Library Information Sessions in Semester 2

You may be starting project work this semester.  If you are a bit concerned about how to go about doing a literature review, finding the information and data relevant to your topic or even just wondering how to write up your references at the end, the library is repeating its popular series of information sessions this year.

In co-operation with SORTED in the Student Union, library staff will be presenting a series of topics in the next few weeks:

“To Google or not to Google” is about making better use of search engines, evaluating online information and will introduce some of the library’s resources that you may not have used before.

“How to avoid Plagiarism” is suited to undergraduates looking for a better understanding of what Plagiarism is, why it’s bad and how to avoid it!

“Referencing – A beginner’s guide” gives advice and examples related to correctly referencing the sources you’re going to use in your project work.

All combined, these sessions could help make the entire literature review/project writing process a lot less daunting.

Check the Library Research and Information skills page for more information about the sessions running this semester.

You can book a place or get more information through SORTED in the Student Union.

Web of Knowledge Interface upgrade – 3rd February

UPDATE: The date of the upgrade has been altered to Sunday February 3rd

From early 2008, the traditional Web of Knowledge user interface you might be used to will be replaced by an upgraded version with a number of new features. This new interface is currently available from the Web of Knowledge site to provide you with time to familiarise yourself with the new layout and functionality of the WoK service – look for the “Access New Version” button at the top of the screen to try it out.

One of the most important new features is the All Databases search, which replaces CrossSearch.

The All Databases search allows you to:

• Search across all ISI Web of Knowledge databases your institution subscribes to
• Retrieve up to 100,000 results, automatically sorted by the journal cover publication date
• Easily refine and analyze your search results

Help on using the new interface is available online via the Web of Knowledge website. There are also quick reference cards available for download in PDF format, some hardcopies are also available from your Subject Librarian:

• Web of Science Quick Reference Card
• Endnote Web Quick Reference Card

Please contact your Subject Librarian for advice or if you have an queries about using the upgraded service.

With the scheduled upgrade, dual access to ISI Web of Knowledge will be discontinued, and all users and institutions will access the new version.

New e-Journals for Engineering

Following a change in the subscription arrangements, the library is very pleased to offer access to 8 more electronic journal titles from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. We will no longer receive any of the ASME titles in print-format, but many users will be very happy to have online access to the ASME journal content instead.

The new titles added to our existing electronic holdings are:

• Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics
• Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering
• Journal of Electronic Packaging
• Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology
• Journal of Medical Devices
• Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering
• Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology
• Journal of Solar Energy Engineering

Currently, you can find these journals by browsing the A-Z list of ejournals under “J”. Otherwise, you will be able to link directly to the full text of articles from these titles if you come across article references in one of our subscription databases (e.g. Web of Knowledge, Compendex)

Now you CAN find these titles by searching for the them using the ELIN resource.  Add them to your collection to receive regular email Table of Contents updates.

If this is your first visit to the Engineering & Design blog, please take a few moments to browse earlier posts to see if there is anything of interest to you. Users registered with the WordPress site can leave comments for any post. Otherwise please feel free to pass on any feedback or suggestions for anything else you think would be useful to post on this blog site directly to your Subject Librarian.

Thanks.

ZETOC versus ELIN

It sounds like an old Japanese monster movie but I’m talking about nothing more scary than Table of Contents alerting services today.

Some of you, especially if you are doing research work, may already be registered with the ZETOC service managed by the British Library to set up alerts and receive the Tables of Contents of your most frequently read journal titles by email.

The e-Library Information Navigator (eLIN) service linked from the library homepage will allow you to set up a collection of links to those journals you refer to most frequently and will also mail you Table of Contents (TOC) alerts for those titles.

The process is as simple as logging in to ELIN or registering an account with the service if you haven’t used it before. After that, you can use the Journals search page to look for your favourite Engineering & Design titles then ‘Add to your Collection’.

By default, all titles in your Collection will automatically send you TOC alerts to the email address you registered. You may find the ELIN service a bit more straightforward to use, the convenience of having links to your favourite journals saved in one place will stop you having to browse the epic A-Z e-journal listings and there’s even some evidence that the ELIN service can get TOC alerts out to you faster than ZETOC…

If you’ve any queries or problems using the service or would like more information about ELIN, don’t hesitate to contact your Subject Librarian.

New Mechanical Engineering books

These titles are amongst those added to the book stock in the last few weeks:

Biofuels for transport : global potential and implications for sustainable
energy and agriculture from the Worldwatch Institute

Hydrodynamics of high-speed marine vehicles by Odd M. Faltinsen

Handbook of noise and vibration control edited by Malcolm J. Crocker

From the number on the screen to the number on the book: understanding shelfmarks

Have you ever found a book on the Library catalogue, faithfully noted down the shelfmark, but then had trouble finding where it actually is on the shelves?

Shelfmarks for books are basically divided into two parts. Firstly the series of numbers that represent the subject area. 720 for Architecture, for example. Then there’s usually a series of 3 or 4 letters, which are an abbreviation of the author’s surname or of the organisation which has produced the book. Books are shelved in numerical order, and letters are arranged alphabetically after each individual shelf number.

Confused by those colons, brackets, and decimal points? These symbols also affect the order of the books on the shelves, and are arranged in the order of colon, bracket and decimal point. So, books with a shelfmark 616:537 are shelved before those with a shelfmark 616(01). And likewise 616(01) before those with a shelfmark 616.001.5.

Want to know more? If so, you might find this guide to understanding the Library’s classification system helpful. You could also try watching our ‘Shelfmarks’ Libflick, a short movie which explains exactly how to get from the number on the screen to the number on the book.

If you have any problems identifying a shelfmark, understanding how the books are arranged, or finding a book on Level 3 please come and ask a member of Library staff for help. You’ll find our offices at the back of the floor.