Potential problems placing holds through WorldCatLocal

Following the recent changes to the library system it may not be possible in some cases to place holds on books via the catalogue. If you experience a problem, try searching for the item you require in the old catalogue and place a hold from there. The problem will be rectified next week following a full return to work. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Maintenance work on Library system is now complete

The maintenance work has now been completed successfully, and all systems are up and running. Please let us know if you encounter any problems.

Wireless problems resolved

The wireless network should now be back to normal. Please let us know if you are still having problems.

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For up-to-the-minute information on IT issues at York St. John, you can always check our "Traffic Lights".

Changes to due dates over Christmas vacation

All 28-day loan items are currently being issued until 13th Jan. Due dates for 7-day items will change on Friday 2nd Dec.

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28 day loan items

Between Friday 18 November and Thursday 1 December, 28 day loan items will be issued with a due date of 16 December.

From Friday 2 December until 16 December, 28 day loan items will be issued with a due date of Friday 13 January, 2012.

We will revert back to 28 day loan borrowing on Saturday 17 December.

Seven day loan items

On Friday 9 December, 7 day loan items will be issued until Friday 13 January, 2012.

The due date will revert back to 7 day loan borrowing on Friday 6 January, 2012

WorldCat library catalogue downtime 20th November

The WorldCat online catalogue will be upgraded on Sunday 20th November, between 6am and 1pm. The old catalogue will still be available at this time.

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This work was originally due to take place on 13th November, but has been pushed back by a week. The upgrade will improve functionality in a number of areas, including A-Z searching of journal titles, navigation (using the back button to return to search results will no longer clear filters you've applied), and linking of online resources.

We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause, but hope that the results will be something that we can all share and enjoy.

SocIndex available to library users

Online access to Sociological Index, with more than 2.1 million records and full-text for over 860 journals, is now available.
***
Click http://library.yorksj.ac.uk/db/ebscohost/SocIndex for access.

Difficulties accessing SwetsWise online journals off-campus

We are aware that there is an issue with off-campus access to some online journals via the SwetsWise service. We are working on resolving this, but for now you should be able to use the following work-around:

When clicking on the link in the online catalogue, you might be taken to a page with a web address looking like this:

http://www.swetswise.com/eAccess/viewTitleIssues.do?titleID=71902

This URL will be accessible from on-campus, but will need to be modified for off-campus, so it looks like:

http://www.swetswise.com.ezproxy.yorksj.ac.uk/eAccess/viewTitleIssues.do?titleID=71902

You will be taken to a log-in screen, and should then be connected to the SwetsWise site via our EZProxy server (which will make it look like you are on site). However, you may be directed to a login page. If so, simply click "IP Authentication" in the top-right, and you should be taken to your journal:

Please contact libraryqueries@yorksj.ac.uk if you continue to have problems.

Access to Internet Archaeology Online Journal

We have arranged full-text access to the Internet Archaeology eJournal for York St. John staff and students.

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Short link: http://library.yorksj.ac.uk/db/IntArch.

Internet Archaeology is the first fully refereed e-journal for archaeology and publishes articles of a high academic standing which utilise the potential of electronic publication. Internet Archaeology is hosted by the Department of Archaeology at the University of York and published by the Council for British Archaeology. Internet Archaeology has been publishing on the web since 1996 and aims to provide new ways of presenting and engaging with archaeological research. Articles make use of the potential of the medium to present archaeological research, including video, audio, searchable data sets, full-colour images, visualisations, animations and interactive mapping.

Please note that, when you perform a search, a link to "Buy this article" will be displayed by many of the articles. Free full-text access will still be available, so long as you are onsite or access the journal via our EZProxy URL (http://intarch.ac.uk.ezproxy.yorksj.ac.uk/...) - just click on the article title.

EbscoHost online journals - mobile access

Search Ebsco databases and read journal articles on the go, on or off campus! Short link: http://library.yorksj.ac.uk/db/ebscohost/mobile (login required)
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Click on the link, or scan the QR code below, to go to the site.

WorldCat maintenance - Sunday 23rd Oct.

WorldCat will be unavailable between 7 and 11am this Sunday, due to planned maintenance. The old library catalogue will still be available at this time.
***
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Problem with the library catalogue RESOLVED

OCLC have informed us that the problems with the Worldcat catalogue are now resolved.
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IT rooms and Ground Floor open 24/7

Are you aware that you can use IT facilities and the Quick Access Collection in Fountains Learning Centre, even when the library is closed?

Click here for the current library opening hours.

Reminder: Please renew or return items borrowed over the summer.

If you took items out over the summer, they will have been issued until 14th October. Please remember to renew or return them before then.

Dawson eBooks in IE9 workaround

If you are using Internet Explorer 9, you will need to select compatibility mode to use Dawson and some other sites.
***
IE9 has a bug when viewing Dawson eBooks, where navigation from one page to another does not work properly. To fix it, click on the compatibility view icon. An alternative option is to use a different browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome.

OT and Physio book stall coming to Fountains

On Thursday 29th September and Tuesday 4th October, Blackwells will be running a book stall for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy students in the Learning Centre.

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The stall will be located on the ground floor, near the Self Service area. It will be open 10:30-2:30 on the 29th, and 11-2 on the 4th.

Having difficulty finding your way around?

Follow the "finding my way around" link from the Library home page to our virtual tour - http://library.yorksj.ac.uk/virtualtour

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Where to find help in the learning centre

If you would like assistance, either come to Question Point on the ground floor, or approach a member of staff on the first or second.

Reading lists on WorldCat proving popular

"Education ebooks" accessed over 2,000 times, while "1OT440 Analysing Movement" viewed 260 times this week. Find your list in your course modules on Moodle.

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RESOLVED: Workaround for Athens authentication

UPDATED: This issue is now resolved, access to Athens authenticated resources is now active again.

If unable to access resources using Athens authentication, the following may help:

Go to the MyAthens website at http://auth.athensams.net/my/ and use the alternative login.

Go to York St John University in the list of Universities.

You then will have access to a resource list and Dawson books.

Update 13.40 Friday:

This link takes you more directly to the Athens alternative logon, and then should redirect to the list of resources. Could you add a comment to let us know if this works for you, please?

We have also updated the "YSJ students and staff: continue your search" link from the off-campus view of the library home page, to use the alternative login. This does work, though occasionally you will see a blank page, and need to refresh the page in the browser in order to get your search results.

Returning students

If you've been keeping up with the news on Project Fountains, or have been in to the Learning Centre over the summer you'll know that there are major changes to the layout of each floor and the bookstock. In particular, the shelving has been rearranged so the books relating to your subject may be in a different location to previously. Also there have been changes to the Self Service arrangements. You can now issue and return items 24/7 using the self-issue and return machines. Also the pick up for holds is now self-service and adjacent to the issue/return machines, to the left of the main entrance. There is information on how to collect and issue your holds. The ground floor will be accessible 24 hours a day, and features open-access PCs, print journals and a collection of quick-access key texts. You will also be able to speak to staff at the Question Point, during staffed hours, as well as get help from the roving staff on the other floors.
We welcome you to the newly refurbished Fountains Learning Centre and encourage your feedback, either electronically via Twitter (@YSJLibrary) or Facebook (Friends of Fountains). Alternatively there is a comments wall on the first floor where you can write up any feedback.

Issue with Athens authentication

Currently electronic resources that use Athens authentication are inaccessible. You will receive a message about the authentication timing out. We have contacted Eduserv regarding this and hope for a speedy resolution. Please continue trying the service as any resources that use EZproxy authentication will work.

Where to find your book

Many items have been moved to new locations in the library. Please ask at the ground floor Question Point, if you need to know more.

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The Key locations are:

Ground floor

Journals, and a collection of quick-access and reference texts is located in the old stack opposite the Yorkshire Film Archive.

First floor

Class Number range	Location	Subjects covered
001-302.1	Angled shelves facing towards the open area.	Computing and information sciences, philosophyn and religion
302.2-368.5	Along wall, starting near the quiet study room.	Social sciences, politics, economics and law
370-649 and oversize	Behind 001-302 shelving.	Education, folklore, languages, science and technology
School library collection	Against wall, by 370-649 shelving.	Books for use in schools.

Second floor

Class Number range	Location	Subjects covered
650-942	Behind rotary shelving	Technology, management, arts, geography and ancient history
800-899	Rotary shelving in open area	English and world literature
942-997	Against wall, near 650-942 collection	History
Audio-visual resources	Round corner from the languages resource centre	DVD and audio resources

Follow York St. John Library on Twitter

You can keep up-to-date with Library news by following @YSJLibrary at twitter.com.

Ground Floor re-opens Monday 19th September

The ground floor of the Learning Centre will be re-opening at 9am on Monday 19th September, the first day of Welcome Week. The ground floor will be accessible 24 hours a day, and features open-access PCs, self-service holds, print journals and a collection of quick-access key texts. You will also be able to speak to staff at the Question Point, during staffed hours.

Les Watson, the consultant who led the refurbishment, will be offering guided tours of the building. See here for more details.

Do you want to take a tour of the refurbished learning centre?

Les Watson, the consultant who led the refurbishment, will be conducting tours of the refurbished Fountains Learning Centre on Monday 19th and Monday 26th September. Information will be sent to Faculties and Departments on 14 September. If anyone is interested they should contact Alona Duff at a.duff@yorksj.ac.uk.

Changes to university wireless network

The way your devices connect to the campus wireless network has changed. Please ask if you need to know more.

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The university updated the wireless network on campus on Wednesday, 14th September. This means that the way your device connects to the network will change.

In order to change over, you will first need to delete the existing settings - see these instructions on removing old wireless settings. You can then re-connect to the network. See the guide to connecting your device to YSJ Wireless to find out how to do this.

If your laptop was provided by the university, and is used on the wireless network, could you please take it to ICT Services for the changeover.

ICT services would like to apologise for any inconvenience

Restricted opening hours during Welcome Week

The learning centre will only be staffed until 7pm during Welcome Week (19th-24th September). There will be 24-hour access to the ground floor and IT suites.

Week commencing the 26th, we will be moving to our new opening times, 8am-9:30pm Monday to Thursday and 8am-7pm Friday. For full details of Autumn term opening times, please see the website.

Off-campus access difficulties 5 September 2011

We are currently experiencing difficulties with our off-campus access. This is being worked on by our IT department and should be resolved soon.

Services now back to normal

The re-configuration of shelving in the library has been completed and the first and second floors are now fully accessible, including 24-hour IT rooms on the first floor.

The only exception to normal access is now print periodicals. These have been moved to their new home on the ground floor. Building work has not yet been completed there, so please ask a member of staff if you require anything from the print periodicals collection. You may want to check whether electronic copies of any journal articles are available, via our online catalogue or list of online databases.

1st September - normal service restored in most areas

Update Wednesday 21st August, 18:59

The library will be open again tomorrow, with access as normal to most areas including 24-hour IT room. There is still some finishing off to do on the first floor reconfiguration, particularly the schools library collection. Please ask staff if you need anything from these areas.

Due to the need to move stock and shelving as part of the major refurbishment of the Fountains learning centre, the library will be running a very limited service on Friday 26th August, and will be closed over the bank holiday weekend.

On Friday, there will be no open access to items within the library. We will do our best to retrieve any items you may require, but this may not be possible for all items (particularly periodicals). It would be helpful if you could search the catalogue for the item(s) you require before coming to the library. Many of our core texts and journal articles are available online in electronic format. If an etext is available, this will be shown in the item record in the catalogue (A in the diagram below), and you may find this meets your needs. If an etext is not available, please make a note of the class number(s) (B), which will help us to provide you with a speedy and efficient service.



IT rooms in the learning centre will also be unavailable during this period. Computers will be available in De Grey Court, Temple and Holgate buildings.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will re-open at 09.00 on 30 August, though there may still be some restrictions on service at this time, so please bear this in mind when planning a visit to the library. Where we were unable to retrieve any items on Friday, we can post them out when the library re-opens. If you live out of York, you may want to try calling us first on 01904 876700, to check availability.

Decorating Fountains first floor 1-17 August 2011

During the period of 1-17 August 2011, the first floor of Fountains will be undergoing decorating. Between 4-8 August this will cover the book shelves so access may be disrupted during this time, though staff will be able to advise and help during this period. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

SCORE Introduction to Open Educational Resources - part 2

<<< Part 1

The second session of the day, run by Steve Stapleton of Nottingham University's Open Nottingham project, focused on discovering OERs. As well as its own repository, Nottingham has created Xpert - a search engine dedicated to locating Open Educational Resources, as well as finding images that are available for use under free licences. They also have material hosted on YouTube and iTunesU, though Steve did warn that additional restricive licence conditions are imposed on materials on the latter platform.

OERs may be discoverable through institutional repositories, subject-specific repositories such as HumBox, or gateways such as the Open Courseware Consortium's portal. There was some discussion about the reliability of materials located on the internet, and although in many cases you are relying on trust in the site, there are some gateways which use peer review, such as MERLOT. Steve's presentation slides are available on slideshare.net, and include many useful links.

The first session of the afternoon, run by the OU's Bernie Atwell, focused on copyright. Earlier sessions had brought up the need for "open content literacy", and particularly the myth that any resource found on the internet is free for use. As a signatory to the Berne Convention, the creator of an original work in the UK automatically owns the copyright to that work. For some works, such as music, the copyright is layered, with separate rights held by artist, lyricist, composer, etc. Copyright also exists in, for example, the typographical arrangement of a book, though not in ideas, and not in a person's image.

The session focused on the Creative Commons licences which allow for free distribution and use of the material (with attribution), and may also allow for derivative works to be created. There was also coverage of processes of clearing copyright in any materials (for example, images) used in educational resources, if their licence terms (or exemptions) do not already allow for free use. However, some of the scenarios we worked through were not clear-cut, and we discussed the need to take risks at times, as well as the need often to do what is right, not do what you have a right to do.

The final session of the day covered the global OER movement, ranging from community efforts (e.g. WikiEducator and P2PU) through to large-scale projects such as TESSA (which exists to improve teacher training across sub-saharan Africa), as well as the clause included in the regulations for US department of Labour training grants, requiring all materials created to be released under a Creative Commons licence.

We also discusses strategic issues. Preparing OERs is not cost-free, and there is often a need for seed funding from governments or national/international organisations. In the UK, JISC has recently opened the phase 3 OER funding round. However, there can be great savings throught lowered costs of developing materials in collaboration with others, as well as the potential to re-use. One of the participants gave an example of a lecturer needing to prepare materials on SPSS. With the support of library staff, existing courseware was located. This had to be adapted for the course needs, but the lecturer spent only around 20% of the time that would have been needed to prepare materials from scratch. There is also the need to provide evidence of the effectiveness of the provision of OERs, relating to simple analytics of site access and downloads, through to tracking progression from use of OERs throught to registration.

SCORE Introduction to Open Educational Resources - 27 July 2011

This event, run by the Open University's Support Centre for Open Resources in Education (SCORE) was held at King's Manor in York (a rather attractive old building, that is home to the archaeology department of the University of York). Nine delegates attended, mainly from universities in the north of England.

The first session was presented by the OU's Andy Lane, who is a Senior Fellow with Score, as well as Professor of Environmental Systems. He introduced the landscape of Open Educational Resources, as well as some of the organisations backing the concept.

He quoted a definition of OERs from Stephen Downes:"Open educational resources are materials used to support education that may be freely accessed, reused, modified and shared by anyone", and outlined four dimensions of openness:

• Open Access, i.e. not hidden behind paywalls or other barriers,
  
• Open Licence, granting permissions to use, modify, distribute,
  
• Open Format, not reliant on proprietary software to access or edit, now or in the future, and
  
• Openly created (i.e. with free software tools)

Not all OERs are created explicity for education. There is much material freely, that may be used for educational purposes, but were not created with that in mind (an example may be the York Playbills Project hosted by York St. John University). However, in developing OERs, it is useful to be clear who the intended audience is. In particular, are they aimed at other educators, or directly at learners? This has implications for the level of granularity of the material, depending on whether the student is intended to be able to benefit directly from the material, or mediated via a teacher. The potential benefits of such resources at different levels include:

• for INDIVIDUALS: the opportunity to learn, share and discuss, assess opportunities and improve work performance. BUT, guidance and a structured experience is often required.
  
• for TEACHERS: to create courseware efficiently and effectively, to learn from how others teach, to collaborate, and to localise materials from other regions. BUT the technology only supports teaching.
  
• for INSTITUTIONS: to showcase, widen enrolement, lower lifetime costs and extend outreach. BUT policies and strategies that support teachers to create OERs is required.
  
• for GOVERNMENTS AND NATIONAL AGENCIES: to showcase, attract international students, help drive changes, co-operate internationally and ease development of materials in minority languages. BUT seed funding and supportive practices are required.
  

We were told that one of the pioneers in the Open Courseware movement, MIT, found that releasing the majority of their courseware online has changed the profile of applicants for their courses, including increasing the involvement of non-tradtional students through the opportunity to "try before you buy". Open courseware also helps to bridge the gap between formal and informal teaching, and gives institutions the opportunity to try out ideas, before using them with paying students. The OER movement is further forward in the U.S. than in the U.K. - MIT now has around 95% of their course materials available online, compared to the Open University's OpenLearn initiative, which currently hosts around 3% of the OU's resources, and there are currently only 3 U.K. members of the Open CourseWare Consortium. What is holding the OU back from putting all of its materials online as OERs, is partly the cost, but also the presence of third-party material in the resources, requiring copyright to be cleared before they can be released. However, the plan from now on is for all new course materials to be openly licensed.

The process of moving towards OERs has a number of stages, outlined as:

• LEGAL
• PRACTICAL
• TECHNICAL
• PEDAGOGIC
• ECONOMIC
• TRANSFORMATIVE

He reported that the OU is now at that final stage, where Open Educational Resources are transforming how they do education.

Part 2 >>>

Issues with Ebscohost databases in Google Chrome

Due to a Javascript bug in Google Chrome and some versions of Firefox, the Ebscohost databases do not function properly. To use Ebscohost databases, you will need to use a different browser such as Internet Explorer.

SCONUL users - Goldsmith college closed 12-14 July 2011

Goldsmiths College Library will be closed to readers from Tuesday 11th July
- Thursday 14th July 2011, inclusive, while the entrance is being re-modelled for the installation of RFID detectors. Staff will be available to take telephone enquiries on 020 7919 7150, 7189 or 7157 or 020
078 5355. Readers can also contact us via 'Ask a Librarian' on the library website at http://www.gold.ac.uk/library/.

Access to Music Scores collection

Please note that during the refurbishment of the Fountains Learning Centre, the Music Scores collection is currently being held off site. Unfortunately, this means that there is only limited access. If you require a music score, please let us know well in advance, so that arrangements can be made to retrieve it.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please email library@yorksj.ac.uk for further details.

Library redecoration - access to collection

From Monday 11 July 2011, sections of the first and second floors of the Fountains Building will be redecorated as part of the ongoing Fountains Project. This may lead to some books being inaccessible for a short period while the redecoration takes place. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. As the sections are redecorated, we will tweet which sections of the collection are unavailable on the library twitter account http://twitter.com/ysjlibrary, a feed for which is available on the library homepage.

If a book you wish to borrow is in the affected section, please feel free to place a hold on it and we will collect it for you asap.

WorldCat maintenance - July 10th

We have been informed by OCLC that several of their services, including the WorldCat online catalogue, will be down for scheduled maintenance between 6am and 11am British Summer Time, and there is a possibility that service will not be restored until 4pm.

The old library catalogue will not be affected by this maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

--Further details from OCLC--
On Sunday, July 10, 2011 there will be scheduled service downtime for several OCLC services(see list further below) from 1:00 am until at least 6:00 am and possibly as late as 11:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. This temporary service interruption is required so we can upgrade storage systems and capacity for all OCLC services.

This event is part of ongoing upgrades that OCLC undertakes in order to improve services for all member libraries. We are working to minimize outages in the future, and upgrades such as this will help us provide better, more robust services going forward. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes to your library.

UPDATE: Issues with access to some electronic journals

We have now reconfigured EZProxy so that it should redirect from the old informaworld.com address to tandfonline.com, with the ISSN in the correct format. Unfortunately, this is working only for the title-level links to the journals themselves, not for article links. We are working on resolving this with Worldcat.

If a particular journal article is available from another provider as well as Taylor and Francis, please use the alternative link. If you find any that are not working, and no alternative is available, please copy the full URL from your web browser's address bar and send it in an email to: libraryqueries@yorksj.ac.uk with "online journal access" in the subject.

-- Original Message--
We are currently experiencing issues with access to Taylor and Francis online journals, due to a recent change at the publisher's end. We are working on making changes in order to restore access.

If you are on a PC on the University's network, you can get access in the meantime by editing the URL. Replace the EZProxy URL with "www.tandfonline.com", and ensure that the ISSN of the journal is in the correct format (four digits, hypen, four digits). For example, the journal Cultural Trends, with the EZProxy URL of:

http://www.informaworld.com.ezproxy.yorksj.ac.uk/openurl?genre=journal&issn=09548963

... can be accessed at:

http://www.tandfonline.com/openurl?genre=journal&issn=0954-8963

We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause, and will restore normal access off-campus as soon as possible.

SCONUL access to Kingston University

Knights Park Learning Resources Centre at Kingston University has relocated to the Penrhyn Road campus from June 2011 until January 2012 while work is underway to create a new LRC on the Knights Park campus.

Knights Park LRC holds material on art, design, architecture and surveying. The majority of the stock will be available in the temporary LRC in the John Galsworthy Building on the Penrhyn Road campus ('KP@JG'), most of the remaining stock will be in Penrhyn Road LRC. The library catalogue will continue to show the location of this material as 'Knights Park.'

SCONUL users wishing to consult specific books or journals from Knights Park LRC can ring 020 8417 3355 or email library@kingston.ac.uk to confirm the availability of the material.

Learning Centre Refurbishment 3 June 2011

From 6 June to Mid-September 2011, Fountains Learning Centre is undergoing a refurbishment project (full details available on the project website http://w3.yorksj.ac.uk/project-fountains/project-fountains.aspx). During this period, the library service will continue to operate as normal, providing access to resources on the first and second floors of the Learning Centre. There may be some disruption in the week commencing 6 June when library staff will be transferring to temporary accommodation on the first and second floors but services will still be available. Please take note of directional signage.

The ground floor of the Learning Centre will be closed while works are carried out and access to the Learning Centre will be through the De Grey Court building via the first floor bridge. Book boxes will be available for return of items in the foyer of De Grey Court and will be open 24 hours a day and emptied regularly during the library service’s opening hours. Self issue and return machines will be available opposite the information desk on the first floor of the Learning Centre. There will be uninterrupted access to PCs on the first floor 24 hours per day.

Information and help will continue to be available from library staff at the information desk on the first floor of the Learning Centre during the library service’s normal opening hours at this time of year (accessible on the library webpages).

Refurbishment of Fountains Learning Centre 27.5.11

Refurbishment of the Fountains Learning Centre
6 June – 16 September 2011

Over the summer we will be working on a major transformation project to enhance the resources and environment available for study in the Fountains Learning Centre. The three floors of the library will be refurbished and adapted with significant changes taking place on the ground floor. This work is being undertaken to ensure that students have access to top-quality learning resources – and is informed by student feedback about our existing facilities and consultations with the Students’ Union, key users across the organisation and faculties.

There may be some disruption during the first week of works, but main library services will continue from the ground and then the first floor.

When planning the work schedule we have made sure that the Fountains Learning Centre remains open (Summer Term opening times), with main library services operating from the first floor. However, access to the building will be via the first floor entrance from De Grey Court – signage will be in place to assist you. Access to online resources, e-books and short term loans will continue as normal. You will also be able to take out up to 45 books for an extended loan period (to mid-October). In addition, Costa Coffee and the Fountains Lecture Theatre will be unaffected.

Inevitably, there will be some disruption but careful planning will aim to keep this to a minimum. Information about the closure of areas to allow work to take place will be posted on the Project Fountains website from 3 June as well as information points in Holgate and the Library. Please visit the website during the project so you can keep up to date with the developments. We’ll also be communicating updates via the Students’ Union website and Twitter.

The ‘new look’ Fountains Learning Centre will include:
• A new entrance
• Opening up the space to encourage flexible of use to promote different learning styles
• New seating and study areas with a mix of fixed and moveable furniture to create social learning spaces
• The Main Counter will be relocated to the heart of ground floor to deal with all library and IT queries in a more open way
• A development and improvement of the self-service facilities
• A reconfiguration of the book shelves to promote ease of use.
• An increased and enhanced IT provision

Key facts
• A £1.1 million investment
• 30 new open access PCs
• £50,000 to increase the book stock
• Extended loan period up to mid October with up to 45 books per user

If you have initial queries about the refurbishment project, please contact Siona Mackelworth, Director of Marketing, on E: s.mackelworth@yorksj.ac.uk


“We are over the moon that the University is making this investment – including £50,000 for core texts. The Fountains Learning Centre will be a lot more inviting with colour zoning and soft seating areas. The project shows that the University is not standing still and takes notice of our feedback on learning resources. There will be some disruption over the summer but the increased loan facilities should help alleviate the problems until the project is finished.”
Leigh Hankinson, President, Students’ Union


“The refurbishment of the Fountains Learning Centre will allow us to take a fresh approach to how we deliver learning resources in an invigorating and exciting new way. The focus is on enhancing flexibility, customer service, accessibility and technology support. I know that the next few weeks will provide a challenge to all those involved, but I am confident that we have the expertise and enthusiasm to ensure this project is a great success.”
Professor David Fleming, Vice Chancellor

Library catalogue unavailable 28 May 2011

Due to essential maintenance work the library catalogue system will be unavailable on 28 May 2011. This will mean that any books or journals issued on that day will have to be issued manually by library staff, so please allow time for this when visiting the library on this day.

SCONUL Access City University London

We have received the following message from City University London:

From Saturday 11 June access to study places and printed collections at City University’s main Northampton Square library will be severely restricted. This is due to a major refurbishment project taking place during the summer vacation period.

There will be no access to our printed collections in the following subject areas: Arts, Engineering & Mathematics, Health Sciences, Informatics and Social Sciences.

Our library catalogue will be updated to reflect this. Potential users are advised to consult the catalogue in advance of any planned visit to check on availability of resources.
Law, Business and Health Sciences collections at our other sites will still be accessible during this period.

It is anticipated that a normal service will be resumed and our collections will be accessible to users from Monday 8 August.

21 May 2011 - Interruption to Wiley Online Journals

From 10am on Saturday 21 May 2011 there may be interruptions in access to ejournals supplied by Wiley Online. This could go on for up to 2 hours. If you experience trouble accessing journals during this time, please try again later in the day or on Sunday.

If problems persist after Saturday, please contact libraryqueries@yorksj.ac.uk with details of the resource you are trying to access and any error messages.

SCONUL Access at Birmingham City University

We have just received the following message from Birmingham City University:

Due to exceptionally high numbers in Kenrick Library, Birmingham City University, we will not be admitting students from other institutions that are not registered with us during 24 hour opening self service hours which will last until 4th June 2011. Please inform your students. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Regards
Andrea Lambon
Assistant Director Library and Learning Resources
Birmingham City University

We would suggest that anyone applying for SCONUL Access contact the library they wish to join prior to visiting, particularly at this busy time of year.

Changes to due dates for library items over Summer

From Friday 13 May 28 and 7 day loan items will be issued until 14 October.

All student & staff profiles will be allowed to borrow 45 items. The only exceptions will be those students finishing their courses in the next couple of months and external members of the library, who are not enrolled on a course or employed by YSJU.

Please note:-

Students can only take 5 items out from the YHL.

The increase in allocation is only on 28 & 7 day loan items.

Restrictions still in place for:-

YHL
DVDs & VC i.e. 10
One day loan i.e. 5
Periodicals i.e. 5
VCP
Computer Software
Music Scores

Library catalogue downtime Sunday 15 May 2011 7-11 BST

Due to essential maintenance the library catalogue may be unavailable between 7 and 11 BST Sunday 15 May 2011. However, the old library catalogue should be available during this time and you should be able to check your library account as usual.

Past exam papers

If you would like to have a look at past exam papers for your module, you can view these electronically through the library catalogue.

To access, type exam papers in the library catalogue interface, and then click on the Past exam papers record, and follow the link to the electronic resource. You will be asked to log in with your university username and password, and can then get access to all the exam papers we have available.

If your module is missing, this unfortunately means that past exam papers are not available for that module, and you may need to ask at your Faculty Office if they have any available to view.

Netlibrary ebooks, possible disruption to services 3 May 2011

Due to system maintenance, the preview of eBooks on EBSCOhost will be unavailable from 12 through 4pm, on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. NetLibrary eBooks will become eBooks on EBSCOhost so there is some risk of disruption.

Your NetLibrary folder will be replaced by this free, versatile folder option as soon as the transition from NetLibrary to eBooks on EBSCOhost is complete. This means that items saved prior to the transition will not be saved. The My EBSCOhost folder will provide users with a wide variety of personalization options, such as the ability to save:
• Downloaded books
• Check out books
• Holds
• Notes
• Articles
• Images
• Journal Alerts
• Saved Searches
• and more!
To learn more about My EBSCOhost, download the help sheet here: http://support.ebscohost.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=3968.

Weekend opening times for library 29 April - 2 May 2011

Just a reminder that the library will be open the following times over the long weekend:

29 April 2011: 12.00-17.00 (Limited services)
30 April 2011: 12.00-17.00
1 May 2011: 14.00-19.00 (Limited services)
2 May 2011: 12.00-17.00 (Limited services)

Limited services means that the services usually offered from the information and help desk will be unavailable. During the hours the library is closed it will be possible to return books via the book boxes in the Ground Floor foyer.

While these are the opening times for the library services, the IT rooms and printing facilities on the ground floor of Fountains Learning Centre will be open 24 hours a day throughout this period.

Resolved: Library holdings not displaying in new catalogue 27 April 2011

RESOLVED, 28 April 2011 - holdings showing again.

27 April 2011, 16.55. We appear to be currently experiencing some technical difficulties with holdings information appearing in our WorldCat Local interface. If you are trying to find whereabouts in the library material is shelved, please try the old library interface instead.

Library catalogue system unavailable 8.30-9.00am, 21 April 2011

On 21 April 2011, between 8.30 and 9.00 am approximately the live system for the library catalogue will be unavailable due to essential maintenance. During this time you will be unable to place holds, renew books, check the library holdings and your library account.

RESOLVED: Technical difficulties with library account system 12 April 2011

UPDATE 12.00 12 April 2011 - The library account system is now working again.

We are currently experiencing difficulties with the library account system, which also provides the holdings information for where books and journals are shelved. The system is currently being looked into and will be returned to service asap.

We apologise for any inconvenience in the meantime.

Stuart

Newspapers database

Are you looking for a newspaper? Have you tried the Infotrac Custom Newspapers database at http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.yorksj.ac.uk/gtx/start.do?prodId=SP01&userGroupName=urjy? This resource is updated very close to publication, so articles from a newspaper may appear on the database the same day!

Possible catalogue disruption 27 Feb 2011, 5am-4pm

On Sunday, February 27 there will be a scheduled service downtime for a number of OCLC services from 4:00 am until at least 11:00 am and, at most, 4:00 pm GMT. This may lead to some disruption of library catalogue services. OCLC need to take the following services off-line in order to upgrade the storage systems and capacity for all OCLC services. During this time, the following services will be unavailable:

• ArchiveGrid
• Connexion
• Cover art display in WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local
• Digital Archive
• FirstSearch
• FTP services
• OCLC Usage Statistics
• WebDewey
• WorldCat Collection Analysis
• WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway
• WorldCat Identities
• WorldCat Resource Sharing
• WorldCat Selection
• xISSN and xISBN

However, the old library catalogue, accessible from the library homepage, should still be operational throughout.

Testing on library catalogue systems 20 Feb 2011, 7-9am

On Sunday February 20 2011 from 7:00 am until 9:00 am GMT, systems and storage testing will be run on WorldCat Local, WorldCat Navigator Group Catalog, OCLC Web-scale Management Services, WorldCat.org, WorldCat knowledge base and CONTENTdm. This presents possiblity of a small disruption to the library catalogue during this time.

Library catalogue interface unavailable Sunday 13 February 2011

OCLC will be conducting a maintenance install this Sunday, February 13, which is typically completed between 6-11 A.M., WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local will be unavailable during this time. This means that the Catalogue and CataloguePlus options on the library homepage will be unavailable. However your library account and the old catalogue interface will still be available during this time.

Stuart

Scheduled Maintenance on Eduserv Athens 25 January 2011

There will be some scheduled maintenance on the Eduserv Athens website on 25 January 2011. This could affect any services that are authenticated using OpenAthens. To check the current status of the service, go to status.openathens.net. If the service is meant to be okay and you are still having trouble accessing a resource, please contact libraryqueries@yorksj.ac.uk with details of the resource you are trying to access and the error message you receive.

[RESOLVED] Emerald Library currently unavailable

We are currently experiencing problems with Emerald Library websites meaning that electronic resources hosted here cannot, at present, be accessed.

We will update this blog when the problem has been resolved.

[20.1.2011] System downtime for Library catalogue 6.00-8.30am

On Thursday 20 January 2011 the library catalogue will be unavailable between 6.00am and 8.30am approximately. This is due to essential maintenance.

Stuart

[10.01.11] Access to resources: changes

Today, Monday 10th January 2011, we will be making some changes to the way users log in to access library resources.

These changes may result in very short term down time for specific resources. If you are unable to access a resource at any time on Monday 11th, please try again before contacting Library and Information Services.

These changes will result in visual changes to the login box. You can see a preview of the page here. Your username and password will remain the same.

We appreciate your patience as we make this transition, and encourage you to contact us on libraryqueries@yorksj.ac.uk with any feedback or comments you might have, or if you continue to experience problems after Monday 11th January.

We will post updates to this blog as we have them.

Students Union "Silence is Golden" campaign

The Students Union will be running a campaign to lower noise levels in Fountains Learning Centre. Called "Silence is Golden" it will run from Monday 10 January to Friday 21 January 2011 and members of the SU and related materials will be visible around the library during this time.

RESOLVED: Emerald Library unavailable 5 January 2011

UPDATE: The essential maintenance appears to have been completed and the Emerald Library is now available again. 16.20, 5 January 2011

The Emerald Library database is, at the time of writing, unavailable due to essential maintenance. We have contacted Emerald to find out how long this maintenance might take and will let you know as soon as they reply. In the meantime, please keep trying the resource.