ebrary bookshelf items

The University has moved over to a new authentication system this term, and as a consequence of this, any items you may have saved in the bookshelf on the ebrary e-book platform have not been carried over to your new account.  The support team at ebrary are able to transfer these items over manually if you contact them at support@ebrary.com. They will need to know your Aston University network username as well as the username you see in the top right-hand corner of ebrary when you log in.

Logging in problems: now fixed

**UPDATE: The logging in problems that we experienced this morning have now been fixed. Apologies for the inconvenience.**

There are currently some problems with the logging in system for our online resources. We are working to fix this as quickly as possible. This post will be updated as soon as things are working normally again. If you have any queries, please e-mail us

Smarten up your searching!

If you are getting the results you want from the Library SmartSearch, great!  We're glad you're finding what you need.

However, when you're not getting results as relevant as you hoped, here are some tips for improving your search:

• Enclose a phrase in quotation marks to find only those items where your words appear in the order you have typed them in:  "doing your literature review". 
• Use Advanced Search to specify where your keywords should be found:

• Search for word variants or alternative spellings by using wild cards: 
  organi?ational behavi*
• Widen your search by using OR to link words which refer to the same concept: 
  "higher education" OR university
• Make your results more relevant by forcing your keywords to appear near each other.  The near operator (Nn) finds words within n words of one another:  student N3 mentor

For more tips on improving your search, click on the Help Icon which you will see next to the search box.  Alternatively, e-mail the Help Desk.

Let us know your thoughts on the Library SmartSearch by providing feedback. 

Feedback on LIS via your Staff-Student Consultative Committees

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:

• Your Information Specialists and Information Resources Specialists have been working hard over the summer to introduce the brand new LibGuides and Library Smartsearch. These replace the Library Catalogue and Aston e-Library with one place to search for resources and to receive support in using them.  Please let us know your comments on these.
• We have also moved the books in the building to a more logical numerical sequence.  Books numbered 001 – 499 are now on Floor 2 and those numbered 500 – 999 are on Floor 3.  Please check the class/call number of the book you require via Library SmartSearch.
• The Library building is now open 24/6 during term time throughout the academic year. 
• A new self-service facility for loaning laptops is being trialled this week, and we hope to have this operating fully whenever the building is open within the next few weeks.

Staff-Student Consultative Committees are 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.

Presidential election 2012 information

Don't be left in the dark about the forthcoming US elections.  There's a helpful blog by Heather Dawson at the LSE which will give you some links to find out how the US presidential vote system works.  Also there is a selection of links to major news services which are covering the elections.

Missed your Library Matters Live?

Library Matters Live sessions have now finished for this year.  We hope those of you who attended found them a useful introduction to Library & Information Services (LIS). 

If you missed yours or you want a refresher, don't worry!  You can dowload the presentation slides and an audio tour for the Library from the Library Matters Live webpage.  There will also be staff members available to introduction you to LIS, demonstrate the Library SmartSearch and answer your questions in the Foyer of the Library from 11am to 2pm every day next week (8th - 12th October).  They will even have some left-over goodie bags, so you can get your free stuff from them!

And don't forget, you can always get help and support from the Help Desk on the ground floor of the Library.

Welcome to Aston University Library & Information Services, and good luck with your course!

Library Matters Live

If you're not sure when to attend Library Matters Live, look at the timetable.  If there's a problem with that time, then attend any of the sessions.  There's a session on the hour, almost every hour, until Friday 5th October 2012.
Fill in an evaluation form after your Library Matters Live session for a goody bag and your chance to win a prize!