Happy holidays & some festive reading and viewing suggestions from the library

Just a reminder that our festive shut down begins today at 1pm. We will reopen on Sunday January 4th at 11 am (until 5) for those students who have exams that week.

We are back to regular hours (9.30am-10pm) on MONDAY 5th January.

Remember that you can still check your account online using your library PIN to renew and reserve books and check due dates. You can also still access all of the library's electronic resources by logging in through the 'search all resources' button.

If however, like us, you plan to take advantage of the holidays to take a well earned break from work and study here are a few suggestions from the library staff of some of our favourite festive films, poems books and stories.

'Its a wonderful Life' (film) Frank Capra (1946)
Frank Capra's film has become a Christmas viewing staple. Everyman George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is brought back from the brink of suicide on Christmas eve by angel-in-training Clarence who shows him what life would have been like for his family and friends had he never been born. Witnessing the terrible fates of his loved ones in a world where he does not exist George comes to realize that his life and choices have influenced the fates of everyone in the little town of Bedford falls.
We'll even forgive this film for the fact that the awful fate which befalls George's wife Mary (Donna Reid) is becoming a spinster librarian - truly a nightmare vision!

The night before Christmas (a visit from st. Nicholas) (Poem) Clement Clarke Moore (1822)
Every child's Christmas bedtime story and introduction to the names of all the reindeer. This poem is also largely responsible for small children's image of Santa (St Nicholas) as a fur trimmed human trifle with a 'little round belly/ that shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly'

Scrooged Richard Donner (film) 1988
A retelling of the Dickens classic in which Bill Murray is brilliantly cast as the cynical 1980's scrooge who is shown the error of his ways by the ghosts of Christmas past (played by ex New York Doll David Johansen) present and future.

The Junky's Christmas (short story, animation) William S Burroughs.
This might not seem like the usual jolly festive fare - and its not. That said 'The Junky's Christmas', Burroughs' short story which originally appeared in his collection Interzone has all the makings of an alternative festive heart warmer. Junky Danny trawls the mean streets in search of a fix. Through an act of kindness he is redeemed and granted the immaculate fix. This short story appears, as narrated by the gravel voiced Burroughs himself on Spare Ass Annie and other tales (1993) accompanied by some funky drum and bass courtesy of the Disposable heros of Hipopracy and was also made into a claymation animation produced by Francis Ford Coppola.

Some of our other festive favourites...

'Fanny & Alexander' (film) Ingmar Bergman (1982) Emilie's favourite movie featuring Christmas. Available in DBS library DVD 105

'The Nightmare before Christmas' (film) Tim Burton (1993) Marie O' Dwyer's pick. Tim Burton brings his own unique vision this christmas tale and it has some great songs too.

Gremlins (film) Joe Dante (1984) little green monsters invade a small town at Christmas - whats not to like!


-We hope all the students and staff of DBS have a peaceful and relaxing festive season and wish you a very Happy New Year!

Facebook again

The library facebook page changed address. You can be friends with Library, Dublin Business School if I have the link correct. Isn't social networking wonderful?

Facebook travails

Apologies to our increasing number of Facebook friends, but we are experiencing some technical difficulties with the page. We hope to have access restored soon. Thanks for your patience!

Exams papers on Moodle

Save time - access past exam papers on Moodle

The vast majority of past exam papers are now accessible on Moodle.
To access, login to Moodle, scroll down to 'Exams', then scroll down to the relevant department (ie Undergraduate arts, Undergraduate business..) and click on the year you want.

Papers not yet available on Moodle should be accessible before the Summer exam sessions.

New features on MINTEL

Want to find reports on Tourism In Ireland, Bottled water sales in France, Energy consumption in Australia, Chocolate and confectionary in the UK, Cough and cold remedies in the US? These and a whole host of other industry and region specific market research reports are now available with a new addition to MINTEL reports called 'snapshots'.

We are currently running trial access to this new feature on MINTEL and would like your feedback on whether you think it is a valuable addition.
Remember if you dont access these trials or give us your feedback on new features, we may not have any real data to inform our decision to subscribe or not. So if you access 'Snapshots' reports and like them - please let us know.

- Please note that due to a problem with the Mintel database and our default settings on library PC's, it cannot be accessed on campus while using internet explorer as your internet browser. To access, log onto the net using Mozilla firefox as your browser. To access Mintel off campus login through the 'search all resources' button with your student number and date of birth then scroll down and click the link to Mintel.

Make friends with DBS library on Facebook

You can now stay in touch with developments at DBS library on Facebook.

Become a friend of the library by visiting our Facebook page -HERE

Lending policy

To clarify some points about lending at DBS:

• Books reserved by other students cannot be renewed
• Overdue books may not be renewed. Overdue books must be returned to the library and any fines cleared before books can be reissued.
• Short loan and week loan books cannot be renewed.

Students should make them themselves familiar with the rules and regulations of the library. You can find copies of these in the display racks near the issue desk.

WIN A €100 HMV VOUCHER FOR TELLING THE LIBRARY WHAT YOU THINK

We know that DBS students have no problems voicing their opinions about Library services. So here's your chance to offer us your (constructive) feedback on services and be in with a chance to win a €100 HMV voucher in the process.

Fill in our annual library users survey to be entered into the draw.

Due dates and overdues

Some students don't think it's fair that they get charged for overdue books when they don't receive reminders that their books are due back or indeed email notice that their books are overdue. Life is, at times, very unfair.

It is the student's responsibility to ensure that they know when their books are due back and also the student's responsibility to return their books on their due date.

There are a number of steps you can take to discover the due date of your loans:

1) There is a date sheet near the front of the book (or rarely, at the back of the book), on which the return date is stamped. You should check that the efficient and enthusiastic library staff member who issued your books has stamped the return date here. If you have renewed your books by phone, or online, you should write the new due date on the date sheet

2) If you are using the self-issuing station, if you actively end your session, a receipt will appear. If you merely walk off with your books, your session will time out and no receipts will be issued. If, in the unusual event of no receipt being issued, you should ask a member of library staff to stamp the book for you. If you request a receipt by email and don't receive a receipt by email, please don't wait until your books are overdue before telling us that you didn't receive a receipt.

3) On, or near, the date sheet, the name, address and telephone number of the library is stamped. You can telephone the library issue desk and ask when your books are due back. For Aungier St. the issue desk telephone number is 01 417 7572. You may also ring 01 417 7594. For Dame St., the issue desk number is 01 417 8745.

4) If you have a PIN, you can look at your reader record via the online library catalogue. To acquire a PIN, contact the library, via telephone above, or by e-mail (there's an 'email the library' option on the online catalogue. With a PIN, you can see what books you have on loan, their due dates. If permissible there's even the option to renew loans

At the time of writing, DBS students have 4986 items on loan. Do you honestly expect us to check the due dates of every single item? Please try to be a little more proactive about this. Many thanks

Searching the library catalogue - what every student NEEDS to know - Final part

Here's the final part of the 'searching the DBS library catalogue' online tutorial series. Part 3 shows you how to login to view your library account details online, to renew and reserve books.

Remember these tutorials are also available on the main library site under 'library guides/library catalogues'.

Searching the library catalogue - what every student NEEDS to know - PART 2

Here is the second part of our online tutorials on 'searching the DBS Library catalogue'. This part shows you how to perform advanced searches and narrow down your search to specific sites (Aungier st or Dame st) and how to search for specific material like DVD's or Dissertations.

Searching the library catalogue - what every student NEEDS to know

It has become increasingly clear to library staff that an alarming number of students are STILL unacquainted with looking up book details and checking availability on the library catalogue.
Being able to look up bibliographic and availability details on the library catalogue is a basic skill that all third level students should have. A significant amount of traffic at the enquiry desk is taken up with students' requests to look up book availability for them. Library staff are only too happy to train students on searching the library catalogue with the assumption that, once they are familliar with catalogue searching, they can save themselves (and library staff) time by checking a books availability before they come to the library. However, there is still an unhealthy percentage of students who are unwilling to look up catalogue details for themselves.

Library staff want to be as accomodating as possible in assisting students with their book searches, however, as (we assume) all students are here to learn, we'd rather help you to help yourselves as it were. Learning how to search the catalogue and locate the library material you need is an important part of your overall learning experience while you are here at DBS. Being able to log onto the library website to check the catalogue availability details for the items you want also saves you (and us) a lot of time. Searching the shelves for a book in a library which contains over 50,000 titles over several sites is (to say the least) a not a very productive use of your library time. Learning these basic skills will also help you if you choose to study elsewhere when you have completed your studies at DBS as most academic libraries are multi site and insist that students use the catalogue to independently locate all material.

To help you get to grips with using the catalogue, in addition to print guides and guides on the library website (under 'library guides') we have produced a series of screencast online tutorials which take you through the steps in searching the library catalogue in real time. The guides show you how to perform a basic search, an advanced search and how to renew and reserve books yourself using your library catalogue PIN.

Here is the first part, with parts 2, and 3 to follow. These are also located on the main library site under 'library guides/library catalogues'

Enjoy, and most importantly...learn

Database Issues

A couple of issues have arisen with access to databases:

Lexis-Nexis: We would greatly prefer you to access Lexis-Nexis through WebFeat rather than asking for the user name and password. To access Lexis-Nexis through Webfeat, enter your search term and scroll through the list of databases, tick the box next to the Lexis-Nexis database (Butterworths or News and Business) and search. Viewing any of results will take you in to the Lexis-Nexis database itself. From there,you can search within Lexis-Nexis as if you had logged into with a username and password.

Mintel: Due to, we suspect some background technical changes made, Mintel no longer works with Internet Explorer on campus. It does work with Firefox and so we will be restoring Firefox to all student PCs in the next week or so.

Search all resources: This opens in a separate window and may be minimised, so be careful! If nothing appears to be happening, check the tabs at the bottom of the screen

Dewey Class Numbers 500-999

We recently posted some student-relevant Dewey class numbers ranging from 000-499. Here are some from 500-999

519.5 Statistics
616.8 Abnormal psychology
616.85 Disorders of personality control
616.86 Substance abuse
616.89 Mental illness
616.89 Psychotherapy
650.0072 Business research
650.1 Personal success in business
657 Accounting
657.3 Financial reporting
657.42 Cost accounting
657.45 Auditing
657.48 Financial accounting
658 Management
658.049 International business
658.054678 E-business
658.15 Financial management
658.3 Human resource management
658.3124 Employee development
658.4012 Corporate strategy
658.4038 Information management
658.404 Project management
658.45 Business communication
658.5 Operations management
658.8 Marketing
658.812 Service quality
658.827 Branding
658.83 Marketing research
658.848 International marketing
659.1 Advertising
791.43 Film studies
791.45 Television
808.042 Essay writing
808.066 Professional and technical writing
813 American fiction
823 British and Irish fiction
910 Geography and travel
940 History

Remember, if you can't find the book your looking for, why not look at another book with the same Dewey number?

Sunday Opening and Christmas closure

Its coming up to that time of year again folks and as the festive season is approaching, so too is the exam season.

To facilitate students' exam preparation, Aungier St and Dame St libraries will be open on the following Sundays from 11am - 5pm;

• Sunday December 7th
• Sunday December 14th
  
• Sunday January 4th

We will close for the Christmas holidays at 12.30pm on December 23rd and open again on January 5th.

Trial access to Computers and Applied Sciences Complete

The Library Now has Trial access to

Computers and Applied Sciences Complete

Access is available through the EBSCOhost database platform.

Computers and Applied Sciences Complete provides access to 730 full text publications covering computing theory and systems, electrical engineering and new technology.
Publications available on CASC include; AI Communications, Advances in Multimedia, Broadcast Engineering, Computational Intelligence and Communications news.
This database is a great resource for students interested in computing, database and systems design and engineering, communications and new media technology.

Our access to this trial will run until the end of the year, but we are considering adding it to our EBSCO database package in 2009. So, if you use CASC and like it, let us know as we base our decisions to purchase new resources on student and staff usage and feedback.

You can access CASC through the 'search all resources' link on the library homepage, but you may not be able to search CASC using WebFeat for a day or two yet. To access CASC, click on 'EBSCOhost Research Databases'.

Online survey feedback

Many thanks to everyone who filled in our online survey and gave us their feedback on the new look library website and our range of online features and resources.

Congratualtions to Louise Byrne who was the winner of the €50 HMV voucher.


The survey responses gave us some positive feedback on the new look library site, for example; 62.3% of respondents are able to easily find the information they need from the site. 43% of respondents are able to easily identify the section of the site in which the information they need is located. Your preferred online library features are; the Library catalogue, electronic resources (databases), Webfeat (search all resources) and the AZ journal list.

We also got some good (as well as some strange and some utterly incomprehensible) suggestions for online features you'd like the library to provide. Here are just some of them with details of whether they are feasible or not, in some cases the suggested feature is already in place;

• Exam papers online - Exam papers are now available on Moodle (at least the last 2 years should be up for each module). Just log in to Moodle and go to the exams section then select the approproate department (Arts, Business or professional)
• Book reviews - Members of library staff write reviews of recently acquired material and add these to the library's monthly newsletter which you can find under 'library information/library news'.
  
• Booking study rooms & computers online - We hope to add timetabling software to the website in the new year.
• Ask a librarian instant messaging - We aim to set up instant messaging enquiries in the new year
  

And the two best suggestions...

• Access to JSTOR - We have been working to arrange access to JSTOR for some time and it is added to our budget for next year so (fingers crossed) we should have it in place early next year
• One password to access all resources - We have been busy battling with all our electronic resource providers lately to grant access to all our resources off campus via the 'search all resources' function using your student number and date of birth. Handy as this is, our long term aim is to have 'one ring to rule them all ' and enable student access to ALL our resources (PC's, databases, ebooks, library catalogue) using a single login. We are making steps towards bringing in institutional access to all resources using Shibboleth. This is a long term project involving the IT department and the library and we hope to roll this out as soon as logistically possible.
  

Off-campus access to legal databases

After a bit of a struggle, we have secured off-campus access to Firstlaw, Justis and Westlaw. Access is through WebFeat (better known to many of you as the 'Search All Resources' link). Firstlaw remote access requires a username and password, which you can find on Webfeat. We are currently working on removing that requirement. We'll let you know if and when this happens.

Emerald and lack of full-text

Another popular query that comes up time and again goes something like this: "When I search on Emerald I always get lots of articles coming up that are abstract only. Why can't I see the full-text?" Here's the answer:

Emerald is not a single database; it's a collection of different products all gathered together and searchable via the Emerald website. We have a subscription to Emerald Management Xtra (don't you just hate that spelling of "Extra"?). If you bothered to click the link above, you'd see it's one of many Emerald products. One of these, Emerald Backfiles, is relatively new, and I think it's being promoted by Emerald. This promotion takes the form of appearing at the top of your search results. Being there, the Backfiles articles are likely to be the first articles that you click on...leading to some frustration and irritation when you see that it's abstract only, because DBS do not have a subscription to it.
Before you contact the library, consider the fact that these articles all date from at the most recent, the early to mid 1990s. It is entirely possible that there are more recent articles on your subject that appear further down the list of your search results. Emerald's marketing has worked to the extent that a DBS subscription to Emerald Backfiles is under consideration for next year

Alternatively, you can remove all articles from Emerald Backfiles, and indeed removed all non-DBS subscribed content from your searches by amending some search options. On the quick or advanced search options page, make the sure the options below are checked thus:



This should remove any articles you can't see the full-text of from your search results.

Issue Desk Relocation

Much of the issue desk traffic in the main library in Aungier Street consists of queries. It's true, honest. Queries take longer to process than simple book issues or returns. At peak times, this causes queues to build up. Queues can make students (and staff) frustrated. Frustrated students and staff don't make for a happy library environment for either.

In order to better deal with queries, and prevent queues from building up, from Monday, we will be relocating book issues and returns to the smaller issue desk in the short loan section. Turn left as you enter the library and left again. You can't miss it.

The main issue desk will be devoted to enquiries and all staff-student transactions that do not involve issuing or returning books. For example, if you are returning books and want to pay a fine, go to the short loan issue desk. If you are paying a fine for books previously returned, go to the main issue desk.

If you are short of time, why not use the self-issuing station and the book return box? Regarding the book return box however, I feel compelled to mention to a few (and only a few) of you that the book return box is a big box that you put books into, which is emptied by staff at regular intervals. We do not have a pixie in there who magically takes books off your account (we did, but he quit after being flattened by textbooks once too often ). Hence if you are returning books and want to borrow more, please use the issue desk! If you don't, you will cause delays while staff retrieve your books from the box.

We will be interested in any feedback that you may have concerning this change. Let us know if you think it works, or not.

WebFeat Password

Currently you access WebFeat with dd/mm/yy as your password. This can be a bit confusing, as elsewhere you are using dd/mm/yyyy as a password. A window of opportunity has arisen, so we are changing the WebFeat password to conform to the dd/mm/yyyy format used elsewhere. One fewer password to worry about. You may mock, but we are, albeit slowly, working on having one password for everything. You may not be a student by the time it happens, but we are going to make it happen.

To retiterate, your WebFeat password, the one you have to enter after clicking on 'search all resources' on the library home page, is changing from dd/mm/yy to dd/mm/yyyy

The generic user password has also been altered to make it 4 digits. I can't give the new password here, but you can probably guess what the first two digits are. If you can't, contact the library.

Searching the library catalogue, again

What you see and what we see on the library catalogue are pretty much the same. One difference is that we have administrator rights. One of the things administrator rights gives us is the ability to see what students are searching for in the library catalogue. It's not something we look at too often - life's too short after all, but we did look at the search log recently and were a bit surprised by what we found. Many students' searches are better suited to finding journal articles rather than books. This isn't going to work on the library catalogue. In previous years, DBS library staff would enter journal articles onto the library catalogue, in effect creating a mini-electronic resource. The electronic resources we subscribe to now are significantly better than what we had at the time when we entering articles into the catalogue. We can't compete with the multinational corporations who produce these resources and in any case we are better served answering your queries.

Anyway, here are some search tips:

Use the library catalogue to search for books. The best way to search for books, in my experience is to combine the author's surname with a meaningful word from the title, e,g, "mankiw and economics" or "scholes and strategy". If you don't know the author, enter a word from the title or the subject. Search for journals or articles elsewhere

Don't use the library catalogue as you would an electronic resource or even google (or any other search engine). Cataloguing books for the library is quite different to putting data into an electronic resource and generally speaking, we don't enter as much data -just enough to distinguish one book from another.

Keep your queries short. The longer the query, the more chance you will get no results, because there's more chance of making a mistake.

If English is not your first language, have a dictionary at hand. Also, don't use the author's name unless you know how to spell it (Decenzo, Ayckbourn)

Use the advanced search option to be more specific and at the same time, potentially limit the number of results retrieved. For example "depression" will return 102 results. Searching for "Depression" in the title returns 36 hits. Searching for "Depression" in the title and in media "dissertation" returns 6 hits.

There's an excellent guide to searching the library catalogue here

Last chance to win a €50 HMV voucher!

Just a reminder that if you haven't already filled in our online questionnaire with your feedback on and suggestions for the new library website you'd better do so before the end of this week to be in with a chance to win a €50 HMV voucher.

Just click on the link on the main page or CLICK HERE

The winner will be announced next week

Class Numbers 000-499

In an earlier posting, I described the classification system used to organise DBS library books. Here follows some relevant class numbers to DBS students:


001.42 Research methods
004-006 Computers
110 Metaphysics
120 Epistemology
150 Psychology
150.195 Psychoanalysis
150.1952 Freud
150.1954 Jung
158.7 Work psychology
160 Logic
170 Ethics
174.4 Business ethics
180 Ancient, medieval and eastern philosophy
182 Pre-Socratic philosophy
190 Modern western philosophy
300.72 Social science research
300.723 Qualitative research methods
301 Sociology and anthropology
302 Social interaction
302.23 Media studies
302.35 Organisational behaviour
305 Social groups
306 Culture and institutions
307 Communities
330 Economics
331 Industrial relations
337 International economics
338.88 Multinational businesses
340 Law
342 Constitutional law
344 Employment law
346 Business law
347 Civil law
362.29 Substance abuse
362.292 Alcohol
362.293 Narcotics
362.295 Cannabis
370.1523 Learning
371.3 Study skills
378.17 Postgraduate study skills
382 International commerce
401 Philosophy and theory of language
423 English dictionaries
428 English usage
443 French dictionaries
463 Spanish dictionaries
491.43321 Hindi dictionaries
495.1321 Chinese dictionaries

Relevant class numbers from 500-999 will follow shortly. Stay tuned!

Library PC access and printing - redux

Last month we switched over to individual logins on library, and indeed all campus student network PCs. Students now login with their student id number and their date of birth, in dd/mm/yyyy format, with the relevant information taken from our management information system. It has recently become apparent however, that some students' date of birth has been entered into our management information system in American date format, mm/dd/yyyy. Hence, if you can't login to student PCs in the library, please try entering your password in the format mm/dd/yyyy. If that doesn't help, inform a member of library staff at the issue desk, and we should have the problem rectified within 24 hours.

Getting access to e-books: a gentle reminder

The library has purchased subscriptions to a number of e-books accessible through Dawsonera. In order to view books through Dawsonera, you need a username and password. We have tried to be super efficient and have created usernames and passwords for as many students as possible. You can perhaps save yourself a little time by checking to see if your account already exists. If it doesn't, we'll make one for you, but you may have to wait up to 24 hours before we reply to you. Suppose your name is Clark Kent. There are two rules we use for creating usernames: if your name is Clark Kent
1) Join together the first name and the last name, in lower case. Hence your username would be clarkkent OR
2) Join the first initial to the first name, in lower case. Hence your username would be ckent.

Your password is always your student number

If neither option works, contact myself or Laura Rooney-Ferris

Website feature of the day

Library Blog

If you’re reading this, then you’ve already located the library blog under ‘library information’ on the home page.

The library blog is your way of keeping up to date with events in the library, not just during library week but throughout the term. We use the blog to post details of new resources, databases and trials, alert you to events in the library and generally keep up to date with library news which may be of interest to DBS students and staff.
It’s also your way of commenting on new features and services or just getting your voice across to us.

Now that you’ve located the blog…make sure to keep coming back!

Website of the day

We close out website week with a subject focus on Law.

Today's website of the day is;

Cardiff Legal Abbreviations

This site is a good place for new law students to get to grips with legal abbreviations. It provides a database of legal terminology which can be searched by the abbreviation or the title.

Some other general law sites worth exploring are...

Constitutional Law by country

LLRX –Law Library Resource Xchange

Library quote of the day

'I've been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library'

'The Great Gatsby', Ch. 3.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, American Novelist (1896-1940),

Website feature of the day

Subject Portals

Want help locating good resources in your subject area?

Located under ‘library resources/subject portals’

Library staff have compiled documents indicating reputable sources in all the subject areas covered at DBS. Subject portals let you know; the classification numbers for locating books on your subject in the library, provide links to your subject journal holdings on the A-Z and a valuable list of reputable web resources. The subject portals are a good place to get started if you are gathering information for an assignment.

Website of the day

The subject focus today is Philosophy, website of the day is...

Critical Thinking web

This site is an online resource with tutorials, guides and downloads to help students develop reasoned, logical arguments and sharpen their critical thinking skills. As the site is based out of the University of Hong Kong, it is available in Chinese as well as English

Some other useful sites worth investigating are;

Guidelines on reading Philosophy


Essay writing handbook for philosophy students

Library quote of the day

'The student has his Rome, his Florence, his whole glowing Italy, within the four walls of his library. He has in his books the ruins of an antique world and the glories of a modern one’

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American Poet (1807-1882)

Website feature of the day

Multilingual audio tours

Want to get an introduction to DBS libraries in your own language?

Located under ‘library information/audio tours’ are podcasts in; English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Mandarin and Hindi

These podcasts can be downloaded so you can take a walking tour of the library or listen on your MP3 player in your own time.

Website of the day

Saturday's feature is on Business, management and current affairs sites.

Website of the day is ...

Docuticker

Provides daily reports from Government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and public organisations. It’s archive is searchable back to 2004 and reports cover a range of sectors including; Investments, entrepreneurship, political processes, consumer issues, social & cultural issues and technology. Adding an RSS feed to Docu ticker is a good way to keep up with current affairs

Other sites worth investigating are...

Biz/ed

Management gurus

MBA Depot

MIT course materials

Silo breaker news feed

Library quote of the day

'The true University of these days is a Collection of Books'
Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist & historian (1797-1881)

Website feature of the day...Library Virtual Tour

Library Virtual Tour

Want to get an introduction to DBS libraries and their collections?

Where? - Located under 'library information/video tours' on the home page of the library site (or just click the link above)

The Library's virtual tour serves as a guide through DBS Library for current and prospective students. It provides an overview of the locations, layout, collections and services of the Library's which should help new students navigate the library and find out what is on offer there.

Take the tour now and find out what the library can offer you...

Website of the day

Today's featured subject area is Film Studies.

Website of the day is ...

FILM PHILOSOPHY MAGAZINE

Website of the academic journal Film Philosophy this site features a full text searchable archive of articles on film aesthetics and philosophy dating back to 1997. Also features book reviews and an open forum email discussion group for cinephiles eager to share their enthusiasm for film.

Some other sites worth looking at are;

David Bordwell's Cinema site

6degreesfilm

Drews script-o-rama

Daily Script

Library quote of the day

In my day the library was a wonderful place.... We didn't have visual aids and didn't have various programs...it was a sanctuary.... So I tend to think the library should remain a center of knowledge

Norman Mailer - American Novelist (1923-2007)

Librarian of the day

Benjamin Franklin (1706 -1790)

American founding father, diplomat, writer and inventor, Benjamin Franklin – now most recognisable as the face of the 100 dollar bill, was also a librarian. Though he left school at the age of 10, Franklin’s name would become eternally linked to the pursuit of personal liberty and freedom of speech. On leaving school, Franklin was apprenticed to his half brother, a printer and publisher of the New England Courant to which the young Franklin also made clandestine contributions. Franklin later acquired The Pennslyvania Gazette (around 1730) and between 1732-1757 his editorial skills and urbane writing style in the Gazette Magazine, General Magazine and the hugely successful Poor Richard’s Almanack which initiated into common usage many well known American proverbs and sayings (largely on the virtues of frugality). Such titles raised the distribution and popularity of serial publications. He would later attribute his ability to better himself to his time in the printing and publishing trade and among his achievements during this phase of life he is credited with establishing the first franchised printing shops. Eager to spread the printed word to all sections of society, Franklin established America’s first lending library and the first free public library; The Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731 which also served as the Library of Congress from the revolutionary war until 1800. Franklin served as its Librarian and then its secretary from 1746 to1757. His impact on the growth and development of libraries in America went further and he is also credited with contributing to the founding of America’s first medical library; The Pennslyvania Hospital Library, the Library of the American Philosophical Society and the University of Pennslyvania Library. He also contributed personal texts to the libraries of Harvard and Yale and at the time of his death in 1790 his personal library was said to have held 4276 volumes.

Tell us what you think - and you might win a €50 HMV voucher!

Remember to have your say on the new library website by filling in the online survey on the home page and you could be in with a chance of winning a €50 HMV voucher.

We'll use the comments and suggestions you give us to inform future development of the library's online presence...so what are you waiting for - tell us what you think!

Website feature of the day

Electronic Reading Lists


Want to see the core text books on your course and the details of their availability in the library?
Where? Located under 'Library Resources' on the library website

Electronic reading lists on the library site link directly to the course code group of core titles on the library catalogue allowing you to see all titles on your modules’ reading list at once and their availability in the library.
The reading lists indicate the codes and titles for the module (ie PSH182/PH185 Introduction to philosophy). The module code or title can be used as a search term in the advanced search function on the library catalogue to return details of all the titles on that module and links to other module reading lists these titles are recommended on.

Further details on how to search for your reading lists through the library catalogue are detailed below in the Oct 17th post titled 'reading lists on the catalogue'

Note that not e-reading lists are not yet loaded for all modules, if you module is not there please advise the library or email laura.rooney@dbs.ie with a copy of your reading list

Website of the day

Today's focus is on Psychology and Psychoanalysis

Website of the day is ...
Experimental Psychology Lab


This award winning site pioneered web based psychological experiments. Allows you to participate in and view experiments as well as providing help on conducting experiments and featuring recommended texts. The archive & history section gives an overview of completed experiments. Current experiments include: views on the US presidential election and computer game player strategies

Other useful sites are...

Scholarly psychology resources on the web
British Psychological Society - Consciousness and experimental psychology section

Classics in the history of Psychology

Library quote of the day

Libraries are as the shrines where all the relics of the ancient saints, full of true virtue, and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved and reposed

Francis BACON, English Philosopher (1561-1626)

Librarian of the day

David Hume (1711-1776)

Described by no less an authority than the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as the “most important philosopher ever to write in English” served as librarian to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh between 1752 and 1757, where he found the time to write his History of England.

Born in Edinburgh, the young David was something of a child prodigy, attending the University of Edinburgh before his 12th birthday. Rejecting a career in law, Hume spent time in England, and then France, where after many discussions with the Jesuits of La Fléche College, he wrote A Treatise of Human Nature. Although recognised today as a widely and deeply influential work, Hume himself had no illusions concerning its reception at the time stating "It fell dead-born from the press, without reaching such distinction as even to excite a murmur among the zealots". It did however attract sufficient notice to mark him as a sceptic and an atheist in a time and a place that looked unfavourably upon such attitudes. As recently as 15 years before his birth, an 18 year old Edinburgh university student named Thomas Aitkenhead was hanged for charging that Christianity, and indeed theology in general was a load of “nonsense”. Thankfully Hume was not subjected to the same fate, but his atheism denied him a number of academic positions. Instead of settling into academia, Hume accompanied his diplomat cousin on trips to France and Italy, where in 1748, Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding (later published as An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding) was written. After returning to Edinburgh in 1752, in his own words "the Faculty of Advocates chose me their Librarian, an office from which I received little or no emolument, but which gave me the command of a large library." Hume’s time as a librarian was controversial, and after pressure from “zealots” he resigned in 1757. In 1763 he moved to Paris as private secretary to the British Ambassador, where he befriended the likes of Diderot and Rousseau. The latter accompanied Hume back to England in 1766, before the friendship ended with a paranoid Rousseau accusing Hume of masterminding an international anti-Rousseau conspiracy. Hume moved back to Edinburgh in 1769 and died in 1776, not before arranging the posthumous publication of the Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, his most controversial work.

In his writings Hume questioned ideas of personal identity arguing that there is no enduring "self". He dismissed standard accounts of causality asserting that our ideas of cause and effect (falsely) come from our experience and not though reasoning. Hume argued against accepting the testimonies of seemingly miraculous events, unless the possibility of falsehood of those testimonies are even more miraculous and as a consequence, suggests the rejection of religions that are founded on such testimonies. Hume provided powerful criticisms of the standard theistic proofs for the existence of God, including the argument from design. Reinforcing his atheistic reputation, he also advocated purely secular moral theories, basing morality in the pleasing and useful consequences that result from our actions

Hume’s influence on modern philosophy cannot be understated. Among the many thinkers who acknowledge debts to Hume are Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant (another librarian!) Jeremy Bentham and Charles Darwin.

To sum up his genius here is a quote from the man himself...

“The plain consequence is (and it is a general maxim worthy of our attention), `That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish; and even in that case there is a mutual destruction of arguments, and the superior only gives us an assurance suitable to that degree of force, which remains, after deducting the inferior.' When anyone tells me, that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself, whether it be more probable, that this person should either deceive or be deceived, or that the fact, which he relates, should really have happened. I weigh the one miracle against the other; and according to the superiority, which I discover, I pronounce my decision, and always reject the greater miracle. If the falsehood of his testimony would be more miraculous, than the event which he relates; then, and not till then, can he pretend to command my belief or opinion.”

Website feature of the day

Getting Good Grades’ Online academic support

Want to know what makes a good essay, brush up on your referencing skills, prepare for exams or find out how to locate and assess information for assignments, essays or disserations?

The library’s online academic support programme ‘Getting Good Grades’ features podcasts, online tutorials, interactive quizzes and tips to help you research, write and reference your coursework.

The ‘Getting Good Grades’ section of the website aims to provide practical academic support which can be accessed anytime anywhere

‘Getting good grades’ can be accessed from the site by clicking the ‘Getting Good Grades’ icon

Website of the day

Todays sites focus on English Literature and drama

The site of the day is ...

Postcolonial & Postimperial Literature: an overview

An exhaustive overview of Postcolonial Literature broken down by author and geographical area, includes extensive listings of 20th century British writers like Anthony Burgess, Hanif Kureishi and Zadie Smith. There are also links to theoretical sections on themes, gender issues and political influences.

Some other useful sites English Literature students might like to check out are;

Brief outline of Medieval English Literature

Midsummer nights dream; annotated hypertext version

Dictionary of symbolism

English Literature on the web

Library Quote of the day

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

Argentine Poet, Novelist, short story writer and critic Jorge Luis Borges' library career began in 1937 with his appointment to the post of assistant librarian in a small Library in Buenos Aries. Borges, along with the other members of the Argentine Ultraism movement gained a reputation for radicalism and unconventionality. For his criticism of the military regime of Juan Peron (which began in 1946) Borges was removed from his library position and reassigned the job of chicken inspector. Following the fall of the Peronist regime in 1955 Borges was appointed director of the National Library of Argentina, though by now his eyesight was deteriorating rapidly. He also accepted the position of chair of English and North American Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. His literary career continued to garner him international accolades; he shared the international publishers’ for mentor prize with Samuel Beckett in 1961.

Following Juan Peron’s return to power in 1973, Borges relinquished his directorship of the National Library. Within his prolific literary output his lifelong passion for the printed word (which endured after the loss of his sight) is evident. His short story ‘The Library of Babel’ features several of his central themes; infinity, reason, scholarly pursuit and in its evocation of an infinite library has recently been seen as a prophetic statement on the internet.

Website feature of the day - Webfeat /Search all resources

Want to search across all the library’s resources at once?

Clicking the ‘search all resources’ button on the home page of the website brings you into a full list of all the library’s resources (catalogues, databases and ebooks). Enter your search terms, select a date range & the resources you want to search across to access all the library’s holdings on the topic in seconds.

Off campus Webfeat provides access to all the Library’s electronic resources. Login through the ‘search all resources’ button using your student number & date of birth to reach the list of resources & search all or select the individual database you want to browse.

Website of the day - Marketing & Market Research

Todays focus is on Marketing and market research.

Free Research

A very useful source of FREE MARKET RESEARCH reports
covering a comprehensive range of companies and industry sectors. You will need to register to receive reports, but as the name implies – its free!

Another good site is - Know This - A useful source of marketing information, tutorials and case studies

Library quote of the day

'When we run over libraries persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames; for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion'

David Hume, Scottish Philosopher

Famous Librarian of the day

Giovanni Giacomo Casanova
Writer, soldier, spy, legendary seducer... Librarian (?).
The worlds most infamous lover spent his twilight years as Librarian to the Count Von Waldstein of Bohemia taking up the role in 1785 and remaining there until his death in 1798. It was while working as Librarian to the Count that Casanova wrote his memoirs (published in 1797) which documented his amorous escapades and sealed his reputation as an erotic adventurer and the least stereotypical librarian likely to appear in this weeks list.

Website Week Trivia...Famous Librarian of the day

Philip Larkin

Original grumpy old man, English poet, novelist and Jazz critic Philip Larkin may be immortalised for a poetic output which gave us lines like ‘they f**k you up, your Mum and Dad./they may not mean to but they do’ and ‘ I work all day, and get half drunk at night’ but Philip Larkin is equally revered as a Librarian. His library career began in 1943 at Wellington Library, Shropshire and included a stint as Sub librarian of Queens University Belfast in 1950. It is the role of University of Hull Librarian which he assumed in 1955 for which he is most remembered. Among his notable achievements in this post was his decision to computerise the library’s catalogue, making Hull the first library in Europe to install the GEAC system in 1979.

Library Quote of the day

'Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark. The pleasure they give is steady, unorgastic, reliable, deep and long-lasting. In any library in the world, I am at home, unselfconscious, still and absorbed..'

Germaine Greer

Website of the day

Each day during website week we will recommend a website of the day within a specific subject area, hopefully covering the full range of subjects offered at DBS across the week.

To start off website week we're focusing on general reference sites, so there should be something here for everyone.

Todays website of the day is...

Internet Public Library
A useful reference site which acts as a complete library online covering everything from Dictionaries & encyclopaedias to subject specific collections and useful links and tips on searching the internet

Some other useful general reference sites are;

Bartleby.com (Columbia reference) - In addition to dictionaries and encyclodedias Bartleby also includes full text of classic fiction and verse as well as the famous Bartleby quotations section.

Thesaurus.com - Searchable online Thesaurus.

Citation Styles Online - Guide to referencing and citation styles.

Intute virtual training suite - Online training to help you navigate and assess internet sources.