The Library is open from 08:00 until 02:00 (in the morning) each weekday Monday to Friday

Dear staff and students,

From Monday 28th October until Sunday 1st December 2013 the Library will open at 08:00 each weekday and close at 02:00 each weekday. 

The opening hours are as follows:

Monday - Friday	08:00 - 02:00
Saturday	10:00 - 18:00
Sunday	11:00 - 02:00

  

On Monday 2nd December the Library will change to 24/6 opening hours.

We hope that you can make good use of the Library during this period and we thank you for helping to maintain a good environment for study: 

• If you need a quiet place to study, please remember that the third floor is for single silent study at all times.   If you have any problems with noisy neighbours in the Library you can text for assistance (please see signage in the Library)
• Mobile phones can be used on Ground Floor and the stairwells only
• No food on upper floors and drinks with resealable lids only please
• If you need help please ask staff at the Help desk on the Ground floor or email library@aston.ac.uk 

For safety and security reasons, please be aware that it is a University requirement for all staff and students to visibly display their uniCARDS within campus buildings (including the Library) during 'out of hours' periods. Lanyards (and clips) for ID badges are available at Security, the HUB and the ARC.  The 'out of hours' periods during term-time are between the hours of:

• 8pm - 8am Monday - Friday
• 6pm - 8am Friday - Monday

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

Best regards
Lydia Matheson
Public Services Co-ordinator (Customer Experience)
LIS

Congratulations to the winners of the 'Like Your Library Live' competition

Were you one of the 2272 students who attended the 'Like Your Library Live' sessions during Freshers and Week 1 of term?

We have now drawn our competition winners:

• Daria Tikhonova has won an iPAD
• Gareth Sheppard has won £100 Waterstones vouchers
• Grace Wilkinson has won £100 Waterstones vouchers

If you weren’t able to attend your Like Your Library Live session, then please don’t miss out on crucial information:

• Watch the Prezi presentation as well as our short video guides
• Visit the Help desk on the ground floor of the Library Monday - Friday between 09:00 and 18:00

Remember to Like us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with what's happening.

2nd and 3rd floors are now open

Dear Students and Staff

 
I am pleased to be able to inform you that the 2^nd and 3^rd floors of the Library are now open. We hope that you will enjoy the additional study spaces and group study rooms, the enhanced Wi-Fi access, the new furniture with integral power sockets, the new heating, lighting and ventilation, and the refreshed décor. We trust that the refurbishment will enhance the learning experience for everyone.

Please be aware that during this week there are still a few things to do, but we wanted you to be able to access all the floors as soon as possible.  We will be:

• checking that the books on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors are back into the correct order
• removing the temporary shelving 
• adding additional furniture on the Ground and 1^st floors.  

There will be some disruption as we do this, but we will try to keep this to a minimum.  All four floors are now open, so please enjoy the new study spaces.

If you have any comments about the refurbished floors, please send them to library@aston.ac.uk or write them on our Facebook wall: https://www.facebook.com/AstonUniversityLIS .

Please remember:

The 3^rd floor is for individual silent study only.

The Ground, 1^st and 2^nd floors can be used for individual or group study.

Celebrate Open Access Week 2013

This week is Open Access Week


What is open Access? 

Look at this video Open Access Explained!

Here are some inspiring stories: 

• How open data is changing international aid 
• Open Science
• Jack Andraka's amazing discovery thanks to open Access 

If you have any queries or comments about this post, please add your comments below or email AURA@aston.ac.uk

Aston University App Launched

myAston - the new University App is now available to download for your smartphone.

Apple Users go to  bit.ly/18dCeoZ
Blackberry users go to bit.ly/191VoO3
Android users go to bit.ly/191ViG1
Windows phone and other devices go to aston.ombiel.co.uk

Further details can be found on the current students web page

If you have any comments on the app, particularly the Library section, please let us know by emailing us on library@aston.ac.uk

Looking for a PC?

The 2nd and 3rd floors of the Library will be unavailable to students for a few more days.  If you're looking for PCs elsewhere on the University campus, you can find out where they are and check availability on the ISA website.  There are details of both open access labs for all students (mainly on the 4th floor of the Main Building) and for labs specific to your School.

You can also check PC availability around campus using the brand new myAston smart phone app.  Don't forget to check out the Library section of the app while you're there!

Problems accessing readings put up by the Library on Blackboard?

We have become aware of a problem with Google Chrome and Equella (the repository where many readings are stored). If you are having problems using Chrome, please try another browser. More information can be found here

If this doesn't solve your problem please contact library@aston.ac.uk. with details of the document you are trying to access.

Education resource database - ERIC

Since the Obama administration has requested the shutdown of government services http://www.theguardian.com/world/obama-administration you will find that the database called ERIC is not available at the moment from this web address http://eric.ed.gov/ .  

However, EBSCO have provided the database via their platform so you can now access the database through EBSCOhost.  Please use the Library SmartSearch A-Z link and choose the letter E.  Look for ERIC in the list and choose the name.

This is a database that provides articles and reports on teaching and learning and is hosted by The Institute of Education Sciences in America.  It is used by staff and students who are interested in any aspect of teaching and learning research.  

 

We will re-post with any more news.

Library Refurbishment 10 June - 28 October 2013

Library Refurbishment - 10 June - 28 October 2013

Please bear with us whilst we complete the refurbishment of the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Library. Study space will be limited until these floors re-open.

Alternative study spaces in Main Building:

• MB561, 563 and 565 (60 spaces)
• MB606 (80 spaces) 
• MB Sky Lift Lobbies (60 spaces). 

Postgraduate students can also use the MB PG suite:

• MB225, 227, 229, 231, 234 and 246 (200 spaces) 

The MB PG suite can be used for study during the evenings and weekends when not in use for teaching.

Missed your Like Your Library Live session? You can attend another one!

If you have missed your Like Your Library Live session then you can attend another one.  Sessions are running throughout the day in the Main Building Room G8 starting on the hour during Freshers Week and Week 1 of term please check our timetable  http://www1.aston.ac.uk/library/likeyourlibrary/timetable/  and come along at a time that suits you.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Library Team

Library Refurbishment, phase 2 - construction finished!

We are pleased to announce that the construction stage of the Library refurbishment is now complete.  Overbury have handed over the 2nd and 3rd floor to the Library and you can view photographs on Flickr of the completed floors. We would like to thank Overbury for organising the cake and library staff thoroughly enjoyed devouring it as part of the celebrations. 

We would also like to thank Overbury and everyone involved with the project team for organising a very smooth and relatively stress-free (for us!) construction project.  It has been a lot less noisy than we anticipated. 

Over the next two weeks, the shelving units will be installed on the 2nd and 3rd floors.   The book stock will be brought over from storage and will be added back on to the shelves.

The Library staff would like to thank staff and students for their patience over the next three weeks while the furniture is being installed and the finishing touches are made to the floors.

Kind Regards
Library Photography Team
Kerstin, Nicola and Val