Assistive Technology in the Library

Do you know we have technology in the library that can help organise your ideas for an assignment, can read passages from books for you, and can type text that you speak? This is Assistive Technology.

All our library PCs are networked with Read & Write Gold, a software package that helps people with dyslexia, but may help other students too. Next time you are in the library, log on, click on the icon, and read the online information on this. Alternatively, I will be able to help you with it. We also have a Mind Manager CD-Rom at the library desk. This uses visual aids to help you organise ideas and plan assignments. You can borrow this and load it onto your home PC or laptop.

Sandra

Core texts in the library

Welcome back to students and staff returning after the inter-semester break!

Each term the demand for core texts (the main book for your course) is very high. One of the ways we can try to help this is by changing the length of time for which core texts can be borrowed. So at the beginning of each term we ask your lecturers for recommendations (i.e. the core texts for the courses they are teaching).

We usually have:

• First copy – Library Use Only
• Other copies – Short Loan

So, what does this mean for you?
Most library text books are Long Loans; you can borrow them for 2 weeks. Short loans can be borrowed for one week and Library Use Only books can only be read in the library. Shorter loan lengths mean that each person in the class should have a better chance of reading their core texts.

What happens if all the copies of the book you want are on loan?
You can reserve a copy. When you reserve a copy of a book we put a note on our computer system. When the first copy of the book is returned we keep it for you. We send an email to your ITB email account and you will have 3 college days to collect it.

Why is one copy Library Use Only?
Reference books can be accessed by students whenever the library is open. This significantly increases the opportunity for each member of the class to read it.

We look forward to seeing you in the library this term. If you have any questions, please come and ask us at the Library Desk.

Social Bookmarking in Plain English

25 Research Things 2010

Have you ever wondered about all the new web technologies? Twitter, blogging, flickr, RSS feeds – are you familiar with these terms or would you like to know a little bit more?

The University of Huddersfield and Research Information Network has developed a course to take learners through some of the more interesting online developments. They take us through step by step dividing the content into lesson-sized portions. It’s called 25 Research Things 2010. They use a variety of teaching tools from blog entries to weblinks to videos and photos so that learning is interesting and manageable.

This is an example of one the short videos used on the site.

The best resolution

This week the four Dublin public libraries are encouraging you to join up! So join the public library.

It’s yours and it’s free. It’s the best resolution you’ll make.

The four Dublin public libraries are Fingal, Dublin City, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. Our local library, Blanchardstown Public Library, is located at the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre beside the Draiocht Theatre. They have a large collection of fiction and non-fiction books, audio-visual material, free internet access & a cyber-skills room, language learning facilities, business information, application forms for motor tax, passports, social welfare, and local history information on the Dublin 15 area.

The library provides a regular meeting place for groups such as:

• Conversation classes in Spanish, French, Irish and English
• St Brigid’s Photography Group
• Parent and Toddler Groups
• GROW Support Group
• Fingal South Heritage Society

Call into the public library today. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Trending libraries

The Guardian reports that #savelibraries has caught the imagination of Twitter users around the world. On Sunday morning, after reading about another library closure, Mar Dixon posed a question on Twitter... Libraries are important because [fill in your answer and RT]. Thousands answered over the following 24 hours, including:

• Libraries are important because, wherever you grow up, that's where the rest of the world is [jennycolgan]
• Times says Govt. report wants children to be 'school ready'. Perhaps not closing libraries would be a good start? [exitthelemming]
• "Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one." [genrelibrarian]
• My friend at school found me in the library & asked me why I didn't study at home. I had no desk & no peace, she had no idea [onerubberband]
• I was raised by three parents - my mum, my dad, and Bristol Central Library. Library closures shrink the world [beescope]
• It's not (just) about books, it's about communities, information and ideas, freedom of speech, stories and imagination [librarydonna]
  
• Still remember when, during weekly library trip, Gramma deemed me old enough to borrow from adult fiction section. So stoked.[jbbmegan]
  
• "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." Gandhi [quantumapple]

The art of finding the right book!

How do you choose a really good book to read?

... do you defy all advice and judge it by it's cover?

... do you search the backcover for an interesting storyline?

It is 1948 and a newly-married Hortense Joseph has just arrived, from Jamaica, with high expectations of life of in London. But London has suffered many years of war and does not measure up to her storybook notions. Along with her irrepressible husband, Gilbert, Hortense rents a room in the home of Queenie Bligh, whose husband still hasn’t returned from the war. Queenie’s neighbours are unhappy that she taken in Jamaican lodgers but she has other things on her mind.

... do you fall in love with a great character and have to read more?

“Now, the man that answer the door was not Winston. True, him look like Winston, him talk like Winston and him dress like Winston. But Winston was half a twin. Identical as two lemons on a tree. This was his brother Kenneth. To tell him apart, try to borrow a shilling. Winston will help you out but pester you all over London till him get it back. Kenneth, on the other hand, will persuade you to give him a shilling, assuring you that he could turn into into a pound before the week's end.” -- Gilbert Joseph

However you choose your books, come browse the fiction shelves in the library. We have a world of different covers and plotlines and characters.

Just the thing you need to relax during the inter-semester break!

What were you reading in 2010?

2010 was a busy year for ITB, the library and our patrons. Over 3,400 of you are members of our library and last year you borrowed over 20,000 books!

From Sep 2009 - Aug 2010, our online databases were accessed nearly 40,000 times. Emerald (16,488) is the most popular with Science Direct (8335) and Infotrac (6412) coming second and third.

So what were you reading in 2010?

• Top 10 books for Computing
• Top 10 books for the Social Sciences
• Top 10 books for Maths, Science & Engineering
• Top 10 books for Psychology & Health
• Top 10 books for Business

And just to prove it's not all hard work!

• Top fiction
• Top DVDs

Thank you for being part of our library community in 2010. We look forward to seeing you in the library in 2011!

Welcome to the Apprentices

Welcome to the new apprentice students who started at ITB today!

We look forward to seeing you in the library over the coming term. You can use the online catalogue to search for library books, journals etc.

As well as text books, the library has a wide variety of fiction books, hobbies and leisure books, biographies etc. Pop in to read the newspaper, book a PC for an hour, learn a language with the audio-visual resources, watch a DVD (with headphones!) or plan a holiday with the travel books.

It's your library. Use it!

Reading Week

It is Reading Week at ITB; a good chance to do some last-minute revision before the exams. This year ITB Library has been rezoned to allow different students to study in the way that best suits them – whether you wish to do group study (in the green zone), individual study (in the orange zone) or study in silence (in the red zone). Find your ideal spot and make use of your library!

You can search for library books, journals etc. on the library catalogue; or use the computers to access past exam papers , Moodle, library subject resources etc. Past exam papers can only be accessed on-campus.

We are open:

• Tues 4^th Jan ..... 9.15am – 8.00pm
• Wed 5^th Jan ..... 9.15am – 8.00pm
• Thurs 6^th Jan ..... 9.15am – 8.00pm
• Fri 7^th Jan ..... 9.15am – 5.00pm

Revision can be a stressful time. Here are a few tips that may help you to prepare:

• Study in a comfortable place; be sure it is warm and bright
• Study a little bit each day
• Look at past exam papers
• Ask a friend to test you on what you have studied
• Include all your subjects, even the ones you don’t like so much
• Find time for exercise and relaxation each day

And most important of all: stay positive!