Library & Computing News

Algernon Selects...

sr-bryan@hotmail.com (Sharon B) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Algernon (the Library’s gorilla) was given the task of selecting books for the “holiday reading” display in Townsville's Mabo Library.

Turns out Algernon’s favourite books are not mystery novels, or classic novels, or science-fiction novels or romance novels.

Algernon likes paperbacks.

He doesn’t really care what the book is about, as long as it’s a paperback.

Thankfully, we have a lot of interesting paperbacks floating around in the library, so you’ll probably find something worth reading amongst Algernon’s
selections.

Have a look. Take a book. They’re all available for loan, and there are more where they came from.

'My Library Information' change in Tropicat

noreply@blogger.com (Alice Logan) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:45:00 +0000

On Friday 27th November from 5pm to 7pm Tropicat will be unavailable while we make the changes necessary to allow staff and students to access Tropicat's 'My Library Information' using their JCU computer accounts.

For JCU students and staff

After 7pm, you will access your library information using your JCU computer account.

For Associate, Community, Corporate and Reciprocal Borrowers

Any borrower registered with the JCU Library who is not a JCU student or staff member will sign into 'My Library Information' using their borrower number (the barcode number on your membership card) and a PIN (personal identification number) assigned by Lending Services.
If you have previously provided your email address your PIN will be sent to you. Otherwise contact Lending Services to get your PIN, or learn more about the changes.

What is 'My Library Information'?

'My Library Information' provides a number of services that you can access any time, anywhere:

Store a list of items you've found while searching that you want revisit later
See what you have on loan and when they are due
Renew items you have on loan
See if your hold requests are waiting to be picked up
See if there any notifications attached to your borrower record, like recall notices
Check your fines

We apologise for any inconvenience in service unavailability during this time. Hopefully you will enjoy the improved privacy and security when using Tropicat's 'My Library Information'

You might also be interested in:

Library Guide for Students with a Permanent or Temporary Disability

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:16:00 +0000

The Library Guide for clients with a temporary or permanent disability has been updated. Information on library opening hours, floor plans, loans, photocopying, printing, computers and much more is now available.

Scheduled Outage - Tropicat

noreply@blogger.com (Alice Logan) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:06:00 +0000

Tropicat will be unavailable for approximately two hours on Friday Nov 27, 2009 from 5pm.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Request Books from Library Store Collections

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Library clients can now place requests on items held in "Store collections". These will be marked in the catalogue by one of the following locations.

The P Store is the location of periodicals relocated from the open access shelves to Store.
The S Store is the location of items previously in the Store with an S Store number sequence.
The X Store is the location of items previously in the Store with an X Store number sequence.
The F Store is the location of folios and large size items.
The Y Store is the location of new items being placed into Store.

Once a hold has been placed you will be notified by email when your request is available for loan. Requests are available for collection from the self service hold shelf (Townsville) and from the Library Services desk (Cairns).

Off Campus clients will also be able to request a store item by sending a request to the Off Campus Service via Tropicat and the item will be borrowed out to the clients and sent to their posting address. The return postage is paid by the client.

For more information please refer to Stores Collection.

Reserve Online: Important Dates

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:51:00 +0000

The Library is currently updating reserve Online materials for study period 1 2010. To make sure that we process your materials in a timely manner it is advisable that you respond by the 2nd February 2010 with your requests:

Check your readings on Reserve Online and email a list of unwanted readings to archive.
Submit your Reserve Online requests by completing one of the following forms:

You will be notified via email when the item is available in Reserve Online.
Once the item is available in Reserve Online you can add it to your LearnJCU subject site.
Please read the criteria for submitting material for scanning before proceeding with a request.
Using reserve online ensures the University’s copyright compliance.

If you have any queries or require further assistance please contact either your school liaison librarian or lending services staff:

Townsville
Margaret Harrison
Extension 4503
Margaret.Harrison@jcu.edu.au

Cairns
Janine Meakin
Extension 1504
Janine.Meakin@jcu.edu.au

Summer Opening Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:38:00 +0000

From Monday 23 November 2009 the Townsville and Cairns Library Buildings will be open from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Go to the Library Opening Hours webpage to check our summer opening times in detail.

LearnJCU 2010 - Important dates for Staff

noreply@blogger.com (Alice Logan) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:47:00 +0000

On November 23, 2009 - LearnJCU 2010 will become available.

* A link to LearnJCU 2010 will be available on your current LearnJCU Welcome tab
* 2009 subjects will be available as per normal

On December 21, 2009 - LearnJCU will be switched over to LearnJCU 2010.

* The LearnJCU URL (https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au) will then go to the LearnJCU 2010 login page
* Access to LearnJCU 2009 and earlier years will be available via links on the Staff Resources tab
* Safe Assign will become unavailable in 2009 subject sites and available in 2010 subject sites
* Reserve Online will become unavailable in 2009 subject sites and available in 2010 subject sites

For more information please contact: learnjcu@jcu.edu.au

Stress Relief - The Times Spelling Bee

sr-bryan@hotmail.com (Sharon B) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:35:00 +0000

How are the exams going?

How are your stress levels? Do you feel ready for another time-wasting diversion?

The Times Spelling Bee could be just what you need.

This happy little online quiz feeds you English language words (in a number of different British voices) so you can see what your spelling is like.

Sometimes the accents can lead you astray, but if you're spelling isn't horrible it's a wonderfully uplifting waste of a few minutes.

Also a little bit addictive. Be warned.

Library Collection Development Guidelines

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:19:00 +0000

The Library & Information Services Collection Development Guidelines, approved by Academic Board in August 2009, can be accessed from the A-Z of Library & Computing Services.

The purpose of the Collection Development Guidelines is to provide a framework for the development and maintenance of library and archival collections at James Cook University. It outlines the current principles, policies and practices that inform the selection, access, maintenance, and relegation of information resources, electronic and print, for the JCU libraries. In addition to the collections of published information resources, the Library has responsibility for creating and maintaining the Reserve Online and the JCU research publications repository on behalf of the University. The Guidelines are used to:

Guide the selection, acquisition, maintenance and provision of access to information resources by Library and Information Services staff
Provide the James Cook University community with an overview of the principles that are used in developing and maintaining the Library collection
Ensure the selection and management of library resources best meets the learning, teaching, and research needs of the University
Achieve optimal value for money from the library materials budget.

Scheduled Downtime - InformaWorld

noreply@blogger.com (Alice Logan) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:16:00 +0000

InformaWorld eJournals will be unavailable Tuesday, 10 November, 2009 from 3 pm to 6 pm in order to complete some essential work.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Newspaper Holdings - Mabo Library Townsville

noreply@blogger.com (Alice Logan) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:57:00 +0000

The following newspapers are now located in the Store compactus. For each paper, the last 12 months are held in an unbound format. To obtain access to these newspapers please contact either Lending Services staff or Serials Staff:

The Age
Sydney Morning Herald
Financial Review

The following newspapers will continue to be bound and stored in the Microfilm room (ground floor) and are accessible by anyone:

The Australian
Courier Mail
Townsville Bulletin

Stress Relief - ZooBorns

sr-bryan@hotmail.com (Sharon B) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:53:00 +0000

So, the exams are more or less upon us. Some poor suckers, er, I mean, "students" have already started their exams, others are looking down the barrel in the next couple of weeks.

It's at this time of semester when we often find students need a little bit of distraction every now and then for their sanity. We always like to help our students with their, ah, "information" needs, so we thought we might provide a link or two to some pages that will be distracting.

Today, it's ZooBorns.

This is a page that is entirely devoted to baby animals born in zoos around the world. It's quite an education, actually. I'm sure you'll find some animals you've never even heard of before.

A word of warning, though, it is a very good time waster. Follow this link at your peril, if you have more pressing work to do...

Extended Friday Opening Hours during exams

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:19:00 +0000

Don't forget the Mabo Library in Townsville is open on Friday 6 November and Friday 13 November until 10.30pm. All library staff wish you all the best with your exams.

Click here for a complete list of our exam opening hours for both campus libraries.

Book Display

noreply@blogger.com (Alice Logan) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:40:00 +0000

We librarians are a sneaky lot. Occasionally, we just have to do something that amuses us. So, for the time being, we have a book display about... Books.

Yep, that's right, we've constructed an entire display looking at "The Book" - how people go about writing books, the design of books, printing and binding, publishing...

Heck, we've even got a couple of journals about book reviews.

We call it our "Book Display". You can groan now, if you like. Or, you can come into the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library and take a look. It could be particularly interesting if you were thinking about trying to get a book published, or if you want to work in some aspect of the book industry.

Interested in a Library Career?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan @JCU Library) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:56:00 +0000

Interested in a library career? The destinationlibrary wiki is a resource for everyone considering a career in the library and information industry. Check it out in the A to Z listing under L for Library careers.

Tropicat for Mobile Devices

noreply@blogger.com (Alan @JCU Library) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:55:00 +0000

Do you own an iPhone, Blackberry or 3G phone? Then you will want to use it to check out Tropicat for mobile devices, the new text-based interface to the JCU Library catalogue.

It offers the same functionality as the standard interface without the graphics and is suited to viewing on smaller screens. You can search, add items to your list, place reserves and renew items wherever you are, for as long as your battery and phone card last! If you would like to know more about using Tropicat view the Quick Guide to Tropicat.

Interested in learning more about using your iPhone with Walkabout wireless, JCU email and NetAccess? See our guide Using the iPhone.

Wireless LAN upgrading

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:09:00 +0000

On Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October IT&R will be installing cabling for the Wireless LAN upgrade throughout the Mabo Library (Townwsville). IT&R staff hope there will be minimal disruption to students and staff.

Short interruption to Tropicat services

noreply@blogger.com (Alan @JCU Library) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:33:00 +0000

On Saturday 24th October between 8 and 10am Tropicat will be unavailable for a 30-60 minute maintenance period.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Australian Research Online

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:05:00 +0000

Australian Research Online is where you can search 332,943 Australian research outputs, including theses; preprints; postprints; journal articles; book chapters; music recordings and pictures.

Australian Research Online searches simultaneously across the contents of Australian university and government research repositories in addition to several other collections of Australian research. The list of currently participating universities, and government departments with the number of outputs currently in each repository, is listed at the left.

To view the most frequently accessed research items, and most popular creators, visit the Statistics page. Or to view the contents of an institution’s repository (including James Cook University)listed as a tag cloud, visit the Tag cloud page.

eJournals Scheduled System Outage - 25 October

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Serials Solutions are upgrading their systems. As a result the following Library services may be unavailable on Sunday, 25 October between 2am to 8am local time.

eJournals A-Z (The eJournals title list)
Hyperlinks in Tropicat journal records
Find It (The Link Resolver)
X Search
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory

If you are still experiencing problems after this time, please contact InfoHelp.

Darwin display in the Cairns Library

noreply@blogger.com (Bronwen) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:35:00 +0000

The display includes a collection of relevant books and diagrams of Darwin's travels on the Beagle and his theory of evolution. All books are available to be borrowed.

Open Access Week 19-23 October

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:30:00 +0000

Support free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research along with your colleagues around the world during Open Access Week.
Check out the website for facts, resources and suggestions.

Find out why Open access is good for you, and everyone
http://www.vimeo.com/7048906.
View the Open Access 101 video. (3 minutes, animated)
http://vimeo.com/6973160.
Find out how Open Access is paid for
http://www.arl.org/sparc/publisher/incomemodels.

And contribute your research to ResearchOnline@JCU for all the world to see. Free.

Exam Opening Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Helen H) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:25:00 +0000

The Townsville and Cairns Library Buildings will be open for extended hours during the Examination period, beginning Friday 6 November until Sunday 22 November. Handouts are available at the InfoHelp desks.

24 hour study facilities, including copying, computing and printing are available in the Humanities Annex (Building 02) Computing Facility in Townsville and A2.017, A2.018 and B1.030 facilities in Cairns. Many services and resources are available 24 hours per day through the Library and Computing Services website.

Guide to Library Services FOR PIRATES!

sr-bryan@hotmail.com (Sharon B) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:41:00 +0000

Well, we were going to try to correct a few more spelling errors before officially unveiling our Guide to Library Services

But Cap'n Sam threatened to do horrible things to us involving sharp pieces of metal if we didn't "stop yer fussin' an' get on wit' it!"

He also mentioned something really unsavoury involving a dead parrot and a copy of Captain Blood, so we thought it was probably in our best interest to just put the page up.

Who's brilliant idea was it to hire a pirate for a librarian, anyway?

Oh, well. You can get to the new piratical pages from our Training Page, or you can follow this link here:

http://cms.jcu.edu.au/libcomp/resources/JCUPRD_051296