Monday 30 November 2009

Referencing resources

Students sometimes, understandably, struggle with referencing their sources. The referencing aspect of our library classes is very popular and basically we could run entirely classes on this subject. This post will look at some resources available to assist you with referencing:
Books: The library contains a fair number of books on referencing, most of which can be found starting with Dewey number 808. Clicking this will find most of them
Guides: There are a number of guides - on the library website - and elsewhere on referencing conventions. Here's the library guide to referencing, and here's a couple of podcasts on Harvard and APA referencing we created ourselves. Externally, most academic library sites have referencing guides, but we have long recommended those of Curtin University, Australia for their completeness. We also recommend the referencing section of The APA cribsheet for APA referencing guidelines.
Reference Generators: You can do pretty much anything online these days, so why not generate your references online too? Bibme is an automated reference generator for APA, MLA, Chicago and Turabian formats. Free registration allows you to create and save entire bibliographies online. Harvard format reference generated has been promised for a while now but has not yet appeared. A similar service is provided by Easybib, which only offers free trials to students. Similar to Easybib is Noodlebib which allows you to create a couple of citations for free. None of these support Harvard referencing, but you can create Harvard citations using Neil's Toolbox Harvard Reference Generator The Neil's Toolbox site looks quite interesting, including as it does a Plagiarism Tester and something called a "Lazy Researcher"
The library also recommends Zotero a fantastic add-on for the Firefox web browser. What do you mean you don't use Firefox? Zotero is a web-based reference management system akin to EndNote and Reference Manager (except that it's free). On similar lines to Zotero, except that it's not a Firebox add-on is Connotea
No matter what you do and what you use. Note the following:
1. Always cite your sources
2. Don't get bogged down in trivialities pertaining to punctuation or font styles. The bottom line, and the rationale for referencing, is: can the reader easily retrieve material that you reference?
3. Be consistent - adopt a style and stick with it; you may lose marks if your referencing jumps between formats.

Library Classes: Reminder

Just a reminder that there are no library classes this week. Normal service will be resumed next week

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Repost: Emerald and 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. If you clicked the link above, you'd see it's one of many Emerald products. One of these, Emerald Backfiles, appears 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.

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.

Win a €100 HMV Voucher!

Or to be more strictly accurate, enter a draw to win a €100 HMV voucher. How do you enter the draw. Simply take 10 minutes to participate in this year's library survey. This is your chance to let us know what you think of the library. Click here to participate

Circulation Rule Changes

I forgot to say that we have a made a couple of wee changes to our rules about borrowing books which may please you:
The maximum number of standard loan renewals has been increased to 12
Week Loan books can be now renewed (up to 12 times)
Week Loan books are now reservable.

A small caveat - these rules only apply on our Library Management System to books borrowed or reserved after we made the change. Thus, if you borrowed a book four weeks ago and have renewed twice already, you won't be able to renew it again because the old rules were in operation when you first borrowed the book.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

New content on Business Source Complete

Business Source Complete now includes a business video collection with 55 videos from the Harvard Business School Faculty Seminar Series,
The series features engaging (or so it says here) video lectures from renowned professors and experts at the Harvard Business School. All lectures are captured from executive education programs, and offer ideas, research, and practical advice on management issues.
The videos contain a table of content allowing the selection of a specific topic. Most lectures provide a transcript in PDF format.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

The mobile EBSCO

EBSCOHost databases (which include Academic Search & Business Source Complete, PEP Archive, PsycArticles and PsycInfo) are now available on your mobile phone. Point your phone at
http://m.ebscohost.com or
http://search.ebscohost.mobi/
You will need a user name and password which can be obtained from library staff.
EBSCO Mobile includes basic and advanced searching, html and pdf full-text and search limiting. You can also email both articles and results. Javascript must be enabled on your phone for all this to work.
EBSCOhost Mobile has been tested on several devices and also underwent a Beta period that solicited customer feedback on many unique devices. Although, it has not been tested on all mobile devices available in the market it has been quality certified on the most popular smartphones including:

* BlackBerry
* Dell Axiom
* iPhone
* Palm 750

Thursday 5 November 2009

Dissertations Online

As part of a pilot project we're doing. A small number of student dissertations are now available to read online via the online library catalogue. This link will show you what is currently available. Told you it was a very small number, didn't I? More will be put online as they become available, after gaining consent and such like.

Tuesday 3 November 2009

FirstLaw (Ireland)

I'm also pleased to say that FirstLaw (Ireland) is now available to be searched in EBSCOHost Integrated Search (EHIS). Don't forget EHIS is going to be our new 'Search All Resources' once we have a few more databases ready. You can find EHIS at the bottom of the 'Search All Resources' page after you login.

WebFeat ("Search All Resources") logins

I'm pleased to say that all students registered up until the 25th October should now be able to login to WebFeat ("Search All Resources") with their student number and date of birth. If your date of birth doesn't work, try your student number as your password. If your student number begins 00... only enter non-zero digits. Thanks for your patience.

Monday 2 November 2009

Coming soon: ft.com off-campus

One of the reasons we are switching from WebFeat ("Search All Resources") to EBSCOHost Integrated Search (EHIS), is that more databases can be searched through EHIS. A beneficial side effect of this is that it means more databases are accessible off-campus. Encyclopaedia Britannica is now available off-campus (via EHIS) and I'm very pleased to say that very soon you'll be able to read the Financial Times off-campus too, again via EHIS. We'll let you know when it's available. Still waiting on a few other databases though, which is why EHIS is buried deep in the bowels of WebFeat