Issue 3, April 2009
Welcome message from Chris Banks, University Librarian
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Welcome to the third issue of HeadLines. This issue brings you the latest news about the new library project, as well as news about innovative ways in which the memory of the QML is being captured through both music and poetry. In addition to information about some significant new resources, you'll see that we are working hard to make existing museum and library collections much easier to find. We are also tweeting and would love you to join us! We were delighted to receive a student proposal to include book reviews and the first one appears in this issue. Please keep the feedback, suggestions and contributions coming! We value your input and your comments - you can help us deliver the service that you really need. |
In this issue .... |
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Landmark e-deal with top science publisher |
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By Elaine Shallcross, Information Consultant YS Chi, Vice Chairman of Elsevier, commented:
Chris Banks, University Librarian states:
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On the 2nd of March, 2009, the University of Aberdeen announced “a partnership with Elsevier, the world’s leading publisher of science and health information, which will make a significant contribution to the international competitiveness of the University.” The importance of the partnership, supported by all three Colleges and the Library, should not be underestimated. In addition to the new content purchased last summer it gives access right now and in perpetuity to:
New key journal backfiles include The Lancet and Cell Press. This deal is in addition to a separate subscription which gives access to content from 1995 onwards. What does it mean for research? University of Aberdeen staff and students have “unrivalled access” to electronic materials for medicine, health and life sciences, physical and environmental sciences, energy, engineering, information technology, mathematics and psychology. What does it mean for teaching? Having access to these materials in perpetuity means they can reliably be included on reading lists. Can we access Elsevier content from off-campus? Yes – go to www.sciencedirect.com/. Access is possible by two routes:
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Investing in our future |
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By Harriet Armstrong Viner, Development Executive, External Affairs, Development Office Previous issues of Headlines have highlighted the huge impact the new Library will have on teaching and research, and the benefits for staff, students and the wider community. In this feature we find out how alumni and corporate support is helping our ambition to create a library for our sixth century to share with the world ...
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The University’s Development Trust is working to raise £30 million towards this £57 million new library building project. It’s something that has attracted a high level of interest from companies, charitable trusts and individuals. Recently Alasdair Locke, executive chairman of the Abbot Group Ltd and one of Scotland’s most prominent entrepreneurs, has chosen to make a personal gift of £500,000. He is supporting the campaign because,
US philanthropist Dr Loretta Glucksman has donated two million pounds to create the Glucksman Conservation Studio. Supporters include the Craig Group, Elsevier, Hess, PetroCanada, Talisman and a range of other companies. In addition, over 3,000 individual donors to the Alumni Annual Fund, many of whom are staff and graduates, have made a massive contribution to the project. These gifts have brought the project total to well over a third of the fundraising target and will support the construction, the content and the activities of the new library. The opportunities to be part of this project are limitless; it’s a fantastic example of a campaign where every gift counts. Everyone can be involved in whatever way is most meaningful for them. The Development Trust team are always happy to discuss the project with individuals, trusts and organisations. Whatever size your group is we can arrange visits, tours and updates as the building progresses. For more information please contact Sharon O’Loan on 01224 274114 or email to s.oloan@abdn.ac.uk |
Alternative exam study spaces |
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By Wendy Pirie, Reader Services Manager w.pirie@abdn.ac.uk
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We are delighted to report that the first phase of building work for our new library is underway (demolition of the single storey wing), and contractors for the new building are likely to start on site in the early summer. You can even view up-to-the-minute progress on our webcams! The downside is that noise levels will rise during this period. We have arranged for rooms to be set aside for quiet study over the exam period (from 23 May to 13 June 2009) in both MacRobert and Meston buildings. 180 study spaces are available across rooms 903, 909 and 914 in MacRobert Building, and 159, 013 and 009 in Meston. (Please note that MR909 is unavailable on the 8th and 9th of June). |
International survey - have your say! |
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By Gilian Dawson, Information Consultant
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Three years ago the Library participated in the world-wide library survey run by LibQual. The results gleaned enabled us to compare our services, resources and building environment with Higher Education libraries in Scotland, England, the States and Europe. When we run this survey again in April we will be able to compare our results with both Glasgow and St Andrews Universities locally, and over 130 university libraries world-wide. LibQual sets the questions and the response settings so that university libraries can compare themselves: therefore, unlike our normal annual library survey, there will be a distinctly international feel. However, there is opportunity for comment. We really want to hear from you, as your views will help shape our service with library users in mind. With our new library coming shortly, we need your input. Look out for LibQual in late April. It will be coming to everyone! |
New look Copy Shop opens its doors |
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By Mark Ramsden, Acting Manager, Binding & Reprographics Services
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The new Copy Shop now affords the opportunity for customers to walk-in, browse and shop in comfort and privacy. The new layout makes it easier for visitors to browse through an extended stock, including various books which have not recently been available through the shop. We have improved the display of goods and services available and we will continue to offer the excellent service that you've come to expect of us. We have co-located the Reprographics Unit, which now occupies the old Copy Shop space. This means that staff can be ‘on hand’ to answer any queries you may have. This is an exciting move and will raise the profile of an important part of the service we offer.Do come and visit the new facility; it is open 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday. |
Revealing our hidden collections |
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By Alan Knox, Manager Historic Collections
For further information, please contact Dr Alan Knox in Historic Collections. |
Historic Collections has received £240,000 from the Funding Council towards a £318,000 project to make museum collections in Scottish Universities more accessible to researchers and other users. The University of Aberdeen is the lead partner, and will be working in collaboration with eight other universities in the 18-month project to create collection-level descriptions for all the museums, together with improved electronic access to item-level catalogues and images. Scottish universities hold a disproportionately high percentage of Scotland’s nationally-important museum collections – in total over 1.8 million items. Scottish universities hold 32% of the country’s materials on history of science, 31% of the nation’s coins and medals, 24% of its fine art, 20% of natural science collections and 18% of world culture, all with a disproportionately high representation of nationally, and internationally, important items, and usually associated with rich contextualising information. Over 60% of these collections are uncatalogued and information on only 7.5% is available on the web; only 32,000 items (1.8%) are represented with images. This represents an enormous barrier to scholarship, and this project presents an opportunity for wide public engagement with the resources and academic expertise of the institutions involved. |
New databases enrich our collections |
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By Gilian Dawson, Information Consultant
Access is available using IP authentication via www.e-enlightenment.com/. Please note: you must set up your computer off campus to use the proxy server. Instructions on how to do this are available online. |
Electronic Enlightenment The School of Divinity, History & Philosophy and a number of disciplines within the College of Arts & Social Sciences have joined together to purchase a subscription to the new electronic resource called Electronic Enlightenment. This database makes available 54,000 letters from nearly 6,000 people who lived through what is known as the long 18th century. Students and researchers can now read the correspondence of some of the greatest minds of the European Enlightenment from the early 17th century to the mid 19th. They can follow the correspondence backwards and forwards, or learn what the bloggers of their day thought of an important event such as the French Revolution as it unfolded. Biographical details are included, as are textual notes which highlight points of significance and help put the letters in their historical context. |
For some, forays amongst the compactus shelving in QML
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British Periodicals, Collections I & II The need to brave the dangers of the compactus shelves or risk covering clothing in turmeric-coloured stains may be over for some! Through another deal brokered by JISC and Gale publishers, we now have access to around 400 journals from 1681 to 1937. Many of these journals are in the Lower Ground Floor of Queen Mother Library and have lain undisturbed for decades because of their relative inaccessibility in terms of indexing. Now with full-text searching, it is a simple matter of entering keywords to find articles. However, it is much more sophisticated than that and, in addition to limiting by date, it is easy to search for articles that contain obituaries, recipes, music or poetry, cartoons, photographs or maps. You can now access a treasure-trove from the comfort of your desktop! An A-Z list of the impressive contents is available on the website where you can also obtain more detailed information in Excel format. |
Hugh Buchanan watercolour exhibition |
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By Harriet Armstrong Viner, Development Executive, External Affairs, Development Office
‘Enlightenment’,
The Old Town House,
High Street,
Aberdeen |
The University is pleased to present a selection of watercolours depicting great libraries in Britain. The exhibition by Edinburgh artist Hugh Buchanan features several new works including a painting of the University’s own Divinity Library in King’s College. Described as the greatest watercolour painter in Britain today, Hugh Buchanan was born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh College of Art. After completing post graduate studies in 1981, he was awarded travel scholarships to the Middle East, North Italy and the Balkans. His work is greatly influenced by light and colour, captured through his unorthodox technique of 'blocking-in' the darkest tones of the painting first. Buchanan, best known for grand architectural interiors, chooses to focus more on fine detail with this exhibition: “After a while it was the books in isolation that began to interest me more and more; and this is where I felt I could break new ground.” The exhibition runs until 30 May at the Old Town House on King’s campus and is well worth a visit. More information is available online. |
Making theses available online |
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By Robin Armstrong Viner, Cataloguing Manager
If you have submitted your research thesis in hard copy only but would like an electronic copy to be made available in our own digital repository, please send it in PDF format to the Cataloguing Unit. Longer term plans are for EThOS to harvest our repository and provide links to it from the main EThOS database. |
In the last issue of Headlines Sheona Farquhar explained how the British Library's Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) is making the full text of UK doctoral theses available online. Although still in the Beta testing phase EThOS is now live and you can now access over 200 (and counting) of the most popular University of Aberdeen theses through the service. We're also working to make more theses available electronically through our own digital repository. Over 70 students who have recently completed research postgraduate degrees have provided electronic versions of their theses. You can search for and access many of these through the digital resources search on the new library home page, and we're adding more all the time. All new theses are now to be submitted in both paper and electronic copy. Simply send a single non-editable PDF file along with the hard copy to Registry and we'll do the rest. We'll also make sure that your theses is listed in the key sources such as the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database raising the profile of your research and making sure you get the credit you deserve. |
Journal records made easier! |
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By Robin Armstrong Viner, Cataloguing Manager Some library catalogue records have been improved following feedback from staff and students that it wasn't clear which volumes of older journals were available. Robin Armstrong Viner explains ...
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Over the last few months the Library Collections team have been adding records to the library catalogue for individual volumes of our older journals on the lower ground floor of the Queen Mother Library. On the library catalogue you can now select the All items link next to Availability, towards the end of full view of the records, for Scottish international, Bulletin of the Raffles Museum: Singapore, Straits Settlements or The American journal of science and arts and see exactly what is available for loan ( the full view of a record can be opened from an entry on a search results list by clicking on the title of the journal ). But we haven't stopped there. While we've been looking at these journals the Cataloguing team has taken the opportunity to upgrade each of these records. This means adding details of other titles the journals have been known by, details of their publication history and frequency, information about the subjects covered and a clear statement of the volumes and years we hold. We understand that the easiest way to access journals is often online. We're working to make that possible for as many as we can, but where it isn't we're trying to provide easier access to our rich collections of journals so you can find the volume you're looking for. |
New shelf guides show you the way |
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By John Easton, Principal Information Assistant
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The Arts & Humanities subject team in Queen Mother Library – John, Iain and (since November) Adam – are adding three topics to each range-end on Floors 3 and 4 in response to users’ requests for more signs to guide them when browsing the shelves. For each side of an aisle, the most common or most studied topics (such as Psycholinguistics) or authors (such as Hemingway) will complement the familiar shelf-mark/subject ranges which have always been in place to aid those who use the catalogue to locate books. Next time you’re on 3/4, look out for the small yellow rectangles! |
Reuniting the parts |
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By Alan Knox, Manager Historic Collections
Look out for the forthcoming search facility within the Historic Collections website and see what treasures you can find within the University’s collections!
For further information, please contact Dr Alan Knox in Historic Collections (a.g.knox@abdn.ac.uk). |
Historic Collections has been awarded £40,000 towards a £53,000 project to demonstrate the rich connections between our seven museum collections, and between the collections and the holdings of Special Libraries & Archives. The grant will also support an inventory of our large Herbarium, and cataloguing of the British flowering plants, to make these collections more accessible. The money comes from a Scottish Parliament fund administered by Museums Galleries Scotland in support of museum collections that have been recognised as nationally significant. Additional support for the project is coming from the College of Life Sciences and Medicine and the Directorate of Information Technology (DIT). The University’s museum holdings are the 6th largest in Scotland and were recognised as nationally significant in 2007. Sarah Redmond, Senior Documentation Assistant, tells us more ... The University currently cares for around 300,000 historic artefacts, and its unique collections; relating to anatomy, zoology, geology, ancient Egypt, contemporary Scottish art, scientific instruments, and the international herbarium, are of importance in wider world culture as well as the history of the North-East of Scotland. In the past, these collections have been recorded in varying formats and to varying standards. Over the past 11 months, work has been underway to merge disparate electronic information about our collections into one software system (CALM). This has helped us to meet a growing demand for access to the wealth of information about the collections from staff, researchers, students and the wider public by enabling information to be retrieved with just one search. It will also aid museum staff in managing the collections; enhancing exhibitions and workshops, and making enquiries easier to answer. |
What are we doing? Twittering of course! |
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By Elaine Shallcross, Information Consultant
Set up an account on Twitter today (it’s free!) then use it to read the latest library news and even send your own Tweets to family and friends. Twitter fans with the largest following include Barack Obama and Stephen Fry - you can even receive Tweets from 10 Downing Street!
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The library is using the popular social networking weblog service, Twitter, to send updates (Tweets) on everything from the availability of places on library skills workshops to the latest services offered by our resource providers, from new e-resource deals to the latest issue of HeadLines. Tweets are posted on the aberdeenunilib profile page and delivered to Twitter users who have signed up to receive them. If you are interested in following our updates why don’t you join Twitter today? To set up access to the Library’s Tweets:
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Befriend the library |
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By Sheona Farquhar, Technical Services Manager Have you benefited from the rich collections of Aberdeen University Library during your studies? Would you like to maintain your interest and academic connections when you graduate? Sheona Farquhar tells us more ...
You can join as either an Annual Friend or Life Friend. Subscription details and an application form are available online. |
The Friends of Aberdeen University Library is a charity, founded in 1962 to...
By becoming a Friend you can help Library and Historic Collections to continue to develop its collections to the benefit, not only of the University community, but also of the people of the North of Scotland. Members of the Friends enjoy ...
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Enhanced links to legal and other official publications |
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By Robin Armstrong Viner, Cataloguing Manager Forget about struggling with the government sites themselves or wading through pages of Google results come straight to the library catalogue! Here's why ...
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In the very first issue of Headlines Liz Mackie outlined some of the many online sources of UK official publications. As ever, the problem isn't accessing the information; it's finding the particular document you're looking for. That's why we've started a project to provide links to online versions of key laws, parliamentary papers and other official publications from the library catalogue. Our aim is to provide aggregator-neutral records in the catalogue. This means the same records will contain links to free UK government sites as well as to the more comprehensive services we subscribe to which provide commentaries, guides and links to other relevant documents. So far we've focused on Scottish Government information but as we broaden the project's scope you can look forward to being able to access the information you need, however you prefer it, wherever you are.
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Book review: Ian Rankin – The Hanging Garden |
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The library is more than a place to find materials for research and study; it's a source of relaxation too. In a new feature for HeadLines, Scott Clark, second-year undergraduate student and aspiring reporter, reviews one of Word 09 headliner Ian Rankin's popular novels ...
We would love to hear from anyone interested in submitting a book review for inclusion in a future issue of HeadLines. Please contact the Documentation Team. |
Set in the murky back-streets of Edinburgh’s city centre, The Hanging Garden is a gritty crime thriller that takes a unique glimpse into the capital’s crime scene. In this ninth instalment of the successful Rebus series, we follow the life of Inspector John Rebus; a forty-something, booze and cigarette-loving detective on his battle against local criminals. After John’s daughter is hospitalised following a gang related hit-and-run, he finds himself at the centre of an ongoing battle between the city's two biggest gangs. However, things are never that black and white for Rebus. Not only does he break his own ‘golden rule’ of never becoming emotionally attached to a case, he also chooses to make a dangerous deal with one of the gang leaders. But is John doing the right thing by allowing his personal life to get in the way of his work? With its endless twists and controversial themes, including prostitution and Nazism, ‘The Hanging Garden’ is a courageous and refreshing achievement. The motives of its unconventional leading character are questionable at times, but Rankin’s delivery allows true empathy to be felt for Rebus’s situation. A must-read for anyone looking for the perfect Scottish novel. Scott Clark |
New digital specialist joins our staff |
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By Robin Armstrong Viner, Cataloguing Manager This month we're very pleased to welcome Emma Brown to the cataloguing team based in the Queen Mother Library.
Gorgeted Sun Angel : [coloured lithograph], from John Gould's Hummingbirds, vol. 4, 1861. Source: Aberdeen University Library and Historic Collections Treasures.Find out about Historic Collections digital resources online. |
Emma, who was previously at Perth College, will specialise in cataloguing digital objects, which means better and more integrated access to our growing collections of ebooks, ejournals and other online resources. Emma’s already improving the records for the Elsevier e-books in our online catalogue. Why are we bothering? We want you to find the best resources for your subject and are constantly seeking ways to improve the catalogue to help you do this. Select the title of any of these e-books in the catalogue and you'll find full tables of contents, detailed summaries, publisher information and links direct to each title. What's next for Emma? We're planning to add records for more e-books from Elsevier together with those from Empire Online, Hein Online and Social Theory in the coming weeks. And when she's done with those there are our own online collections of digital objects on Digitool. What are these? Last year we carried out a pilot project to add images from some of the exhibitions of collection highlights at Special Libraries & Archives. These are available in the exhibitions and treasures section of our digital resources and there are many more we'd like to add. This will help us to provide you with access to the content of these fragile items while preserving the items themselves for future generations. And it's not all old stuff! The same software will allow us to provide secure online access to material we have obtained for you from individual standards to journals which are not available through the major databases. Emma's certainly going to be busy... |
A journey through Old Aberdeen |
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By Alison Parfitt, Education and Access Officer alison.parfitt@abdn.ac.uk
Further work from other schools will be displayed in museum and public spaces throughout the University from May 2009 until March 2010. The work will also be available online, providing a lasting legacy of rich resources to engage, inspire and motivate others to explore and share the rich heritage of Old Aberdeen. ‘A Journey Through Old Aberdeen’ has been made possible with funding from Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums and Galleries Scotland, University of Aberdeen, The Reading Bus and First Light.
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A Journey Through Old Aberdeen is a collaborative project exploring the rich heritage of Old Aberdeen. Eight primary schools and one secondary school in the St Machar Community are working with Marischal Museum, The Reading Bus, Station House Media Unit and Aberdeen City Council Arts Education Team. The project aims to provide enjoyable and inspirational learning experiences that stimulate personal development; utilising the historic environment of Old Aberdeen and the rich museum and archive collections held by the University. Youngsters are working with a variety of professionals, including artists, storytellers, writers, poets and animators. Their work will be presented through a wide range of media including illustration, literature, animation, 3D sculpture and woodcarving. The exhibition in the MacRobert Building, which runs until the 5th of June, showcases work from the first three schools to participate:
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Need help fast? Ask a Librarian! |
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By Elaine Shallcross, Information Consultant |
On 22 April 2009 the library began a trial of an instant messaging (IM) service using the web-based IM client, MeeboMe. The aim of the Ask a Librarian service is to answer basic library-related queries, and you will be given contact details for relevant members of library staff for longer or more complex enquiries. If you have a quick query all you have to do is go to the library home page and use a chat box located in the 'Ask a Librarian' tab at the bottom of the page; no need to login or download anything. Simply type your question in the lower pane, then press the return (enter) key, and you will be able to ‘chat’ with someone here in the library any time we are logged in to the 'Ask a Librarian' service. The trial will run from 11am to 3pm weekdays over the summer term. |
Staff moves |
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By Chris Banks, University Librarian We wish two well-respected colleagues well as they retire from Special Libraries and Archives.
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March saw the retirements of two of our longstanding colleagues: Richard Turbet and Iain Beavan. Both had served the University in various capacities for over thirty years, and most recently had worked with the University's rare book collections. I met Richard for the first time some 22 years ago when we both attended a conference in St Andrews. Our common involvement in music librarianship ensured that we were in frequent touch, and our library shelves attested to the fact that Richard's main research interest is the music of William Byrd. It was with some surprise, therefore, that I recently read that his desert island discs would include Eric Clapton and Steve Reich! Richard and Iain were both instrumental in my own decision to move from London to Aberdeen, a decision that I - and I hope they - have not regretted! We wish Richard well as he moves south to Norfolk, and we welcome the fact that Iain will continue his researches on our collections, and thank them both for their respective contributions to research and to our understanding of the collections in our care. |
By Melanie Bickerton, Medical Library Site Services Manager |
We are sorry to report that after 5 years Karen Ritchie will be leaving us to join NHS Grampian Library Services. Karen’s new role of Information Officer will be based at Cornhill Library, where she will oversee the day-to-day running of the library service. We all wish her well in her new role, and all the best for the future. |
Soundscape |
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By Professor Pete Stollery, Head of Music, School of Education
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Do you listen to the sounds around you as you go about your business on campus? Does the sound of the creaking door in your corridor irritate you or fascinate you? For many years I’ve been interested in how people relate to their aural environments. In my music, I use recorded sound to create soundscapes, consisting of real and transformed sounds; recently I’ve become interested in finding new ways to preserve the sounds I record - in virtual museums, as well as in pieces of music and sound art. In March this year, an email was sent to all staff working in Queen Mother Library and Special Libraries and Archives asking them to identify sounds (whether these were loved, hated or anything in between). The response has been very good and examples range from the creaking, groaning and finally the bang when moving the compactus shelving in QML basement and the beeping of security alarms being set and unset. In the coming weeks, I will record these sounds and preserve them to be displayed in an internet-based museum, where they can be accessed long after QML has disappeared, SLA has moved and the new library is built; hopefully, it will become part of the library itself as a historic document in sound. I will also make an electroacoustic fanfare using the sounds, which will form part of the opening ceremony for the new library. I like the ecological aspects of this - recycling what was once there to welcome in the new. And once everyone is firmly settled in the new library, I’ll email again and document the new soundscape of the library alongside the old one. I am still looking for examples from all over QML and SLA so please, if anyone who uses the library has any suggestions for sounds I can record, please let me know and I’ll preserve them for you. |
Arts feature - acoustic impressions in poetry |
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By John Easton, Principal Information Assistant
Listen to John reciting his poem here. |
John Easton, published poet and Principal Information Assistant for the Arts and Humanities subject floors in the Queen Mother Library, responds to Prof. Pete Stollery's appeal for sounds from QML with his own acoustic impressions...
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If you have any comments or suggestions for features in future issues please contact us.