GMID - Facility to download PDFs temporarily suspended

Dear staff and students,

This is just to alert you, that although you can still search and view content from GMID (Global Market Information Database) as normal, the facility to download PDF files has been temporarily suspended.

I will let you know when this facility is restored.

Regards
Lydia Matheson
Information Specialist
LIS
l.a.matheson@aston.ac.uk

Group study rooms

Group study rooms are available on the Ground floor of the Library, near the main computer lab. Currently these are available on a first come first served basis for small group work.

Other rooms can be booked at the

Learning Development centre on the first floor.

Open Access - Snippet No. 3

Usage.
Publication visibility translates into usage and citations.

Keynote - UK Industry market reports

Are you looking for UK data on industry sectors?  Have you tried accessing Keynote?

Keynote will provide you with cutting edge consumer research, company information and market insight in to over 2000 industry sectors.  Aston University Library has subscribed to small section of Keynote reports for a long time but recently we have accepted trial access to the entire range of market reports.  

To access : -

• Please log in to the Aston e-Library
• Choose Find Resource from the right hand side of the screen
• In the NAME field type Keynote
• Click the orange FIND RESOURCE button
• Click the name Keynote in the results list at the bottom of the screen
• You will need to login with your University username and password if you are accessing off-campus

Once you have access to the front screen, please choose the Market Research Report pod at the top of the screen and then you can browse alphabetically or search for an industry.

Please note: As we are running Keynote as a trial, there are prices showing next to the title of each report.  You will not be asked to pay for the report.  Just click on the title and you should see an Executive Summary.  On the left hand side you should also see a list of chapter headings for the report and a series of green ticks.  If the green ticks are showing then you have full text access.

You do not have access to the data sitting within the Company Information pod as this is not part of our trial access.

If you have any questions, please contact the Library Help Desk on 0121 204 4525 or email library@aston.ac.uk

Kind Regards
Nicola Dennis
Business Information Specialist

Staff Student Consultative Committees - an important route for feedback

At this point in term, your Information Specialists are attending Staff Student Consultative Committees for Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate programmes, to communicate developments in Library & Information Services and to collect feedback from students. 

Developments which the Information Specialists will be raising include:

• A new colour printer in the library, which you will find on the ground floor - the old one has been moved to the 2nd floor, so there are now two available.
• LIS's series of podcasts has been well received so far - subscribe via the Library Website or iTunes and send your feedback.
• New Whiteboard paint has been used on one wall in each group study room on the ground floor, to improve facilities for collaborative work.
• The Library will be opening 24/6 from 4th March to 23rd March.
• DANU students can now renew 1-day loan items online.
• A reminder that books must be returned before the Easter vacation, or renewed over the vacation - if the book is reserved you will be required to return it, perhaps by post.

This is an important communication route for us to hear about both specific problems (such as availability of a core text book) to more general feedback about our services and facilities.
Please talk to your local student representatives if you have any issues you would like to raise at your Staff Student Consultative Committee, or you are always welcome to contact us directly.

Web of Knowledge: logging in problems NOW FIXED

THIS PROBLEM SHOULD HAS NOW BEEN RESOLVED.
If you still can't access the database, you may need to clear you cache and cookies first and then re-open your browser: http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/faq/answers.html#Q6.5
Apologies for the inconvenience this has caused.


There is currently a problem with access to Web of Knowledge. This is an issue that all Web of Knowledge subscribers are experiencing and is not unique to Aston. The database suppliers are looking into this as a matter of urgency and this blog post will be updated as soon as the problems have been resolved. In the meantime, you can still access Web of Knowledge on-campus via http://webofknowledge.com/, however, you may first need to clear cache and cookies: further information available in the FAQ: http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/faq/answers.html#Q6.5 and then close and re-open your browser.

You could also try using another similar database for your research such as Scopus.

Open Access - Snippet No. 2

Visibility

Without Open Access, the only way to see academic work is by paying for subscriptions to journals or by paying a fee to view an article.

This has the effect of restricting access to all bet the minority who can afford to pay for access.

In a survey conducted at the beginning of the millennium more than half research-based institutions in lower-income countries had no subscriptions to international research journal.

Unsurprisingly, researchers in those countries rank access to research literature as one of their most pressing problems.

In other surveys it was found that also in the wealthier world, researchers find increasingly difficult to access the material they need.

Swan, Alma (2011) Open Access: Impact for researchers, universities and society. RLUK.

Libraries Supporting Research

Research Libraries UK (RLUK) has recently published Re-skilling for Research, a major report on the changing needs of researchers and the effect on the Information Specialist role within libraries. The information needs of researchers are always changing and this report will be a useful tool to ensure that libraries can stay ahead of the demands placed on them.

This short extract from the 112-page reports highlights the importance of on-going dialogue between researchers and libraries:

"Libraries, and their staff (including [Information Specialists]) who have a responsibility to support and provide services for researchers, face a huge challenge that could be turned into a huge opportunity. ... Libraries will need to respond to this challenge by developing a unique role in consultation with their institution for the part they will play in the support of meeting researchers' information and related needs."

At Aston University Library & Information Services, we are always looking for ways to maintain this dialogue with researchers.  The activities we are already involved with include: at School and subject group levels, Information Specialists attend School Research Committees and staff meetings; individual researchers are always welcome to make an appointment to see their Information Specialist to discuss their needs on a one-to-one basis; in summer 2011, we ran a series of Research Bites, which were very well received; and AURA makes Aston's research freely and easily available to everyone and is managed by the Repository Officer (Erica Wine).

If you have any comments or suggestions for research support that you would like to receive from your Library & Information Services and your Information Specialist, from suggesting a topic for Research Bites 2012 to a whole new approach, don't hesitate to comment on this post or contact us directly.

Open Access - Snippet No. 1

Open Access benefits:

- Researchers gain from the increased usage and impact of their work.

- Their institutions benefit from the aggregated usage and impact of their researcher and the increased presence that Open Access brings.

- Society benefits from better technology transfer, better diffusion of know-how and better-informed populace

- Open access encourages collaborative endeavours by making research visible to new communities.

From: Swan, Alma (2011) Open Access: Impact for researchers, universities and society. RLUK.