Autumn edition
Library
News
September 2013
Thank you! In the 2013 National Student Survey, the Library
received a satisfaction rate of 90 per cent, our highest score ever.
W
elcome to the autumn
edition of the Library
newsletter.
I am very pleased to report that we have
received our highest rating ever in the
National Student Survey, achieving a
satisfaction rate of 90% and remain
committed to continuing to improve
and tailor our collections and services
to meet the needs of our diverse user
community. In order to better understand
the priorities of students in relation
to the Library, we have arranged a
regular series of meetings with the
USSU Education Officer this year and
look forward to further developing our
relationship with Student Reps.
In this edition of the newsletter, you can
read about other recent changes and
enhancements to services, including the
move of our Special Collections to The
Keep, the introduction of Library Search
(our new resource discovery service)
and the new Academic Services
department. We’d be happy to receive
your feedback via Twitter (twitter.com/
sussexlibrary), our Facebook page
(facebook.com/sussexlibrary) or our
instant messaging service.
Kitty Inglis, Librarian
Library awarded
Customer Service
Excellence Certificate
The Library has successfully achieved
the Customer Service Excellence
Standard (CSE), a challenging
government standard that is increasingly
seen as a measure of a high-quality
service.
It measures quality of delivery,
timeliness, information, professionalism
and staff attitude in the provision of
public services.
Emphasis is also placed
on how organisations
know what their
customers need, how
they understand the
customer’s experience
and robust measurement
of service satisfaction.
Search across all our collections: Library Search
Library Search is a powerful new
resource which provides a single
interface for finding all the information
you need – books, e-books, articles,
digital media and other types of
resources, whether held physically in
the Library or available online.
It offers an easy to navigate user
experience, with a single search point
for all content, regardless of format or
location. You can search collections
held locally in our sites or those held
remotely in electronic and digital forms,
with direct access to full text where this
is available to us. It searches across
most of the Library’s databases as well
as millions of articles.
Some kinds of items are not fully
indexed in Library Search, so if you
are looking for law reports or business
information, it is better to use the
databases recommended in your
subject guides, available through the
Library’s web pages.
Results are relevance-ranked and
Library Search allows for considerable
personalisation, giving you the option
to save favourite searches and results,
set up RSS feeds and alerts, email and
save results to EndNote and tailor your
search to suit your needs.
Library Search provides a single search
interface to millions of articles, books
and other scholarly content we can
provide access to. The search interface
is quicker than the previous Electronic
Library QuickSearch and brings back
more refined results from a larger
collection of items.
Core is going digital
So students can get hold of essential
texts really easily, the Core Collection is
going digital whenever possible.
30% of core readings are now available
digitally from our reading list system.
To make life easier still, we have also
simplified borrowing procedures.
Although core items will still be overnight
loans, from the start of term they will
be due back at midnight rather than
11.00am, and Saturdays and Sundays
won’t count at all. So if you take the
book out on a Friday, it will be due back
on the following Monday. It will also be
possible to renew the book once.
However, make sure you bring them
back on time, as we want to make sure
these books are kept in circulation, so
fines will be levied at £3 per day.
Library News
Special Collections has moved to The Keep
ed
us ne
t
o
s
Mo dy Z
u
St
The Keep (© Jim Holden 2013)
The Keep is the new purpose-built
home for Special Collections, that
provides state of the art storage
facilities alongside spaces for
research and teaching.
During Summer 2013, Special
Collections moved from its former home
on the top floor of the Library to The
Keep.
The Keep is a partnership project
between the University of Sussex, East
Sussex County Council and Brighton
& Hove City Council and is situated in
Woollards Field, next to the Brighton
Aldridge Community Academy.
For the first time, researchers will
be able to access the archives and
historical resources of Brighton
& Hove and East Sussex Record
Office alongside the University’s own
collections, including the papers of
Virginia Woolf, Rudyard Kipling and the
Mass Observation Archive.
Silent study
The University’s collection of 3500
Rare Books has also moved to The
Keep, which will provide facilities for the
storage of over 10 miles of archives and
books.
Silent
individual study
Phones/mp3
players etc.
Talking
Eating or
drinking except
for bottled water
Alongside new state of the art storage
facilities, The Keep will provide research
areas for individuals and groups wishing
to consult the collections, with access
to digital archives as well as original
material.
A quiet word
Learning and multifunction rooms will
also be available for teaching sessions
that incorporate the use of archival
materials. The University’s Special
Collections will continue to be cared for
by University staff.
Many users feel that the use of
phones and other mobile devices,
loud talking and food consumption
is unacceptable and makes it hard
to study in the Library. Please show
consideration for others and choose
an appropriate study area.
The Keep will be open for research and
teaching from late Autumn 2013.
E: [email protected]
Academic Services
This year, Learning and Teaching
Support, Research Support and
Collection Development came
together to form a single department:
Academic Services.
The newly formed Academic Services
is responsible for providing support for
the University’s teaching, learning and
research activities through appropriate
training, collections and wider
engagement.
Managed by Joanna Ball, the Academic
Services Manager, we welcome Helen
Webb to her new role as Research
Support Librarian, along with Julian
Robinson who will be joining Suzanne
Tatham as Learning and Teaching
Support Librarian this Autumn. They
will also work alongside Chloe Barnes
2
and Sian Cox, Collection Development
Librarians.
Learning and Teaching Support is
responsible for providing the Library’s
learning and teaching support
for undergraduates and taught
postgraduates.
Research Support is responsible for
providing the Library’s support for the
University’s research activities. It is also
responsible for the Research Hive.
Collection Development is a small team
working to manage and enhance the
Library’s printed and digital collections to
ensure they meet the current needs of
teaching and research.
Social study
Quiet group
work
Quiet study
Quiet individual
study
No phone calls. Phones to be kept
on silent
All mobile devices must be
inaudible to other users
No eating/drinking except for
bottled water
Library News
Online reading lists
The introduction of the online reading
list system across campus has been
very successful. The Library has been
working closely with tutors, offering
workshops and support. The result has
been a significant increase in materials
available for students. The Library has
more than doubled orders of books and
digitisations needed for teaching.
Nine out of ten users happy with the Library
Out of around 1,300 surveyed, 91 per
cent of users are happy with the Library
and more than ever before are making regular visits, show survey results
published earlier this year.
Kitty Inglis, the University Librarian, has
welcomed these results, which provide
further evidence of the Library’s commitment to continually improve the services
and facilities it offers and maintain the
level set in 2011-12 when the survey
showed a huge increase in satisfaction – up from 77% in 2007 – following a
£7.4 million refurbishment.
This high level of satisfaction is replicated across a number of other areas of
the Library’s work:
• 83% agree or tend to agree that the
Library provides a good range of books
• 83% of undergraduates agree or tend
to agree that the Library has a good
selection of study areas
• Only 3% of respondents expressed
dissatisfaction with Library staff
• 80% were either successful or fairly
successful when they last used the
Electronic Library for research.
This year’s survey results also show that
the proportion of students making regular visits to the Library has increased to
92%, up from 77% a year earlier.
As well as answering questions, respondents were asked to suggest one
idea for improving the Library – 717 suggestions were received. Library staff are
currently using the feedback to make
further improvements.
The Library continues to assist tutors
with the creation of online reading lists
and is committed to ensuring essential
materials are available online wherever
possible.
Copy cards
Cards are available from the dispenser,
close to the Information Hub on the
Ground Floor at a cost of £3.00 which
includes £1.00 credit.
The cost of photocopying is 5p for A4
black and white copies and 10p for
A3. Colour photocopying costs 50p for
each A4 photocopy and £1.00 for an
A3 photocopy.
Please do not buy more credit than you
are likely to use, as unused credit will
not be refunded.
New online interlibrary
request service
Interlibrary Requests are pleased to
launch our newly designed online
request forms, offering an improved
desktop delivery service for journal
article requests, as well as providing
access to ebooks where available.
The new Article Request form includes
an electronic signature for the
copyright declaration, replacing the
need to obtain a signed copyright
declaration on the paper form. This
will speed up the supply time for article
requests by allowing electronic delivery
as well as online requesting.
There are now two new request forms
available from the Interlibrary Requests
webpage or via ‘Make a Request’ from
the Library Catalogue.
Please see the Interlibrary Requests
webpage for further details or contact
Interlibrary Requests staff who will be
happy to help you with any queries.
E: [email protected]
Wake up!
Don’t spill the coffee
Our policy regarding foodstuffs in
the Library is very simple: everything
except bottled water is prohibited.
The reasons for this are also
straightforward:
1. Computers and keyboards are easily
damaged by spillages.
2. Food and food fragments attract
vermin to the Library.
3. Damage to books and furnishings is
expensive for us and for you.
4. Eating noise and food smells distract
those trying to study.
Sussex Research Online
Sussex Research Online (SRO)
provides information about the research
produced and published at Sussex.
It includes information about journal
articles, conferences, books, Doctoral
theses and more. For many items,
where copyright allows, the full text
of the research is publicly available,
making it easier for anyone to access
the research carried out at Sussex. SRO
also provides publication details for
the academic profiles on the University
website. The site currently has records
for over 22,000 items of research. If you
have any questions you can contact
[email protected].
Have a look now at sro.sussex.ac.uk.
3
Library News
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.
Employment opportunities
in the Library
As a Sussex undergraduate,
postgraduate or researcher, the Careers
and Employability Centre is here for you.
We’re currently advertising 500 jobs
including part-time, vacation/internship,
voluntary and graduate opportunities:
www.sussex.ac.uk/careers/vacancies
Our friendly front line staff offer dropin appointments during term time and
are happy to give advice via phone
(01273 678429) or e-guidance via www.
sussex.ac.uk/careers/aboutus/contact
A change to opening hours
The Library has received a large number
of requests from students to remain
open overnight Sunday/Monday during
term time.
We are pleased to tell you that after
surveying users, to ensure that most
people agreed with this, we will be
opening Sunday/Monday night rather
than Friday/Saturday night from the start
of the next academic year.
The Library will be open from 12pm
on Sunday until 8pm on Friday. On
Saturday it will open from 12pm - 7pm.
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
24 hour opening:
12pm Sunday - 8pm Friday
Saturday opening:
12pm - 7pm
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
E [email protected]
www.twitter.com/sussexlibrary
www.facebook.com/sussexlibrary
4
New Research Hive
Scholars
The Library has three new Research
Hive Scholars: Jack Zeniewski, Rachel
Gimson and Ejiro O. Onomake, all
currently registered doctoral researchers
at Sussex. Their role is to support the
research community at Sussex.
They’ll be on hand to:
• advise on how to make the most of
the space available within the Research
Hive, the Library’s dedicated space for
researchers
• provide informal guidance to individual
researchers
• organise events and activities to
support you as a researcher
The Scholars will be available over the
course of the year, so get in touch by
email or check their website to see when
they’ll be in the Hive.
E: [email protected]
www.sussex.ac.uk/library/
researchhive
www.twitter.com/sussexreshive
New online resources
The Library is pleased to announce that
it has purchased a number of new online
resources, including ‘Testaments to the
Holocaust’, ‘Popular Culture in Britain
and America, 1950-1975 II’, and Series
one of the ‘20th Century American
newspapers’.
Testaments to the Holocaust is the
online publication of the archives of the
Wiener Library, London, the first archive
to collect evidence of the Holocaust and
the anti-semitic activities of the German
Nazi Party.
With Popular Culture in Britain and
America II, Library users can discover
the period from the 1950s to the
1970s through a wealth of printed and
manuscript sources, visual material,
ephemera and video clips.
20th Century Newspapers comprises
a number of important American
publications, including the longestrunning and Pulitzer Prize winning
newspaper on the West Coast, The
Oregonian.