Each month will have a different theme and this month the theme is

Challenge your thinking

Check out the 5 listed books, two ebooks and three print, and challenge your own thinking on these hot topics

Take a look

Who knew that crawling into a house on fire to get the residents out was part of the duties of a librarian (on his way to work)!?!

Dave Lane encountered a house on fire this morning and cleared the house of residents just before the fire engines arrived.

I would like to nominate him for a Health and Safety award.

On behalf of the Marketing committe, I am looking for other people to join in and nominate 5 books they would like to read from our collections.

We trialled this for August on the Library Home Page using the following location New Books we think you’ll love to read – August 2013
It was opened 92 times. We plan to do this again on a monthly basis

Margaret Paterson has volunteered to create this page for September.

If you are interested we can assign you a month and you can choose the books on a topic of your choice. We will add you as co-authors/editors to this guide. The topic should not be too subject specific as these lists would belong on a subject guide. If you don’t want to use the LibGuides software we will put the information up for you.

The aim is to promote our books to the university community. Cheers AJ

What To Do with All Those Discarded Books

The present Level 3 weeding project is an opportunity to uncover the strangest titles and/or content in our Collection

My pick for this week:The earthly Venus / by Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759). Translated from Venus physique by Simone Brangier Boas. With notes and an introduction by George Boas. QP 251 .M452

The following subject headings are included
Human skin color.
Black race.
Reproduction.

I am a bit worried about what will be in the content…..

Sometimes I think librarians need to be careful about promoting the use of open access journals as the articles are not necessarily peer reviewed. Some unusual errors may creep in…..

For example I came across the following statement in the journal Aquatic Invasions. It is adescription of a shell species that is usually done using very formal and precise terminology :

“Photographs were taken and measurements
were made of these shells (Figure 2, Table 1).
The shell is very small (5-6mm), ovate,
consisting of 5 to 6 whorls, which are are rather
rounded, with an (Renee Zellweger) ovate
opening. Shell colors vary from gray and dark
brown to light brown”

There is no such thing as a Renee Zellweger ovate opening….. I am deeply shocked by this but at the same time I may well add this to my thesis to see if anyone notices……..

You are invited to Make your Mark in Science in the first annual championship challenge powered by Wiley Online Library as it marks its First Year Anniversary since launch in August 2010. There are altogether three challenges – ONE, TWO and CHAMPIONSHIP in four main subject categories with FOUR Apple iPad 2 and many attractive prizes to be won. Challengers are welcome to enroll into more than one subject categories.

I thought this quiz was a very clever way of encouraging students to find their way around this publisher’s database.

…still don’t know if the problems I had were related to the computer at the Help Desk or were an external problem so I hope people can keep an eye on this. Cheers AJ

Elsevier is integrating the world’s most trusted scientific content from ScienceDirect and Scopus into a single platform with productivity-driving enhancements. Learn how you can leverage this powerful tool to accelerate your research.

In August, ScienceDirect, Scopus and the targeted web content from Scirus will be integrated within one platform – SciVerse. SciVerse will combine trusted content with an expanding universe of tools that accelerate search and discovery. Over time, SciVerse will form the core of an ecosystem in which researchers and librarians work with publishers and developers to build collections of applications targeted to the specific interests and workflows of researchers, increasing the value you derive from your subscribed content.
See what’s coming – Our four minute video provides an overview of the next release of your Elsevier subscribed products.
As our Accelerating Science video explains, the August release of SciVerse will:
• Deliver de-duplicated results from a single search across your licensed ScienceDirect, Scopus and Scirus products
• Feature three free applications to enhance search and discovery, including one that allows you to search only the methods/experimental procedures sections of the articles in ScienceDirect

Over subsequent releases, SciVerse will:
• Give you access to content APIs that allow you and other members of the scientific community to develop applications
•Enable researchers to establish a trusted social network of colleagues that will help them filter information

Champagne fizzics: Science backs pouring sideways
Scientists at the University of Reims say pouring bubbly at a slant, as you would a beer, preserves more of the tiny gas bubbles that improve the drink’s flavour and aromas