Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

26 February 2017

What happens to MW LRCs old books?

At MW LRC we are currently clearing out lots of old books that haven't been used in over 5 years or more, and some not since 1994.

As you know our shelves are very crowded so we are clearing space to allow room for new books and for students to be able to find resources more easily.

But what happens to the books we get rid of?

Well ever since 2009 we have been sending them to a company called Better World Books.



Better World Books are partnered with 5 literacy charities and they sell our old books for us. Part of the money comes back to College and the other part goes to the National Literacy Trust our chosen charity.

So here are some stats:

  • Since 2009 we have sent them 114 cartons or 1600 books
  • 51% of the books we have sent have been accepted for sale
  • Of the 831 books accepted 584 have been sold
  • The books have sold for an average of £11 each

All of the non accepted books are Recycled into animal bedding for horses.  




03 March 2016

Top e-books in February


This month the top spot is taken by Tourism.
Beauty Therapy and Business also fill several spots in last month's top ten .


Here's February's chart (by pages viewed):


593    Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
572    Beauty therapy. - 3rd ed.
519    BTEC Level 3 National in IT  
448    Beauty Therapy. - 2nd ed.
323    BTEC Level 3 National Business, Book 1
221    Science of beauty therapy
149    Management and organisational behaviour
133    Construction science
130    Management & organisational behaviour 
127    Level 5 Diploma in leadership for health and social care and children and
         young people's services

04 December 2015

Top e-books in November

This month the top spots are once again taken by IT, Tourism and Business.
Beauty Therapy and Construction hold onto a spot and we have a new entry for Teaching.


Here's November's chart (by pages viewed):

2105   BTEC Level 3 National in IT
1607   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
827     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1 
761     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 2
760     BTEC Level 3 National Construction and the Built Environment
357     Exploring corporate strategy: text and cases
312     Construction science
262     Beauty Therapy. - 2nd ed.
262     Exploring strategy: text and cases 
149     Practical teaching

03 November 2015

Top ebooks in October

This month the top spots are once again taken by IT, Tourism and Business.
Beauty Therapy hold onto a spot and we have several new entries for Construction and one for Counselling.


Here's October's chart (by pages viewed):

1939   BTEC Level 3 National in IT
1894   Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1 
1131   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
956     BTEC Level 3 National Construction and the Built Environment
872     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 2
586     Qualitative research in counselling and psychotherapy
271     Beauty Therapy. - 2nd ed.
241     Construction science
223     BTEC National Travel and Tourism Book 2 
216     Barry's Introduction to Construction of Buildings

12 October 2015

Top ebooks in September

It's a new academic year and it's time to see who has taken the first top spot in our e-book chart

IT take the early top spot in this month's chart but we also have  entries for Beauty Therapy, Tourism and Business

Here's September's chart (by pages viewed):

1388   BTEC Level 3 National in IT
725     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 2 
273     BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
211     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
123     Beauty Therapy. - 2nd ed.
91       ProActive Food and Drink Service Level 2
90       International Business
83       Sports training principles
83       Applied principles of horticultural sciences 
74       BTEC National Beauty Therapy Sciences

20 March 2015

World Book Week 2015

Thanks to everyone who participated in World Book Week.  This was run across all three sites of the Guildford College Group and impact differed accordingly.

Merrist Wood

Merrist Wood had an imaginative display which focused on where a book could take your imagination.  Access to different places was demonstrated by the theme of foreign travel.  It was represented via a trunk covered in travel stickers, and on top of it was a globe, travel guides and holiday accessories such as a sun hat and sunglasses.   Hung in a washing-line style above the issue desk were pictures of people reading books in unlikely places!
However, the 'piece de la resistance' had to be the life-size cardboard cut-out of 'fit' Anton du Beck, presumably to fuel romantic fantasies!  Questions were asked on arrows to suggest where your story would take you...  
A big thank you to LRC Assistant, Jackie Smith, also an experienced party organiser.  The displays were much-appreciated by library visitors who all had their day brightened.

Farnham

Farnham generated a lot of enthusiasm for the 'Location, Location, Location' quiz where there were an impressive 47 entries.  A big thank you to site librarian, Ingrid Whatmore, who has established good links with the English teaching staff .

Guildford

Guildford did well with the micro-stories.  We had 20 entries and most were very good efforts demonstrating superb imaginative skills.  A big thank you to supported learning students and teachers for their enthusiasm.
Fifty words is challenging in terms of writing a story.   However, we let everyone have four free words 'On my way to...'.  Sadly anyone going over the 50 word limit was disqualified from winning.
We had some suggestions on the book wall, kicked off by staff.   Books of interest included the following fiction titles:
  • Eric Carle: The very hungry caterpillar
  • Anne Frank: Diary of a young girl
  • Esther Freud: Hideous Kinky
  • Mark Haddon: The curious incident of the dog in the night time
  • EL James: Fifty shades of grey (1 of 3) 
  • EL James: Fifty shades darker (2 of 3)
  •  EL James: Fifty shades freed (3 of 3)
  •  Henry James: Portrait of a lady
  •  Pittacus Lore: I am number four
  • Ford Madox Ford: The good soldier
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Love in the time of cholera
  • Anne McCaffrey: Dragonsong
  • O'Hearn: Pegasus series - eg. The flame of Olympus
  • Karl Ore Knausgaard: Death in the family
  • Arundhati Roy: The god of small things
  • Graeme Simsion: The rosie project
  • Kathleen Tessaro: The perfume collector
And non-fiction:
  • BS7671 wiring regulations
  • Dale Carnegie: How to win friends and influence people 
  • Stephen Covey: The seven habits of highly effective people

Participation in the quiz was disappointing, but our winner was a worthy entry.

Winners at Guilford:


Location, Location, Location quiz - Petva Ivanova

Micro-story Winner - Rupert Turner (50 words)

Micro-story Runner-up - Lewis Gerrad (45 words) Highly Commended

Micro-story Commended - Alexandra Ross (47 words)

Micro-story Commended - Louise Jordan (45 words)

There were some good entries which exceeded the word limit.  Two notable ones are from Francis Terry and Katarina Feoce.














 




03 March 2015

World book week activities - in detail

It is world book week at the LRC.  It is celebrated in schools, colleges and libraries right across the UK.  It is to celebrate the joy of books and the positive role they play in our lives.

Books help one relax and escape to a more appealing place in a busy but hum-drum life.  They raise literacy levels and help feed our imagination.  Also they help inspire new writers.

About world book day

World book days is an annual event organised by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) to promote reading, publishing and copyright. 

In the UK it is celebrated on the first Thursday in March.  World Book Day is on Thursday 5 March 2015.

Activities on offer at Guildford College

At Guildford College we have three activities on offer: a ‘book wall’, ‘a micro-story’ and a ‘location, location, location quiz’.  Please support your LRC by taking part.

Prizes are available for the best story and highest quiz score. 

Book Wall

Join in the spirit of World Book Week by adding the name of a book which you think will help or bring joy to others.

My favourite book is ‘Hideous Kinky’ by Esther Freud which is about an adventure within a different culture to the UK.  It is easy to read and inspired me to go to Marrakech in Morocco.  The story was made into a film starring Kate Winslet.

What is your favourite book?   What benefit did you reap from it?  Why would you recommend it to others?

Micro-story

A micro-story involves writing a short story of up to 50 words.  The theme is ‘on my way to…’ and the aim is to take your imagination on a journey.

Where do you fancy going?  Have you any holiday destinations in mind?  Or perhaps you are embarking on a nightmare rather than a dream?

50 words is not much so every word will need to have impact.  It will be a challenge for many people to stay concise.

Finally a micro-story is a good way for people with writing ambitions to start out.  It is wise to stick to a simple plot.

Location, location, location quiz

Location, location, location is the buzz word in terms of buying a house.  To hit the jackpot, you buy in the right place at the right time at the right price.

In terms of the quiz, it is about identifying the location of 10 library items in terms of place, time and shelf number.  You can look at all 10 items on display.

Ironically it is shelf location that is the easiest category as there are only two possible formats (book fiction or dvd film).  It is really simple to work out!

Place is straightforward too as you can usually just look at the item and work this out.  Time is more challenging, especially if other items are in a similar timescale. 

The ‘Speedy Gonzalez’ amongst you can take a guess, but the ‘Dot the I’s and cross the T’s’ type may wish to conduct some research on your smartphone.  Useful websites include Amazon, Wikipedia and Schmoop.

Quizzes are fun and help one to learn.  We hope all those interested in books will have a go.  You have nothing to lose as answers are all guessable, so you could even be right without knowing!

Rewards

The prize for the short story and the quiz is a £10 Amazon voucher.  All those taking part can get a £1 World Book Day token.  Please ask at the issue desk for this.

Finally it is not the winning but the taking part!  Just participating will make you learn something.

That said, winning is something you can put on your CV…Good luck!


25 February 2015

World Book Week 2015 - Background on reading and literacy

World Book Week
Guildford College LRC – 2-6 March 2015

World Book Week is a chance to celebrate reading.  Reading is one of our most popular hobbies and libraries are the UK’s most significant provider of the reading experience.

Join in our three activities to celebrate World Book Week:

·        Book wall: recommend a book of your choice
·        Micro story: write a 50-word story
·        Location, location, location quiz: relating to books

Get a £1 World Book Day voucher for taking part.   Win a £10 Amazon voucher for the best story or quiz result.


Upward mobility

Literacy and life chances are strongly linked.  Reading develops literacy skills and helps break the cycle of disadvantage.  The habit of reading for pleasure has more impact than parental income and status on a young person’s academic achievement.



Sign of a strong economy

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) monitors both the number and types of books published per country per year.  It is an important index of standard of living, and of a country’s self-awareness.

The UK is number three in the league tables, reflecting a high interest in education.  It is only overtaken by China and the USA.  It is followed by the Russian Federation, Germany and Spain.


Live Statistics

There are live statistics on titles published this year.  It literally changes as you look at it!


Spoilt for choice
According to Google 130 million books have been published in modern history.  No one can possibly read all of them.

Many of us will fall into our ‘comfort zone’ of finding a few favourite authors and sticking to them. 

To learn effectively, it is to read broadly, picking out authors from different countries and cultures.  Some amazing books have been published by authors who have lived in far-flung corners of the globe.  Examples include The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (India) and The Famished Road by Ben Okri (Nigeria).

Literary prizes and reviews point us to up-and-coming authors.


Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language, and published in the UK.  Prize winners have come from all over the world.



It is announced every November and the 2014 winner was The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, an Australian author.

Many titles that have won, or been short-listed, have been made into films.  Examples include The English Patient, Schindler’s List and The Life of Pi.


Next Blog

This will give you details of the World Book Week activities we have at the LRC.  Please contribute and take this opportunity to showcase your literacy skills.

02 December 2014

What happened during Banned Books Week


The Banned Books displays in all three LRCs last week raised lots of interesting questions about why books might be banned and led to further discussions on topics ranging from Hitler to Martin Luther King, to the Qur'an and the Bible. Students couldn't believe the range of books that have been banned over time.

Some students were brave enough to 'liberate' (borrow) books from the LRC displays. We look forward to hearing their views.



Class visit to Banned Books display at Farnham College

At Farnham College four English classes came to see the displays and do the quizzes. This included two A level classes studying political correctness in language, so the theme of banned books tied in well.

Quiz results:
  • At Farnham College Deni Wither won the main Banned Book quiz
  • Also at Farnham Lily Bohling won the word hunt, finding an amazing 88 words in 'Banned Books'! Although even more amazing was that adding together all words found by students and library staff, the total was 179! (there may even be more...)
  • At Guildford College Musaed AlFoudari correctly identified the 10 banned books from the 15 pictured in the quiz (and wins a £10 print voucher)
For those still wondering, the correct answers to the Guildford College quiz were:

Banned:

 

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (J K Rowling)
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
  • A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
  • The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
  • Wild Swans (Jung Chang)
  • Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
  • And Tango Makes Three (Justin Richardson)
  • The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)
  • Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
Not Banned:
  • The Brutal Art (Jesse Kellerman)
  • Women in Love (D H Lawrence)
  • Hairy-Scary Monster (Roderick Hunt)
  • Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks)
  • The Godfather (Mario Puzo)

24 November 2014

Warning - Banned Books


As part of Diversity Week, the LRCs are highlighting Banned Books



Come to the LRCs this week (24-28 November) and be amazed at some of the books which have been banned not just in the distant past but also in the present time. Governments, local authorities, schools (and even libraries) in some countries ban books because they are considered to be dangerous from a moral, political or religious viewpoint.

Banned books have ranged from Madame Bovary, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Heart of Darkness, to Lord of the Flies, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Captain Underpants!

However history shows that banning a book is the perfect way to get people reading and discussing it!

Things to do in the LRCs this week:
  • Read more about what happened when some books were banned
  • Enter the LRC banned book quizes (£10 print voucher prize at Guildford)
  • Borrow a banned book from the LRCs and find out how dangerous it is!

02 June 2014

Book Swap 2014







The ‘Big Book Read’ in the LRC
Thursday 5th June, 10 am – 4 pm
 
To promote the pleasure of reading, Guildford College LRC is holding a book swap. Why not pop in and bring along one of your old fiction books to swap for another.

Staff are, of course, welcome to come along and swap too and if you have any unwanted fiction books (in reasonable condition) that you would like to donate to our book swap, they will be most welcome.
 

See you there!

06 May 2014

Top ebooks in April

Business yet again keep top spot in this month's chart but we have new entries for Motor Vehicle, Teaching and Animal Management

Here's April's chart (by pages viewed):

1929   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
1033   BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2 
449     Beauty therapy. - 3rd ed.
449     Body fitness and exercise: basic theory and practice for therapists
336     Consumer behaviour in sport and events
292     John Bowlby and attachment theory
247     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
195     Hilllier's fundamentals of motor vehicle technology
159     Practical teaching 
127     Restraint and handling of wild and domestic animals

29 April 2014

Books from the World's Best Restaurants 2014

Find inspiration from some of the top chefs and see what it takes to get that elusive Michelin star (or two).

Did you know that the LRC at Guildford College has the cookbooks from some of the world's best restaurants in stock?

The books featured below, with some tasters of what they contain, are all from restaurants in the top ten of the World's Best Restaurants 2014.

You can also find the full list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants on the award website http://www.theworlds50best.com/

Don't forget you can search our online catalogue, Heritage, to find what other recipe and cookbooks we have on offer.




Noma
Best restaurant in the world 2014
Best Restaurant in Europe 2014






Alinea  
Number 9 in the World's Best Restaurant Awards 2014








Mugaritz   
Number 6 in the World's Best Restaurant Awards 2014









Eleven Madison Park  
Number 4 in the World's Best Restaurant Awards 2014
Best Restaurant in North America 2014








D.O.M.
Number 7 in the World's Best Restaurant Awards 2014
Best Restaurant in South America 2014

16 April 2014

Top e-books in March

Business yet again keep top spot  in March's top ten e-books by pages viewed.

Here's March's chart:

2404   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
2347   BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2 
1020   Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
848     Beauty therapy. - 3rd ed.
493     Beauty therapy fact file
271     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 2
250     Counselling skills and theory
230     Construction science
227     Beyond blame 
207     BTEC National Information Technology Practitioners Book 1

10 March 2014

Top e-books in Februrary

Business keeps top spot  in February's top ten e-books by pages viewed.  We have new entries this month for Tourism in at number 4 and Arboriculture at number 6.

Here's February's chart:

2135   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
1736   BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2 
404     Beauty Therapy. - 3rd ed.
315     Travel & Tourism for BTEC Level 3 National Book 1
252     Official guide to body massage
155     Trees: their natural history   
154     BTEC Level 3 Nastional in IT
82       Integration in counselling and psychotherapy
77       Beauty therapy fact file
75       Nutrition in essence

20 February 2014

4 Book Challenge!

In Celebrating Words Week the LRCs launched the 4 Book Challenge!

The challenge, for those that accepted it, was to read 4 books and fill in a reading diary before the 10th January for a chance to win a Kindle Fire HD which was generously donated by Student Services.

A total of 157 students from all three Colleges took part in the challenge and 24 completed it! 





Here is Aqeel Zaman, Vice President of the Students Union picking the winner....






The winner of the Kindle Fire HD is Natasha Popham (BTEC L3 Creative Media, Guildford College). Here she is collecting her prize from Karen Robinson, Head of Learning and Standards, (right) and Hannah Bennett, Assistant Librarian (left).


Here are a few comments from students who took part in the challenge.

"It’s likely I would have read this much anyway however the idea of the challenge and I’d love to win ha ha. It’s nice to be rewarded for what you love!" (Lauren)

"It has become a hobby to read books. Great Challenge :)" (Isbah)

"It was nice being able to read stories and books I don't usually read. It's definitely been a good experience." (Bethany)

Thank you to all the students who took part and look out for next year's challenge!

06 February 2014

Top e-books in January

Business keeps top spot  in January's top ten e-books by pages viewed followed by Beauty TherapyIT, and Counselling.

Here's January's chart:

3937   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
1000   BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2 
871     Beauty Therapy. - 3rd ed.
381     BTEC Level 3 National in IT
143     Beauty therapy. - 2nd ed.
133     MS Visual Basic.net programming for the absolute beginner
89       Exploring corporate strategy: text & cases   
62       Aromatherapy: therapy basics
60       Syngress IT security project management handbook
58       Standards in ethics for counselling in action
   

The top downloaded books for January were:

11  Exploring corporate strategy: text & cases
11  Trees: their natural history
7    Trees & forests: a colour guide
6    The planting design handbook
5    How children learn

03 December 2013

Top e-books in November

Business keeps top spot  in November's top ten e-books by pages viewed followed by Beauty Therapy, IT, and Hospitality..

Here's November's chart:

4144   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
2086   BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2 
645     Beauty Therapy. - 3rd ed.
354     Aromatherapy: therapy basics
293     Official guide to body massage
217     Book of JavaScript
115     Theory of hospitality and catering   
113     BTEC Level 3 National in IT
81       Beauty therapy. - 2nd ed.
78       Information systems project management
   

The top downloaded books for November were:

33  Understanding addiction
6    BTEC Level 2 First Business
6    An introduction to animal behaviour
5    Armstrong's handbook of management and leadership
5    Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice

07 October 2013

mySearch - what is it and why do I need it?


What is mySearch?

mySearch is an online research tool that “pulls together” many of the LRC resources so that they can be explored using a single search box. In other words, rather than searching the Library Catalogue for books and a database for journal articles, you can go to mySearch and get results which include books, e-books, and journal articles in one list. In fact, you could think of mySearch as the Library’s version of Google.

The link can be found on the LRC E-Resources page (you will need to login to Moodle for access) or here on the blog (see links on the right).

It works like this...

Technically-speaking, mySearch provides an integrated index for many of our resources. Although it is an EBSCO product, your search results will also include non-EBSCO resources such as:
  • Heritage, the Library Catalogue
  • BioOne
  • Britannica
Not only does it search most of our resources with one search box, it returns your results quickly and ranks them according to relevancy. It’s powerful and should be of help finding resources for your research. Just keep in mind that, like Google, it may return a large number of results and you will need to use judgment when assessing their value.

I'm having trouble using mySearch...

Well, it’s a new tool for you and for us! So, it may not be obvious how to do some of the things you have grown accustomed doing with the other databases. So we would like to encourage you to explore this resource along with us and give us feedback on your success and frustration with it.

Remember the LRC staff are happy to help if you are having trouble or want some help with searching for information.

Top e-books in September

We start another year with Business back in top spot  in September's top ten e-books by pages viewed with Tourism, IT, Carpentry, Counselling, Childcare and Beauty Therapy all staking their claim. Tourism top the download chart but we also have entries for Arboriculture and Construction.

Here's September's chart:

2977   BTEC Level 3 National Business Book 1
1403   BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2 
267     JavaScript Professional Projects
249     BTEC Level 3 National in IT
126     Learn JavaScript in a weekend
88       Carpentry and joinery Level 1.
69       BTEC National Travel and tourism Book 2   
51       Counselling skills and theory
50       Facials and skin care in essence
43       Working with children
   

The top downloaded books for September were:

5    Travel & tourism for BTEC Level 3 Book 1
3    Doing your research project
3    Edexcel diploma: Construction and the built environment
2    Trees : their natural history
2    Effective organisational communication