New security system and self-issue machine in the library

Over the summer vacation the library implemented a new security system. It is an RFID (Radio Frequency ID) one from 3M. It is (almost) the same system as the one in operation in Cambridgeshire Libraries. 

A team of 6 people took 7 full working days to tag 18,000 books and 22,000 journal volumes with new RFID tags. Using two mobile workstations, they removed each item from the shelves, tagged them and linked them to library management system software, and then re-shelved them.

The new system will be more reliable, and should greatly improve the security of library stock and also the way you borrow books.

Borrowing books:

It is still a 24-hour self-issue system.

One useful change is that you will now be able to borrow up to four books simultaneously (subject to your borrowing entitlements). Borrowing should be much quicker and easier.

To borrow a book, simply select 'Borrow' on the touch screen and follow the instructions.

You can even get a print out showing the details of the books you have just borrowed, along with their due dates!

Returning books:

Simply press 'Returns' on the touch screen and follow the instructions (you have to return each book separately on the machine).

The most important change to remember is that you are now required to place your returned books on the shelf dedicated for this purpose, which is located to the right of the self-issue machine (where the New Books used to be shelved).

You can get a printed receipt showing that the books have been returned.

Another major benefit of the new system is that when you return a book it will actually be returned immediately on the library circulation system and you will now be able to borrow another one straight away (rather than having to wait until library staff processed the book the next day or after the weekend).

Library staff will re-shelve the books from the returns shelves at 11.00am each day but you are able to borrow any book from these shelves at any time..

The new detection system gates:

These work in much the same was as the previous system, in that an alarm will sound if you attempt to leave the library without borrowing a book properly first.

If you have borrowed a book using the self-issue machine then the alarm should not sound. If it does sound, and library staff are not available to assist you, simply move away from the gates and try again - if the problem persists please alert a member of library staff or if out of hours, let them know what happened the next day. Journals (issues and bound volumes) still cannot be borrowed.

Quarto sized (large sized) books move:

We have had to move the Quarto books that were shelved on either side of the security gates to the back of the Newton Room (the room where the photocopiers are located). This is because they have also been tagged and when removed from the shelves they would have kept triggering the alarms.

CCTV:

This is still watching you!

How to see what books you currently have on loan:

Unfortunately the self-issue machine will not be able to show you this, you will still have to check 'Your Account' on the library catalogue (see the link in the top right-hand corner of this page http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newton/).

Find out more about RFID technology here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification

If you have any problems with or concerns about the new system please let us know. We hope you find it to be a real enhancement to the way you borrow books from the Balfour Library.

Full text access to three JoVE titles now available

Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is a journal devoted to the publication of biological, medical, chemical and physical research in a video format. Articles are peer reviewed, and content is indexed by PubMed.

JoVE is published in 6 sections - you now have full text access to JoVE General, JoVE Immunology and Infection, and JoVE Neuroscience.

For access and more information please visit http://www.jove.com/

Access to other sections of JoVE from 2006-2012 is available via PubMedCentral http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/637/

New e-journals available

I can confirm that, finally, the following new e-journals have now been subscribed to by the University:

• Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (1996-)
• Cell Cycle (2002-)
• Conservation Letters (2008-)
• Folia Primatologica (1998-2008, 2012-)

They are all available via e-journals@cambridge at: http://camsfx.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az

Thank you very much to those of you who proposed and then helped prioritise these titles for purchase.

New library security system will improve how you borrow books as well as their security

Photo by libraries@cambridge

The library is implementing a new security system during the summer vacation.

The new system will greatly improve the security of library stock and also the way you borrow books. It will still be a 24-hour self-issue system, but you will be able to borrow several books simultaneously (subject to your particular loan entitlements) so it will be much quicker and easier. When you return a book it will actually be returned immediately on the library circulation system and students will especially benefit from being able to borrow another one straight away (rather than having to wait until library staff process the book the next day or after the weekend). It will be similar to the system that is in place in Cambridgeshire public libraries, if you are familiar with that. Library staff will of course be on hand once the new system is in place to show you how to use it.

The first stage of the implementation is tagging each of the 30,000 books and journals! This will be undertaken by a ‘tag team’ from the security system supplier, 3M. They start next week and will be moving around the library with two mobile workstations, removing items from the shelves, tagging them and linking them to software, and then re-shelving them. This will obviously cause a bit of noise and reduce access to the stock wherever they are working.

The library will remain open to readers during this time. If you need something or wish to study in the area that the team is working in, please let me or Jane know and we can make a note of it and let you know as soon as it is available again. If the disruption proves too much however, I may need to close the library to readers until the work is completed, but I’d like to avoid this if possible.

The tagging process will take at least one week, probably longer.

The second stage will be to install the new security gates at the main library entrance / exit. This will probably take place in mid-September, and we will need to close the library to readers for one or two days while the work is taking place. I will let you know nearer the time. The new security system will then be live in time for the new academic year.

Apologies for the short notice and any inconvenience but the team was available sooner than expected. If you have any queries please contact us.

Thanks for your cooperation!

New e-books in zoology

The Balfour Library has purchased some new e-books!

They are available via the online library catalogue, LibrarySearch http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/. Alternatively, I have provided direct URLs by the title of each book:

An introduction to behavioural ecology, 4th ed., by Nicholas B. Davies, John R. Krebs, and Stuart A. West.
http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/?itemid=|eresources|70239

From DNA to diversity, 2nd ed., by Sean B. Carroll, Jennifer K. Grenier, and Scott D. Weatherbee.
http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/?itemid=|eresources|70241

Reproductive skew in vertebrates, edited by Reinmar Hager and Clara B. Jones.
http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/?itemid=|eresources|70242

The insects : an outline of entomology, 4th ed., by Penny J. Gullan and Peter S. Cranston.
http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/?itemid=|eresources|70240

There is also a sticker on the front of the printed versions of the books to tell you that there is also an e-copy and how to access it - just like in the photo above!

Twitter for academic research

Interested in finding out how to use Twitter for academic research?

Have a look at these great prezis, articles, blog posts and guides by academics and library and information professionals from around the UK, as collated by staff at the Judge Institute Information & Library Services here at the University of Cambridge: http://cjbsinfo.posterous.com/twitter-for-academic-research

In particular there is this great guide produced by the LSE, 'Using Twitter in university
research, teaching and
impact activities': http://www2.lse.ac.uk/government/research/resgroups/LSEPublicPolicy/pdf/Twitter_Guide_Sept_2011.pdf. It's based in the social sciences but the main principles and practices apply to all disciplines.

Another really useful resource is the LSE's list of favourite academic tweeters, compiled following a survey. This is the list of STEM tweeters (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics): https://twitter.com/#!/LSEImpactBlog/stem-academic-tweeters/members

Give tweeting a go! You may think you don't have time for it but there are many handy ways of managing your tweets to save you time, and you may find you tap into a whole new world of information and contacts in your field.

SpringerImages Trial from 22 July until 21 August 2012

Trial access to SpringerImages has been set up by the University Library and will run from 22 July until 21 August 2012.

SpringerImages provides access to more than 3 million images, photos, graphs, histograms, tables and more covering all STM (Science, Technology, Medicine) disciplines.

Access to the trial on campus is at:
http://www.springerimages.com

Access to the trial off campus is via the URL:
http://ezproxy.lib.cam.ac.uk:2048/login?url=http://www.springerimages.com

Please send feedback on the trial to eresources@lib.cam.ac.uk by 21 August 2012.

According to Springer, SpringerImages is a collection of scientific images spanning the scientific, technical and medical fields, including high-quality clinical images from images.MD. There are currently over 3.4 million images, including photos, graphs, histograms, figures, and tables, available via a searchable online database. The SpringerImages interface enables users to search using captions, keywords, context and more, even jumping from the image to the source article. Users can create personalized image “sets,” and can export images for use in their own presentations or lectures.

Kindle button and mobile device twinning with Cambridge Journals Online

The latest release of Cambridge Journals Online functionality includes new developments for mobile devices. 

Kindle Button

A ‘Send to Kindle’ button is now displayed at article level. When clicked, a box is displayed into which the reader can enter their Kindle email address. CJO http://journals.cambridge.org/action/bySubjectArea?sessionId=7AC3824C91EBBE3F7E842F41E290A061.journals will then send the article to the reader’s Kindle, where it will appear in the home screen when the device is synced. For maximum flexibility, it is recommended that readers send the HTML version of the article wherever possible. For further details see the CJO blog post http://blog.journals.cambridge.org/2012/04/kindle-3-cjo-to-kindle/. 

CJO Mobile (CJOm) device twinning

Readers with access to Cambridge Journals via their institution can now twin their mobile devices with CJOm http://jnls.cup.org/home.do, so that they can access subscriptions when off campus. Devices can be twinned via CJOm while on the institution’s WiFi network, or remotely by using the ‘Mobile Device Twinning’ option on CJO, which provides a twinning code that can be entered into the device. For further information see the CJOm twinning blog post http://blog.journals.cambridge.org/2012/06/latest-cjo-development-mobile-device-twinning/.

Additional CJO upgrades and new features can be found on the ‘New CJO Features‘ pages http://journals.cambridge.org/action/stream?pageId=3716&j=2715696&e=lm10013@cam.ac.uk&l=19652_HTML&u=31882731&mid=1021741&jb=0.

Latest Journal Citation Report 2011 data is now available

Access to the Journal Citation Report data is available through the eresources@cambridge A-Z http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/eresources/fulllist.php?search_term=J on- and off-campus, using your Raven log-in.

To access the list of titles receiving their first Journal Impact Factor in the 2011 data, go to: http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/imgblast/JCR-newlist-2011.pdf

To access the complete list of JCR 2011 titles, go to:
http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/imgblast/JCRFullCovlist-2011.pdf

Library Management System downtime during the week beginning Monday 9th July

The Library Management System, Voyager, will be upgraded next week. The system will be down for the whole week beginning Monday 9^th July.

This means that you will be unable to borrow books using the self-check facility – library staff will have to issue books to you manually, during opening hours only.

You will still be able to search the library catalogues from wherever you are, via LibrarySearch http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/. However you will not be able to use ‘Your Account’ to see books you have on loan from a library, or to renew them.

We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.