Bank Holiday Closure

Monday is a bank holiday. Therefore both libraries will be closed that day. If you do feel the need for a dail dose of DBS, the Aungier St building will be open from 8.00am to 6.00pm on that day

Movement

We have lots of summer jobs on at the moment. After typing this, I'm off to proofread the new improved library website, which we think you'll like (for example it has an online PC and room booking system). Another summer job, and the subject of this short posting, is moving the printing and photocopying room. It's no longer going to be at the top of the library, but in the office next to the DVD collection. So coming into the library turn left and then turn right at the DVDs, simple. The move is in progress even as I type.

Self-Service is coming to Dame St.

Last summer we introduced RFID self-service stations to Aungier St. It's no understatement to say that they have been a big success. It's also no understatement to say that you'd like Dame St. to go self-service. too. Next month we will be granting your wish. However to facilitate this, we will have to close Dame St library from the 16th to the 20th of August. As this is a time when some of you will be furiously working on dissertations, we plan to ship all the theses held in Dame St library down to Aungier St. so that they are still accessible when the library is closed. A reminder will appear nearer the time

News International Titles and Lexis-Nexis

Hello, I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Counter-intuitively, the summer is a really busy time for us in the library as we get to do all the stuff that we can't do when you are here. Anyway, some of you may be aware the News International titles The Times and Sunday Times are now behind a paywall, which means if you want to look at stories from these papers you will have to pay - currently £1 per day or a £2 weekly subscription. This is an interesting development and one that will be closed watched by other newspaper publishers. Personally speaking, I don't think that this is a good idea as I don't think that either paper offers anything that I can't see for free elsewhere on the net. Perhaps people may wish to subscribe to read their favourite commentators, I don't know, but it seems to me that The Times and Sunday Times are cutting themselves off from the vast majority of Internet users, particularly those who would have reached the papers from Google or other search engines.However the good news is that the majority of articles from these titles can still be read on Lexis Nexis News UK, to which the library subscribes. Lexis Nexis News UK is available to DBS students on and off-campus, though off-campus you will have to use 'Search All Resources' or the new EBSCOHost Integrated Search.

Wireless printing

Did you know that you can now print directly from your laptop?
Just grab a 'Wireless printing guide' at the Library desk to setup the wireless printing on your laptop and you can start printing!

Bank Holiday Closure

DBS libraries will be closed on Monday 7th June. The Aungier St. building - but not the library will be open from 8.00am to 6.00pm if you are looking for study space.

Self-issue stations survey: a big thank you!

Thanks a lot to all students and DBS staff who took the time to fill in the survey on the self-issue stations in the Library. We received 132 answers that will help Library staff in the writing of a paper on the implementation of self-issue technology at DBS Library.
So thanks again to all of you who took the time to give us your feedback and congratulations to Anita who won the €100 HMV voucher!

Personalised Start Pages

When you open a web browser, what’s the first page you see? Web browsers give you the option of setting your home page – the page that the browser opens first, but there are an increasing variety of services that offer you the ability to create a customised home page which can contain links to your favourite web pages, news feeds and any number of gadgets or widgets that can for example, check your email, give you the weather forecast for where you are, let you know what’s on at your local cinema and so on. Most services also let you customise the look and feel of the page – for a more personal experience – obviously. Personalised start pages are an example of a Web 2.0 application, where the user (you) defines the content that he or she sees.
Ok, some examples of personalised start pages:
iGoogle: as you may guess from the name iGoogle is the Google personalised home page service. You may love or hate Google but you can’t ignore them. iGoogle has literally hundreds and hundreds of gadgets that you can choose to add to your start page including Google modules such as Google Maps, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Bookmarks and a vast number of user created gadgets (there’s even one to search the library catalogue). iGoogle also allows easy integration of RSS feeds. Your humble scribe uses iGoogle and would recommend it.
Netvibes: This is similar to iGoogle and thought by many to be better. Like iGoogle, there’s a myriad of gadgets (here called widgets) available. One advantage of Netvibes is that there’s a widget for capturing web pages, allowing you to have a home page composed of other web pages. One disadvantage is that the default language is French (Netvibes are a French company). Your humble scribe also uses and recommends Netvibes
Pageflakes is similar to iGoogle and Netvibes. Like those services you can have tabbed home pages, with each tab devoted to a different topic. Pageflakes has had some issues in the recent past (see here for example). You may also find advertising content appearing on your Pageflakes homepage.
Protopage is nice looking and has good audio and video options and a nice RSS reader.
Symbaloo: is nice but basic. Click and drag large block icons. Not as sophisticated as some, but it’s quick to set up and easy to use.
Bonzobox: Like symbaloo, click, drag and drop links to your favourite websites. Like Symbaloo, more basic than some others.

There is no best start page, each of the above and others (there are many, many others) not mentioned all have their advantages and disadvantages. If you are thinking about using a start page, think about the following:
how easy is it to set up?
how many modules/widgets/gadgets are available?
is there are a developer community?
how much customisation can you do?

One feature of start pages that I particularly like, is that I can gather together content from various websites together on the one page - I can see the latest news, sports news and information pertaining to my work all on the one page without having to visit 327 different websites. Alternatively you may want an online pet hamster or to play games online. Start pages are all about what you want.

Last chance for Library classes

As the college starts to wind down (but no, not us, we'll be busier than ever behind the scenes) a little over the summer months, this week sees the last scheduled library classes of the year. I've no doubt that there will be some ad hoc classes arranged during the summer, but otherwise this week's classes are the last. Stay tuned for news of summer classes.

Library SUMMER opening hours

We are switching to summer opening hours on Monday May 17th and until Saturday September 25th. During this period all students can access all DBS Libraries without restriction (which means that undergraduate students are welcome to use Dame Street Library).

Opening hours for Aungier Street and Dame Street will be as follows:

• Aungier Street

Monday 9.30-17.15
Tuesday 9.30-22.00
Wednesday 9.30-17.15
Thursday 9.30-22.00
Friday 9.30-17.15
Saturday 9.30-17.00
(closed on Sunday)

• Dame Street

Monday 9.30-22.00
Tuesday 9.30-17.00
Wednesday 9.30-22.00
Thursday 9.30-17.00
Friday 9.30-17.00
Saturday 9.30-14.00
(closed on Sunday)