Meet Dan, our Digital Training Officer Tweeting from Nov 4th to Nov 8th

Hi, I am Dan, the Digital Training Officer.

I have been working at York St John for just over a year and my principle responsibility is to promote, coach and train University staff raising their technology Skills.

If you want help with Office, Windows or most other things computer related, let me know and I will either help you or let you know where the information you need is.

You can get in touch with me via my pages on the York St John website, email me at digitaltraining@yorksj.ac.uk or tweet the ILS twitter account with your questions.

Meet Rob, one of our EIS Specialists tweeting from 28/10 to 1/11

I've been working at York St John since June 2011, initially as the "Digital Archive, Web and System Support Librarian", with responsibility for supporting the Library's digital content. However, last July I was seconded onto the IT side to support Moodle, and will shortly be moving over officially into a role as "EIS Specialist - Open Source".

For those who are not aware, "EIS" stands for "Electronic Information Systems". Our small team develops custom applications, supports systems like eVision and Moodle, and does database and server administration.

I have been working in IT and on the IT side of libraries for the last five years. I started out in Leeds City Council's Libraries and Information Service, working there for two years before moving on to spend some time working for Talis Information in Birmingham (a company which provided library management systems). Before this, I spend about sixteen years working in health and social care, but that's another story.

I am an enthusiast of free and open source software (it's not just a job), and have recently become interested in the opportunities offered by online education platforms like coursera.org and p2pu.org. Ask me anything, and I'll do my best to answer.

Meet Phill, one of our System Specialists, tweeting from 21 October - 25 October

Hello!

My job role is “systems specialist” within ILS

I primarily work in the network team administering the network infrastructure. This includes implementing new solutions, resolve any issues that may arise, identify and recommend any possible improvements.

I am Currently working on a new campus wide wireless network, this will be followed by the launch of Eduroam. I’m also working on the IPv6 deployment which is in its very early stages.

I also second desktop team with the virtual server and desktop infrastructure to provide additional support when required.

Meet Annette, Our Academic Technologies Trainer, Tweeting the 14 October to 18 October

Annette Webb is the Academic Technologies Trainer at York St John University, supporting Microsoft Office and University online systems e.g. Mahara and Moodle.

Annette provides support in Microsoft Office including Essays in Word, PowerPoint Presentations, Excel Spread sheets and YSJ online systems to all undergraduate and post-graduate students.

Annette provides 1 to 1 support via tutorial booker to tackle individual training needs from students who are complete beginners to users with more advanced skills.  She also runs regular workshops that students can book on to enhance their IT skills.  Annette also liaises with Academic Tutor’s to provide bespoke training sessions on Mahara ePortfolio system and effective bibliographies using Word tools.

Over a typical academic year over 600 students are seen on a 1:1 basis and in groups - approx 5000 individual contact hours (SCONUL measure).

In collaboration with Careers there are a series of 4 'soft skill' sessions delivered, named ‘WorkStart’ for mainly 3rd years to prepare them for the workplace.  Handouts and exercise files are provided within Moodle and they receive a certificate on completion.  This has proved very successful with an average of approx. 20 delegates per session.

Meet Katy, Academic Services Manager tweeting the w/c 7 October

I am the Academic Services Manager in ILS. I work with the Academic Technologies Trainer, the Digital Trainer for Staff and the Academic Liaison Librarians. We are the ones who work with staff and students, providing advice and help with everything from how to reference a journal article to how to format a Word document. I sit on various University Committees, including the Research Committee and take part in several working groups across the University. The part of my role I enjoy most is researching and thinking of how to work with other areas of the University and colleagues from outside the University to make sure you get the best advice and teaching from ILS that we can give.

Before I came to York St John I was an Arcadia Fellow at Wolfson College Cambridge researching and recommending ways to implement a holistic curriculum for information literacy. Great experience but remarkably like being at Unseen University (for the Pratchett fans). Prior to that I worked in FE as a Learning Resources Centre Manager, working with vocational students studying at all levels and in subjects ranging from Artist Blacksmith to Accountancy.

I was a mature student at Manchester Metropolitan University, where I gained my degree in Library and Information Management, having left a career in IT to do so. The importance of access to information freely, in the appropriate format and when it is needed is a passion of mine. For that reason I was one of the founders of the campaign group Voices for the Library (http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/) Ask me about access to information and human rights some time.

I am looking forward to sharing my working days with you but be warned, there may be MotoGP also.

Information sources affected by US Federal shutdown

EDIT (17 Oct 2013): A deal has now been reached resulting in an end to the federal shutdown. For more on this, see: http://bbc.in/1bXDdO4

- - - - - - - -

The US federal shutdown has an impact on some information sources we use.  The sources currently affected are:

• the US National Library of Medicine who maintain PubMed and Medline
• the US Department of Education who maintain ERIC
• the Library of Congress

Medline is still accessible and searchable from Discover and our databases page (http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/information-learning-services/information-learning-services/faqs-for-staff--students/where-can-i-find-databases.aspx) however, this database may not be updated as usual.

ERIC is still accessible and searchable from our databases page but access to full text material via ERIC is NOT possible during the shutdown.  Our advice is to continue to use ERIC for searching but alternative access to full-text may be found on Google Scholar.

PubMed is accessible and searchable at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed but it not being updated or maintained as usual.

There is no access to the Library of Congress website.

For further information on the US federal shutdown see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24378831

For further help and assistance please contact Information Learning Services ils@yorksj.ac.uk 

Problems viewing Dawson ebooks on IE10?

You may find that if you have a recently purchased PC or laptop which uses Internet Explorer 10 you may experience problems viewing Dawson ebooks. We advise the following:

• check which version of Internet Explorer you are using.  You can do this by click on Tools and then About Internet Explorer
• check that you have Adobe Reader installed on your PC or laptop.  If you don't have Adobe Reader you can download the latest version from: http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/.

Alternatively:

• you can use browsers such as Chrome or Firefox without downloading Adobe Reader.
• or you can download the York St John University desktop to your PC or laptop.  For further details see: http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/information-learning-services/information-learning-services/services-for-you/staff/it-support/desktop.aspx

If you are experiencing problems using Dawson ebooks on campus, on earlier versions of Internet Explorer or on Macs, android devices or iPads then please contact ils@yorksj.ac.uk.

Downtime: Wiley Online Library and The Cochrane Library

In order to complete important upgrades and improvements, Wiley – one of our e-journal suppliers here at ILS – are scheduling downtime for this Saturday 28 September 2013, between the hours of 2.00pm and 7.00pm BST. During this time, you may not be able to access materials from Wiley Online Library or The Cochrane Library.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. This will not affect any of our other library items.

Meet Dianne, our Head of Information Services tweeting this week (16-20 September)

I am the Head of Information Services, which is the customer facing side of Information Learning Services. The Information Services section comprises the Library Question Point team, IT helpdesk, Library circulation, support for all University IT hardware and software, and user support for both staff and students working and studying either on site or remotely.

I initially came to YSJ 12 years ago as Conference Operations Manager but later moved into Facilities management before becoming  Head of ICT 6 years ago.  Having just completed my MA in Leading Innovation and Change it was for my leadership rather than technical skills that I was selected for the role but I soon became absorbed with the potential that technology has to fundamentally change the way we work and study, and have a particular interest in Digital Anthropology. In my spare time I am exploring how social networking platforms such as Facebook have replaced traditional community groups, in particular those relating to faith.

When ICT and Library Services converged to become the Directorate of Information Learning Services I moved into my new role and thus have the opportunity to shape how students and staff can access our various services. My working day can involve anything from deploying the techies to sort out an urgent issue in a teaching room, to organising storytelling sessions in our School Library.

I’m also the person who provided the panda in the bamboo tree in Fountains- have you spotted it yet? 

Web of Science

Due to essential maintenance, our database Web of Science will be unavailable between 9:00 and 19:00 on the 23rd of August.  We apologise for the inconvenience.  If you experience any difficulties with Web of Science outside of those hours or with any of our other databases, please do not hesitate to contact us by email, by ringing us on 01904 876696 or by tweeting us @YSJ_ILS.

WorldCat Local withdrawn: 31 July 2013

Access to WorldCat Local was withdrawn on 31 July 2013. Please ensure that you have obtained new links for references and reading lists before this date.  For further assistance please contact the Academic Liaison Librarians:

Faculty of Arts

Lottie Alexander
l.alexander@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Education & Theology

Clare McCluskey
c.mccluskey@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Health & Life Sciences (Health & Social Care, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy)

Victoria Watt
v.watt@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Health & Life Sciences (Counselling, Psychology, Sport)

Jane Munks
j.munks@yorksj.ac.uk

YSJ Business School

Jane Munks
j.munks@yorksj.ac.uk

Doing your MA/MSc dissertation over the summer?

Remember that you can ask your Academic Liaison Librarian for help

We can show you how to improve your search techniques; give advice on advanced searching on Discover and other databases; help you to source relevant articles and papers not held at York St John; give advice on referencing.

Contact details for the Academic Liaison Librarians are as follows:

Faculty of Arts

Lottie Alexander
l.alexander@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Education & Theology

Clare McCluskey
c.mccluskey@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Health & Life Sciences (Health & Social Care, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy)

Victoria Watt
v.watt@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Health & Life Sciences (Counselling, Psychology, Sport)

Jane Munks
j.munks@yorksj.ac.uk

YSJ Business School

Jane Munks
j.munks@yorksj.ac.uk

Final year students - access to Information Learning Services

Did you know you can continue your access to Information Learning Services when your course finishes?

As soon as your course finishes you can apply for an alumni library card for £10.  The card expires after 18 months and allows you to borrow up to 15 items from the library collections.

If you want to apply for an alumni card just pop in to see the staff at Question Point with 2 passport photos and some ID.

Noise disruption on the 8 August

Due to some building work occurring in Fountains, there may be some noise disruption on Thursday, 8 August.  If you need to find a quiet place to study, please speak to one of the staff at Question Point and they will be able to direct you to other available spaces.

Pending downtime - 31 July

It's just that time of year...

As you may already be aware, we've scheduled essential maintenance to take place throughout the day on Wednesday 7th August, affecting our library management system. This is still going ahead as planned - for more information on how this affects our services, please check this post.

Downtime for maintenance has now also been scheduled to take place next Wednesday, the 31st July. Rather than all day, however, this will only affect certain periods throughout the day.

From 9am-12noon, we'll be performing a critical upgrade to our web server, meaning that both the library's web pages and our search tool Discover will be unavailable during this time. If you're on campus, then you can still search for items in the catalogue - just drop in at Question Point and talk to a member of staff. This particular upgrade will now take place at a later date, anticipated to be Wednesday 14 August. We'll be posting with more details soon. (Edited 30 July, 6.18 pm)

That evening, from 10pm-12midnight, the library management system will become unavailable - this will affect services similarly to the maintenance scheduled for 7th August. Our website will be available, as will Discover - however, search results in Discover will not display the physical items that we hold here in the library.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with us using any of the usual channels of communication. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Library System Upgrade: 7 August

Due to essential maintenance the library management system will not be available on 7 August 2013, and may potentially also affect the morning of 8 August.  You will still be able to search Discover, but local holdings will not display, so you will not be able to  see if items are available on the shelves.  You will be able to borrow and return items as normal but renewals cannot be made, nor holds placed.  Please be aware of this if you are intending to visit in person on this date.  We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Get more content from Google Scholar

What is Google Scholar?

Google Scholar is a web search engine that allows you to search for scholarly literature across a broad range of subjects and sources.  It doesn't index everything as not all publishers have agreed access to their content.  A great deal of content is still only available through the electronic publications and databases to which Information Learning Services subscribes - all of these can be found through the Discover search tool on the Information Learning Services website. 

Linking Google Scholar and Discover

Google Scholar can be linked to Discover which allows seamless full text access to online journal articles subscribed to by Information Learning Services.  This means that you will have access to far more full text content than you would normally.  Just follow these steps:

•  Go to GoogleScholar and click on the settings link
• Look for and click on the Library Links option
• Type YSJ into the search box, select York St John University – Get it @YSJ and click on Save

Now carry out a search as normal on Google Scholar and look for the Get it @ YSJ links.  Get it @ YSJ will take you to the full text of the article through Discover.  You may need to log on to Discover the first time you click on a Get it @ YSJ link.  

Get ahead.....

....and get ready for the next academic year

Take 20 minutes to prepare at one of our Discover bite-size sessions:

20 May at 11 am in DG127

23 May at 2.30pm in DG121

28 May at 3.30pm in DG120

30 May at 10am in DG120

Help printing and copying e-books

If you need help with printing or copying e-books then you may find one of the following videos useful:

• How do I print from an ebook? http://youtu.be/RjMvrEknQ2o
• How do I copy from an ebook? http://youtu.be/m41-nbUOCCM

If you need further assistance please contact your Academic Liaison Librarian:

Faculty of Arts
Lottie Alexander e: l.alexander@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Education & Theology
Clare McCluskey e: c.mccluskey@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Health & Life Sciences (Health & Social Care, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy)
Victoria Watt e: v.watt@yorksj.ac.uk

Faculty of Health & Life Sciences ( Counselling, Psychology, Sport)
Jane Munks e: j.munks@yorksj.ac.uk

YSJ Business School
Jane Munks e: j.munks@yorksj.ac.uk

Reading e-books

You may have noticed that the web pages for some of our e-books look a little different.  If you want to read the full text of the e-book you need click on: