Christmas closure

A reminder that the Continuing Education Library will close for the Christmas break on Tuesday 23rd December at 4.45pm and will reopen at 9.00am on Monday 5th January.

Please note that the whole Department is closed for this period, so the Reading Room will not be available. All students must have vacated the Department by 5pm on 23rd December.

All online resources including SOLO, OLIS, OXLIP+ etc will of course be available during the closed period, although any faults which may develop may not be dealt with as quickly as usual.

Recent additions to the Library

Lists of all additions to the Library, whether purchased or donated, for October and November are now available on the Library website

Switching to OxLIP+

Following the successful launch of OxLIP+ (http://oxlip-plus.ouls.ox.ac.uk/), the old version of OxLIP (http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/oxlip/oxlip.html) will be discontinued from 15 December 2008.

The new service OxLIP+ offers all the functionality of old OxLIP (viz.the ability to locate individual bibliographic databases and e-collections by title or by subject) and much more, namely:

• remote access via Single Sign-On
• cross-searching across several databases
• more sophisticated subject break-down
• improved title/keyword searching
• personalized services in the "My Research" area.

Furthermore, the export functionality in OxLIP+ means that the titles of all databases can be searched and displayed in SOLO. Feedback shows that, of all these improvements, the fact that remote users are no longer required to use VPN when using OxLIP+ for remote access is considered by far the most important enhancement.

If you use electronic library resources and haven’t yet explored the new OxLIP+, it would be a good idea to do so before 15th December. Printed guides are available in the Library, and Library staff will be pleased to give you any help you may need. Alternatively, if you are having problems accessing resources, you can contact the Electronic Resources Team on eresources@ouls.ox.ac.uk

OxLIP+ - have your say!

Have you been using OxLIP+, the new interface to electronic resources?

Would you prefer Title or Subject to be the default screen?

You can vote by clicking the appropriate box on the OxLIP+ home page - available until 4th December

General feedback is still welcome. There is a link on the OxLIP+ home page that will open an email to the E-resources Team so that you can send in your comments

Help in using library resources

Would you like to become WISER? Are you ever in Oxford with an hour to spare at lunchtime?

WISER (Workshops in Information Skills and Electronic Resources) is an initiative of Oxford university Library Services. Free sessions are held from 12.30-1.30 at Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS) in Banbury Road.

There are separate programmes for Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and Science. This term, all programmes cover the new SOLO and OxLIP+ services together with sessions on e-books, keeping up to date with the literature of your subject, effective searching of the internet etc.

To find out more, check the WISER website or see posters in the Library.

First World War Poetry Digital Archive

The First World War Poetry Digital Archive is a joint project between the Faculty of English and Oxford University Computing Services. It aims to digitize primary source material (manuscripts, letters, diaries, etc) of some of the key British poets of WW1 (Thomas, Graves, Rosenberg, Brittain, Leighton to begin with), to add to the existing collection of material on Wilfred Owen, and to make these freely available on the Web alongside educational material.

All are welcome to a presentation on this project on Wednesday November 5th from 4.00-5.00pm in Lecture Theatre 2, English Faculty, St Cross Building (On the corner of St Cross Road and Manor Road)

You can find out more about the project at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit

Recent additions to the Library

A list of all additions to the Library, whether purchased or donated, during September is now available on the Library website

New E-book collection for Historians (and others)

New on OxLIP+ - ACLS Humanities eBooks

This resource contains a collection of over 1,700 full-text scholarly monographs in largely history encompassing the history of Britain, Europe, America, Africa and Asia, but it also contains titles for history of science, women's studies, archaeology and history of art. The project is managed by American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

Search Oxford Libraries Online (SOLO) - a new way to search Oxford library catalogues

An announcement from OULS:

Today, 1st October, Oxford University Library Services is introducing new search tools that provide enhanced and easy access to its many resources.

SOLO: Search Oxford Libraries Online http://solo.ouls.ox.ac.uk/
OLIS, the library catalogue, still exists but is now overlaid with powerful search software, SOLO (Search Oxford Libraries Online). SOLO will search across OLIS, as well as the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) and other catalogues and e-resources collections so that your search results will be more comprehensive. Facets provide many additional links and there are options to email results, save results for bibliographic management packages, save searches and create search alerts. SOLO search results link to OLIS so that when you find the item you want, you will be able to place a stack request or a reservation. Using SOLO, it is easy to limit your search to items held in the Continuing Education Library. SOLO also allows for seamless linking to full-text journal articles.

An "Articles and Databases" tab gives you a quick overview (no more than 30 results per database searched) of journal articles, abstracts or bibliographic references in many subjects. Use this if you just want a sample of search results but go to OxLIP+ if you want to do detailed searching of the 800+ e-resources and databases.

OxLIP+ http://oxlip-plus.ouls.ox.ac.uk/
From OxLIP+ you can look for a resource by title or by subject, as before, but you can also search for a database by a word in its title or description. Selective databases can be cross-searched, thus allowing you to pick and choose databases from Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and Medicine for truly interdisciplinary searching. Ask the Library staff for assistance with the many new options on offer.

OU E-journals http://ejournals.ouls.ox.ac.uk/
OU E-Journals, already familiar to most of you, is still available as a separate search service and is your easiest way into a full-text ejournal. Oxford now has over 28,000 titles!

Use Single-Sign-On (SSO) to have access to the personalised features of these services, and to access resource content from outside the Oxford University network. No more need for VPN or Athens - just logon using your SSO account (which is the same as your Herald email userid & password)! Note that SSO is only available if you are on an award-bearing course and have a full University card.

Please use the TELL US WHAT YOU THINK screen on SOLO to tell us your views and send in suggestions.

SOLO is now the default on reader machines in the Library

New - Sunday opening!

From Sunday 5th October, the Continuing Education Library will be open on Sunday afternoons from 1pm-4pm on a trial basis until Sunday 7th December.

OLIS downtime and change of IP address

On Sunday 28th September, OLIS (The Library catalogue) will be unavailable between 8.00am and 5.00pm whilst changes are made to IP addresses. Once OLIS is available again, you should not need to make any change to the way you access it. However, your firewall may need updating if it is specifically configured for OLIS.

Click here for more information

Term time opening hours resume

Term time opening hours resume today, Monday 22nd September.

The Library will be open on Saturday 27th September from 9.30am - 5.30pm. From Sunday 5th October, the Library will also be open from 1.00pm - 4.00pm on Sundays during term time.

Full details of opening hours and term dates are displayed on the Library Website

Recent additions to the Library

Lists of all additions to the Library, whether purchased or donated, during August are now available on the Library website

Library Closed 25th-29th August (inclusive)

The Library will be closed next week from Monday 25th - Friday 29th August (inclusive) and will reopen on Monday 1st September at 9am.

The Library reading room will remain open throughout this period. Returned books may be left in the returns box located in the reading room.

Changes to remote access to electronic resources

This applies to holders of full Oxford University cards only.

The old Athens system of remote access is no longer available.

You can now access electronic resources (including electronic journals) remotely using your Single Sign On account. There is a new interface to electronic resources called OxLIP+ which you you can access at
http://oxlip-plus.ouls.ox.ac.uk/, or follow the link from 'old' OxLIP. If you log in to OxLIP + using your SSO, you will be able access almost all resources - this gives the functionality of the VPN but you do not need to install software or register for additional passwords.

'Old' OxLIP will continue to be available and you will be able to connect to some resources using SSO. If you currently use the VPN, you can continue to do so if you wish.

Further information about the changes can be found at
http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/eresources/remote_access

Recent additions to the Library

Lists of all additions to the Library, whether purchased or donated, during June and July are now available on the Library website

e-journal disruption 27th-30th June

Following the merger of the publishers John Wiley & Son and Blackwell Publishing Limited, Wiley have decided to move all content for both publishers to the Wiley InterScience platform and close down the Blackwell Synergy platform. As a consequence the Blackwell Synergy platform will cease operating on Friday 27th June and its content will not be available until Monday 30th while it is migrated to the Wiley InterScience platform.

The Wiley InterScience will be unavailable for a period on the weekend of the 28th-29th during the migration.

As from Monday 30th June, content previously hosted on Blackwell Synergy will only be available from the Wiley InterScience platform.

Links to journals on Blackwell Synergy will automatically redirect to Wiley InterScience. There is no need for you to change your links.

If you have problems accessing an e-journal over the weekend, it is worth checking the title on Oxford e-Journals as the issue you require may be available from a different supplier, eg. JSTOR

Summer vacation hours

After Thursday 26th June, the Continuing Education Library will be operating vacation hours:

Monday-Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm

During the peak Summer School period from Saturday 12th July - Sunday 3rd August (inclusive) the Library will also be open:

Saturday & Sunday 2.00pm - 5.00pm

Full details of term dates and opening hours can be found on our website

Bodleian Medieval manuscripts on ARTstor

The Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford and ARTstor announce the release of 25,000 high–quality images digitized from the Bodleian Library's outstanding collection of Medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts. This collection release includes the majority of the illuminated leaves from Bodleian manuscripts through the 16th century, as well as selected 19th– and 20th–century manuscripts in the Medieval tradition. The project also selectively includes significant bindings, illuminated initials, and text pages.

To browse these new ARTstor images, from ARTstor's Welcome Page click on "ARTstor Collections" and then select "Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Bodleian Library, Oxford University" from the resulting list, or search the keywords "bodleian oxford."

For more information, see ARTstor

Recent additions to the Library

The list of all items added to the Library during April, whether purchased or donated, is now available on the Library website

Bodleian Library Summer Exhibition opens

The Bodleian Library summer exhibition ‘Beyond the work of one’ celebrates successive generations of benefactors who, by their generosity, have enriched the Oxford College libraries’ holdings for more than 700 years. The very varied exhibits include:

• A 14th- century bishop’s mitre made of silk with pearls and semi-precious stones belonging to William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England
• A Psalter that belonged to Katherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII and Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII
• Samuel Johnson’s gruel mug, used on his regular visits to his friend Thomas Warton in Oxford
  Codex Laud -The pre-Colombian screenfold manuscript from southern Mexico which now bears William Laud's name
• Gerard Manley Hopkins’ autograph manuscript, The Dublin Notebook.
  The Key to Sciences, a 14th-century Arabic manuscript compendium of linguistic sciences donated by Archbishop Laud to St John’s College
  

The exhibition opens on 24th May and runs until 1st November. It is open Monday-Friday 9.00-5.00 and Saturday 9.00-4.30, and is being held in the Exhibition Room, Old Schools Quadrangle, Bodleian Library. Admission is free. Further details can be found on the Bodleian Library website

Bodleian Stack service on May 26th

Please note that a limited stack service will be available on Monday 26th May, the Spring Bank Holiday. A limited book service from Central Bodleian stacks to the New Bodleian Library, Old Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera will be available. Requests can be placed on 26th May but there will be no deliveries to other libraries such as the Social Science Library, and books will not be fetched from locations outside Oxford.

If you are planning to use Bodleian stack books on 26th May, you are advised to order books before the weekend.

Recent additions to the Library

The list of all items added to the Library during April, whether purchased or donated, is now available on the Library website

Recent additions to the Library

The list of items added to the Library during March is now on the Library website

JSTOR - new features

The recent update to JSTOR has introduced some new features:

1. You can create a 'MyJSTOR' account where you can store your citations. You'll also need to do this to save or email citations. It's instantaneous and very easy - you just need an email address and a username and password of your own choice. More personalised functionality is promised soon.

2. Various improvements have been made to searching, full details can be found under 'Information about the new JSTOR platform' on the JSTOR home page. One rather nice feature is the ability to add '&' to a word to retrieve both singular and plural forms, even of they are completely different words, eg. mouse& will find both mouse and mice.

Searching tip: there is now a basic search box on the home page. However, you get more options enabling you to do a more precise search as well as search help, if you click the Search button at the top of the screen

3. Downloading and printing PDFs of articles has been simplified

4. Results of a search now give you the option to retrieve images from JSTOR and/or ArtSTOR where your search terms are included in the captions of the images.

JSTOR can be accessed from OxLIP

JSTOR remote access - update

The problems experienced with this last week have now been solved. You can now access JSTOR remotely using either an Athens password if you have one or your Single Sign On/Oxford username (or of course using the VPN).

This applies to Oxford University card holders only

JSTOR remote access problems

Following some changes to JSTOR at the end of last week, there are currently problems with remote access using Athens or Single Sign On passwords. These are being looked into, and I will post another message once they are resolved together with some details of the enhancements that have been added to JSTOR

Term time hours resume Sat 5th April

A reminder that the Library will be open from 9.30am - 5.30pm this Saturday, 5th April, and that term time hours apply from then.

The Library will be closed on the two Bank Holidays in May, Monday 5th and Monday 26th.

Full details of dates and opening hours can be found on the library website

Useful websites

Here are a couple of websites that I've come across recently that may be of interest.

1. Eufeeds gives access to current stories from over 300 newspapers across the EU. There is a page for each EU country; the UK page lists 19 national and regional papers together with the Spectator and Guardian. You can also click through to the home page of each publication.

2.Planet eBook provides free access to electronic copies of classics. Currently quite an isoteric collection of 40 titles ranging from the Iliad to the Merry Adventures of Robin Hood! However, it's a growing collection and you can suggest titles you would like to see included.

£5m donation to the Bodleian Library

It was announced earlier this week that Julian Blackwell has donated £5m towards the redevelopment of the New Bodleian Library. The proposed redevelopment will greatly improve the housing of the collections as well as improving facilities for researchers and the public.

Read all about it at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/news/2008_mar_07

History book sale

The Library is having a book sale of some unwanted duplicates of history books. Price: £1 for hardbacks, 50p for paperbacks.

Easter vacation opening hours

From Monday 17th March the Library will be open Monday-Friday 9am - 5pm. Term time hours resume on Saturday 5th April.

The library will be closed over the Easter weekend from Friday 21st March - Monday 24th March inclusive.

Full details of opening hours and term dates can be found on the Library website at http://library.conted.ox.ac.uk/libraryinformation/dates.php

Recent additions to the Library

The English wool market, c. 1230-1327 by Adrian R Bell and others
338.456773 BEL

The biology of freshwater wetlands by Arnold van der Valk
574.5263 VAL

Francis Bacon in the 1950s by Michael Peppiatt
759.2 BAC/P (Oversize)

All new acquisitions are listed monthly on the Library website http://library.conted.ox.ac.uk/libraryresources/acquisitions.php

New - British Periodicals, 1630's-1930's

British Periodicals, 1630's-1930's has just been added to OxLIP http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/oxlip/index.html (Find by title, or click on Latest database Acquisitions and Trials). It Provides access to the full-text of nearly 250 British popular periodicals published from the 17th century to the early 20th century. Includes amongst others the Anti-Slavery Reporter, London Review, Royal Magazine or Gentleman’s Monthly Companion, some religious titles such as The Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the fine arts and the social sciences.

If you are a member of the Continuing Education Library you can access this from the Library or other computers within the Oxford network. If you have a University Card you can also access it remotely using your Athens password or Single Sign On

New Computers in the Library

All computers in the Library have been replaced. We now have two different types:

The first 3 terminals inside the Library on the left are designed to provide quick access to library resources. You can access OLIS, Oxford electronic resources and the internet (so you can check your email on them as long as other people aren't waiting). You can save items to a USB memory stick, but you will not be able to open items already on your stick

The other 4 terminals are 'proper' PCs and in addition to accessing library resources and the internet as above, you can also use Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, Access and Powerpoint. They have both USB ports and CD/DVD drives.