New, improved Document Delivery service

From the beginning of February 2012 Imperial College will be moving onto the new British Library Document Supply Service (BLDSS).

Once the system is implemented our users will gain the following benefits:

• All documents, when available, will be delivered in colour.
• Articles supplied as hardcopy will be in an A4 sized stapled booklet format (A3 folded in half).
• Users will receive reminders if they have not downloaded documents supplied to them electronically 7 days before the end of the 30 day download period.
• The current loan period will be extended from 3 weeks to 5 weeks.

During the deployment period the current service will not be disrupted.

IMPORTANT: There will be a change to the email address for documents sent by the British Library Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) service. The sender’s name will appear as noreply@bldss.bl.uk. This should be added to your approved or safe senders list in Outlook so you do not delete the email.

New books at Central Library in January 2012

Please see the attached lists for new books received at the Central Library in January 2012. There is a list of Humanities books, which have been purchased to support courses, and an additional list of recreational materials which includes fiction, general non-fiction, films on DVD, music CDs and spoken word CDs.

New Humanities Course Books January 2012

New Recreational Reading, CDs & DVDs January 2012

Just click on the book title to go straight to the Library catalogue record to see if the item is on the shelves, if it isn’t, you can click to reserve the item.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for titles to be purchased for the Library.

New e-book collection now available

The Library has recently purchased the Springer Mathematics & Statistics e-book collection, covering titles published between 2005 and 2011. This comprehensive collection includes titles released by Springer during these years.

This collection is made up of 2,340 titles.

There are several titles within the collection which you may find of interest, including:

• A History of the Central Limit Theorum by Hans Fischer (2011)
• A Short History of Mathematical Population Dynamics by Nicholas Bacaer (2011)
• Crossroads: History of Science, History of Art by Kim Williams (2011)
• Mathematics and its History by John Sitwell (2010)
• A History of Algebraic and Differential Topology, 1900-1960 by Jean Dieudonne (2009)
• History of Mathematics by Craig Smorynski (2008)
• A History of Abstract Alegbra by Isreal Kleiner (2007)
• A History of Parametic Statistical Inference from Bernoulli to Fisher, 1713-1935 by Anders Hald (2007)

These e-books can currently be accessed via SpringerLink though we will also be adding the collection to Library Search over the coming weeks.

Springer maths and stats ebook collection title list

Springer eBooks in Mathematics & Statistics gives you more information about series and titles included in this collection.

Doing your research project – January 2012′s e-book of the month

Doing your research project: a guide for first-time researchers in education, health and social science 4^th edition by Judith Bell

Now in its 4^th edition, Bell’s book finds a place on most students’ desks who are undertaking qualitative research. It covers the basic principles involved in planning your research, and makes no assumptions of prior knowledge.

The book is divided into three sections:

• Preparing the ground: including approaches to research, planning, ethics, reading, and searching and reviewing the literature
• Selecting methods of data collection: looks at dealing with documentary evidence, designing questionnaires, conducting interviews, and observation studies
• Interpreting the evidence and reporting findings: covers some principles for analysing qualitative data collected and how to write up your research

The advice is plainly explained and is suitable for both undergraduates and postgraduates.

Access to this resource is controlled by the IP address of your computer when on-campus. For off-site access log in to the College VPN, or authenticate using your College username and password.

Early European Books: printed sources to 1700

The Library now has access to the Wellcome Collection in Early European Books: printed sources to 1700. Access to 400 digitised rare early books tracing the history of science and medicine from the Wellcome Library is available here. Coverage is from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries and subjects from anatomy and botany to witchcraft and the occult.

New books at Central Library in December 2011

Please see the attached lists for new books received at the Central Library in December 2011. There is a list of Humanities books, which have been purchased to support courses, and an additional list of recreational materials which includes fiction, general non-fiction, films on DVD, music CDs and spoken word CDs.

 

New Humanities Course Books December 2011

New Recreational Reading, CDs & DVDs December 2011

Just click on the book title to go straight to the Library catalogue record to see if the item is on the shelves, if it isn’t, you can click to reserve the item.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for titles to be purchased for the Library.

Spiral top twenty downloads for November 2011

The list of the top 20 downloads from Spiral for November 2011 is now available to view on the Library website.

Spiral, the Digital Repository for research output of Imperial College London, aims to:

• increase the visibility of the College’s research publications
• allow free and open access to all material added to it, and
• provide links to academics’ professional web pages

To find out more about Spiral, click here.

British Newspaper Archive

Today the British Library and online publisher brightsolid launched the British Newspaper Archive. Over 3million pages of historical newspapers are now searchable online at: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

The newspapers mainly date from the 19th century also include some runs dating back to the first half of the 18th century, and cover every aspect of local, regional and national news. Highlights include reports, commentaries and letters to the editor on topics such as 19th century railway mania, and the wonders of the Great Exhibition in 1851.

For more information from the British Library about this service click here.

Please be aware that although searching is free, there is a charge to view the actual content/newspaper pages.

Library Christmas opening hours 2011

The Central Library will be closed from 13.00 on Friday 23rd December 2011 for the Christmas vacation and will reopen at 08.30 on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

Medical campus libraries will close at 17.00 on Friday 23rd December 2011 and reopen at their normal opening times on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

For further details please consult the relevant campus library page available by clicking here.

2011 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books

The Wavewatcher’s Companion by Gavin Pretor-Pinney was announced as the winner of this year’s £10,000 prize on 17 November 2011. Pretor-Pinney is the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, and took time out to explore and explain waves in an approachable way.

Other shortlisted titles were:

Alex’s adventures in numberland by Alex Bellos

Through the language glass: why the world looks different in other languages by Guy Deutscher

The disappearing spoon and other true tales of madness, love, and the history iof the world from the periodic table of the elements by Sam Kean

Massive: the missing particle that sparked the greatest hunt in science by Ian Sample

The rough guide to the future by Jon Turney

Click on the title to be taken to the Library record for the book and find it on the shelves. If the book is on loan already, click on the Reserve button to place a reservation.