Top e-books in October

Well done to Business in holding onto top spot in the pages viewed chart for October. Beauty Therapy are holding onto their chart positions this month and Tourism have broken into the top ten.  In our downloads chart IT have claimed top spot this time round.

Here's October's chart:

11801   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
1656     BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2
1227     Beauty Therapy (3rd ed.)
870       Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 2
750       Beauty Therapy (2nd ed.)
750       BTEC Level 2 First Business
599       Official Guide to Body Massage
473       Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
434       Teaching Today
343       Making Sense of Change Management

The top downloaded books for October were:

10   BTEC Level 3 National in IT
9     Movement and Dance in Early Childhood
8     A Manager's Guide to Self Development
8     Making Sense of Change Management
6     BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1

PINs Week at GC LRC

Last week was PINs week at Guildford College LRC and you may have noticed staff wearing the badges in the picture to the right.

We were using to week to promote that students and staff can use our Online Catalogue Heritage to renew, reserve and even review books. This can help you to manage your loans and avoid having to pay fines for overdue books.

Just pop along to the Heritage website and enter your student number and PIN in the log in box:

If you haven’t got a Heritage PIN just ask a member of LRC staff and they can set you one up.

Have you found a book really useful or enjoyable? Why not check out our previous blog post 'Reviewing resources on Heritage' and write a review. If you are a tutor, you can use this facility to recommend useful books to your students.

Top ten e-books in September

At the end of the first month of the new academic year we find out who's got going the quickest using our e-books.  Did your subject make the top 10?

Here's the first chart based on pages viewed:

1941   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
900     BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2
503     Beauty Therapy
280     Science of Beauty Therapy
200     Official Guide to Body Massage
199     Beauty Therapy Study Skills
192     Doing Your Research Project
146     Becoming a Therapist
143     Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Diversity
137     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1

The top downloaded books for September were:

15   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
3     Supporting Drama and Imaginative Play in the Early Years
2     Carpentry and Joinery Level 1

Half Term Opening Hours

The LRC will be open at the following times over half term.

Guildford College

Monday - Friday   9.30 - 4.30

Please note: All three LRCs will be CLOSED on Monday 5 November for staff training.

iSkills comes online

Our iSkills section on Moodle is beginning to take shape and we're busy putting together information and activities that we hope will help you to make the most of the resources we have to offer.

We're pleased to launch our first item - 'Referencing: a guide to the basics'.  

The mix of information and activities provides an introduction to the basic Harvard style and will give you a good start in developing your knowledge. Don't forget to check with your tutor to make sure you're using the correct format.

Please take a look and let us know if you like it!

We've got lots of plans for more content so watch out for what's coming up - and don't forget you can also follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with what's happening in the LRCs.

Welcome to the Learning Resource Centres (LRCs)

Whether you are new to the college or returning for another year, the LRCs at Farnham, Guildford and Merrist Wood are here to help you with your studies.

All our resources are FREE to borrow, including DVDs!  However, there are fines for late returns.  You will need your Student ID card to borrow resources and to access computers and it is important that you wear your ID cards at all times.

For returning students the best news this summer is that Athens Passwords are no longer needed to access e-resources, including e-books - just login with your Student ID and password. (See our No more Athens! post for details.)

For more information and news about each of the LRCs, please see the following messages:

Farnham LRC

Welcome to the LRC at Farnham!  It has been good to meet most of you at enrolment and to have had the chance to introduce the LRC services to you through our induction.  If any of you missed your tour of the LRC, have a look at the Farnham induction video, produced by students, which explains how to borrow resources, use the printers etc.

We look forward to helping you make the most of the resources we have for you here in the LRC.

Guildford LRC

We are looking forward to welcoming new students to the LRC during inductions and to show you how the LRC can support your studies.

If you miss the LRC induction for any reason you can look at our induction video on GO, or call into the LRC and a member of staff will be happy to help. You can also meet us at the Freshers Fair in the Main Hall on the 18th September.

This year we have revised our opening hours slightly.  In response to feed back from staff and students we are opening the LRC earlier on Friday mornings (see highlighted changes below).

Monday          8.30 - 6.00
Tuesday        8.30 - 8.00
Wednesday  9.00 - 8.00
Thursday       8.30 - 8.00
Friday            8.30 - 5.00

Merrist Wood

Welcome to Merrist Wood for the start of a new academic year.  The big change for the LRC is the introduction of new opening hours:

Monday - Thursday  8.30 - 5.30

Friday                       8.30 - 5.00

We will, however, be flexible in offering alternative support to evening class students and tutors by arrangement if required.

If you are new to the college, drop in and say hello and let the staff give you the lowdown on all the services we can offer.

Top ten e-books for 2011-12

Here are the top 10 e-books for the last academic year based on pages viewed.

As expected Business are in the top spot but well done to Beauty, Carpentry, Tourism and Early Years too.

Who will come out on top this year?

Pages     Title

24,206    BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
8,790      BTEC Level 3 Business, Book 2
4,260      Book 1: BTEC National Business
3,216      Beauty Therapy (2nd ed.)
2,775      Carpentry and Joinery Level 1
2,337      Reflective Practice and Early Years Professionalism Linking
1,742      Anatomy and Physiology : Therapy Basics (4th ed.)
1,605      Exploring Corporate Strategy
1,516      Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
1,401      Knowledge Management