Advice for students starting Final Year Projects

In case you are feeling a bit lost with starting your Final Year Mechanical Engineering Project and aren’t sure where to look for things beyond Google and Wikipedia, I have put together a few webpages outlining the basics. There are notes relating to journals and conferences, I’ve introduced some of the databases the library subscribes to and give some (hopefully) helpful tips to make your searches more effective and refine results to get the articles most relevant to you.

You can access my Final Year Project Introduction pages here.

While my focus has been on the Mechanical Engineering Resources, the search strategies and introductory notes are relevant to any Engineering and Design department.

Best of luck with your research projects and do tell me if there is anything else you think I should add to these pages.

Library email notification problems

The system used by the library to email users with library book overdue notices and reminders to return books is experiencing problems.

Staff are working to solve these issues as quickly as possible, but to avoid any fines please use the personal account options available through the library catalogue to check your books’ return dates.

Your use of the library requires you to login using the barcode number on the back of your library card with a 4 digit PIN or you can sign in using your BUCS login details.

“Principles of Marketing” by Kotler in high demand

I have noticed that a lot of Mechanical Engineers are trying to get hold of the “Principles of Marketing” book by Philip Kotler.

If you are stuck waiting for a copy and are low on the Holds list, you may want to browse the electronic book version.

It’s an earlier edition from 2005, but many of the principles and much of the content is sure to be similar.

Principles of Marketing [electronic resource] by Kotler, P. 2005

BUCS Maintenance weekend 13-14th December

Please be aware that on the weekend of the 13th and 14th December, BUCS have scheduled network maintenance that will impact upon your use of university PCs and library services.

For all intents and purposes, there will be no access to the web using campus PCs over this weekend,. PCs based in the library will be offline as well as those located in various labs and e-lounges. There will be no access to any departmental webpages, no links to library services and online resources from on or off campus and Moodle will also be unavailable.

Copying and Printing services in the library will also be affected and will not be available.

New book loans can be issued manually during staffed hours, but the self-issue machines will be offline and there will be no provision for any loan renewals and you will not be able to place any reservations/holds over this weekend.

Most of you will probably have finished course assignments before this weekend, but if you do for any reason have a submission date early in the week beginning 15th December, PLEASE plan ahead to make sure you have obtained all the materials you need and printed out any work before the 13th of December.

Information Skills Training Programme for UGs

The library has laid on a series of Information Skills sessions for Undergraduate students throughout Semester 1. If you are concerned about issues of Plagiarism and Referencing correctly whenever it comes time to present your first written assignments, you may find our sessions on these topics particularly helpful.

The library can seem a bit overwhelming when you don’t know where things are or how to find the books and articles you’ve been advised to read. We’ve developed training sessions to help you make the most of the Library Catalogue and ELIN to find books and electronic resources.

If you have a more advanced topic to research the meetings we are running covering Basic Search skills and the Web of Knowledge database will help you track down articles and research papers the match your topic area.

Further information about the sessions on offer this semester are available on the Information Skills for Undergraduates webpage. On that page you can select which session you would like to attend and submit your booking request automatically.

Welcome to all new Library Users

Hello and welcome to the Engineering and Design News blog from the university library. Throughout the year, the Level 3 Engineering & Design library staff use this blog to post news and information that you may find useful to your studies.

I have written this post to highlight a few places on the Library website that those of you new to the library, may find useful to familiarise yourself with the way the library works and the services available. Remember, that you can contact your Subject Librarian about any library related query at any time. Our offices are at the back of the floor on Level 3, or you can drop us an email.

Firstly, if you want to be self sufficient in finding items from your course reading lists or finding books recommended by colleagues you will want to get to grips with the Library Catalogue. The online guide will introduce the basics about how the catalogue works and how to get the best out of it. but don’t hesitate to come and ask a member of staff for some advice if you cannot find that shelfmark number on the subject floor!

Secondly, you may want to take a look the library Induction Tutorial. You will find that this short tutorial will cover most of the frequently asked questions users have and introduce the various services and facilities to be found in the library.

The library website hosts a lot of Guides introducing resources for your subject, specific databases and online services as well as guides to help you with referencing skills. Look at the Library Guides page for a full list and links to download copies. And don’t forget to speak to your Subject Librarian if you need further advice.

If you want to develop your information and research skills, the Library is offering a varied programme of sessions for Undergraduates in the coming semester. View the programme of events and make a booking on the Training for Undergraduates webpage. If you cannot make the sessions offered this time around or would like to learn about a topic we haven’t listed on the page, let your Subject Librarian know. We’ll do our best to help.

And finally, don’t forget that your library subscribes to a wide variety of online journals, databases of journal articles and conference papers, electronic books and datasets for you! You don’t need to rely on Google and/or Wikipedia for the next few years of your course. Check the Resources for your Subject pages and drop your Subject Librarian an email if you want to know more about what resources the library has that can help you.

“Hidden Gems” – Library books you haven’t time to find!

Whatever you may think, it is not a library goal to make books difficult to find, but sometimes requested titles are added to stock and for whatever reason rarely, if ever, leave the shelf. This new “Hidden Gems” series of blog entries will spotlight some of these pristine looking texts.

These books are not on any reading list. The titles may not be relevant to your research or teaching and, I won’t lie to you, you may not find any of the titles promoted here of interest! But with busy lecture schedules and assignment deadlines, it’s not always easy to find time to survey the bookshelves or interrogate the catalogue to find items you wouldn’t otherwise come across.

With the Summer vacation in mind, the hopeful thought that some of you are still on campus reading these entries and an idea you may have some leisure time to set aside for some light reading, I’ve picked out these two items to kick off with (available for loan from Level 3!):

“Twentieth Century Industrial Archaeology” by Michael Stratton & Barrie Trinder 600.5 STR

‘This book … shows how the archaeological record raises questions about some of the major issues of the twentieth century British history, the production of munitions in two world wars, the booms in house building of the inter-war period and the years between 1953 and 1973, the nature of coal-mining communities, and the take-up of scientific and technological innovations.’ (Taken from back cover)

“Industrial England” by Michael Stratton & Barrie Trinder 600.542 STR

‘Encompassing over fifteen years of study, this richly illustrated book offers new ways of understanding and appreciating the architecture and technology of our conserved industrial heritage’. (Taken from back cover)

Check back in the coming weeks when I will be adding some more titles that with more time you might have come across yourself. Any feedback you want to leave will of course be very welcome – post here by logging into WordPress or mail me direct with queries, suggestions and any other comments.

1st August – changes to login pages for some resources

All you need to access the Library’s electronic resources, e.g. databases and e-journals, is your University (BUCS) username and password, as long as you connect from the Library’s web pages, ELIN or the library catalogue.

This will not change, but from 1st August the login pages for some resources may look slightly different.

Along with other UK HE institutions we are moving towards Federated Access Management for electronic services. If you see a prompt to Login via the UK Federation or Institutional login you should choose this route, and select the University of Bath from any list of institutions.

See further information for the UK Data Archive, the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS), the ESRC Census Programme (Census.ac.uk), Digimap, Science Direct and ZETOC.

We have not been using direct Athens authentication for resource access for some years. However, if you have still been selecting an Athens link within any resource, this will no longer be possible from 1st August. An alternative method of access will be available.

Please connect to our resources from the Library web pages for the most up to date links.

If you have any problems accessing electronic resources, please Ask a Librarian.

New book in stock: Standard Handbook of Engineering Calculations

The Library has just added the most recent edition of the Standard Handbook of Engineering Calculations to the Level 3 printed book collection.  This is part of the McGraw Hill Standard Handbooks Series and this is the first update since 1995.  As such it includes significant developments in relation to environmental engineering, the widespread use of PCs by engineers and the increased emphasis on energy conservation in the engineering sector.

Staff and students alike should find this to be a valuable reference tool.  Available on Level 3 in the Library for Reference Only:

Hicks, Tyler G. (ed) Standard Handbook of Engineering Calculations 4th Edition 620.08 STA

New ebooks trial…take a look!

The Library is currently trialling a new e-books package called ‘Dawsonera’.   Fifty full-text electronic books are available for you to read up until Tuesday May 7th.   Find out more and connect to the Dawsonera website by visiting:  http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/news/dawsonera.html

Titles available in the trial include:

•  ’Corrosion of steel in concrete: understanding, investigation and repair’ (2nd ed) by  J.P. Broomfield
•  ’Design Analysis in Rock Mechanics’ by W.G. Pariseau
•  ’Expansive soils: recent advances in characterization and treatment ’  ed. by A.A. Al-Rawas and  M.F.A. Goosen
• ‘Innovations in hospice architecture’ by S.F. Verderber and D.B.Refuerzo

To view these and see what else is on offer, just click on ‘Ebook catalogue’ on the Dawsonera website.   You can also find out what other titles could be added in the future – and let us know if you’re interested in any of them - by clicking on “Advanced search”, and selecting “include not owned”.   Whether or not you’ve you’ve used e-books before, have a look and let us know what you think!

If this has whetted your appetite, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Library subscribes to many other e-books.  You can find them by searching the Library Catalogue;  from the A-Z listing at http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/info/e-books.html; or by following the ‘Resources for your subject’ link on the Library website, clicking on your department, and then on the link ‘Ebooks’.