Wednesday, September 5, 2018

New books in August

It may be summer, but we continue to add stock to the libraries all year round. And in this case, the Campus Library's list is longer than normal because we've been replacing some worn-out textbooks ready for the next academic year.

Friday, August 31, 2018

Reading Lists for Semester 1




Library staff are currently making your Reading Lists available in readiness for the start of Semester 1.  

You can search for your lists either by module code or keywords here.  

If your list isn’t available yet, check back again soon.  If you experience any problems just contact your Liaison Librarian.  

Happy reading!


Thursday, August 23, 2018

Bank Holiday Closure

The Library will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August. We will reopen at 08:45 on Tuesday 28th August. Further details of our opening times can be found here: https://www.keele.ac.uk/library/using/open/

Friday, August 10, 2018

Online reading lists: new way to access on the KLE

The Reading lists link on the KLE has now moved to the left-hand menu.

The lists are the same and have exactly the same books and articles listed, but you will find the link to the reading lists on the left hand menu and not on the home page of your course.

Friday, June 8, 2018

24/7 ends today

24/7 opening of Campus Library will be suspended for the summer from 6.30pm today.

The Library is open 7 days a week over summer - for full opening hours please visit: https://www.keele.ac.uk/library/using/open/

Monday, June 4, 2018

End of 24/7 opening for this academic year

24/7 opening of Campus Library will be suspended over summer vacation from 6.30pm on Friday 8th June.

We are open 7 days a week over vacation, for Summer Opening please visit https://www.keele.ac.uk/library/using/open/

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Medicines Complete - New Platform

From 3rd JuneMedicinesComplete will be switching to a new platform. The legacy version of the site will no longer be available after this date. For a preview of the new version and for further information check out this video

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Updates to the Online Reading List System

Talis Aspire, the Library's online reading list system, has had a makeover and has got some great new features!

See the new features in action in this video then access the online reading lists and view the changes for yourself.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Let's Get Digital!

The second annual Digital Festival is one week away, running from Tuesday 5th June to Thursday 7th June with some fringe events beginning on Monday 4th, including a preview of 2.0 of the Library's discovery service, Library Search, and the online reading list system, Talis Aspire, has had a very recent makeover! (more about that soon).

The Digital Festival is a chance to explore new technologies, see how technology is being used in teaching, and share your own experiences of using anything digital. 

By just taking part in the sessions, you can also enter yourself into a draw for an Amazon Fire HD, Google Home Mini and Fitbit Flex 2!

Details of the sessions and booking can be found here, but you only have until Thursday 31st May to book on!

So, what are you waiting for...


Saturday, May 26, 2018

Campus Library has re-opened

Following last night's unplanned closure, Campus Library has re-opened this morning.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Library closure overnight 25-26 May

Due to unforeseen Security Staff shortages, the Library will have to close at 10pm tonight but will re-open at 9am tomorrow, Saturday 26 May.

Overnight study space is available by Keele card access in the Lennard Jones building.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause 

Friday, May 11, 2018

Possible 15 minute disruption to Dawsonera ebook access on Sunday 13th May

We have been informed by Dawsonera, one of our ebook suppliers, that there may be a 15 minute disruption to access on Sunday 13th May between 2pm and 4pm. It is due to external maintenance being carried out by BT and have not been able to be more specific about the exact timing of the short disruption:


Monday, May 7, 2018

Keele University Library open on the May Bank holiday


Just a reminder that Keele University Library is open and fully staffed on the May Bank holiday today. It's a glorious day so why not stroll around the wonderful Keele Hall gardens and then pop into the library...



Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Changes to EBSCO Databases

If you've been using EBSCO recently, you may have noticed a few changes to the design.  Lots of white space, bold and bigger text links mean that the view from EBSCO through mobile devices and desktops is even better, clearer and cleaner.
The EBSCO databases give you access to millions of journal articles from subject areas, such as, business, health, psychology, and humanities subjects.  

Go to the Library website and click Major Databases from the Quick Links menu and choose EBSCO.

Friday, April 13, 2018

More study space at Keele University Library

We recognise that students would like additional study space, especially in the run up to exams. So over the Easter vacation we've been working hard with Estates to create thirty more silent study spaces, which are now available on the ground floor of the Campus Library.


Hot Right Now!

Since the New Year, our Dawsonera ebooks have been used 273,990 times. In three months! Interestingly, the top results are different for each month, which gives us an idea of the topics that are currently hot right now.

 Pass the PSA book image
Cardiorespiratory physiotherapy book image
 International business book image
January saw Pass the PSA in the top spot with 5883 uses. That’s the Prescribing Skills Assessment to you and me.
Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy: Adults and Paediatrics was on top in February with 3893 uses.
And a change of pace for March with International Business: Environments and Operations seeing 2478 uses.











If you’re a stat fan then here’s the Top 10 for each of those months:
January
February
March
1. Pass the PSA – 5883
4. Structural Geology – 1409
Library Search logo
 

If you want to view any of the Top 10 titles, just click on the title links above, but the best way to find ebooks is by using Library Search and the “Search Books and More" option.  Enter the title or keywords and from the results, use the filters to select "Full Text Online" and then select "Books" from the Resource Type filters. This will show you the ebook. Click the "View Online" link for the ebook and log-in with your Keele IT username and password, if prompted.


Friday, April 6, 2018

Tom’s Archive Work Placement Blog No2

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of British women (over the age of 30) first gaining the right to vote in parliamentary elections, so to honour this I’ve delved into the Archives and uncovered the 1906 diary of Ethel Wedgwood, wife of Josiah Clement Wedgwood M.P. This diary provides invaluable insight into Ethel’s social and political activities and, crucially, her first hand encounters with the Suffragist movement.










Ethel Wedgwood’s diary 1906 (UGSD188) Special Collections and Archives, Keele University Library


Josiah Clement Wedgwood was particularly active in politics, representing Newcastle-under-Lyme in parliamentary debate for over 35 years. Politics was naturally high on the agenda for discussion within the family, and Ethel was very much involved in her husband’s political career, recording her daily observations in the House of Commons within her diaries.

At the time of Ethel’s writings, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) had only just begun to adopt more militant tactics. These new tactics are observed in many of Ethel’s diary entries, in which she details the controversial nature of “Pankhurst & Co.” (most likely referring to Christabel Pankhurst, Emmeline’s daughter), who would frequently interrupt political meetings and generally, in Ethel’s opinion, act like “insufferable nuisances”.

We can quite clearly deduce from her writings that Ethel was not too fond of the Suffragists and their aggression, most evident through her concern that the controversial tactics of the group would “set half the country against” the women’s plight, and instead preferring to defend the rights of her “Staffordshire Women” through respectable debate.

Ethel’s qualms with Pankhurst and her Suffragettes illustrate the extent of opposition that these women faced, not just from men, but from people of any gender and class. Even so, while their controversial tactics may not have made them many friends among politicians, it is impossible to deny the effect that the Suffragettes had on the public consciousness, using their commitment and determination to force women’s suffrage to the forefront of political and social discussion. Without them, we would not be where we are today!

An extract from Ethel Wedgwood’s 1906 diary (UGSD188) Special Collections and Archives, Keele University Library

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Further information on downloading your Notes from MyiLibrary’s (Coutts) ebooks




Downloading Your Notes from MyiLibrary’s (Coutts) ebooks

All ebooks from the MyiLibrary platform will be migrating to ProQuest’s Ebook Central soon, but any notes you’ve saved won’t go with them!

You can download any notes you’ve saved using ebooks through MyiLibrary, but you need to log-in to your MyiLibrary account first.

Open up a MyiLibrary (Coutts) ebook and click on My Account then login with the username and password you used when creating the account.
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You can access your notes from the main menu or from the Personalised Links when you first log-in to your account by clicking on “Notes”.







Just check the box next to the notes you want to download then click “Email Selected” and your notes will be sent straight to your inbox.



Or you can print the notes out by checking the boxes and clicking “Print Selected” then clicking “Print this page” to send it to your printer.













Tuesday, March 20, 2018

How to save your MyiLibrary ebook notes before the migration to Ebook Central in April 2018



How to preserve your MyiLibrary notes

ProQuest, the new owner of MyiLibrary is about to migrate the ebooks to their Ebook Central platform, but if you used the bookmarking and highlighting features on MyiLibrary, you will lose those indications in your ebooks after the upgrade. However, your notes can be preserved in books you’ve read online (not in books you’ve downloaded).

Here’s how to preserve notes before your library upgrades to Ebook Central
(instructions from ProQuest) available at:
https://www.keele.ac.uk/media/keeleuniversity/academicservices/library/pdfs/saving-myilibrary-notes-before-upgrade.pdf

Step 1: Log in to MyiLibrary.

Step 2: Select “My Account” at the top of the home page, then “Notes” from the drop-down menu. You will see the list of books that have annotated notes.




Step 3: Select the titles from which you want to preserve your notes.

Step 4: Choose to either print your notes or email them to yourself. If you choose to email your notes, you will receive an HTML-based message from notes@ingramdigital.com that includes the book titles, the page numbers associated with your notes, and the note titles. Also included will be a link to each note page in MyiLibrary, although these links will not be valid once the Ebook Central upgrade is complete.

Sample Notes Email:

Monday, March 19, 2018

Problems accessing Wiley Online off-campus

We have been made aware that accessing Wiley Online ejournals from off-campus is currently bringing up an error page. We have notified Wiley Online technical support and hope that the problem will be fixed soon.
Access is working on-campus but please let us know if you are having trouble getting hold of an article.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Tom's Archive Work Placement Blog

My name is Tom Williams, I’m a second year History student here at Keele, and currently undertaking a work placement in the University’s Special Collections and Archives. Just recently, a Second World War-era NAAFI cup was received by the Archives, having been discovered beneath Keele campus in the midst of works to install district heating pipework along Central Drive. I’ve been researching this remnant of Keele’s history and learning more about Keele’s wartime past.

Keele Hall and the surrounding estate were requisitioned by the military during World War II, with a temporary camp being built for British (and sometimes American) troops, notably those recently evacuated from Dunkirk. According to one Philip Higson, a man who spent much of his childhood in Keele, war had never seemed such a genuine reality until the arrival of a host of ‘gum-chewing’ and ‘cigar-smoking’ American soldiers into the Keele area in 1944.

During the war, the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) provided canteens, shops and other facilities for the British Armed Forces on military bases across the country, including the camp at Keele. NAAFI crockery was mass produced during wartime and this cup was possibly manufactured by local company ‘Wood & Sons’ of Burslem.





When the Stoke-on-Trent Corporation purchased Keele Hall and its surrounding estate in 1948, it was faced with the task of finding uses for the multitude of buildings and huts left by its wartime occupants. With the establishment of the University College, many of the huts were converted into student accommodation, whilst other buildings were repurposed as the Students’ Union, Refectory and Chapel. The superior American barracks huts remained in active use on campus for four decades.

It is amazing to see reminders of our unique history still being discovered around campus to this day, who knows what else could be hidden!



Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Repo the Rewards of Open Access

You can search for over 4000 open access journal articles through Keele's Research Repository that have been submitted by researchers here at Keele.  And there are more articles being submitted all the time in preparation for the next Research Excellence Framework.

Making your research open access allows more people to view, access, share and build on your work, so if you've made a discovery like Frederick here and it's going to be published in a journal, please make sure you also self-archive it to the Publications Database as soon as you've had the article accepted (or at least within 12 weeks after!) and it will be part of the next REF.


Monday, March 12, 2018

Compounded!

Continuing our celebration of British Science Week, we're looking at Reaxys, which is a great resource for putting together your own chemical reactions.

You can retrieve precise and accurate property, reaction and synthesis data from a collection of peer-reviewed literature, patents and substance databases.

Take a look at the video tutorials or the Quick Start Guide to help you get started in creating chemical compounds.



Friday, March 9, 2018

It's British Science Week!

British Science Week is underway and between Friday 9th and Sunday 18th March, we'll be showcasing some of the great science resources available from the Library. Starting today with GeoBase

This is an ideal resource if you're studying the Earth Sciences and is a multidisciplinary database providing journal articles on areas such as: human and physical geography, geology, environmental sciences, ecology, oceanography, geomechanics, alternative energy sources, pollution, waste management and nature conservation.

Take a look at our Quick Guide to GeoBase to get you started with searching.