Tuesday 23 September 2008

Federated searching in the library

According to the handbook for Library Trustees of New York State, federated searching is "ability to search several subscription databases simultaneously or to search a database, OPAC or the Web and some combination simultaneously". The library has recently purchased WebFeat, a federated search program that allows you to simultaneously search DBS and Portobello library catalogues and most of the subscribed electronic resources that we have. Thus for example, business students can search Emerald and EBSCO at the same time, while arts students can search Psycinfo and Psycarticles at the same time.

The WebFeat search portal also acts as a links page for nearly all of our subscribed resources. Note that off-campus, the usual usernames and passwords for electronic resources apply. Note also that Westlaw.ie does not yet work off-campus.

WebFeat can be accessed by clicking the "search all resources" link on the library home page. You will need a username and password (the same one as for logging into college PCs) to access WebFeat.

Friday 19 September 2008

Due dates and reminder messages

Last year some students, usually in the process of paying a fine, asked if they could be reminded when the due date of their loans approached. At the time, the sheer logistics of the exercise prevented us from doing so. However, the implementation of DBS student e-mail means that we are now in a position to send gentle reminders to students whose loans are approaching their due date.

Starting very shortly we will be sending reminder e-mails to students whose books are due back in the library three days from the date the e-mail is sent. The reminder message will be sent to your DBS student e-mail address. If you would prefer the message to be sent to another e-mail address, please ask library staff.

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Library PC access and printing

Over the summer changes have been made to the way students login in to PCs in the library and indeed the wider college campus. Instead of using "student" or "internet" to login, students should now use their student number and date of birth (in dd/mm/yyyy format). It should go without saying that you should log off after you finish your session. If you cannot login, (and are a DBS registered student for academic year 2008-2009) give your name, student number and date of birth to library staff. If you are not registered for 2008-2009, you should consider why you are in the library in the first instance. In time, the "student" and "internet" logins will be withdrawn.

We have changed, and hopefully substantially improved our print management system. We are now using a system named Papercut. You will be able to access your Papercut account once you have logged in with your user name and student number. All students have been given €2.00 free credit. You may now see the importance of logging off after you finish your computer session: if you don't log off, someone else will be able to print from your account. Top-up vouchers can be purchased at the library issue desk.

Thursday 11 September 2008

Searching the Library Catalogue

There are two new search options in the library catalogue.

In the advanced search option of the Library Catalogue, you can now narrow your search by site. In the drop down box under 'field', by selecting 'site', you can look for material located at either Dame St. or Aungier St. By typing "DAM" in the 'site' field, you can restrict your search to material held in the Dame St. library. By typing 'AUN' in the 'site' field, you can restrict your search to material held in the Aungier St. library. Note that if material is held in both libraries, this will appear in your searh results, even if you have searched one location.

In addition, 'dissertation' has been added as a media type. This means you can restrict your search to theses and dissertations held in DBS libraries. For example type 'depression' (all fields) and dissertation (medium) to find all theses relating to depression. By adding 'AUN' (site), you will find all depression related dissertations held in the Aungier St. library.

Wednesday 10 September 2008

New library website

The library has a new and revamped website available. The link on the DBS website should now take you there. In addition to the content from the old site, there are now tutorials on a variety of library relevant subjects (such as how to search the catalogue) and audio tours of the two DBS libraries