these, and
other initiatives, in this edition of the
newsletter.
Kitty Inglis, Librarian
New resources
Instant messaging
We have continued to enhance our
provision of online resources with
the following additions to our digital
collections:
It’s good to chat.
• The Listener Digital Archive 1929–
1991
• State Papers III and IV
• Making of the Modern World
• Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice
Digital Archive
• Picture Post Archive Online
• African Newspapers 1800–1922
• New York Times Archive 1851–2007
• Ethnographic Video Online
• Scientific American 1910–1947
• Sage journals 2011 backfile upgrade
We offer an immediate online chat
service to answer your Library
questions. Our popular ‘Ask us a
question’ service is open to all and is
available between 9am and 5pm on
weekdays both on and off campus. Ask
your questions using Instant messaging
via the box on the Library home page or
in our online Subject Guides. A member
of the Learning and Teaching Support
team will be on hand to answer your
question. We can guide you through a
search, help with finding material in the
Library, or explain our many services.
So let your fingers do the talking and
will we give you a helping hand.
• Palgrave Connect e-book Collections
in Business and Management and
Economics and Finance
• 3 Oxford Bibliographies Online
Modules: Atlantic History;
Philosophy; Renaissance and
Reformation
• Cambridge e-book Collections in
Theatre and History
• Supplement to Early American
Imprints – Readex
• Synthesis Digital Library
• Archives of three Nature journals
Please see our webpages for more
information, or contact
[email protected] if
you would like to discuss how these
resources can be used in your teaching
and research.
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library news
Library refurbishment
Following an extensive refurbishment programme, the Library now offers greatly
improved study facilities. The number of seats has increased and a more varied
range of study spaces to suit individual learning styles are available. Increased
access both to static PCs (including a small Mac cluster), ‘plug and play’ facilities
and enhanced wifi access throughout the building have also been provided. New
bookable study rooms, the Sussex Research Hive (for doctoral students and
researchers), an exciting, flexible, technology rich learning and teaching area,
the Careers and Employability Centre and improved catering and retail facilities
complete the transformation of the Library.
Dedicated space for
researchers
Teaching spaces
The refurbishment of the Library has seen the creation of two new teaching and
learning spaces – the Open Learning Space and the Training and Viewing room.
These spaces, which are situated on the ground floor of the Library, will offer
exciting new options for the delivery of teaching sessions and will provide new
study areas. The idea behind the Open Learning Space is flexibility – it is a large
open space with portable furniture aimed at encouraging and supporting a number
of different learning opportunities. The size and flexibility of the space will also
allow Library staff to deliver exciting, engaging information skills sessions, using
interactive teaching methods and new technologies such as portable projector
tables and personal response units. The Training and Viewing room contains fixed
PCs and a Teaching PC, projector and DVD set up to allow for workshop sessions
and the viewing of AV material. We hope that both the Open Learning Space and the
Training and Viewing room will enable us to innovate further in our teaching, building
upon our recent Sussex Team Teaching Award for the Learning and Teaching
Support section.
The Open Learning Space and Training and Viewing room will be open access for
users when not being used for teaching.
Collections
Following the refurbishment our book stock has moved into a more logical sequence
throughout the building. Short and long loan are shelved together and classmarks A–DA are located on the top floor, DB–N on the middle floor and P–Z can be found
on the ground floor. AV and Documents are also located on the ground floor.
Our Core Collection has remained on the ground floor .
Our print journals have been relocated and now Journals with
classmarks A–QZ can be found in the Basement. Those with
classmark R–Z are housed in the Store so will need to be
requested via a form at the Information Hub. If you have any trouble locating any of the collections please ask
at the Information Hub or speak to one of our roving Library team.
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The Sussex Research Hive offers a
designated space on the second floor of
the Library for all doctoral, post-doctoral
and academic researchers.
The Research Hive provides:
• bookable meeting rooms
• space for informal discussion and
collaborative work
• peer-led activities for doctoral
researchers and events for all
research staff
• a base for our Hive Scholars, fellow
researchers who are there to offer
you support and guidance.
If you’d like to get together with other
researchers, find out about Research
Hive events, hold an event, reading
group or other research-oriented activity,
please get in touch with our dedicated
development team of Hive Scholars.
W www.sussex.ac.uk/library/
researchhive
E [email protected]
T www.twitter.com/sussexreshive
New look Library website
The library website has been given a
new look over the summer, with a similar
design to the University website. We’ve
added some new features such as the
ability to search the catalogue straight
from the homepage, and search for
journals and articles directly from the
Electronic Library. You can ask us a
question and get a quick reply using our
instant messaging service on our
homepage.
library news
Before and after images
Help shape the Library
We are looking for a number of people
who would be willing to help shape the
Library for future use.
If you have an interest and wouldn’t
mind being contacted to give feedback,
please send an email outlining any
areas of interest or concern to:
[email protected]
Old study area
New study area
Disturbed by noise?
Look out for the QR codes in the quieter
areas of the Library. If someone’s
causing a disturbance, you can scan the
QR code to alert staff
at the Information
Hub.
Old Enquiries Desk
New Information Hub
Don’t know how to search the
catalogue?
Need help finding items on shelves?
Watch out for the team of roving library
assistants who will be out and about,
helping you to make the most of the
Library.
Old study area
New study area
If you need help, stop them and ask. If
they are unable to help they will refer
you to someone who can.
New infoSuss – information skills guide
The Library’s information skills guide for
students at Sussex – infoSuss, now has
a new look and feel. We have redesigned
the guide to make it simpler to find the
information you need:
Planning a search – will help you to
improve your search skills. It has a new
animated section illustrating how to
combine your search terms to find quality
information for your assignments. There
are also lots of tips to help make your searching more effective.
Finding resources – introduces the different types of resources you may need
to use for your studies. You will find help on how to make the most of the Library
catalogue to find books and other resources. We have also included some short
videos explaining how to find journals and how to locate the full-text articles.
Special Collections
The Library has a unique collection of
manuscripts, archives and rare books,
including the papers of Virginia and
Leonard Woolf, Rudyard Kipling, the
New Statesman Archive and the worldfamous Mass Observation Archive,
the British social survey organisation
founded in 1937.
For more details, refer to Special
Collections:
http://specialcollections.lib.sussex.
ac.uk
Reading lists – here, you can find out everything you need to know about your
reading list, including: where to find it; what it looks like and what is the difference
between core reading and recommended reading.
Evaluating information – helps you to think critically about the information you find
for your assignments and academic work, by considering criteria such as relevancy,
currency, reliability and accuracy.
Referencing – our new section explains what referencing is and how you do it.
The guide includes clear and easy to follow examples of what a reference needs to
include, using the Harvard, MLA, numeric and Vancouver referencing styles.
3
library news
Where do you want to go?
ID cards
Remember, you need your University
ID card to enter the Library. Please
ensure you have it with you to save
the disappointment of being refused
entry. Only five cardless visits will be
allowed per year.
No smoking
The Library aims to provide a pleasant
and healthy working environment for
users and staff alike.
With this in mind, smoking is not
allowed anywhere on the main Library
steps at the front of the building.
Suggestions
Contact us with your suggestions or
comments about library services.
Forms are available in the Library or
on the Library web pages.
www.sussex.ac.uk/library
Access to the Library
The main entrance to the University
Library may be unsuitable for users
with mobilty problems. There is,
however, an alternative entrance that
is located at the north end of the
building - follow the signs to IDS.
This allows entry, via a phone link, to
the ground floor.
Please contact Library Membership to
arrange alternative access.
T +44(0)1273 678487
E [email protected]
Term-time hours
Monday 8.45am (24 hours)
to Saturday 7.30pm
Sunday 12.30pm – 7.30pm
A reminder that the Sconul Access
scheme enables academic staff,
postgraduate students, undergraduate
students that are part time, distance
learners or those on a placement
scheme to obtain borrowing facilities at
most other university libraries in the UK.
www.access.sconul.ac.uk
Sabre
Search across the catalogues of the
Universities of Sussex and Brighton
Sabre is a new web based catalogue
that allows you to search for items held
in the University of Sussex Library and
the University of Brighton Libraries. It
works in a similar way to the main Library
catalogue, but will show books and items
from both libraries, clearly showing which
library it is located in.
In developing the service we have tried
to keep a clean and simple style. When
viewing search results you can refine
and narrow your search in various ways,
such as restricting by item type, author
or institution. To place a reservation,
request or renew a book, follow links
through to the originating University’s
main catalogue and follow the normal
steps. Students at Sussex can access
the University of Brighton Libraries for
reference-only access to their collection.
Students in the joint medical school,
BSMS, have full access to both Library
services. We welcome
comments on the new
service; please follow
the feedback link from
the sabre homepage.
Take a look at sabre:
http://sabre.sussex.ac.uk
Aspire reading lists at the
University of Sussex
We are now using Aspire to manage and
develop online reading lists. This system
has a clear, simple interface which allows
students to view a list for their course as
well as providing links to the material.
Students are able to sort material by type
and to personalise the list.
For academics and the Library, Aspire
offers the opportunity to build, manage
and develop lists online using simple
easy to use tools. Academics can then,
with a single click, communicate a list
to the Library for purchasing additional
copies and new titles. Aspire is flexible
enough to work for a range of disciplines,
as Aspire reading lists can be organised
by week or theme to reflect course
structure.
The move to Aspire was prompted by the
need to have a reading list system that is
fit for purpose now and for the future and
one that can integrate with other campus
services, including Study Direct. Aspire
is also able to create reliable links to our
online content; journals, e-books and
other digitised material, as well as the
more traditional link to our print holdings,
with the added bonus of providing live
holdings information.
We are now moving forward with the
roll out of Aspire and wish to continue
working with all stakeholders. For
academics we have a produced a blog:
http://blogs.sussex.ac.uk/arlt which
provides videos and instructions and also
offer face-to-face support. For students
our online information skills tutorial
InfoSuss: www.sussex.ac.uk/library/
infosuss has a section on reading lists
as do all our online subject guides at:
http://guides.lib.sussex.ac.uk
For vacation and bank holidays,
please check the Library web
pages as they will vary.
Contact details
Postal address:
University of Sussex Library
Brighton
BN1 9QL, UK
T +44 (0)1273 678163
F +44 (0)1273 678441
E [email protected]
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This is your library
Please respect your fellow students and
the Library facilities:
• no food and drink other than clear
bottled water
• keep mobile phones on silent and
only talk in areas designated, such
as enclosed staircases
• keep noise levels down and be
aware of quiet and silent study
areas.