New web pages to improve your information skills

Be sure to have a look at our fantastic new web pages on information literacy.

Find out what information literacy is and what it can do for you by watching the video ‘What is Information Literacy?’

Find out how information literacy can help you with writing assignments and conducting research. The pages are split into useful sections to support you at different stages: Getting started, Writing assignments, Research skills, and Employability.

The information literacy pages are one part of our Learning and Research Services web pages which have also had a face lift to make finding information easier.

Find useful subject resources, get help with research, find your librarian, and see how they can help you.

All from Learning and Research Services on the Library home page.

Effective Internet Searching

The Information Skills tutorial Effective Internet Searching has been completely overhauled and updated, please take a look.

In this tutorial you will:

• Understand in broad terms how search engines work
• Discover what the invisible web is and why it matters
• Try out a selection of handy techniques and tips for quicker, more effective searches
• Learn about other sources of information and when to use them

Effective Internet Searching is just one of a number of tutorials the Library provides through the Information Skills Resource

Access it from the Library tab in MUSE and/or from the Library web home page

Refurbishment 2012 - Update

Great news! The date for the reopening of the Health Sciences Library has now been set. The Library will reopen on Monday 5th November at 10am. 

In order to move all the books back and complete the final finishing touches, all services at the site will end on Tuesday 30th October 5pm and will be unavailable until the following Monday. If there are any books that you need during that time please make a reservation and we will try and process everything as soon as we can.

Once again thank you for all your patience during this time. We know it'll be worth it once the new Library is unveiled. But for now here are a couple of photos for a sneak peak....

History of Medicine

Hello to all our first year Medical students. 

You should be starting on your first assignment soon, exploring the 'History of Medicine', and as always the Library is here to help. If you came along to the Library's Induction lecture the other week you will have been given our new literature searching guide, full of top tips on how to find material for your essay. This was written especially to support the 'History of Medicine' assignment so if you didn't get one make sure you drop into the Library and pick one up. 

Remember as well that you can always visit the Skills Suite in the Information Commons where librarians are available to help you plan and carry out your search. Just call in or ask for directions at the Level 1 Information Desk.

In the meantime if you're looking for a bit of inspiration to get started, try checking out some of the websites below;

Exploring the History of Medicine: Science Museum 

Wellcome History - a free journal from the Wellcome Trust 

Thackray Museum: Telling the Story of Medicine 

Welcome everyone!

Welcome to all our new and returning students. We'll be seeing you all soon at various workshops and induction sessions but in the mean time why not check out our new induction presentation - there's a chance to win an Amazon voucher!

Ebooks - your essential guide

So ebooks, we all know what they are but do you know how to make the most of them? How to annotate online, when to download and how much you can print? The Library buys hundreds of ebooks each year and you can find them all via our Library catalogue StarPlus but they don’t all come from the same supplier. As a result there are lots of different rules governing how you can use them. Here is a quick guide to our main supplies and some top tips on how to make the most of your e reading experience... 

Dawsonera:

This is our main supplier. If there’s an ebook you want and dawsonera has it we’ll be buying it from them. Dawsonera allows you two options with ebooks. You can either ‘read online’ or you can download the book onto a memory stick or your computer drive where it will last as a pdf format for 24 hours. This is great if you know you’ve only got a short internet connection. 

If you’re reading the ebook online you can also annotate the text, just click on the yellow notes tab. The reader portal recognises who you are each time you log in and your notes will be saved for your next session. 

If you want a hard copy of the text Dawsonera allows you to print up to 5% of any ebook per user. 

MyiLibrary:

You can generally download or print 10 pages of a MyiLibrary ebook, although this may differ slightly as the publisher sets the limits.

The MyiLibrary software works best if you use the chapter navigation on the left-hand side to navigate the book.

NetLibrary:

You cannot download from NetLibrary ebooks, but you can print a percentage of the book. This percentage is again set by the publishers so will vary book to book, if you click on the print button within a book it will tell you how many pages you're allowed for that book.

If you're using a Mac to view NetLibrary ebooks, you will need to install a PDF Browser plug-in which can be found in the help section.

Taylor and Francis archive:

With these ebooks, you can save or print one chapter, or 5% of the book, whichever is greater.

Welcome new students!

Congratulations to our new students who received their results yesterday. You can relax now you know you are coming to The University of Sheffield, Times Higher Education UK University of the Year.

If you’d like to find out about our library services in advance, you can find the introductory information you will need here: www.shef.ac.uk/library/services/induction

You can also follow the library on Twitter @UniSheffieldLib, and follow this blog for news relating to your faculty.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, fingers crossed for some more sunshine!

Looking forward to meeting you all in September.