Friday 26 June 2009

Update on Summer projects -RFID countdown


As Dave's earlier post mentioned, all may be quiet on the student front but library staff are working hard behind the scenes to bring about some big changes before September.

To satisfy your curiosity as to what we are up to, here's a little update...



RFID Countdown
Our big switch to RFID self check technology is well under way in the Aungier St Library. Book tagging is in full swing with only about 25,000 items remaining! We have drafted in some extra work experience hands to help us get through the arduous process of RFID tagging our 30,000+ Aungier St collection. All things going to plan, we should be ready to install the new system by late July.
Once up and running, DBS will become the first fully RFID enabled academic library in Ireland and your days of queuing up at an issue desk just to issue or return a book are a thing of the past. We understand the new system might take a bit of re-adjustment for returning students so staff will be on hand in the first few weeks of the new term to demonstrate the self check stations, answer any queries and help ease the transition. Our aim is to make it quick and easy for you to do things like issuing and returning books independently so that (at the risk of sounding like a bank or insurance ad.) when you need help with the big things (searching the catalogue, using databases, referencing and research) we'll be able to give you the time you need.

Watch this space for further updates on the RFID conversion & some of the other things we've got in the pipeline for the next academic year.

Monday 22 June 2009

Instant Library Chat - Pilot

As mentioned in a previous post, we'd like to get into the world of virtual reference services, which in layman's language means chatting to library staff via an instant messaging service. Obviously I mean chat in the sense of asking library-type questions as opposed to chatting in the sense of making small talk about the weather. In this day and age why should you be restricted to turning up at the Library Information Desk or even phoning the library? Why not use the power of the Internet to communicate? Hence the "Ask a Librarian" box that's sitting on the right hand side of the blog, for now. This is only at the experimental stage so the chat box may disappear or reappear seemingly at random, or even appear elsewhere. If there's a chat box, then someone should be listening. Stay tuned...

Friday 19 June 2009

Postgraduates - Change in loan period

Dear Postgraduate students,
From June 19th onwards the loan period for main lending books switches from:
1 month renewable once, to 2 weeks renewable twice.

But you can now also borrow up to 10 items (instead of 8 previously)

This decision was taken conjointly between Library Staff Members, Students Representatives and Academic Staff Members during the last Library Committee Meeting held on March 20th 2009, to allow better access to resources.

Thursday 11 June 2009

Free Books!! - Part Deux - Law Books


The collection of weeded books needing new homes is shrinking fast here in Aungier st - our students know a good offer when they see one!

Following their stock check Portobello Library now have a large collection of weeded titles in urgent need of adoption.

Many of Portobello's weeded titles will be older editions of Law texts which cost a considerable amount to purchase new so its a great chance for students to pick up classic legal texts.

Weeded titles will be available in the Portobello Library until June 26th - so hurry on up to Portobello before they are gone!

Summer Late Opening - extended hours


Most of us may be taking advantage of the long summer evenings but there are some dedicated part time students who have expressed an interest in getting in some additional quality time with the library over the Summer months.

To accomodate students who want to squeeze in some extra library time, we will extend Summer opening hours to provide access until 10pm Monday - Thursday

Late opening will alternate between the Aungier st & Dame st sites as follows;

Monday 09:30 – 22:00 DAME ST
Tuesday 09:30 – 22:00 AUNGIER ST
Wednesday 09:30 – 22:00 DAME ST
Thursday 09:30 – 22:00 AUNGIER ST
Friday 09:30 – 17:15 AS & DS*
Saturday 09.30 -17:15 (AS- 09:30-14:00 DS)



These opening hours will come into effect on Monday June 15th

* Remember study room AS 1.6 is still available for students on Friday evenings until 21:00





























Monday 8 June 2009

Free Books!!


Anyone who has been in the Aungier St. library lately may have noticed the expanding pile of books stacked on the last rows of study desks in front of the library office.

Every year we weed our collection, to make room for all the new books acquired through the year and to remove old, out of date or damaged books. We do this both to make the most of library shelf space and to make sure that our collection remains as current and relevant as possible.

Most of these weeded books are earlier editions of core texts or supplementary titles on course reading lists for which we now have multiple copies of the most recent editions.

We dont have room for these books in our collections anymore but would like to give them a good home. So, we are giving them away for free to DBS students or staff. All you have to do to get your hands on some free books is come on up to the library, have a look at whats available and anything that takes your fancy, just stick it in you bag and take it home - simple as that.

Anything that remains unclaimed by the beginning of July will be donated to charity or recycled.

Spread the word to classmates & colleagues - give a home to a poor unwanted library book!

Thursday 4 June 2009

Disruption to Services - Friday and Saturday 5th/6th June

Those nice people in IT are planning some work this weekend that may interfere with the library catalogue and access to off-campus resources. Outage (outrage?) is scheduled for Friday 5pm to Sunday at 7am. I say scheduled, but in reality who knows?

Update: the work is now scheduled to start at 10pm on Friday, not 5pm

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Classroom for study - room change

Please note that the powers-that-be have decided that they need the third floor for something or other, henceforth the Friday study classroom will be Room 1.6. I'll say that again, the classroom available for study is Room 1.6. Don't go to the third floor as you'll find all the rooms locked. Go to Room 1.6 instead.