Balfour & Newton Libraries

New zoology text available as an e-book

2012-02-02T16:35:00.001Z

Development of the nervous system, 3rd ed., by Dan H. Sanes (2012) is now available on the MyiLibrary platform at: http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=299420&src=2.

It will soon be visible on the online library catalogue, LibrarySearch, at: http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/

The Balfour Library also has 2 hard copies on the Overnight Loan shelves, and one on the Open Shelves (2 week loan), at shelfmark GF (216c).

Balfour Library Conservation Project - there's window cleaning too, of a sort ...

2012-01-31T14:59:00.000Z

One very neglected area of the special collections storage has been the old wooden cases with glass sliding doors, where some of the more precious items are shelved.

The glass is very dusty and, along with the rest of the cabinets and shelves inside, has not been cleaned for decades. The NADFAS volunteers have been tackling these recently.

The dust makes the glass appear dull.

The amount of dust is clearly visible here. It's on the inside and the outside of the cabinets.

Inside, the books are also very dusty, and show signs of damage through incorrect handling when being removed from the shelves.

The cabinet doors slide open and shut. There is a huge amount of detritis from books that has accumulated over the years.

The volunteers have been cleaning the glass by wiping with a very slightly damp microfibre cloth, then wiping it with a dry one, and leaving to dry completely. The same method is used for the shelves. Getting in between the sliding doors to clean the glass is still problematic though, despite Pam's magic feather duster (unfortunately I don't have a photo of that!). We cannot use special glass cleaner or indeed any liquid around the books and shelves either.

Diane vacuums the shelves and sliding mechanisms (after having checked that nothing significant from a book is there first of course!) using our amazingly quiet Nilfisk vacuum cleaner.

The result? Well, lovely clean shelves, books and cabinets!

You can actually see what's behind the glass!

Looking much smarter.

The books themselves look much cleaner and neater, and have been repaired slightly with the black cotton tape, securing loose bindings.

The books won't have to sit on dust or detritis anymore.

Another problem is how many of the books have been shelved so that they lean over to one side. This is very damaging. After the books in these cabinets have been cleaned library staff will re-shelve all of them so that there are no gaps where books can lean over, or if there are, adding suitable book ends.

Now I have to decide what the volunteers should tackle next...

Balfour Library Conservation Project - the volunteers have now cleaned 2,000 books!

2012-01-31T14:14:00.000Z

There are around 6,000 books in our special collections that require cleaning, so this is a real milestone!

The 2,000th book to be cleaned was a volume of Descrizione e notomia degli animali invertebrati della Sicilia citeriore : osservati vivi negli anni 1822-1830, by Stefano delle Chiaje. Tome 1-8. Published in Naples, 1841-44. Balfour Library shelfmark: qHL (3).

Susan and Diane removing the 2,000th book from the shelves for cleaning!

Title page of the book.

Lovely book bindings.

The volume is from the collection donated by Alfred Merle Norman (1831-1918), a clergyman in Co. Durham. He began studying marine biology during the early 1850s and during the 1860s was an important participant in John Gwyn Jefferys' expeditions to the Shetland Islands.

Norman collected specimens from all over the British Isles and also dredged in Norwegian fjords. He published major work on Protozoa, Porifera, Coelenterata, Mollusca, Crustacea, and other invertebrates. His collection was acquired by the British Museum (Natural History).

Norman's library, which incorporated John Gwyn Jefferys' library on molluscs, is now part of the special collections here at the Balfour & Newton Libraries.

An article on Norman can be found in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 68, pp. 69-98 (1980), which includes a bibliography of his publications.

A short biography of John Gwyn Jeffreys, 1809-1885, can be found on the Royal Conchological Society website at: http://www.conchsoc.org/ (click on the Molluscan Interests tab, then click on History, then on Eminent Conchologists).


Alfred Merle Norman's impressive bookplate.

Me with the 2,000th book - the volunteers got their own back for all the photos I've published of them!

Well done and thank you very much to all of the volunteers for their hard work so far.

Audubon Mobile Field Guide Apps

2012-01-30T16:26:00.002Z

If you research North American species, or work or holiday in North America and need to know what that insect / bird / mammal / fish / plant / amphibian / spider / marine organism you just saw was then maybe the Audubon Mobile Field Guide apps are for you!

According to the National Audubon Society the apps feature "high quality photographs, range maps, animal sounds and and the ability to create your own lifelists and record sightings".

The apps can be downloaded to iPhone and iPod touch, iPad, Android, NOOK Color and Kindle Fire devices.

There's also an African wildlife field guide app.

There is of course a fee for all of these. Find out more at: http://www.audubonguides.com/field-guides/mobile-apps.html

The Audubon Society also provides field guides online on their website. You need to register (for free) to access the online guides, which, as well as the apps, provide: information on 5,548 North American species, species identification by quick guide, family/taxonomic/common name, and advanced search; reference content including 2,300 bird songs and calls; 8,000+ photographic images; natural history, family descriptions, taxonomy, habitat, endangered species, community etc.; the ability to create lifelists and record sightings.

See their website for more information at: http://www.audubonguides.com/home.html

New MyiLibrary ebook download service

2012-01-30T14:39:00.000Z

ebooks@cambridge is pleased to announce that almost 300 MyiLibrary ebooks can now be checked out and downloaded by Cambridge staff and students. Downloadable titles will increase in number over time, as publishers sign up to this service with MyiLibrary.

Downloading to popular e-readers is supported, including the Sony e-readers, the Barnes & Noble Nook, and the Apple family of mobile devices, the iPad, the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as Android devices.

Please see this blogpost for further details of this new service: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/eresourcesblog/?p=669

Find out more about ebooks@cambridge here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/ebooks/

National Libraries Day 2012

2012-01-30T14:15:00.000Z

National Libraries Day is devoted to all types of libraries, library users, staff and supporters across the UK.

Join in by organising a celebratory event, contributing to our forums, tweeting with the #NLD12 hashtag and visiting your local library on the 4 February or the week leading up to it. How will you get involved?

Find out more at: http://nationallibrariesday.org.uk/

New acquisitions

2012-01-11T10:30:00.000Z

New books purchased

The animal kingdom: a very short introduction, by Peter Holland. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (333i-iii). (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 1 x Open Shelves).

Birds of North America and Greenland, text and illustrations by Norman Arlott. London: Harper Collins Publishers; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: KZ.7 (92).

Solid biomechanics, by Roland Ennos. Princeton, NJ: Oxford: Princeton University Press; 2012. Balfour Library shelfmark: EAD (14) (Overnight Loan shelves).

New theses

Chemical genetics to study how cells enter mitosis, by Paola Marco-Casanova. Cambridge; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (506) (Library Office).

Food theft by deceptive alarm calls in the fork-tailed drongo, by Thomas Patrick Flower. Cambridge; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (505) (Library Office).

The role of morphogenetic protein signalling in zebrafish vascular development, by John Edward Cannon. Cambridge; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (507) (Library Office).

Book donations

Multi-system endocrine disruption, by Jean-Pierre Bourguignon ... [et al.]. Berlin: Heidelberg; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GEK (56).

ARTstor digital library now available

2011-12-14T12:01:00.000Z

The University Library is pleased to announce the acquisition of access to the ARTstor digital library. The acquisition was made possible by contributions from the faculties of Architecture and History of Art, Classics, Divinity, English, History and Philosophy of Science, and Modern and Medieval Languages, and from St. John’s College, Trinity Hall, and Wolfson College. The Library is extremely grateful for their support.

ARTstor is an online resource containing more than one million digital images relating to the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences. The collections comprise contributions from outstanding international museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, and artists and artists’ estates.

There are several history of medicine and natural sciences images available on ARTstor:
featured collections include Cook's Voyages to the South Seas (Natural History Museum, London), Hill Ornithology Collection (Cornell University Library - some spectacular images from Audubon and Gould), Magnum Photos, Vesalius Anatomical Illustrations (Northwestern University). I've put a poster highlighting these on the Library noticeboard.

ARTstor allows the user to search using keywords and advanced search terms or browse by collection, classification or geography. Users can sort their search results and organize images into groups and share those groups with colleagues and students.

A range of tools allow users to make the best use of these high resolution images for research and pedagogical purposes and users can register for a personal account to access to additional features.

The ARTstor downloadable guides highlight important content and collections for subjects including African and African-American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Architecture and the Built Environment, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Design, Decorative Arts, Fashion and Costume, History of Medicine and Natural Science, Languages and Literature, Latin American Studies, Maps and Geography, Medieval Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Music History, Native American Studies, Photography, Religious Studies, Renaissance Studies, Theatre and Dance and Women’s Studies.

ARTstor is available on campus at http://www.artstor.org and off-campus using your Raven login and the link to the site which can be found at the eresources@cambridge Database A-Z. It is also available on a range of mobile devices.

Borrowing books from the Balfour Library only possible during opening hours next week

2011-12-09T14:43:00.001Z

The library management system, Voyager, is being upgraded throughout the whole of next week beginning Monday 12th December. This means that the self-issue system will not be available so books will have to be issued manually by library staff, during library opening hours only.

Due to library staff taking annual leave on various days throughout the week the Library Office may be unattended for short periods at times; in this case please come back later and do not remove books from the Library without speaking to a member of library staff first.

The online catalogues, Newton and LibrarySearch, will still be available during the downtime - click on this link to access the catalogue and for more details on how the downtime will affect the information displayed: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newton/. You will still be able to access online journals as usual.

You will not be able to use the 'Library Account and Renewals' widget linked to from the Balfour Library website home page (under the Quick links menu), or from LibrarySearch, during the downtime - please ask a member of library staff for assistance with renewing books.

Please take all of this into account when planning your borrowing.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused, and thank you for your assistance.

P.S. No book stamping actually required!

Android version of Qiqqa available

2011-12-01T14:23:00.001Z

This is now available to download from the Android Market, in a beta version. You can also download it via Qiqqa.

It allows you to sync your documents down to your device and view them offline. See the Qiqqa website for more information at http://www.qiqqa.com/ (see the Download tab).

I haven't been able to try it out on my own Android phone (annoying phone memory problems) but I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who has used it.

If you're interested in using Qiqqa in general let me know and we can go through it together and I can perhaps put you in touch with others in the Department who are using it.

2 new e-books in zoology now available

2011-12-01T14:06:00.001Z

Two books that are recommended on undergraduate reading lists are now available as e-books - although undergraduate and postgraduate students and teaching staff alike may find them useful.

They can be found and accessed via the library catalogue, LibrarySearch, at http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/. There are also direct links to the books as provided below. The library has several print copies of each.

The biology of lakes and ponds, 2nd ed., by Christer Bronmark and Lars-Anders Hansson.

http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=86973&src=2

Evolution, 3rd ed., by Mark Ridley.

http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=229196&src=2

You can find out all about e-books on the ebooks@cambridge website at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/ebooks/

A special Christmas package of end of term information, just for you!

2011-11-28T10:57:00.001Z

Michaelmas Term 2011 ends on Friday 2nd December. All books on loan from the Balfour Library must be returned by this date, or can be renewed for further periods unless they have been requested by another borrower. Saturday morning opening has now finished until next term.

Vacation borrowing for undergraduates

We permit the borrowing of books for the whole of the Christmas and Easter vacations for undergraduates.

This means that you will be able to take a maximum of two books away from Cambridge which must be returned by midnight on the first day of the Lent Term (17th January 2012). This applies to Overnight Loan books and Open Shelf books.

You can borrow books for the vacation period from 09:00 on Friday 2nd December. This is on a strictly first come, first served basis. You may not reserve books before borrowing them.

Please see the library website at: http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/library/booksborrow.html for more information on how to borrow, return and renew books on loan from the Balfour Library.

You may be interested to know that the University Library, and the Central Science Library (on this site) also offer vacation borrowing for undergraduates. See the Zoology Library blog for more details at: http://www.balfourlibrary.blogspot.com/

How to access online resources when you are away from Cambridge

The recommended route for accessing ejournals provided by the University remotely is as follows:

Go to the ejournals@cambridge website at: http://camsfx.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az
Enter the title of the journal you need (if it does not appear then there is no online subscription to it)
Click on the 'find journals by title' button
Click on the link for the journal title as appropriate for the particular year of publication of the article that you need
The Raven login box should appear
Enter your Raven userid and password and click on the 'Submit' button
You should then be taken to the host page for that journal and you can find the article(s) you need from there
(You only need to enter the Raven login once per session so you won't have to keep logging in and out each time you need a different journal)

Away from Cambridge, you will not be able to get the full text of ejournal articles through searching PubMed or Google / GoogleScholar, or directly from the journal's homepage for example, as you will not be recognised as being a valid member of the University of Cambridge and will not be allowed to download them. The recommended route as above should guarantee you the access to the content you are entitled to.

It is strongly recommended that you check the ejournals@cambridge website as above to see whether you will actually be able to access particular online journals remotely BEFORE you leave Cambridge. See also the eresources@cambridge website at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ for access to particular databases such as the Web of Science. See the 'Access Route' link next to the journal or database title to check this. Some online journals are not accessible outside of the University network so you may wish to download or print off articles from these before you leave Cambridge.

Troubleshooting ejournals access

Finally, if you are having trouble accessing ejournals and eresources remotely using your Raven password please see the guidance provided on the Central Science Library's 'Raven FAQs' website at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/CSL/ravenqanda.htm

Library Christmas and New Year closing dates

The Balfour Library will be closed from 16:30 on Friday 23rd December 2011 and will re-open at 08:30 on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

Thank you for your cooperation.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Best wishes,

Clair & Jane

Vacation borrowing for undergraduates at the Central Science Library

2011-11-28T10:25:00.001Z

Vacation borrowing for all undergraduates is now in operation.

Undergraduates can borrow books over the Christmas vacation period until 9th January 2011.

Their website can be found at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/CSL/index.php

E-books - find out what's available!

2011-11-23T11:55:00.001Z

I have been made aware of a link to an Excel document listing all of the e-books purchased by the University on a librarians' website, which I thought might be useful for anyone who just wants to browse through a list of them, organised by subject: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/libraries/ebooks_coll.html

But of course there is plenty of information on e-books on the ebooks@cambridge website here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/ebooks/ It allows you to search for e-books and also provides links to all the collections that have been purchased. There is also comprehensive help in using e-books, information on how to use e-books on mobile devices, how to cite e-books, and a list of free e-books widely available on the web.

Don't forget also to check out the eReference section linking to the amazing Oxford Reference Online collection of online subject and language dictionaries and thesauri, and all the other reference e-books purchased by the university, such as Who's Who.

In general, you can use the online catalogue LibrarySearch to find e-books at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newton/ The book titles have '[electronic resource]' next to them. You will be able to click on this and go through to the e-book (and if you're away from the university you will be prompted to enter your Raven password to access the e-book).

We've also put handy little stickers on the covers of printed books that are also available online, with a link to the online catalogue so you can access it!

Handbook of the Birds of the World, and Handbook of the Mammals of the World

2011-11-23T11:33:00.001Z

The Balfour Library purchases each volume in both of these book series as they are published.

We are very sorry that the receipt of Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 15: Weavers to New World warblers was so delayed, but it is now available in the library. Vol. 16: Tanagers to New World blackbirds, is due to be published imminently and we will let you know when it has arrived in a New Acquisitions post on this blog. These vols. are kept in the Quarto (large size) section of the library, just inside the main doors, at shelfmark range qK (47-63). Vol. 16 will conclude this series.

Handbook of the Mammals of the World, vol. 2: Hoofed mammals, is now available in the library. This series is also kept in the Quarto section of the library, at shelfmark range qY (19-).

These vols. are for reference use only in the library.

For more information on these series, please see the publisher Lynx Edicions' website at: http://www.lynxeds.com/

New acquisitions

2011-11-22T15:40:00.001Z

New books purchased:

Developmental plasticity and evolution, by Mary Jane West-Eberhard. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2003. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (308ii-iii).

Handbook of the mammals of the world. 2. Hoofed mammals. Chief editors Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: qY (20) (Quarto, large size shelves).

Meiofauna marina: biodiversity, morphology and ecology of small benthic organisms. Vol. 19. Chief editors Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa, Kai Horst George, M. Antonio Todaro. Munich: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GHN (129xviiii).

Donations:

Five weeks with Lapland birds: an account of the Cambridge Lapland Expedition 1955, by S. J. J. F. Davies. Perth, WA: Curtin University of Technology; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qKZ.4 (34) (Quarto, large-size shelves).

New theses:

Ant community structure in the high canopy of lowland dipterocarp forest, by Kalsum binti Mohd Yusah. Cambridge; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (502) (Library Office).

Boldness and social interactions in three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), by Jennifer Harcourt. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (499) (Library Office).

Cooperation in cleaner fish mutualisms: the role of repeated interactions, by Jennifer Oates. Cambridge; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (504) (Library Office).

The evolution of gene regulation in Diptera: a study of molecular antagonists of the achaete-scute genes and their role in the evolution of thoracic bristle patterns, by Marta Costa. Cambridge; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (500) (Library Office).

Genetic architecture and ecological speciation in Heliconius butterflies, by Richard Montague Merrill. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (498) (Library Office).

Migratory strategies and population dynamics in the black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), by Charlotte H. Chang. Cambridge; [2011]. (M.Phil.) Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (500) (Library Office).

Worldwide MHC class I and II diversity in humans, by Nouar Qutob. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (501) (Library Office).

Christmas vacation borrowing from the University Library

2011-11-22T15:34:00.001Z

Christmas vacation borrowing for undergraduates begins at the

University Library from Friday 18th November. The return date will be set at Thursday 19th January, 2012.

Undergraduates may borrow up to five books between these dates, and must be aware that the books are subject to recall throughout the vacation. Books may be returned by secure post to the following address:

Book Returns

Cambridge University Library

West Road

Cambridge

CB3 9DR

The UL offers vacation borrowing over the Christmas and Easter vacations. It does not offer an extended loan period during the long summer vacation, but all current undergraduates may borrow for the normal two week period throughout the long vac.

Readers who normally borrow for eight weeks will see no change in their borrowing allowances.

How students do their academic reading - survey with prizes to win

2011-11-22T14:50:00.001Z

I've been asked to pass on this message, intended for undergraduate and postgraduate students:

Hello fellow hard working readers,

Would you like to have less competition for core books on your reading lists? Would you like to have access to easier library tools and spend less time on finding reading materials? Would you like to have a clearer picture of what to read and when?

Don't we all? And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

A current Arcadia (UL/CARET) project is currently doing research into how students like you do their academic reading here in Cambridge, in order to help solve problems just like these, and to help shape a modern 21st century library experience. But we can't do a good job without understanding how students read every day, what are your real life needs, what are the ups and downs, and how do you deal with current problems around reading. So if you have a little time, we would be extremely grateful if you could help out. You can help in many ways, and there are cool prizes up for grabs too, like Amazon Kindles, book tokens and Amazon vouchers.

You can sign up and learn more about the research here:

http://camreading.tumblr.com/helpout

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Oszkar Nagy

Arcadia Fellow - Student Reading in Theory and Practice project

oszkar@caret.cam.ac.uk

Rare book on display in the Library

2011-11-22T12:50:00.001Z

There is now a different book on display in the Library: Elementa ornithologica iconibus vivis coloribus expressis illustrata.Edicio secunda, by Jacob Christian Schaeffer. Ratisbonae,Typis Breitfeldianis, 1779.

Balfour Library shelfmark: qK (8).

The book is open at: Plate 38: Cockerel.This is a beautiful, hand coloured engraving of the bird, skilfully renderingall the colours of its bright and varied plumage. He is so lifelike that he appearsto be strutting right off the page. The plate includes a diagram of the bird’stongue, and this was included for most of the birds illustrated throughout thiswork. It was erroneously assumed that if songbirds in particular were to speak,it was necessary to ‘loosen’ their tongues.

Jacob Christian Schaeffer (1718-1790)was a German dean, professor, botanist, mycologist, entomologist, ornithologistandinventor. He studied theology at the University of Halle, became a teacherin Ratisbon, and eventually became an extraordinary professor. He was alsoawarded the titles of Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Divinity by two Germanuniversities and became Pasteur in Ratisbon in 1779.

InElementa ornithologica Schaeffer organised birds accordingto his own system of classification. Hedivided birds into two classes, Nudipedes (those with naked legs) andPlumipedes (with feathered legs). These two groups more or less correspond tothe Land and Water birds classification of previous authors.

Schaeffer published several works,including this one, as well as Elementa entomologica in 1776,of which the Balfour Library owns a copy. He was aware of thedifficulties in hand-colouring the engravings in the works he published andrecommended that colour charts be made: he suggested that fixed criteria fordiscerning different colours should be defined, that each defined colour shouldbe given an unambiguous name, and that this combination of colour and nameshould be made available to the public by way of samples. When it came tomixing the colours for the charts, he recommended that one should imitate asclosely as possible the colours that one found in plants and animals.

Schaeffer also experimented withelectricity and optics, tried to manufacture his own lenses and paper, andbecame famous for having made one of the first washing machines!

Sources:

TimBirkhead. The wisdom of birds: anillustrated history of ornithology. London: Bloomsbury; 2008. BalfourLibrary shelfmark: K (227). (An illustration of a starling from this work isincluded in this book on p. 251).

InternationalLeague of Antiquarian Booksellers http://www.ilab.org/index.php

JacobChristian Schäffer.Wikipedia article at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Christian_Sch%C3%A4ffer

Kärin Nickelsen. The challenge of colour: eighteenth-century botanists and thehand-colouring of illustrations. Annalsof Science, Volume 63, Number 1/January 2006, pp. 3-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00033790500151177

Michael Walters. Aconcise history of ornithology: the lives and works of its founding figures.London: Christopher Helm; 2003. Balfour Library shelfmark: K (225).

Having trouble accessing ejournal@cambridge via Lapwing? Use eduroam.

2011-11-14T14:59:00.001Z

I've discovered that it isn't possible to download articles from journals via ejournals@cambridge at http://camsfx.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az from your laptop using the Lapwing wireless network.

It's all to do with proxy server settings here at the university, apparently. The solution is to use the eduroam wireless network instead of Lapwing.

Eduroam is (according to eduroam http://www.eduroam.org/) 'the secure, world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community. Eduroam allows students, researchers and staff from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity across campus and when visiting other participating institutions by simply opening their laptop'.

Undergraduates may think that they wouldn't need to know about this, and I don't think it has really been advertised to them much, but actually it's quite a stable wireless network available in many departments and colleges in the university (including the Department of Zoology), that they may find easier to use than Lapwing.

Potential eduroam users need to do a bit of simple configuration on their laptop before leaving Cambridge to travel to the academic institution they will be visiting - and this is what any student or academic / research staff member can do to be able to just use eduroam in and around the University of Cambridge. For instructions, and to find out which institutions participate in eduroam nationally and worldwide, see the University Computing Service website at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/wireless/eduroam/localusers.html.

Can I use eduroam to access the wifi newtwork from my smartphone?

Yes, you can configure your smartphone to use the eduroam wireless network. See the University Computing Service mobile devices website for instructions on how to do this for your iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, Android, Nokia, Windows mobile, or Blackberry phones: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/mobiledevices/.

What is ejournals@cambridge and why should I use it rather than Google?

ejournals@cambridge is the University Library's official alphabetical list of all the online journals that it subscribes to.

Most of the time, using a machine on the cam.ac.uk network or on on your laptop, you will be able to simply do a search on Google or Google Scholar for a journal article and then download the full text. However sometimes, having found a link to the article, you may be asked for a password or payment to be permitted to download the full text, even though the journal is subscribed to by the University. ejournals@cambridge gives you the definitive details of what full text coverage is subscribed to, and gives you the links to the full text of it.

So, next time Google says 'no', try ejournals@cambridge!

Available now: a guide to using Twitter in university research, teaching, and impact activities

2011-11-14T14:33:00.001Z

The short guide to 'Using Twitter in university research, teaching, and impact activities', is available to download as a PDF.

Although it's been put together by the LSE (London School of Economics), it is actually quite a generic guide and can be used by all academics and researchers across disciplines.

I think it's a great resource. After a brief explanation of what Twitter actually is, the guide goes on to cover topics including:

Setting up your Twitter account;
Useful Twitter terminology;
Tweeting styles;
Building up your followers;
Using Twitter for research projects;
Using Twitter in departments;
Using Twitter alongside blogging;
Using Twitter in teaching;
Resources (such as academics on Twitter, related blog posts, guides and articles).

I actually came across this guide having read a Tweet from a fellow librarian. Click here for more information and to download the guide: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/29/twitter-guide/

Charles Darwin on Land and at Sea - online exhibition

2011-11-14T14:25:00.001Z

The Charles Darwin exhibition at Christ's College is now available online at: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/darwin2009/

It is based on their 2009 exhibition and celebrates the achievements of one of the most brilliant and influential scientific thinkers in history, and includes a section on his time at Christ's.

Web of Knowledge now available on your mobile - updated post

2011-11-10T16:51:00.001Z

You can access Web of Knowledge from anywhere at any time using your Web of Knowledge username and password, including from your mobile phone.

It's easy to create an account (which has to be done from a computer on the Cambridge network) - just follow the instructions here: http://wokinfo.com/about/mobile/

I have successfully searched Web of Knowledge (WoK) from my Android smartphone. Since I was logged on to the university's free wifi via EduRoam (or you could log on to Lapwing) I found that I could actually open the full text PDFs of articles I retrieved. I have just tested accessing WoK from my phone while connected to my own mobile phone network and found that I could also download the full text PDFs, for journals where the university has a subscription. I bookmarked the mobile site on my browser and was asked to login using my WoK password as I had previously set it up.

The mobile version has the ability to search within individual products (e.g. Web of Science), as well as the All Databases search.

You can sort, refine, email, add records to EndNote Web, link to full text, view times cited counts, search history.

Pretty impressive?! Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

Rose Book-Collecting Prize 2011-2012

2011-11-10T16:32:00.000Z

Attention student book-collectors!

Your chance to win £500

The contest is open to all current undergraduate and graduate students of theUniversity of Cambridge.

The closing date for entries is the first day of Lent Full Term, Tuesday 17January 2012.

Full details of how to enter are given on the University Library website athttp://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/bookprize/

New acquisitions

2011-10-31T14:14:00.001Z

New books

Admiralty Tide Tables. Volume 1, 2012, United Kingdom and Ireland including European Channel Ports. Published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. Balfour Library shelfmark: D.13 (10). (Reference shelves).

Avoiding attack: the evolutionary ecology of crypsis, warning signals, and mimcry, by Graeme D. Ruxton, Thomas N. Sherratt, and Michael P. Speed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2004. Balfour Library shelfmark: GGT (20ii). (Overnight Loan shelves).

The biology of lakes and ponds, 2nd ed., by Christer Bronmark and Lars-Anders Hansson. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2005. Balfour Library shelfmark: GHM (115bi-ii). (Overnight Loan shelves).

Elements of evolutionary genetics, by Brian Charlesworth and Deborah Charlesworth. Greenwood Village, CO: Roberts and Company Publishers; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: EN (185).

Evolution: the extended synthesis, edited by Massimo Pigliucci and Gerd B. Miller. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (332i-iii). (2 x Overnight Loan shelves).

Handbook to the construction and use of insect collection and rearing devices: a guide for teachers with suggested classroom applications, by Gregory S. Paulson. Dordrecht: Springer; 2005. Balfour Library shelfmark: Q.10 (14).

Important bird areas [in the] Americas: priority sites for biodiversity conservation. Senior editors Christian Devenish ... [et al.]. Quito, Ecuador: BirdLife International; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: qKZ.7 (22) (Quarto, Large Size shelves).

An introduction to behavioral endocrinology, 4th ed., by Randy J. Nelson. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GEK (53d). (Overnight Loan shelves).

Livestock in a changing landscape. Volume 1: drivers, consequences, and responses, edited by Henning Steinfeld ... [et al.]. Washington, DC: Island Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GGZ (38i).

Livestock in a changing landscape. Volume 2: experiences and regional perspectives, edited by Pierre Gerber ... [et al.]. Washington, DC: Island Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GGZ (38ii).

Monitoring forest biodiversity: improving conservation through ecologically responsible management, by Toby Gardner. London: Earthscan; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GHH (11).

Nature's versatile engine: insect flight muscle inside and out, by Jim O. Vigoreaux. New York, NY: Springer Science and Business Media; 2006. Balfour Library shelfmark: Q.5 (92).

Population genetics for animal conservation, edited by Giorgio Bertorelle ... [et al.]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: GGW (217).

Sensory evolution on the threshold: adaptations in secondarily aquatic vertebrates, edited by J. G. M. Thewissen and Sirpa Nummela. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 2008. Balfour Library shelfmark: UU (32).

Donations

Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: understanding the life of giants, edited by Naomi Klein ... [et al.]. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: WY (11).

Insect ecology: behaviour, populations and communities, 3rd ed., by Peter W. Price ... [et al.]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Q.8 (20c).

New flora of the British Isles, 3rd ed., by Clive Stace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: FA (41c).

Spider silk: evolution and 400 million years of spinning, waiting, snagging, and mating, by Leslie Brunetta and Catherine L. Craig. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: R (8).

Collins New Naturalist series http://www.newnaturalists.com/Pages/home.aspx

I've been catching up with purchasing the books in this series that are of relevance to zoology and related disciplines:

Badger, by Timothy J. Roper. London: Collins; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: YOM (3).

Bird migration, by Ian Newton. London: Collins; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: K.8 (64).

Climate and weather, by John A. Kington. London: Collins; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GI (28).

Dragonflies, by Philip S. Corbet and Stephen J. Brooks, with many colour photographs by Robert Thompson. London: Collins; 2008. Balfour Library shelfmark: QC (19).

Grouse: the natural history of British and Irish species, by Adam Watson and Robert Moss. London: Collins; 2008. Balfour Library shelfmark: KK (17).

Plant pests: a natural history of pests of farms and gardens, by David J. Alford. London: Collins; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: QZ (27).

Wildfowl, by David Cabot. London: Collins; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: KI (12).

Balfour Library Conservation Project - What's been eating that book? Update...

2011-10-31T10:07:00.003Z

I recently blogged about a book that was found during the volunteers' cleaning that appeared to have been nibbled at by a deathwatch beetle larva.

Our conservator has since advised that, due to the sheer size of the holes, she doesn't think the damage was caused by a beetle larva but probably by a slug or snail! It's definitely not rodent damage either, as that would have sharp, serrated edges.

I don't know how they would have got inside the book; maybe it was left open for a while and the slug or snail decided to stop on its travels to have a munch?!

Self-service photography at the University Library (UL)

2011-10-31T09:51:00.002Z

Self-service photography of authorised material in the Manuscripts, Maps and Rare Books reading rooms of the University Library has been a permanent service for readers since May, following a successful trial earlier in the year.

It is now also possible for readers to take photographs of material in the open stacks and of authorised material in the Anderson Room, East Asian Reading Room, Commonwealth Room, Reading Room and West Room, on a trial basis. Photographs may be taken for non-commercial research or private study only. General photography (e.g. of people, locations, reading rooms) is not permitted.

Full guidelines are available at

http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/specialcollections/selfserviceguidelines.pdf.

Mobile interfaces, devices and apps for accessing library and information resources

2011-10-13T15:08:00.001+01:00

Here are some ways that you can use your mobile phone to access library and information resources via special mobile interfaces, devices or apps to help you do your research on the go.

To access e-books on your mobile phone / Kindle ...

All the e-books the university buys can be read onscreen but at present many of our suppliers do not offer licence agreements that permit texts to be downloaded, mainly because of the need to renegotiate agreements with publishers, authors, and rights holders of illustrations etc. Exceptions to this include: chapters from books on the Cambridge Books Online and Oxford Scholarship Online platforms which can be downloaded in PDF format to e-readers including the Kindle; chapters from the Royal Society of Chemistry platform, and the STAT!Ref medical books which are optimized for delivery on mobile devices.

For more information please visit the ebooks@cambridge website http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/ebooks/

To search PubMed on your iPhone or Android phone ...

PubMed on Tap / PubMed on Tap Lite enable you to search PubMed from your iPhone while you're out and about. The Lite version is free but only lets you view 10 abstracts from any search. The full version can be downloaded for £1.79 from the iTunes App Store.

PubMed Mobile and PubMed Mobile Pro allow Android users to search PubMed from their phone. PubMed Mobile is free. PubMed Mobile Pro costs £1.86 and offers a bit more functionality. Download them from Android Market.

PubMed also has a mobile interface http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/

[Some of this information was mentioned in the excellent document 'A guide to accessing information via your mobile phone', written by Lynsey Hawker, NHS Liaison Support Librarian, St George's,University of London http://www.sgul.ac.uk/services/library/guides-help-sheets/help-sheets-pdfs/accessing-information-via-your-mobile.pdf].

To search the university's online catalogue, LibrarySearch, via your mobile phone ...

CamLib is the mobile interface for Cambridge libraries, available at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/mob/camlib.cgi. CamLib has been tested with iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices. Find out more about what you can use it for here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/toolbox/camlib.html

The UCAM Library Search app for iPhones has been developed by a Cambridge PhD student. It's available for free from the Apple iTunes App Store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ucam-library-search/id459882806?mt=8

If you've found any other really useful mobile web interfaces or apps please let me know and I can mention them in a blogpost here.

The Libraries Directory has a new look!

2011-10-13T14:18:00.001+01:00

Photo courtesy of libraries@cambridge

The Libraries Directory has a new look!

http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/libraries_directory/libraries_directory.cgi

The newly designed interface uses the new University style, and is enhanced by the incorporation of images from the libraries@cambridge Flickr stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/libatcam/sets/) as well as from those contributed by libraries.

You can use the Directory to find out the opening hours, locations (with maps), contact details, stock and service information of all the libraries in the University. It is searchable and you can also find out what libraries cover which subject via the Subject List link.

Helpful tip: when searching for a book on the online catalogue, LibrarySearch http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/, click on the details of the book and scroll down the screen to see which libraries hold the book. Next to the library name is an 'i' icon - click on this and you will be brought to the library's entry on the Library Directory.

Changes to University Library borrowing for University staff (and info for visiting scholars)

2011-10-13T12:57:00.000+01:00

From 1 August 2011, all staff employed by the University of Cambridge will now be eligible to borrow ten books for a loan period of up to eight weeks from the main University Library.

Staff visiting the Library should bring their blue University Card to the Entrance Hall desk, where staff will check your record to ensure the new allowances are enabled, and will be happy to help with any questions about using the Library and borrowing from the collections.

Academics and scholars who are officially visiting the University but do not hold a degree from the University of Cambridge will be able to borrow five books for eight weeks, as before. This also applies to staff members employed by Cambridge Colleges and by institutions affiliated to the University. Such staff members should wait until they have received their blue University ID cards before coming to the University Library.

If staff are not to be issued University ID cards, they will need to bring alternative photo ID (e.g. driver's licence or passport) to the University Library Admissions Office. All applicants in this category will need to provide a completed 5.4 form, available here:

http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/admissions/5_4.pdf

New acquisitions

2011-10-05T16:43:00.001+01:00

New books purchased

Bats: from evolution to conservation, 2nd ed., by John D. Altringham, drawings by Tom McOwat and Lucy Hammond. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: YV (10bi-ii).

Biochemistry, 7th ed., by Jeremy M. Berg, John L. Tymoczko, and Lubert Stryer, with Gregory J. Gatto. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman and Company; 2012. Balfour Library shelfmark: EH (50gi-iii).

Biological anthropology: the natural history of humankind, 3rd ed., by Craig Stanford, John S. Allen, and Susan C. Anton. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; 2013. Balfour Library shelfmark: qYYV (3ci-ii).

Development of the nervous system, 3rd ed., by Dan H. Sanes, Thomas A. Reh, and William A. Harris. Burlington, MA: Elsevier: Academic Press; 2012. GF (216ci-iii).

Ecology, 2nd ed., by Michael L. Cain, William D. Bowman and Sally D. Hacker. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GG (272bi-ii).

Evolution: a developmental approach, by Wallace Arthur. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (331i-iii).

Evolution since Darwin: the first 150 years, edited by Michael A. Bell ... [et al.]. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (330i-ii).

The geometry of evolution: adaptive landscapes and theoretical morphospaces, by George R. McGhee. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2007. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (329i-ii).

Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 15: weavers to New World warblers, by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, and David Christie. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qK (63).

How and why species multiply: the radiation of Darwin's finches, by Peter R. Grany and B. Rosemary Grant. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2008. Balfour Library shelfmark: KY (50i-ii).

How we live and why we die: the secret lives of cells, by Lewis Wolpert. London: Faber and Faber; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: EC (307i-ii).

Introduction to genetic analysis, international 10th ed., by Anthony J. Griffiths ... [et al.]. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman and Company; 2012. Balfour Library shelfmark: EN (131ji-ii).

The major transitions in evolution revisited, edited by Brett Calcott and Kim Sterelny. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (271b).

Physical anthropology: an introduction, [13th ed.], by Robert Jurmain ... [et al.]. [Belmont, CA]: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning; 2012. Balfour Library shelfmark: qYYV (4mi-ii).

Plant ecology, 2nd ed., edited by Michael J. Crawley. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science Ltd.; 1997. Balfour Library shelfmark:GG (127bi-ii).

Plasticity, robustness, development and evolution, by Patrick Bateson and Peter Gluckman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EEB (75i,iii).

Principles of animal communication, 2nd ed., by Jack W. Bradbury and Sandra L. Vehrencamp. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GFY (14bi-ii).

Principles of social evolution, by Andrew F. G. Bourke. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (327iv,v).

Sensory transduction, by Gordon L. Fain, with illustrations by Margery L. Fain. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GFM (26ii-iii).

Vertebrates: comparative anatomy, function, evolution, 6th ed., by Kenneth V. Kardong. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2012. Balfour Library shelfmark: UU (26fi-iv).

The weather makers: our changing climate and what it means for life on earth, by Tim Flannery. London: Penguin Books; 2007. Balfour Library shelfmark: GGW (216i-iii).

Donations:

Animal camouflage: mechanisms and function, edited by Martin Stevens and Sami Merilaita. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GGT (22i-ii).

Bioelectrogenesis: a comparative survey of its mechanisms with particular emphasis on electric fishes, edited by Carlos Chagas and Antoni Paes de Carvahlo. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company; 1961. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (3).

The cane toad: the history and ecology of a successful colonist, by Christopher Lever. Otley: Westbury Academic and Scientific Publishing; 2001. Balfour Library shelfmark: WJI (3).

Commentary on the effects of electricity on muscular motion, by Luigi Galvani. Translated into English by Margaret Glover Foley. Norwalk, CT: Burndy Library; 1953. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (7).

Descriptive catalogue of the physiological series in the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Part I: surviving Hunterian specimens demonstrating those organs in plants and animals for the special purposes of the individual. Part II: Hunterian species demonstrating the products of generation together with surviving Hunterian specimens from other sections. Edinburgh: E. & S. Livingstone; 1970-71. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (6i-ii).

A discourse on the torpedo, delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society, November 30, 1774, by Sir John Pringle. London: Royal Society; 1775. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (4).

The electrical eel: or, Gymnotus electricus, by Adam Strong. A new edition, with considerable additions. London: [J. Bew]; 1777. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (5).

Das elektrische Organ des afrikanischen Zitterwelses (Malopterus electricus Lacepede), anatomisch Untersucht von Emil Ballowitz. Jena: Gustav Fischer; 1899. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (12).

Die elektrischen Fische: nach neuen Untersuchungen anatomisch-zoologisch dargestellt, von Gustav Fritsch. Erste Abtheilung: Malopterus electricus. Zweite Abtheilung: die Torpedineen. Leipzig: Verlag von Veit Comp.; 1887-1890. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (11i-ii).

Essai sur les phenomenes electriques des animaux, par Ch. Matteucci. Paris: Carilian-Goeury et Vr. Dalmont; 1840. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (1).

Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part 2: sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates and rays, by Henry B. Bigelow and William C. Schroeder. New Haven , CT: Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale University; 1953. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (10ii).

The great auk, or garefowl (Alca impennis, Linn.): its history, archaeology, and remains, by Symington Grieve. London: Thomas C. Jack; 1885. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (8).

The natural history of the frog fish of Surinam, by Thomas Hutchinson. York: [G. Peacock]; 1796[?]. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (9).

Naturalised birds of the world, by Christopher Lever. London: T. & A. D. Poyser; 2005. Balfour Library shelfmark: K (230b).

The naturalized animals of Britain and Ireland, by Christopher Lever. London: New Holland Publishers; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: YZ.41 (9b).

Naturalized birds of the world, by Christopher Lever. Harlow: Longman Scientific and Technical; 1987. Balfour Library shelfmark: K (230).

Naturalized fishes of the world, by Christopher Lever. San Diego, CA: Academic Press; [1996]. Balfour Library shelfmark: V (30).

Naturalized reptiles and amphibians of the world, by Christopher Lever. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2003. Balfour Library shelfmark: W (27).

Plasticity, robustness, development and evolution, by Patrick Bateson and Peter Gluckman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EEB (75ii).

They dined on eland: the story of the acclimatisation societies, by Christopher Lever. London: Quillar Press; 1993. Balfour Library shelfmark: G (57).

Traite des phenomenes electro-physiologiques des animaux. D'etudes anatomiques sur le systeme nerveux et sur l'organe electrique de la torpille. Paris: Fortin, Masson et Cie; 1844. Balfour Library shelfmark: Keynes (2).

Research Skills Programme

2011-10-04T14:11:00.000+01:00

The University Library's Research Skills Programme for the Michaelmas Term has now been launched.

Courses on the Programme are open to all members of research staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University. Sessions cover a wide range of subjects and skills, including:

Be The Boss of Your Hard Drive - Working With Digital Data
How To Avoid Plagiarism
How To Do A Literature Search
How To Find Things on Your Reading List
IfM: Managing Your Information - A Workshop for First-year PhD Students
Referencing Without Tears
UL orientation tours

Some sessions will require advanced booking. For more information on the Programme and to make bookings, please visit: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/courses/

Natural History Museum's first book for iPad, Audubon's Birds of America

2011-10-04T13:41:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately the Balfour Library does not own a copy of John James Audubon's magnificent, 1m tall Birds of America, with 435 hand-painted plates illustrating American birds in their natural habitats, so you may be interested in the iPad or eBook version of a copy owned by the Natural History Museum (NHM).

A resized print edition of the work will also be launched by the NHM.

The NHM's art collection holds half a million artworks, representing all the great natural history artists. There are also over 1 million books, including some richly illustrated volumes of great historical significance.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2011/september/museums-first-book-for-ipad-birds-of-america-is-launched102402.html

Free research paper management software - Qiqqa

2011-10-04T11:51:00.000+01:00

Do you download a lot of PDFs? Need a way to manage and manipulate them effectively?

This new, free software features:

Document Management;
Annotation Reports - easily summarize large documents for review;
Document Syncing - access your documents from anywhere;
Built-in brainstorming software to visualise your ideas -add links to referenced material, reshuffle, and zoom in;
Citation & bibliographies;
Designed for academics, by academic;
Interfacing with Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote etc.;
iPhone,iPad, Android, and support for other mobile devices;
... and much more.

Free research paper management software - Qiqqa

New to Cambridge Libraries, or don't know where to start?

2011-09-28T12:22:00.000+01:00

Check out the Cambridge Libraries Gateway! http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/libraries/

This is a website that consolidates information about all the libraries available within the University of Cambridge - there are over 100 of them!

Sections include: How do I...? (e.g. find books, find journals etc.); ads for new library services such a the new mobile phone app; the Research Skills Programme for all undergraduate other members of the University; a feed from various libraries' blogs; a link to the online book renewal / library account facility; and much, much more.

Cambridge Libraries will have a presence at the Freshers' Fair, which will be held on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 6th October at the Kelsey Kerridge Sports Hall. Several librarians from different libraries around the University will be ready and very willing to talk about all the libraries available to you and how you can use them. We will be giving out fliers, and hopefully will have a mobile phone and laptop to demonstrate some of the remote library services available.

On the new Cambridge Libraries website you can also check out also our new film, The Perfect Desk, to give you a student's eye view of the library system in Cambridge.

Balfour Library Conservation Project - what's been eating that book?

2011-08-24T14:15:00.000+01:00

The volunteers are briefly assessing the overall condition of each book they clean; cleaning inside where necessary, and recording any damage they come across.

They found this spectacular evidence of insect pest damage caused by what I believe to be a deathwatch beetle:

The beetle has really chewed through the text block. They like damp environments and mould damaged timber, so this volume must have been kept in a damp place at some point (n.b. it's not here anymore!).

It is possible to see right through the pages! Deathwatch beetles leave holes that are much wider than those of woodworms. Woodworm damage is narrower and appears more like round holes or narrow tunnels through the text block.

You can see how someone has attempted to repair the damage by removing the damaged text and pasting in blank pages. I think that's probably caused more damage!

Thankfully the beetle either got bored or too fat to continue through the volume to the wonderful plates at the end.

This is the title page, again with fresh paper pasted in behind the holes.

Insects only eat at their larval stage, so it's funny to imagine little grubs burrowing their way through the book.

Balfour Library Conservation project - books that are falling apart!

2011-08-24T12:36:00.000+01:00

One of the volunteers' tasks is to tie up books whose spines or boards have detached or are detaching. This keeps the book together on the shelves, in its correct shape, until such time as we can box the whole book in acid-free boxes.

Cotton tying tape is used to keep the books together. Granny knots must be used; they can be easily untied and re-tied by readers. The bows must lie in the direction of the spine, not across it, otherwise the tape gets caught up with other items on the shelves and may untie itself.

A perfect example! The tying is neat and the bows are not visible when the books are shelved. If you knotted at the front or side of the books, as if you were doing up a parcel, the knot would damage the book next to it on the shelf by being squashed against it.

We use black tape as we think it looks better on the books than the usual natural colour tape, which may get dirty or discolour over time.

Who knew that book tying was so important? We had much fun practising this during our training with the conservator; try it yourself and you'll see how difficult it is to get the bows lying along the spine, which is the indication of a proper granny knot! Some of us are apparently natural granny knot tie-ers, some have to really think about it and do these instead of reef knots! (Natural granny knot tie-ers apparently have to keep tying up their shoe-laces...).

Balfour Library conservation project - look the state of those books!

2011-08-24T12:13:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos showing the amount of dust that the volunteers have had to contend with. These will be followed by photos of some of the same books - now clean!

Dirt visible on the shelves, and on the boards and spines of the books.

Decades of dirt on the text blocks. These don't have a shelf above them so even more dirt has accumulated on them.

The amount of dirt that has collected on the shelves is amazing, especially at the back of the shelves behind books.

More dirt on the text blocks - you might also be able to see where fragments of spine or pages from the books above has collected on the top of the books below.

After cleaning! Look how clean the shelves are too!


Now you can actually appreciate the marbled colour effect on the text blocks of the first four books on the shelf. All the dirt has been removed from the whole of the books. You can also see where one book has needed tying.

Dirt is a real enemy of the book. It is acidic and gradually breaks down pages and bindings over time. It is also a potential health hazard, and makes the books generally unpleasant to handle. Pests might also be encouraged by its presence. It is great that we are finally tackling the problem and are managing to preserve the books for a little bit longer.

Balfour Library Conservation Project - how are the books cleaned?

2011-08-24T11:41:00.000+01:00

The CAMdfas Heritage Volunteers are simply using specialist brushes and other equipment to clean the books:

The work area. The desks are protected with heavy duty polythene, which are wiped down at the end of every session.

Natural hog bristle brushes, used for cleaning the spines and boards (covers) and text blocks of books. Note that we have used two colours of electrical tape on the metal ferrules. The black indicates that the brush should be used for the really dirty text block edges (as Wendy demonstrates below) and boards. The green indicates the brush should be used for pages inside the books where relevant. The tape also protects the books from the metal ferrules.

Natural hog bristle shaving brushes, from the local chemist! Hog bristle is quite robust and removes an impressive amount of dirt.

Pony hair brushes used for smaller books and more delicate materials.

The brushes are cleaned at the end of every session with soap and water, and are left to dry naturally.

Wendy demonstrating how the brushes are used along the text block to remove dirt in to a bin. We tried to show the amount of dust coming off but we're not sure it's visible! The technique when cleaning the text blocks is to always move the brush outwards from the spine. Similarly when cleaning the boards, the brush strokes should fan out from the centre of the spine.

Microfibre cloths from the local supermarket. They are used for cleaning and drying the shelves and desks. They need to be washed after every session as they get so filthy.

The volunteers wear protective clothing such as face masks with filters to prevent them inhaling anything nasty, and vinyl gloves, and glamorous aprons.

If the volunteers find anything sticking out of the books that is getting damaged or causing damage to the book it is removed and logged on index cards and bagged in separate clear polythene self-seal bags (purchased from a well-known high street store!)

A manuscript has been removed from the book.

The volunteers make a note of the books they are cleaning at every session, and record anything relevant such as any damage found, and where they have bagged a loose item. They quickly flick through each book and clean the inside pages where required, and note the condition and any damage found (more of which later).

Cards with numbers on. These are ingenious! When removing books from the shelves, the first book on the shelf has the number 1 card placed in it, and so on, until the last book on the shelf. The different colours are used when removing more than one shelf at a time. This means that the volunteers don't have to worry about what order they are cleaning books in. The books are also much easier to re-shelve in the correct order, rather than trying to follow often obscure classmarks.

If the boards are detached or detaching from a book then it is necessary to tie them to the book using specialist cotton tape (more of this in a later blog post).

The volunteers seem remarkably unfazed by the amount of dirt! All of the equipment being used is quite inexpensive and readily available. The most valuable thing is the volunteers' time spent on carefully cleaning and recording the books.

Balfour Library Conservation Project - meet the volunteers!

2011-08-24T10:26:00.004+01:00

We are pleased to introduce the volunteers who are bravely cleaning our rare books as part of an ongoing project to conserve and preserve them.

They are Heritage Volunteers from CAMdfas, one of the Cambridge branches of the East Anglia area of NADFAS, the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies http://www.nadfas.org.uk/

Wendy - proving she's getting her hands dirty!

Audrey, Pam and Wendy (note the state of the yellow microfibre cloth used to clean the shelves with!)

Diane

The volunteers really are doing sterling work, and have cleaned over 600 books already. The books are looking great once cleaned and placed back on nice clean shelves; it really is amazing the difference that is being made.

The basic workflow is as follows:

Books are removed from the shelves and placed on a trolley;
The shelves are cleaned;
The trolley is taken to the work area where the books are cleaned using specialist brushes;
The books are re-shelved.

I will shortly be blogging, with accompanying photos, about the equipment being used, the methods involved, the types of books being cleaned, some pest damage, and including some brilliant 'before and after' photos of dirty and clean books.

Library management system downtime next week CANCELLED

2011-08-18T10:55:00.000+01:00

The scheduled downtime of the library management system, Voyager, next week beginning 22nd August has been cancelled.

Borrowing books using the self-issue machine 24/7 will therefore remain unaffected.

SHERPA-RoMEO upgrade version released

2011-08-17T16:55:00.000+01:00

SHERPA Services’ is excited to announce the launch of an upgraded version of SHERPA RoMEO (www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo) as part of ongoing improvements to the SHERPA RoMEO service.

What is SHERPA-RoMEO?

SHERPA-RoMEO uses a simple colour-code classification to simplify complex publisher and journal policy information and provides impartial, easy to follow and accurate guidance on permissions and conditions of rights given to authors by journal publishers.

SHERPA-RoMEO offers users the ability to:

View summaries of publishers' and journal copyright policies in relation to self-archiving;
View if publisher and journal policies comply with research funder archiving policies, mandates and guidelines;
To search journal and publisher information by Journal Title, Publisher Name, ISSN and eSSN.

Additionally, SHERPA-RoMEO provides lists of:

Publishers that allow the use of their PDFs in Institutional Repositories;
Publisher with Paid Options.

The new version contains significant additions and improvements to RoMEO, and now provides:

Increased Journal Coverage:

SHERPA-RoMEO now has its own Journals database containing over 18000 journals including many titles not covered by the other lists we use - Zetoc, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and ENTREZ.

More up to Date:

The new SHERPA RoMEO Journals database is faster than other lists in responding to new titles and journals that change publishers.

More Accurate Journal Level Searching:

The new journals database means that RoMEO identifies rights holders more accurately, especially where a commercial publisher is publishing on behalf of a society.

More Search Options:

In addition to searching for journals by title or ISSNs and publisher names, an advanced search option lets users search for publishers’ by RoMEO colour, RoMEO ID and RoMEO update date.

Electronic ISSNs:

RoMEO now holds data on electronic ISSN’s in addition to print ISSN’s and users can search for both using the ISSN search field.

Faster Performance:

Technical upgrades have made many features work faster than before.

This information is derived from the RoMEO database which is compiled by SHERPA and has been modified for use here.

Manual borrowing of books required during library management system downtime next week.

2011-08-16T11:30:00.002+01:00

Essential hardware for the library management system, Voyager, is being upgraded next week, which will affect how you borrow books from the Balfour Library.

During the week beginning Monday 22nd August the self-issue machine will be unavailable so library staff will have to issue books manually, and during normal opening hours only, 08:30-17:00 Monday to Thursday, 08:30-16:30 Friday.

The online catalogue will still be available however, at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newton/

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We hope that the system will be up and running again in sooner than 5 days; we will let you know when it does.

P.S. No old-fashioned stamping will actually be involved!

The Balfour Library is participating in Open Cambridge 2011!

2011-07-27T12:31:00.000+01:00

We are very pleased to announce that we are taking part in the annual Open Cambridge event for the first time this year.

The event allows members of the public to gain exclusive access to and insights into libraries, museums, gardens, and many other University institutions (as well as many non-University ones in Cambridge!). There are tours and drop-in sessions available, some of which do require booking.

We thought it would be great to be able to open our doors to the public, who may have always wondered what the inside of this centrally located building is like having walked past it several times! On Saturday 11th September we are giving a one-hour, bookable tour, to show visitors how the library is used by students and members of the department for their teaching, learning, and research needs. We will also have a selection of items from our special collections on display - this is very exclusive, as we do not have space to show these off within the library at present. If the tour proves popular maybe we can deliver some more next year.

The event takes place on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th September, culminating in the Bridge the Gap Charity Walk on Sunday 11th.

For more details of what's on please see the Open Cambridge website at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/opencambridge/ Bookings now open.

Job opportunity for a scientific researcher at UK PubMed Central / the British Library

2011-07-08T11:30:00.000+01:00

Engagement Manager - UK Pubmed Central

UKPMC needs an experienced biomedical researcher who will lead on engagement to raise awareness of UKPMC and communicate its benefits.

For more information and to apply visit: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ACX383/engagement-manager/

This post has been advertised on jobs.ac.uk and researchresearch.com.

Book cleaning project in the library

2011-07-07T15:18:00.002+01:00

I am pleased to announce plans for a book cleaning project to take place in the library througout the summer vacation 2011.

Local 'heritage volunteers' from NADFAS (National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies) will be cleaning our rare books. They will be using a range of specialist brushes and a vacuum cleaner to delicately remove the hundred years' worth of dust that covers the ca. 6,000 items in the library's Special Collections! The dust is one major cause of the deterioration of the bindings and the pages of the books.

This does mean that there will be some disruption during the times that the volunteers are cleaning. The volunteers will be here most Thursday mornings from 10.00 a.m. until 1.30 p.m. Their first session is on Thursday 14th July, and they will be here hopefully right up until October. There will be some noise in the 'Newton Room' (i.e. the room where the photocopiers are), which is where the volunteers will be based; they will be using the desks there and will have all their equipment there. Please ask library staff for assistance if you need access to anything in this area when the volunteers are present. Using the photocopiers will still be fine however. Please note that we have temporarily moved the scanner into the domed study area of the library.

There will be 4 volunteers in total, I'm sure you will make them feel welcome if you see them out and about in the department and in the Tea Room. We will introduce them to members of the department whenever we can. We are extremely pleased that they will be able to help make the items in our special collections much more pleasant to handle, and to conserve and preserve them for future generations of scholars.

You can find out more about NADFAS here: http://www.nadfas.org.uk/

Watch this space for further information: we hope to post some 'before and after' photos and include some other general photos in informative blog posts during the project!

Leading research organisations announce top-tier, open access journal for biomedical and life sciences

2011-07-05T12:38:00.003+01:00

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society and the Wellcome Trust have announced that they will be supporting a new top-tier, open access journal for biomedical and life sciences research.

For more information, see the Wellcome Trust's 'News and features' page on their website at: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/index.htm

Journal Citation Reports 2010 data now available

2011-07-05T12:27:00.000+01:00

The 2010 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) are now available. The JCR are the recognised authority for evaluating journals and present quantitative data that support a systematic and objective review of the world’s leading journals.

The 2010 JCR includes:

More than 10,000 of the world’s most highly cited, peer reviewed journals in 238 disciplines
Nearly 2,500 publishers and 84 countries represented
Over 1,300 regional journals
1,075 journals receiving their first Journal Impact Factor

A list of new journals receiving their first Journal Impact Factor in JCR can be found here: http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/imgblast/JCR-NewTitles2010.pdf

The full 2010 Journal Citation Report data can be accessed via the eresources@cambridge database here http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/fulllist.php?search_term=J using your Raven log-in.

Darwin's personal library put online

2011-07-05T11:09:00.000+01:00

Notes and comments scribbled by Charles Darwin on the pages and margins of his own personal library have been made available online for the first time.

See the News item on Cambridge University Library's website here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newspublishing/index.php?c=1#news274

New books purchased by the Balfour Library

2011-06-03T15:50:00.003+01:00

New books:

Evolution in health and disease, 2nd ed., edited by Stephen C. Stearns and Jacob C. Koella. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2008. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (328i-iii) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 1 x Open Shelves).

Alfred Newton archives catalogued

2011-05-31T12:57:00.014+01:00

The details of archives relating to Professor Alfred Newton, one of the founders of the Balfour & Newton Libraries, has now been catalogued by staff at the Department of Manuscripts & University Archives at Cambridge University Library.

The Balfour Library transferred all its Alfred Newton archive material (correspondence, prints, printed materials, pamphlets, photos) over to the Manuscripts Department at the UL back in 1989, mainly so it could be catalogued. I've just received a full catalogue of all the items in the collection. They've also been added to the Janus catalogue of archives held in Cambridge.

You can download the Alfred Newton Papers catalogue from the library web page for Alfred Newton at http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/library/newton.html Most of the archives have been fully catalogued but I have added to the end of the document a list of what hasn't yet been fully catalogued (lots more interesting items). Here is a brief contents list of all the catalogued items:

Add.9839 ALFRED NEWTON PAPERS

1. Correspondence

2. Great auk

3. Great bustard

4. Pallas's sand grouse

5. Wild bird preservation

6. Newton's revision of Yarrell's British birds

7. Papers on Gilbert White

8. St. Croix and Iceland eggs, 1857-58

9. Records of weather and birds seen at Elveden, 1850-60

10. Newton, other papers

11. Leonard Blomefield: natural history journals, 1823-46

12. George Crotch: genera of birds

13. Sir William Jardine: correspondence and papers

14. Prideaux John Selby: correspondence

15. Knoblock's egg-book

16. John Latham: Index Ornithologicus, 2nd edition

17. Martin Lichtenstein: Ornithologie

18. Sir Edward Newton: papers

19. William Proctor: Iceland journals, 1833, 1837

20. Osbert Salvin: Guatemalan papers, 1862-74

21. John Scales: correspondence and papers

22. Revett Sheppard: naturalist's calendar, 1798-1802

23. Hugh Strickland: papers for revision of Agassiz's Bibliographia, 1848-54

24. William Swainson: letter to Allan Cunningham, 1829

25. John Wolley: correspondence and papers

26. William Yarrell: letters to him

27. William Borrer: letters to him

28. Joseph Wilmot: letters to him

29. Newton: MS ornithological index to Thomas Wright, Vocabularies

30. Newton: collection of his ornithological pamphlets and printed papers

31. Photographs of skeletons of moa, dodo and solitaire, c.1867-68

32. Portrait and other photographs and prints collected by Newton

As you can see, the archives are of major importance to ornithology. Many thanks go to Peter Meadows, archivist, for all his hard work on this.

I'm really pleased that this has been done and the collections are now more accessible to us all. The archives are fully accessible over at the UL, details are given on the web page.

Inspection copy sale of books from the Cambridge Library Collection!

2011-05-31T12:45:00.006+01:00

This will take place 1st-20th June at the Cambridge University Press bookshop - see the poster outside the library.

Books will be available at special prices from the Bookshop only, not online.

With subjects ranging from anthropology to zoology, the Cambridge Library Collection allows readers to own books they would otherwise find it hard to obtain. It the result of a collaboration between Cambridge University Library and the Cambridge University Press, each page of the book is scanned, and a new cover and blurb added.

For more information on the Cambridge Library Collection and the titles included in it, please see the poster and visit the Collection's website at: http://www.cambridge.org/features/cambridgeLibraryCollection/default.html

The books are also searchable online and can be downloaded from http://ebooks.cambridge.org/clc/home.jsf

Rare book on display in the library

2011-05-31T12:42:00.004+01:00

I have put a new book from our Special Collections on display in the library:

Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition auf dem Dampfer “Valdivia” 1898-1899, im Auftrage des Reichsamtes desInnern, herausgegeben von Carl Chun. Fünfzehnter Band. Die Tiefsee-Fische, bearbeitet von August Brauer. 1. Systematischer Teil. Jena: Verlag von Gustav Fischer; 1908. Balfour Library class mark: Fauna 364 (19).

The book is open at: Tafel 1: Gigantura Chuni, A. Brauer; Winteria Telescopa, A. Brauer; Opisthroproctus soleatus, Vaillant. The deep-sea fish displayed here are from the Actinopterygii subclass of ray-finned fish, which includes the majority of living bony fish of sea and fresh water. The fins are composed of a membranous web of skin supported by a varying number of spines and soft rays.

The lithographic printing technique has been used to create the amazing and lifelike iridescent colouring of the fish, and manages to turn somewhat ugly creatures into almost beautiful ones!

Come and view this amazing work in the library!

The Big Book visits the Big Library (19-21 May)

2011-05-16T12:36:00.003+01:00

The Big Book, entitled Imagine, is a leather-bound wooden sculpture that invites the 'reader' to step inside and write their own individual answer to the question: "What do you imagine?".

The artist is "particularly keen for contributions from mathematicians and scientists - are we the only animal that has imagination? Why do we have imaginary numbers?".

For more information see the news item on the Cambridge University Library website at:
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newspublishing/detail.php?news=265

Trial access to ARTstor online resource

2011-05-16T12:07:00.005+01:00

The trial starts May 4 and continues to June 3 to coincide with the petition and consortium proposal to fund a subscription to ARTstor (please ask your librarian for more information).

What is ARTstor? According to their website "ARTstor is a digital library of more than one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes".

"The ARTstor Digital Library is used by educators, scholars, and students at a variety of institutions including universities, colleges, museums, public libraries, and K-12 schools. The Digital Library serves users both within the arts and in disciplines outside the arts", such as anthropology, and the history of medicine and natural science.

Access is available on campus at http://www.artstor.org

Access is available off campus with Raven login at http://ezproxy.lib.cam.ac.uk:2048/login?url=http://www.artstor.org

Please note it is recommended you clear your cache (even 2 or 3 times) if you accessed ArtSTOR in the 2010 trial. ArtSTOR has gone through several new "builds" of its Digital Library since that trial and clearing your cache is advised by ArtSTOR for smooth access in this 2011 trial.

Note that ARTstor works best with Internet Explorer 7.0+, Firefox 3.0+, and Safari 3.0+.

Red letter day for Darwin Correspondence Project

2011-05-16T11:54:00.001+01:00

The project mapping Charles Darwin’s life and work in the 15,000 letters he wrote or received during his extraordinary lifetime will be completed after a £5 million funding package was announced.

See the news item on the University Library website here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newspublishing/detail.php?news=263

Find out more about the project here: http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/home

Online exam questions: website pilot

2011-05-16T11:50:00.005+01:00

CARET have been working on a exploratory project to make past examination papers available online to students.

This is not yet a production service but is a work in progress. This pilot site is aimed at getting some content up quickly and provoking user reaction in the current exam period to find out how students would best like the information presented.

The content is currently 2010 examinations only and there may be missing papers as this is based on the contents of the papers printed and bound for holding in College and University libraries under open access. The initial pilot site is at http://exams.lib.cam.ac.uk/.

Please share this link with your students as we would like their feedback and reactions to the service and comments on how best to present the information. We would like students to react to it while actively thinking about exam preparation!

Feedback should be sent to the email address (examspilot@caret.cam.ac.uk) which can be found at the bottom of the FAQ/Contact Tab on the website.

ebooks : downloading copies from the MyiLibrary platform

2011-05-16T11:42:00.005+01:00

This information has been circulated by Sarah Stamford, ebooks@cambridge Project Manager:

The ebooks team has been advised that from Tuesday 12th April MyiLibrary will enable limited downloading of ebooks from their platform to library users. Downloading will be possible to devices which read pdfs, e.g. Sony e-reader, Barnes & Noble Nook. Apps are available (e.g. Bluefire) for the iPhone and iPad ( but note, not the Kindle). Users need to create a personal MyiLibrary account and to add Adobe Digital Editions to their device.

Two concurrent downloads will be permitted and the ebook will also remain accessible online as usual. Each download will last for a defined period (understood to be 14 days); readers can place holds and form a queue if both "copies" are "on loan".

MyiLibrary are "soft-launching" this feature and trialling it for the next 3 months. Further information will follow. In the meantime if you have any questions you can contact the ebooks@cambridge team at: ucam-lib-ebooks@lists.cam.ac.uk

Find out more about ebooks@cambridge at: http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/ebooks@cambridge/

Flickr Photostream of photos of the Zoology Library!

2011-05-16T10:16:00.013+01:00

Rachel Marsh and Angela Pittock from libraries@cambridge visited recently to take some photos of the Balfour Library to post in a Flickr Photostream.

They are visiting as many libraries as they can and have posted some other Cambridge library Photostreams already. It was great to see them both, to have a chat about libraries@cambridge things, and to show them around our lovely library!

Rachel took some great and quirky photos, I hope you will agree. Also included are some photos that I took a while ago.

See the images here at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/libatcam/ You can also click on 'Detail' to show captions that accompany the photos. You can also click on the 'Slideshow' button to view the images as a slideshow (then click on 'Show info' to display the accompanying captions).

New acquisitions

2011-05-10T16:18:00.004+01:00

Book donations

A student's guide to the seashore, 3rd ed., by J. D. Fish and S. Fish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GHO (53c)

Glimpses of creatures in their physical worlds, by Steven Vogel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: EA (47)

Herbivory of leaf-cutting ants: a case study on Atta columbica in the tropical rainforest of Panama, by R. Wirth ... [et al.]. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Q.7 (59)

International Zoo Yearbook, v.45, managing editor Fiona A. Fisken. London: The Zoological Society of London; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: D.11 (54) (Reference shelves)

Kielland's Butterflies of Tanzania: Supplement, by Colin Congdon and Steve Collins. Nairobi: African Butterfly Research Institute; 1998. Balfour Library shelfmark: q QNB (9ii) (Quarto, Large Size shelves)

The leafcutter ants: civilization by instinct, by Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co.; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: QJD (25)

New books

The rise of fishes: 500 million years of evolution, 2nd ed., by John A. Long. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: q V.12 (10bi-iii) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 1 x Open Shelves)

Theses

Aerodynamics of a hovering hummingbird wing, by Sean Ng. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (497) (Library Office)

Essential Easter Term information

2011-04-28T11:33:00.005+01:00

Help us to help you keep the Balfour Library a pleasant place to study during the busy Easter Term 2011

Working in the library out of hours

The library is ‘open’ from 08:30-17:00 Monday to Thursday, and 08:30-16:30 Fridays. It is also open on Saturday mornings in term from 09:15-12:30 (cardholders only).

Remember that if you are working in the library outside of these opening hours then you will effectively be 'lone working'. Inform someone at home/college where you are and when you are expected to return. Keep to your agreed time of return, or ring to say you have left early, or will be late leaving.

Such calls using your mobile phone should preferably be made outside of the library, so that you do not disturb other readers. However there is a phone available on the wall next to the glass book display case should you need it.

Access cards

Please remember that your access card is strictly for your use only. You should not lend it to anyone else to gain entry to the department or library.

This also means that you cannot bring any friends who are not access card holders into the department or library with you outside of opening hours.

All Part 1B students doing Zoology-taught courses may apply for out of hours access to the library - ask a member of library staff.

For everybody’s safety and security you will not be allowed to stay inside the department out of hours unless you have a validated card.

Please remember to bring your card with you at all times as no-one else is permitted to let you in and out of secure areas.

Bank Holidays on 29th April, 2nd and 30th May

The library will be open as usual.

Reception will be open as usual on the 29th April and 2nd May only, and will be able to let you into the department to visit the library.

You will need an access card to be able to enter the department on 30th May.

Valuables

Please do not leave these unattended in the library as we cannot guarantee their security.

Try to secure them to the desk in some way, or take them with you when you leave the library for any amount of time.

Priority for study places

Please remember that Part II Zoology/Neuroscience/BBS students will take priority for use of the limited amount of study places available in the library. Other students may be asked to leave.

Help us to keep the library clean and tidy and quiet

Please remember that food and drink cannot be consumed in the library.

Mobile phones should be kept on 'silent' mode and conversations on them should not be held in the library.

Library staff may tidy up your stuff if it takes up too much space on the desks.

Thanks for your cooperation.

We wish you luck with your exams!

Clair and Jane

New carpet in the library!

2011-04-06T15:06:00.001+01:00

We've just had new carpet tiles laid in the main reading area of the library.

We don't think the old ones had been changed since the 1960s! It wasn't a simple task as desks and wiring had to be removed and put in place again. You can see the progress of the project in these photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/109943951662665681820/NewCarpet?feat=directlink

We are really happy with the results! What do you think? We chose a paler colour with flecks of green in it to complement our newly refurbished chairs.

Disruption in the library next week

2011-03-21T15:05:00.003Z

A new carpet is being fitted in the domed study area of the library only, during the whole week beginning Monday 28th March. *NOT like the one in the photo!

All the desks in this area of the library will be dismantled and moved out of the way, the existing carpet tiles will be removed, the new tiles will be laid, and then the desks can be re-assembled.

This will obviously generate some noise and disruption in this area of the library, which will be closed off to readers. In addition, some of the bays where PCs are located may also be unavailable as we need to store all the library furniture somewhere while the carpeting takes place. If you need any books or journals from areas that have been closed off, please ask a member of library staff for assistance; do not fetch things yourself.

The other room in the library, where the photocopiers are located, will still be available for use however. Library staff should be able to minimise any noise reaching this area of the library. You will still be able to plug in your laptops there, and to use the Lapwing wireless connection, and the scanner and photocopiers there will remain operational. Alternative PCs are available in the 2nd Floor Computing Room (cardholders only)

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

New acquisitions

2011-03-15T11:08:00.005Z

New books:

Principles of social evolution, by Andrew F. G. Bourke. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (327i-iii) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 1 x Open Shelves)

Tropical montane cloud forests: science for conservation and management, by L. A. Bruijnzeel, F. N. Scatena, L. S. Hamilton. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GHI (10)

New theses:

An assessment of the performance of Africa's protected areas, by Ian Duncan Craigie. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (494) (Library Office)

Effects of climate, agricultural changes and conservation measures on the lesser kestrel, by Ines Catry. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (496) (Library Office)

Embryonic development of the olfactory system in Drosophila melanogaster, by Laura Lucia Prieto Godino. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (495) (Library Office)

Scientific American online

2011-03-15T10:25:00.007Z

Scientific American online has now been purchased by the University as part of a package from its new publisher, the Nature Publishing Group.

Previously online access was only via EBSCOhost Business Source Complete, a more business type database, which requires you to search specific words etc. to access the content.

Now that Scientific American is published by Nature it looks like any other online journal and so should me much easier and more interesting to search and download articles from. Access to the full text is available to the past 48 months' worth of content.

Full text online access to the journal content from 1846-1869 is also now available, as provided by Cornell University Library.

All of this content is accessible via ejournals@cambridge at: http://camsfx.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az

Balfour Library end of term information

2011-03-15T09:35:00.007Z

Here's a breakdown of information about borrowing arrangements, how to access e-journals from 'off-campus', and opening times for the Balfour Library during the Easter vacation and term.

We wish you a very Happy Easter!

Best wishes,

Clair & Jane

End of term

Lent Term 2011 ends on Friday 18th March. All books on loan from the Balfour Library must be returned by this date, or can be renewed for further periods unless they have been requested by another reader. Saturday morning opening has now finished until next term.

Non-undergraduates: Remember that you will be able to borrow books that are normally for Overnight Loan for an extended period of 2 weeks at a time during vacations.

Please remember that you should not take books away from Cambridge, especially if you are going on field work or on business trips for example - please return any books you have on loan from us first so that they are readily available for other readers.

Please see the library website at: http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/library/booksborrow.html for more information on how to borrow, return and renew books on loan from the Balfour Library.

Vacation borrowing for undergraduates

This academic year we are trialling the vacation borrowing of books for the Christmas and Easter vacations.

This means that undergraduates will be able to take a maximum of two books away from Cambridge, which must be returned by midnight on the first day of the Easter Term (Tuesday 26th April). This applies to Overnight Loan and Open Shelf books.

Undergraduates can borrow books for the vacation period from 8:45am on Friday 18th March. This is on a strictly first-come, first served basis. You may not reserve books before borrowing them.

Please see the library website at: http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/library/booksborrow.html for more information on how to borrow, return and renew books on loan from the Balfour Library.

How to access online resources when you are away from Cambridge (and you are still a valid member of the University)

The recommended route for accessing ejournals provided by the University remotely is as follows:

Go to the ejournals@cambridge website at: http://camsfx.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az
Enter the title of the journal you need (if it does not appear then there is no online subscription to it)
Click on the 'find journals by title' button
When you click on the name of the journal the Raven login box should appear
Enter your Raven userid and password and click on the 'Submit' button
You should then be taken to the host page for that journal and you can find the article(s) you need from there
(You only need to enter the Raven login once per session so you won't have to keep logging in and out each time you need a different journal)

You may well be able to get the full text of ejournal articles through searching PubMed or Google / GoogleScholar for example, but sometimes you may not necessarily be recognised as being a valid member of the University of Cambridge (it uses IP addresses of computers to identify you). You may therefore sometimes be asked for payment for the full text of an article or be prevented from accessing it, even when a subscription to the ejournal has been paid for by the University. The recommended route as above should guarantee you the access you are entitled to.

It is strongly recommended that you check the ejournals@cambridge website as above to see whether you will actually be able to access particular online journals remotely BEFORE you leave Cambridge. See also the eresources@cambridge website at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ for access to particular databases. See the 'Access Route' link next to the journal or database title to check this. Some online journals are not accessible outside of the University network so you may wish to download or print off articles from these before you leave Cambridge.

Raven passwords

If you do not currently have a Raven password and think you may need one to access the Web of Knowledge or Scopus databases (to search scientific literature) or online journals and databases when you are away from Cambridge, you should apply for one following the instructions given on the University Computing Service 'How do I get a Raven password?' website at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/docs/faq/n5.html This page will also help you if you have lost your Raven password.

Troubleshooting ejournals access

Finally, if you are having trouble accessing ejournals and eresources remotely using your Raven password please see the guidance provided on the Central Science Library's 'Raven FAQs' website at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/CSL/ravenqanda.htm

Easter period closing dates

The Balfour Library will close for Easter at 5:00pm on Thursday 21st April and will re-open at 8:30am on Tuesday 26th April. The library will be open as usual throughout the Easter Vacation however, see our opening hours at http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/library/open.html

Other Bank Holidays in the Easter Term 2011

We are always open as usual on both of the May Bank Holidays that fall in the Easter Term. We will also be open on the additional Royal Wedding Bank Holiday this year, Friday 29th April.

Science Communication Conference, booking now open

2011-03-01T14:45:00.001Z

The annual two-day Science Communication Conference addresses the key issues facing science communicators in the UK and brings together people involved in public engagement.

Click here for more details and for booking: http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/ScienceinSociety/ScienceCommunicationConference/

Digital Researcher 2011

2011-03-01T14:17:00.006Z

The British Library and Vitae ran the Digital Researcher 2011 conference in February to help researchers make the most of new technologies in their research.

In case you were unable to attend, there is a very useful blog with postings relating to the conference. The most interesting posts I think are as follows:

Using Twitter at academic conferences
Social media: a guide for researchers
10 ways to promote an academic article that you've just published
Using social media to support your career
Tips for academic blogging
CiteULike and other social citation tools
Getting started on Twitter
Some examples of researchers' blogs
Social networking software for researchers

The blog can be found at: http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451/Digital-researcher-blog-2011.html Slides for some of the presentations given at the conference can be found via the Digital Researcher Virtual Attendance link on the same page.

Top 45 Zoology and Zoo Blogs

2011-03-01T13:40:00.004Z

This blog has been included in the Top 45 Zoology and Zoo Blogs compiled by Veterinarian Technician.org

Veterinarian Technician is a nonprofit online resource created to explain to students their options and some of the advantages and disadvantages of getting an vet tech degree.

This blog is featured at no.2 on the Zoology Posts list category. Other blog categories include:

Zoologists, written by and for zoologists
Zoo Blogs, city zoo blogs
Wildlife, wildlife parks blogs

Check out the fascinating and educational blogs on this list for yourself at: http://veterinariantechnician.org/top-45-zoology-and-zoo-blogs/

Zetoc - electronic table of contents - pdf leaflet available to download

2011-03-01T10:19:00.002Z

Zetoc provides access to the British Library's electronic table of contents (ETOC) covering over 20,000 current journals and including more than 2 million conference papers and reports. Where agreed, journals from Open Access publishers (e.g. BioMed Central) are included.

It includes an email alert facility to keep you up-to-date with the latest articles in your field of research. RSS feeds are also available for journal titles.

Abstracts are available (for records added from mid-2009) for those journals where there is an agreement in place between the British Library and the journal publisher. Zetoc also provides links to full text where available in Cambridge.

Click here to see the leaflet advertising Zetoc:
http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk/zetoc.pdf

Directory of HPS-related (History and Philosophy of Science) special collections in the University of Cambridge

2011-03-01T10:04:00.003Z

This directory indicates the locations of key HPS-related special collections (rare books/manuscripts/papers) of the University of Cambridge.

Its purpose is to assist researchers in negotiating the many different ways in which Cambridge collections are described/catalogued (or not catalogued). Rather than an exhaustive catalogue, it simply provides a starting point for researchers, enabling them to browse the vast range of HPS-related library materials that exist in Cambridge.

You can search the directory by keyword, or browse the collections by library, personal name or by subject.

The website can be found at: http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/library/directory/ It was created by the Whipple Librarian, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, with the help of other librarians in the University of Cambridge.

New e-books available

2011-02-17T09:50:00.003Z

ebooks@cambridge has added more titles in the zoology subject area to the collection. They are now available to all current staff and students through links in the online library catalogue: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newton/

Dytham - Choosing and using statistics, a biologist's guide, Wiley, 2010
Shettleworth - Cognition, evolution and behavior, OUP, 2009
Moss - Ecology of fresh waters, Wiley, 2010
Houghton - Global warming (4th ed), CUP, 2009
Foster - Easy mathematics for biologists, Taylor & Francis, 1999
Krebs - Behavioural ecology, Wiley, 2009

A list of all the 1,800+ titles acquired so far can be found on the ebooks@cambridge website at http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/ebooks@cambridge/collection.html.

You are also welcome to follow their blog http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/ebooks/blog/, Facebook page (ebooks@cambridge) and/or Twitter feed (@ebookscambridge).

Your chance to win a £25 Amazon voucher, or one of two £10 Amazon vouchers!

2011-02-14T16:17:00.005Z

Calling all undergraduates enrolled on Zoology-taught courses!

Today you will have been invited to complete the Balfour Library Satisfaction Survey for Undergraduates, via CamTools.

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey, which will help inform future service delivery and development.

Even if you don't use this library please take part your feedback is still valuable to us. In addition, everyone who completes a survey will be able to enter into the prize draw for one of three prizes: one £25 Amazon voucher, and two £10 Amazon vouchers!

Thank you, we look forward to hearing what you have to say.

New acquisitions

2011-02-14T15:54:00.007Z

New books:

The cell cycle: principles of control, by David O. Morgan. London: New Science Press; 2007. Balfour Library shelfmark: EC (294iii-iv)

Genome duplication, by Melvin DePamphilis and Stephen D. Bell. London: Garland Science; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EM (84i-iv) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 1 x Large size shelves)

Principles of development, 4th ed., by Lewis Wolpert ... [et al.]. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: qEEB (2i-iii) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves)

World atlas of coral reefs, by Mark Spalding, Corinna Ravilous and Edmund P. Green. Berkeley, Ca.: University of California Press; 2001. Balfour Library shelfmark: qMM (15) (Overnight Loan shelves)

World atlas of mangroves, by Mark Spalding, Mami Kainuma and Lorna Collins. London: Earthscan; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qFPT (1ii) (Large size shelves)

Book donations:

Work meets life: exploring the integrative study of work in living systems, edited by Robert Levin ... [et al.]. Cambridge, Mass. : The MIT Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EAE (14)

World atlas of mangroves, by Mark Spalding, Mami Kainuma and Lorna Collins. London: Earthscan; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qFPT (1i) (Overnight Loan shelves)

Cambridge University Press donations:

Macroecology: concepts and consequences. The 43rd Annual Symposium of the British Ecological Society held at the University of Birmingham 17-19 April 2002, edited by Tim Blackburn and Kevin J. Gaston. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003. Balfour Library shelfmark: GG (271i-ii) (1 x Overnight Loan shelves)

New theses:

Specification and morphogenesis of Drosophila renal tubules, by Catherine Marie Scahill. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (493) (Library Office)

Cornell Lab of Ornithology resources

2011-02-01T14:20:00.013Z

I recently received the Cornell Lab for Ornithology Annual Report, which can also be downloaded from their website at: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/

Of particular interest is the section on World-Class Resources for Enjoying Birds, where it mentions some great websites, databases, and other media relating to mainly American birds.

All About Birds is a 2010 Webby Award Winner for Best Lifestyle website, a guide to birds where you can browse birds by taxonomy, name, or shape. It includes videos and sounds.
The Birds of North America Online resource including 729 species (the Balfour Library has paid for a subscription to this for the University)
Birdshare, a Flickr group with 50,937 photos
Macaulay Library, a scientifically curated collection of >100,000 digitized sounds and >50,000 video clips
Neotropical birds, an online resource for life histories of Neotropical birds, with 4,100 interactive maps, 1,200 species profiles begun and 127 complete
YouTube Channel with 51 bird videos
Facebook has 13 Cornell projects
Nestcams has 15 nestcams
Welovebirds.org, new in 2011 with 2,900 members, 382 community blog posts
Answer to your questions - 80,000 phone and email inquiries are received by Lab staff annually
Birdseye app, for your iPhone, built for bird watching in North America - the world’s only mobile application that guides you to the birds!
Clements Checklist, free authoritative list of >9,000 bird species of the world

Find out more and link to all of these from the PDF of the Annual Report.

IT training offered by the University Computing Service

2011-02-01T14:11:00.004Z

Lent Term programme courses of interest are as follows:

EndNote: intro into a reference management program
EndNote: customising output formats (styles)
Web skills for researchers: why not to Google
Web skills for researchers: Web of Knowledge
Zotero: intro into a reference management program
EndNote 'lite' (web): intro into a reference management program

The whole programme can be viewed at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/training

Save Our Libraries Day

2011-01-27T16:28:00.007Z

A day of action on Saturday 5th February

I am a Chartered Member of CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals. CILIP is supporting Save Our Libraries Day, a day of action to bring greater attention to the cuts and closures facing many public libraries. Please help out my public library sector colleagues.

We want everyone who cares about reading, literacy and libraries to use their public library on the 5th February and tell as many people as they can to do the same.

Find out how you can get involved, using the 'sliding scale of spare time' at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/advocacy/public-libraries/Pages/savelibrariesday.aspx

Another campaign is Voice for Libraries, which has a website at: http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/

Thanks!

New acquisitions

2011-01-21T15:47:00.009Z

New books:

Biological diversity: frontiers in measurement and assessment, edited by Anne E. Magurran and Brian J. McGill. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: GG (270i-ii) (Overnight Loan shelves)

Choosing and using statistics, 3rd ed., by Calvin Dytham. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EBB (63ci-iv) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 2 x Open Shelves)

An empirical synthetic pattern study of gars (Lepisosteiformes) and closely related species, based mostly on skeletal anatomy: the resurrection of Holostei, by Lance Grande. Lawrence, KS: American Society of Icthyologists and Herpetologists; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qVA (4) (Large size shelves)

Evaluating the impact of your library, by Sharon Markless and David Streatfield. London: Facet Publishing; 2006. Balfour Library shelfmark: D.11 (59)

Mammal teeth: origin, evolution, and diversity, by Peter S. Ungar. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: qGDO (1) (Large size shelves)

Not by genes alone: how culture transformed human evolution, by Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press; 2006. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (326) (2 x Overnight Loan shelves, 2 x Open Shelves)

Novel insights into adipose cell functions, edited by Karine Clement, Bruce M. Spiegelman, and Yves Christen. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GC (28)

New theses:

The dynamics and impacts of trawl fishing along the Coromandel Coast of India, by Aaron Savio Lobo. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (490)

The ecological consequences of diverse management systems in a private conservancy network, by Matthew F. Child. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (492)

'How the rook sees the world': a study of the social and physical cognition of Corvus frugilegus, by Christopher David Bird. Cambridge; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (491)

Book donations:

Biological adhesive systems: from nature to technical and medical application, edited by Janek von Byrne and Ingo Grunwald. Vienna: Springer-Verlag; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GD (75)

Go digital 2011!

2011-01-18T16:32:00.001Z

Are you making the most of new technologies in your research?

The British Library and Vitae are running the Digital Researcher 2011 to help researchers make the most of new technologies in their research. Vitae will publish information, advice and resources online so that researchers can either get started or develop their use of digital research techniques from the middle of January. Researchers will be encouraged to start talking and sharing their experience online through the Vitae site and using technologies such as Twitter. This online activity will culminate in a one day event on 14 February 2011. This event will provide hands on experience and will allow researchers to explore the use of Web 2.0 in research, networks and building their own online profiles.

The interactive event, which will be held at the British Library, is for postgraduate researchers and research staff. It will include presentations and interactive sessions on subjects such as microblogging, RSS feeds, social networking and social citation sharing. Participants will explore and develop the skills needed for research in an increasingly digital world and gain ideas for managing information.

On the day participants will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of:

the role that online networks can play in supporting research and researchers' careers
how to manage your online profile (positively)
how to build networks to support your research and career
the range of different tools that are available to support you and your research

Please note: This event takes an experiential learning approach and participants are required to come equipped with a laptop in order to connect to the internet (other technologies such as notebooks, phones, itouch etc can be used in the place of a laptop if necessary).

Wellcome Library workshops - free for everyone!

2011-01-18T16:31:00.001Z

The new Spring programme of Wellcome Library workshops is now available on the Library website at: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/workshops

The workshops provide introductions to research and information resources at the Library, and are aimed at the general public.

The programme includes:

thematic workshops such as Science in the News, Medicine and Literature and the History of medicine;
training on specific resources such as PubMed Central, and Web of Science;
and introductions to the Archives & Manuscripts Collections catalogue, and the Wellcome Images digital image database.

All workshops are free and available to members of the library (library membership is free and open to all).

To book a place on any of the workshops, please use the online booking facility on the library web site: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/workshops

With best wishes,

Louise

Louise Simon

Systems Support Officer

Digital Services

The Wellcome Library

Research Skills sessions for Lent Term 2011

2011-01-18T16:28:00.004Z

From the Research Skills & Development Librarian, Dr Emma Coonan:

Research Skills sessions for Lent Term 2011 are now available at

http://www.training.cam.ac.uk/cul/event-timetable. This term's focus is on information skills - where to look for the kind of information you need and how to manage it once you've found it!

Courses include:

* Newspaper research - both current and archival sources, printed and online

* Literature searching skills

* Reference management - tips for good practice and an overview of

available software

* the DSpace@Cambridge repository: how uploading your PhD, MSc or MLitt

can help increase the visibility of your research

Please note that booking is now required for all courses, including sessions held in the UL's Morison Room (previously not bookable).

With best wishes for your study and research this term,

Emma Coonan.

Dr. Emma Coonan, M.Sc.

Research Skills & Development Librarian

Cambridge University Library

The Balfour Library will be unstaffed on Thursday 6th January

2011-01-04T12:07:00.000Z

This is due to library staff attendance at the annual libraries@cambridge conference.

However, the library photocopiers and PCs will be switched on and available for use during normal library opening hours. The scanner and the self-issue facility will be also available 24/7, as usual.

Research Libraries UK Calls for Journal Pricing Restraint

2010-12-09T11:25:00.000Z

At its recent conference, Research Libraries UK (RLUK) announced it would not support future journal big deals unless they showed real price reductions. With a cut to the teaching grant and research budgets flat at best, RLUK members believe that unless this happens they will be forced to cancel significant numbers of subscriptions which will fatally compromise the UK’s capacity for research. (RLUK Press Release, 25 Nov 2010)

RLUK Press Release:http://www.rluk.ac.uk/files/RLUKPressReleaseJournalPricing.doc

Following this press release, the following two articles have been published in the media:

Times Higher Education: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=414367

Wall Street Journal (European edition): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703678404575636820757036514.html

New Version of the Oxford English Dictionary

2010-12-09T11:12:00.001Z

OUP launch a new version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

The new version includes a new design and new functionalities as well as over 2,400 revised entries, new words across the dictionary and the additional of the Historical Thesaurus to the OED. The new version of the OED is available from a new URL http://www.oed.com and is recommended for all off-campus users with a raven password. Your raven password can be used whenever prompted to log-in with Shibboleth.

The new version will be available in parallel with the old version of the OED until the 31st of March 2011. The old version will remain accessible through the old URL http://dictionary.oed.com until this time.

The OED also publishes four updates each year with the next to be added in March 2011.

2010-12-01T16:08:00.006Z

Please take the time to read this special Christmas package of information as there are some changes this year.

Balfour Library end of term information

Michaelmas Term 2010 ends on Friday 3rd December. All books on loan from the Balfour Library must be returned by this date, or can be renewed for further periods unless they have been requested by another reader. Saturday morning opening has now finished until next term.

Borrowing regulations

Remember that research workers of the Department of Zoology will be able to borrow books that are normally for Overnight Loan for an extended period of 2 weeks at a time during vacations. Undergraduates have special vacation borrowing rights this year, please see below.

Please remember that (except if you are eligible for vacation borrowing) you should not take books away from Cambridge, especially if you are going on field work or on business trips for example - please return any books you have on loan from us first so that they are readily available for other readers.

Vacation borrowing for undergraduates

This academic year we are trialling vacation borrowing for undergraduates for the Christmas and Easter vacations. An email advertising this has been sent to your relevant CamTools course site.

Please see the library website at: http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/library/booksborrow.html for more information on how to borrow, return and renew books on loan from the Balfour Library.

How to access online resources when you are away from Cambridge (and you are still a valid member of the University)

The recommended route for accessing ejournals provided by the University remotely is as follows:

Go to the ejournals@cambridge website at: http://camsfx.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az
Enter the title of the journal you need (if it does not appear then there is no online subscription to it)
Click on the 'find journals by title' button
When you click on the name of the journal the Raven login box should appear
Enter your Raven userid and password and click on the 'Submit' button
You should then be taken to the host page for that journal and you can find the article(s) you need from there
(You only need to enter the Raven login once per session so you won't have to keep logging in and out each time you need a different journal)

You may well be able to get the full text of ejournal articles through searching PubMed or Google / GoogleScholar for example, but sometimes you may not necessarily be recognised as being a valid member of the University of Cambridge (it uses IP addresses of computers to identify you). You may therefore sometimes be asked for payment for the full text of an article or be prevented from accessing it, even when a subscription to the ejournal has been paid for by the University. The recommended route as above should guarantee you the access you are entitled to.

It is strongly recommended that you check the ejournals@cambridge website as above to see whether you will actually be able to access particular online journals remotely BEFORE you leave Cambridge. See also the eresources@cambridge website at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ for access to particular databases. See the 'Access Route' link next to the journal or database title to check this. Some online journals are not accessible outside of the University network so you may wish to download or print off articles from these before you leave Cambridge.

Raven passwords

If you do not currently have a Raven password and think you may need one to access the Web of Knowledge or Scopus databases (to search scientific literature) or online journals and databases when you are away from Cambridge, you should apply for one following the instructions given on the University Computing Service 'How do I get a Raven password?' website at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/docs/faq/n5.html This page will also help you if you have lost your Raven password.

Troubleshooting ejournals access

Finally, if you are having trouble accessing ejournals and eresources remotely using your Raven password please see the guidance provided on the Central Science Library's 'Raven FAQs' website at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/CSL/ravenqanda.htm

Library Christmas and New Year closing dates

The Balfour Library will be closed from Saturday 25th December 2010 and will re-open on Tuesday 4th January 2011.

Thank you for your cooperation.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Best wishes,

Clair & Jane

Rare book on display - Bewick's 'History of British Birds'

2010-11-30T15:32:00.004Z

The rare book on display from our collection is: History of British birds: the figures engraved on wood by T. Bewick. Vol. 1, containing the history and description of land birds. Vol. 2., containing the history and description of water birds. Newcastle, 1797 and 1804.

Balfour Library class mark: HBF 2 (1-2)

The book is open at: Vol. 2, p.54 - Curlew. This is a first edition copy of the work. This woodcut of a curlew beautifully defines the bird’s features, as well as the surrounding water, foliage and rocks, and conveys the sense of movement caused by the wind in the reeds. Bewick was a pioneer of wood engraving technique.

Thomas Bewick, a wood engraver, was born near Eltringham, Northumberland, on 10th or 12th August 1753, and died in Gateshead on 8th November 1828. He was apprenticed aged 14 to Ralph Beilby, a Newcastle engraver who taught him how to engrave metal, silver and copperplate.

Bewick entered into partnership with Beilby in 1777. Beilby apparently did not like wood engraving but Bewick preferred it. His skill soon became evident and well-known in the work he was producing for printers of children’s books and books of fables. He refined the ‘white line’ technique; the block surface was seen as solid black before cutting took place, and each cut made was to create white light. This technique was very expressive, and he handled texture and the balance of light and shade particularly well.

Bewick eventually published his own natural history books that incorporated his own wood engravings. The General History of Quadrupeds was published in 1790. He produced the woodcuts for this in his own time after his days at the workshop, and the text was written by Beilby. For the History of British Birds Bewick wrote the text as well as producing the woodcuts, demonstrating his knowledge and skill as a naturalist as well as an engraver. His publications were especially noted for their ‘tail pieces’, vignettes used to fill space after text. They expressed varied aspects of north-country life, with humour and affection, a love of nature, and often had a moral point to them. These were regarded perhaps even more highly than the main illustrations.

The scientist William Yarrell named the Bewick's swan in honour of Bewick in 1830.

Sources:

Bain, Iain. “Bewick, Thomas (1753–1828).” In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, May 2005. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2334 (accessed November 26, 2010).

Colin Campbell. "Bewick, Thomas." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T008554 (accessed November 26, 2010).

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) http://www.wwt.org.uk/our-work/wetland-wildlife/bewicks-swans

Further reading:

Uglow, Jenny. Nature’s engraver: a life of Thomas Bewick. London: Faber and Faber, 2007. http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/id/Natures_Engraver/9780571223756

Attention student book-collectors!

2010-11-22T12:03:00.001Z

The Rose Book-Collecting Prize

Your chance to win £500

You can enter any type of collection provided it is solely owned by you and has been collected by you. The books do not have to be especially valuable - a collection of paperbacks, put together with imagination, is equally eligible. The contest is open to all current undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Cambridge.

The closing date for entries is the first day of Lent Full Term Tuesday 18 January 2011

Full details of how to enter are given on the University Library website at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/bookprize.html

2010-11-18T12:22:00.009Z

New books:

Acoustic communication in insects and anurans: common problems and diverse solutions, by Carl H. Gerhardt and Franz Huber. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press; 2002. Balfour Library shelfmark: Q.7 (51ii). (Overnight Loan Shelves).

Cognition, evolution, and behavior, 2nd ed., by Sara J. Shettleworth. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GFU (278bii-iii) (Overnight Loan Shelves).

Ecology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, by Cindy Van Dover. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2000. Balfour Library shelfmark: GHR (16ii) (Overnight Loan Shelves).

The evolution of cognition, edited by Cecilia Heyes and Ludwig Huber. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; 2000. Balfour Library shelfmark: GF (214iii-iv) (Overnight Loan and Open Shelves).

Evolutionary behavioral ecology, edited by David F. Westneat and Charles W. Fox. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GFU (338i-iv) (Overnight Loan and Open Shelves).

Lewin's genes X, by Jocelyn E. Krebs, Elliott S. Goldstein and Stephen T. Kilpatrick. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: EN (137ji-ii) (Overnight Loan Shelves).

Modelling binary data, 2nd ed., by David Collett. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall / CRC; 2003. Balfour Library shelfmark: EBB (89b) (Overnight Loan and Open Shelves).

Primate behavioral ecology, 4th ed., by Karen B. Strier. Upple Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2011. Balfour Library shelfmark: YW.7 (33di-iv) (Overnight Loan and Open Shelves).

Downtime of photocopiers in the Department of Zoology

2010-11-11T10:01:00.005Z

All the photocopiers in the Department of Zoology will be unavailable for use from 12:00pm on Wednesday 10th November.

New photocopiers and card readers are being installed, which will be available for use from Monday 15th November.

The Balfour Library in the Department does have a scanner which can be used 24/7. It is located at the back of the room that the photocopiers are normally situated in. You must bring a memory stick to save your images onto.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Downtime of ScienceDirect and Scopus this Saturday

2010-11-11T09:58:00.005Z

Elsevier have notified us that there will be a scheduled outage this weekend for the following SciVerse products:

ScienceDirect
Scopus

The products and services mentioned above are expected to be offline and unavailable for approximately 9 hours on Saturday, November 13^th due to scheduled upgrades from 12:30 - 21:30.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Jane's success on an online Web 2.0 course

2010-11-08T09:09:00.013Z

Over the Summer Vacation Jane Acred, the Assistant Librarian, participated in '23 Things Cambridge', an online Web 2.0 programme for University of Cambridge departmental and college librarians, see: http://23thingscambridge.blogspot.com/.

'23 Things' was a self-directed course designed to introduce University of Cambridge UL, faculty and college library staff to Web 2.0 technologies (such as blogs, wikis, Google documents and apps, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Mendeley etc.). The aim was for staff to spend a little time each week over 12 weeks exploring online tools for communication, promotion, and new ways of working. Throughout the course the practical application and relevance of the tools to the library setting were explored. The programme ran from 24 May to 27 August 2010.

The course was quite demanding - each week participants were introduced to 2 things and were asked to spend 1 hour on each, and to blog about them - but in reality Jane sometimes had to spend much longer than that if the things wouldn't work, and often setting them up took longer than expected.

As a result of the course Jane has introduced using Doodle to schedule the Saturday invigilation rota, created a Google calendar that we can both access, and we are planning to use Delicious to create a list of useful bookmarks for specific types of reader. It has been really useful for Jane to learn about and use the new technologies that our readers are now using. We both now understand them and can develop them to our own advantage, and support our readers' use of them.

Not all of the participants managed to complete the course, but Jane persisted and attended the 'Oscars' style Grand Closing Ceremony at the end of the course, where she received her Amazon gift vouchers. Well done to Jane!

In case you're interested, here's the complete list of Things:

Week 1 (24 May)
• Thing 1 - Set up your Google ID and build an iGoogle page.
• Thing 2 - Add the RSS feed of the Cam23 blog to your iGoogle page.

Week 2 (31 May)
• Thing 3 - Create your own 23 Things blog on which you will record your progress.
• Thing 4 - Register your blog. Add a screenshot. Explore other Cam23 blogs.

Week 3 (07 June)
• Thing 5 - Use Doodle to schedule a peer support meeting with another participant.
• Thing 6 - Sign up for Google Calendar and add it to your iGoogle page.

Week 4 (14 June)
• Thing 7 - Create a Twitter account and interact with other Cam23 ‘tweeple’.
• Thing 8 - Review your blog tags.

Week 5 (21 June)
• Thing 9 - Explore Flickr.
• Thing 10 - Using images and Flickr Creative Commons.

Week 6 (28 June)
• Thing 11 - Explore SlideShare.
• Thing 12 - Investigate Delicious.

Week 7 (05 July)
• Thing 13 - Reflection week. Think about what you’ve explored so far and the tools you may adopt.

Week 8 (12 July)
• Thing 14 - Explore LibraryThing.
• Thing 15 - Create a library or personal LibraryThing account.

Week 9 (19 July)
• Thing 16 - Explore library Facebook pages.
• Thing 17 - Using LinkedIn

Week 10 (26 July)
• Thing 18 - Explore Zotero and Mendeley.
• Thing 19 - Blog about using the Things for library marketing.

Week 11 (02 August)
• Thing 20 - Create a Google Document and share it.
• Thing 21 - Explore podcasting: YouTube, Audacity and iTunes.

Week 12 (09 August)
• Thing 22 - Explore and evaluate a selection of wikis.
• Thing 23 - Explore Wordle and blog about your Cam23 experience.

Postgraduate Toolbox - the number one resource for postgraduates

2010-11-08T09:05:00.001Z

Brand new for 2010, www.PostgraduateToolbox.net already offers 15,000+ postgrads:

Postgraduate advice centres, articles and latest news
Free fortnightly eNewsletter with advice and tips from academics and other postgrads.
A dedicated Postgraduate Bookstore
The hilarious 'GradSchool' cartoon strip by Jon Tollvery
Share tips and discuss experiences on postgraduate issues in the forums
More competitions and prizes........

Also check out Postgraduate Toolbox's sister site, Graduate Junction - www.GraduateJunction.net - the largest online postgraduate community, providing Masters and PhD researchers from any discipline with an easy way to find other postgrads working on similar projects and to share advice and tips regarding postgraduate life. Find and connect with other postgraduates and build research interest groups as well as entering Graduate Junction's Online Research Poster competition.

Wellcome Library Workshops - for all!

2010-10-26T11:04:00.002+01:00

Come along to a free workshop at the Wellcome Library, London!

The Wellcome Library team of library and archive professionals offers a series of short practical sessions to help you to discover and get the most from various library resources.

Topics include:

Finding published research (using Web of Science and Scopus)
Finding visual resources in the Wellcome Library
Hunt the ancestor: resources for (medical) family history
Science in the news: keeping track of stories in the media
Wellcome Images

... and many more.

For details please visit the website at: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/node32.html

Cambridge Library Collection ebooks

2010-10-26T11:01:00.003+01:00

We are pleased to announce that works from the Cambridge Library Collection digitised by Cambridge University Press from the holdings of Cambridge University Library are available to staff and students as ebooks on the Cambridge Books Online site. Several hundred titles have already been published online and the collection will continue to grow as new content is digitised.

The Cambridge Library Collection is a collaborative venture which provides access to out-of-copyright works on subjects ranging from anthropology to zoology, selected with advice from leading specialists, and digitised using state-of-the-art technology to produce a highly-legible text. The titles have been re-published in print as well as being made available as ebooks. For more information on the project see the Cambridge Library Collection web site at: http://ebooks.cambridge.org/clc/

To view the ebook collection go to Cambridge Books Online at: http://ebooks.cambridge.org/and select the Access To link in the top right-hand corner. A list of individual titles can be viewed. The collection is fully cross-searchable. The Cambridge Library Collection adds to subscribed ebooks on Mathematics already available to students and staff on Cambridge Books Online which you will also find listed.

Students and staff connecting off campus should select the Shibboleth Log-in option and enter their Raven passwords.

New acquisitions

2010-10-22T15:58:00.005+01:00

New books:

Biodiversity of fossils in amber from the major world deposits, edited by David Penney. Manchester: Siri Scientific Press; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: GJ (42)

Evolution, 2nd ed., by Douglas J. Futuyma. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (325bi-iv) (Overnight Loan shelves)

The greatest show on earth: the evidence for evolution, by Richard Dawkins. London: Black Swan; 2009. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: EO (324i-ii) (Overnight Loan shelves)

New theses donations:

Analysis of dynamic gene expression patterns in arthropods, by Elizabeth Marie Sefton. (M.Phil.) Cambridge; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (486) (Library Office)

Biomechanics of the fibrillar adhesive system in insects, by James Michael Rex Bullock. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (485) (Library Office)

Functional characterization of human cyclins through quantitative proteomics, by Felicia Jane Walton. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (487) (Library Office)

IP3 mediated signalling in Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis, by Aniko ilona Nagy. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (489) (Library Office)

Variability, function and phylogenetic significance of unionoid shell characters, by Alexandra Zieritz. Cambridge; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: Thesis (488) (Library Office)

New book donations:

A book of reed: Phragmytes australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Streudel, Phragmites communis Trin.), by Sylvia Haslam. Cardigan: Forrest Text; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: FA (58)

Crustacean fauna of Taiwan: Barnacles, volume 1 - cirripedia: thoracica excluding the Pyrgomatidae and acastinae, by Benny K. K. Chan, Romanus Edy Prabowo, Kwen-Shen Lee. Keelung: National Taiwan Ocean University; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: PL (4)

The European bison, by Malgorzata Krasinska and Zbigniew A. Krasinski. Bialowieza: Mammal Institute , Polish Academy of Sciences; 2007. Balfour Library shelfmark: YJL (10)

Hazards of butterfly collecting, by Torben B. Larsen. Brentwood: Cravist Printing Company Limited; 2003. Balfour Library shelfmark: Q (87)

Where to watch birds in Ethiopia, by Claire Spottiswoode, Merid Nega Gabremichael and Julian Francis. London: Christopher Helm; 2010. Balfour Library shelfmark: KZ.6 (76)

Cambridge University Press donations:

Bird conservation and agriculture, by Jeremy D. Wilson, Andrew D. Evans and Philip V. Grice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2009. Balfour Library shelfmark: K.8 (63)

QR codes - what they are and how to use them

2010-10-13T09:11:00.006+01:00

You may see one of these on our library guides, it's a QR code, and it links to our website. QR stands for Quick Response. Basically, anyone can generate a QR code using a free generator available on the web. It's like a barcode and can be created from a web link, a video, or an image for example.

If you have a smartphone (iPhone/Blackberry/HTC or other Android phone) you can download a QR code reader application and then use your camera on the phone to read the QR code - the link, video, image or whatever, will open on your screen.

I think it's a great way to quickly access information - you don't have to either remember or write down a URL for example. In the commercial world QR codes are being added to film or music advertisements on the streets, and there is huge potential for using it in libraries (and many other public services) - to advertise our services and facilities, our contact details and websites etc. Some libraries create them for links to their Special Collection websites and stick a copy of them on the shelves near them so a reader can just scan the code from the poster and automatically be able to read about the collections. Or you could create one to link to a blog post or website about one particular book on the shelf or on display, and post the code nearby.

Next time you see one, have a go at reading it with your smartphone!

Find out more about QR codes on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_codes

Musings on using the Cephalonian method - a different method of teaching

2010-10-12T14:56:00.017+01:00

I first learnt about the Cephalonian method at a conference for librarians in higher education / university / college and research institutions* earlier this year. Jane and I have adapted it for use in our library induction sessions for our undergraduates and postgraduates this term (we've now done the bulk of them) and wanted to jot down our thoughts in case you were thinking of using the same approach.

Why Cephalonia? Well, apparently tour guides originally devised it for running orientation sessions for their groups on the island; you can find out a little bit more on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalonian_method We're using it at a basic level, whereby we have prepared a mix of witty / random / sensible questions about the library services and facilities that we actually hand out to the students we are inducting, and get them to ask us the questions. We then answer the questions, and we have our own cards with the answers on in bullet-point form, in order to prompt us in case we forget anything. For example, one of the questions I have asked is 'What's in the cage?'. The answer is that we have 6,000 rare books in our caged area, dating from 15th-20th centuries..." and so on. Feedback from students so far has been very positive, because they feel more involved and the questions made them think about library services and facilities they hadn't thought about before.

We also introduced sign-up sheets for induction sessions this year, which were advertised by me at the Zoology and Neuroscience students' introductory talks, and reinforced in an email to the students on CamTools. They signed up on sheets provided by us on the Part II notice board and we asked for a maximum of ten people. I had told them we were trying to make it a bit more interesting and interactive for them, and that we would give them some additional help in the form of a new leaflet on how to interpret reading lists. Tours lasted around 20mins.

One main aim of all of this was to try to get as many students as possible into the library for a tour and subsequently using it. We also wanted to avoid just giving tours to one or two people at a time, which is hard on the voice and very repetitive. We also wanted a way of prompting us to tell them things that we sometimes forgot. The more students we induct in this way, the more information they are armed with. Hopefully we will then have less routine queries to deal with and can spend more time on helping people as and when they need it; helping them navigate online resources for example.

Pros:

The induction sessions are more interactive and therefore a less passive experience for the students, and this makes it more interesting for us.
Nobody has been too shy to ask a question, in fact they sometimes can't wait to ask theirs as they're keen to know the answer to what are sometimes odd questions!
It's easier for us to remember everything that we need to tell the students, but I for one still forgot to mention things.
We decided after the first session we did each, that numbering the questions so they were asked in a particular order helped the 'flow' of information from one topic to another - before that we allowed the students to ask us the questions randomly and we had to sift through our own answer cards then answer which interrupted the flow and flummoxed us sometimes! However I think with a larger group (such as the 20 or so postgraduates) the randomness works well, especially with the more witty questions.
The sign-up sheets were really successful. We have inducted far more undergraduate students this year than ever before - around 100! They used to be just invited to present themselves in groups for a tour and not many ever did. I think making students commit to attending sessions in this way (although it's not mandatory) along with the promise of an interesting and informative time definitely helped. Other students often saw that a tour was going on and asked to join it.

Cons:

We still forgot to say certain things!
You do still end up talking 'at' students a bit but I suppose this can't be helped - maybe we could offer more questions though to break topics up a bit?
If only one person signs up for a tour and they can't do any other time this method doesn't really work (with smaller groups it still seems ok though) so you end up doing the traditional tour.
We usually left demonstrating the online catalogue and how to access e-journals to the end of the session - some students had lectures to go to so may have missed out, but we do emphasise they're welcome to do this at any time.

How to improve next year:

I might change some of my questions next year and put them in a different order to make it flow a bit better.
We might just allocate morning sessions as they've proved most popular. We definitely couldn't have coped with doing as many as we actually offered.
We might avoid having a couple of tours back-to-back as it leads to a lot of congestion once people have finished theirs and then want to register their cards for borrowing / ask questions, and then the next group arrives.
We'll ask for a minimum of 5 people on the sessions, as well as a maximum of 10.
Maybe incorporate the demo into the session proper.

We think that this approach has definitely been worth trying and has been successful and we can tweak it to make it even better next year. If you've been on one of our induction sessions, please let us have your feedback, either in person or by email on library@zoo.cam.ac.uk

Clair and Jane

*The Joint CILIP CofHE and UC&R Conference held at Exeter University in June 2010 http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/special-interest-groups/ucr/pages/joint-conference-2010.aspx

Photo credit: 'Kefalonia' by Dan Taylor, on Flickr.

Rediscover Nature

2010-10-11T12:26:00.003+01:00

The international science publication Nature reveals its new look clearer structure and navigation this month.

The new redesigned edition has been enhanced in print and online. New features include a new navigation bar for easier access to online content, a new carousel for smoother browsing of the latest daily news, features and opinion pieces and highlighted research articles showing the latest 16 published articles as they appear online. The new research articles landing page allows readers to browse Nature articles by subject or article type, while new mobile apps allows access to science news stories and the latest published research from your iPhone.

For more information about the new changes to Nature online check out rediscover Nature (http://www.nature.com/rediscover/)

To check out the latest edition of the journal click (http://www.nature.com)

Free workshops at the Wellcome Library, London

2010-10-11T12:19:00.004+01:00

We received this message from the Wellcome Library:

"We've just released our new programme of resource discovery workshops at the Wellcome Library. To see what's on, check our list of workshops here: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/workshops

The workshops provide introductions to research and information resources at the Library, and are aimed at the general public. Perhaps you, your colleagues or your users would be interested in:

- thematic workshops such as Science in the News, Medicine and Literature and the History of medicine on the internet;

- training on specific resources such as PubMed Central, and Web of Science;

- and introductions to the Archives & Manuscripts collections,

and the Wellcome Images digital image database.

All workshops are free and available to members of the Library (library membership is free and open to all).

To book a place on any of the workshops, please use the online booking facility on the library web site: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/workshops"

Growing Knowledge: The Evolution of Research

2010-10-11T12:15:00.001+01:00

An exhibition at the British Library showcasing new and innovative research tools and techniques

12 October 2010 - 16 July 2011

Growing Knowledge will inform and inspire today's researchers, consult and engage with them, demonstrate the value of investment in digital research tools, and spark a debate on the future of research.

See the website at: http://www.bl.uk/growingknowledge/