Warning Banned Books!

To celebrate Equality and Diversity Week 2012 all three LRCs showcased Banned Books!

Banned Books created a stir at all the sites with students getting involved in the quiz as well as discussing the books that were banned and also the issues surrounding the banning of books.

The aim of the quiz was to correctly identify whether the books had been or are currently banned either here in the UK or in another country. We used the following website as a guide to which books were banned and why. We had over 220 entries so a big thank you to everyone who took part!

The winners are: Lorna Taylor (FC), Mo Herbert (MW), Mary Apple Radam (GC).

Here are the answers so you can check which ones you got right:

Birdsong - Not Banned
Women in Love - Not Banned
Hairy Scary Monster - Not Banned
To Kill a Mocking Bird - Banned
Black Beauty - Banned
A Clockwork Orange - Banned
Refugee Boy - Not Banned
Wild Swans - Banned
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Banned
The Perks of being a Wallflower - Banned
The Brutal Art - Not Banned
And Tango Makes Three - Banned
The Da Vinci Code - Banned
The Godfather - Not Banned
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Banned 


Students also submitted comments and reviews of Banned Books -  here are a few along with some pictures of our displays. Enjoy!

Wild Swans by Jung Chang. "It is a brilliant book! So vivid and honest and it's all true. It actually happened that is what is so incredible. I admire these 3 brave women."

"Harry Potter banned in America? Meant to be a so called 'free country'! Censorship comes to mind."


"American Psycho should be permanently banned it's a very disturbing read" 


"Adolf Hitler's 'Meine Kampf' should not be banned - he was entitled to his political opinion."

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. "I loved Of Mice and Men because it was interesting and made me want to read more."


The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. "My favourite book ever. Clever, smart, thoughtful and very moreish. Read this hundreds of times. Worth a read!"

Happy Christmas!

Don't forget that even though we're closed over Christmas and the New Year you can still access all our e-books and other online resources 24/7.

Look for the LRC under Key Courses on Moodle to find links to Heritage (library catalogue) and our e-resources.

Just like Sainsbury’s!

That was a comment from a teacher about a recent move of stock.  I assured him that there was a purpose to the move.

We have had to reclassify stock for two reasons:

• changes in the latest version of our classification scheme, Dewey
• the fact that the combined catalogue for the three sites shows up any areas where one or two have made changes to the official classification. (We do this to make things easier for our students.) However, if we don't all use the same number, we can end up with one book having three classification numbers.

So far we have moved stock in these areas where the Dewey number has changed:

• 760 Graphic arts have been relocated to 740
• 775 Digital photography has been moved to 770 for general works and 771 for manuals
• 778.5 Cinematography and videography have relocated to 777

Some of the subjects we have moved as we have standardised our local practice are:

• Research Skills and Study Skills (various classification numbers)
• Artists and painters that were spread throughout 700-719 and 759 are now just at 759

Students and staff: if your books are not on the shelf where you expect them to be, check the catalogue or ask a friendly librarian!

Top e-books in November

Business once again hold onto top spot in the pages viewed chart for last month. Beauty Therapy are also holding onto their chart positions and we have behavioural ecology books in the top ten for the first time this year.  In our downloads chart Early Childhood have claimed top spot this time round.

Here's November's chart:

3786   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
1957   BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2
359     Behavioural ecology
333     An introduction to behavioural ecology
262     Beauty therapy. - 3rd ed.
226     Aromatherapy : therapy basics
200     Research methods for business
186     Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice
176     Doing research in the real world
172     Business information management : improving performance using 
           information systems   

The top downloaded books for November were:

8   Child development for early childhood studies
5   Construction technology
4   Special educational needs, inclusion and diversity
4   Managing behaviour in the early years
4   BTEC First Business: Level 2
4   An introduction to behavioural ecology
4   Advanced construction technology

Six Book Challenge 2013

FC LRC & GC LRC are pleased to announce the launch of the Six Book Challenge 2013!

Do you want to improve your reading and literacy skills? Do you want to get back into reading but don't know where to start?

If the answer is yes, then get them involved in the Six Book Challenge!

We had a trial run of the challenge last year with two ESOL groups at Guildford and 15 students at Farnham with some success but we are now opening it up to any students that want to improve their reading skills and/or get back into reading.

The challenge is for students to read six books before the end of June 2013.

Well not just books... poetry, newspapers,  magazines and e-books count too! All you need to do is pop along to the LRC and sign up. It doesn't take long, just a minute or two to fill out a little form. Then we give you a reading diary so you can record what you read and rate it out of 5. Once you have read something and recorded it in your diary pop back into the LRC to get it stamped by a member of the LRC team.

When you have filled up your diary and read all six books you have completed the challenge and you will receive your certificate and get entered into a National Prize Draw. First prize is a theatre trip to London for 2 and three runners up will get a Kobo e-reader.

Don't worry if you don't know where to start or what to read the LRC staff can help you and you can also check out this useful website to help you find your next read. There will also be freebies and incentives throughout the challenge to keep you motivated! :)

Over 23 students have signed up already! Why not join them and give it a go?!?

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

No more Athens!

... or how to access e-resources in future.

The LRCs pay for a wide-ranging selection of quality e-resources to support teaching and learning.  The providers of these resources restrict access to those who have paid and therefore they need to know who is trying to access the resource so only subscribers get in.

On college computers this is sometimes done by the IP address of the PC you are using.  This means you will get automatic access to the resource without having to log in.

Another way to control access is via a password.  Some resources have their own unique username and password and where this is the case the details will be on Moodle.

For other resources we used the Athens authentication system to provide access.  However, from September 2012 we will no longer be using this system.

How will this affect me?

The big plus is it means you won't have to remember another password.  Instead you will use your college username and password - the same one you use to log on to college computers.

Some resources provide a link which will take you straight to the college login box which makes access straight forward.  Others do not have this facility and what it means is that instead of looking for a login box that says 'Athens' you will look for a box that says one of the following:





UK Federation







UK Access Management Federation





Institutional login

Athens/Institution login

Shibboleth login

If you see none of these you may need to click on a small line marked 'Alternative login'

The institution name has also changed and you should login using Guildford College Open Athens Service

Once you have logged in you will be able to access other e-resources which use this type of login automatically as long as you remain on the internet.

If you run into any problems, or have any questions, please ask in the LRC.

Summer opening

Guildford College

The LRC will be open all Summer at the following times:

Week commencing 9 July

Monday           9.00 - 5.00
Tuesday          9.30 - 1.30
Wednesday     9.00 - 5.00
Thursday         9.00 - 5.00
Friday              9.30 - 5.00

From 17 July to 7 September the LRC will be open 9.30 - 4.30 but will close at lunchtime 1.00 - 2.00

N.B. Guildford College will be closed all day on Friday 20 July

Merrist Wood

The LRC expects to be open throughout the Summer but please ring to check before visiting as times may be altered at short notice.

Week commencing 9 July

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday       9.30 - 4.30 (closed 12.30 - 1.30)
Tuesday        9.30 - 1.30

From 17 Jul the LRC will be open

9.30 - 4.30 (closed 12.30 - 1.30)

June Half Term Opening Hours

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

Guildford College

Monday 4 June                            CLOSED
Tuesday 5 June                           CLOSED
Wednesday 6 - Friday 8 June      9.30 - 4.30

Merrist Wood and Farnham College LRCs will be closed all week and reopen on Monday 11 June.

Using E-resources at Farnham College

Students at Farnham College are able to access a huge range of specially purchased on-line material, thanks to the fact that they share resources with Merrist Wood and Guildford College.  The ones they find most useful include:

·         Infotrac – journals, magazines, newspapers, reference covering many subjects

·         Issues Online – a wide coverage of contemporary social issues

·         New Scientist

·         e-Mag – English Literature and Language

·         Media Magazine

·         New Perspective – History articles

·         Intered – specialist magazines and books covering child care ages 0-18 years

·         Ebooks such as the Level 3 BTEC Business book

Go to Moodle/Key Courses/E-resources and explore these yourself, or ask a member of the LRC staff to help you find the ones most relevant to your subject.

LRC CPD Day Showcase

The LRC had a very successful CDP Day showcase with 61 staff visiting us. There was a wide range of activities on offer including:

·         CIS Guildford QR Code game

·         Dewey order game and word games

·         Demonstration of Keynote reports

·         Have a go at using Action & Flip Cameras

·         Try out an e-book reader or the interactive books on the iPad

·         Find out about the LRC pages on Moodle and use Heritage Online

·         Tweet and find out about the new LRC Blog

There was also a Best Practice Vodcast in which Guildford College Tutors explained how to get the most out of the LRC. If you missed it you can watch it again here: http://youtu.be/aDorLREuUic

If you would like to find out anymore about how the LRC can support you or your students please get in touch or pop in and see us! You can also follow us on twitter http://www.twitter.com/GCLRCs

Guildford College LRC

library@guildford.ac.uk

01483 448611

Merrist Wood LRC

mwlibrary@guildford.ac.uk

01483 884022

Farnham College LRC

FCLRC@guildford.ac.uk

01252 740547

Reviewing resources on Heritage

A relatively new feature on our online catalogue, Heritage, is the ability to rate and review resources that you have enjoyed or think may benefit other library users. This could be a good film that you have seen, a great fiction book or a really useful textbook for students to use on their course. It is really simple to use and is very similar to the feature on Amazon where customers rate and review certain items, here is how you do it:

·         First you need to head to our online catalogue at www.guildford.ac.uk/heritage

·         You then need to log in on the right hand side using your reader code and pin number. Your reader code is your student number or, for staff, your network log in e.g. asmith, a library pin can be requested from the LRC if you don’t have one.

·         Now that you are logged in you can search for a resource that you want to review. Once you have found the item you want to review just click on the ‘create a review’ button.

·         You can now rate your resource out of 5 stars and write a small description about what you thought of the resource.

·         Once you have submitted a review other library users can see what you have written about the item as it will appear on the catalogue record

This is a really useful tool and allows users to see which books are really good and will also warn people of any books or films that are worth a miss! It is also a really good tool for tutors to recommend texts to students and pin point any useful chapters.

Top E-Books in March

Here are the top 10 e-books for March based on pages viewed.

Business are at the top once again but Equine, Counselling, IT, and Tourism are in there too. 

Pages   Title

3143    BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
700      Book 1: BTEC National Business
510      Organisational Behaviour
480      Horse and Stable Management
466      Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
361      BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2
298      Business and Administration NVQ Level 2
265      Beyond Blame
262      Teaching Today
245      Counselling, Psychotherapy and the Law

Easter Opening Hours

The LRCs will be open at the following times over Easter.

Guildford College

Monday 2 - Wednesday 4 April         9.30 - 4.30
Thursday 5 April                                9.30 - 4.30 (closed for lunch 12.30 - 1.30)
Friday 6 April                                    CLOSED

Monday 9 April                                 CLOSED
Tuesday 10 - Friday 13 April             9.30 - 4.30


Merrist Wood

Monday 2 - Tuesday 3 April             9.30 - 4.30 (closed for lunch 12.30 - 1.30)
Wednesday 4 April                           9.30 - 1.00

We regret that due to staff shortages we will then not reopen until Monday 16 April.


Farnham College

Due to essential work being carried out the LRC will be closed over Easter and reopen on Monday 16 April.

Celebrating World Book Week 2012

All the LRCs took part in celebrating a very successful World Book Week 2012 which created a real buzz for reading. Here is a round-up of the activities along with our competition winners:

Guildford College LRC

• 156 students and staff wrote on the book wall. The most popular current read was The Help by Kathryn Sockett. If you fancy reading it too it is available from the LRCs!
• 80 students and staff swapped books in the LRC.
• 31 World Book Week Quiz entries. 1^st prize, £20 Amazon voucher, went to Louise Hill and 2^nd prize, a signed copy of Bali Rai’s Killing Honour, went to Graham Burton.
•  27 fiction books were borrowed over the week.

Farnham College LRC

• 55 quiz entries for the world book day event. 1st prize Sahshi Rai £20 Amazon Voucher and 2nd prize Scott Hartley a mug and chocolates
• 3 Functional Skills classes and 2 GCSE English classes, aprox 70 students, visited the LRC to look at the display and enter the quiz.
• 19 fiction books were borrowed over the week.

Merrist Wood College LRC

• 10 comments on the book wall.
• 23 entries to the bookmark competion. 1st prize, a £20 Amazon Voucher, went to Gemma Elstob, 2nd prize, a Teddy, went to Ben Coles, and 3rd prize, a box of chocolates, went to Mary Lattimore
•  The winning entry was a beautiful caterpillar with the slogan 'Just munching through' (see photo)
• 5 fiction books were borrowed over the week.

E-Resources: what are they and where do I find them?

Did you know that the LRCs provide you with access to hundreds of books and journals online?

Available to all staff and students the resources include general sources such as Britannica, subject databases which provide access to journal articles such as intered or SportDiscus, as well as ebooks which cover all subjects at all levels.

Most allow direct access if you are at college but some will require you to have a special password - more on this later...

Where can I find these resources?

To find this wealth of information log onto Moodle and look under

Key Courses - Learning Resource Centre - E-Resources

Online Databases and Journals

Scroll down the page to find the appropriate subject heading to get links to the most relevant databases and journals.

Looking for a particular journal title?  You could try searching the A-Z of Online Journals which allows you to see if it is included in any of the databases available across all subjects.

Ebooks

Information about, and links to, all the ebooks are included in the library catalogue called Heritage. Look for the link on this blog and on the E-Resources page on Moodle.

The best way to find ebooks on the catalogue is to choose Advanced Search and then use the drop-down menu under Media type to select E-book.  Then type in your search term and click Search.

Can I use the databases and ebooks at home?

You can access most of our e-resources from home as long as you have signed up for an Athens username and password at college.  Simply follow the instructions on the helpsheet available from any LRC.

When you click on a link to a database or ebook you will be asked to enter your Athens details before the resource can be used.

Need more help?

If you have any questions about any of the resources or you would like some tips on how to search them don't forget that the LRC staff are on hand to help.