Staff Changes @ DLS

Hi All

Apologies for the lack of activity on the blog recently. Mari Ann is currently on maternity leave until August 2010. We are interviewing for her replacement next week, so we’ll let you know who the new contact is for the Distance Learning Service  ASAP. Please continue to email us at dls@cf.ac.uk with any queries.

Have a great summer,

Lucy

Local University Library Access

Hi Everyone,

This is only relevant for UK residents – so sorry if you are living across an ocean you won’t be able to tap into this resource.

If you live in the UK, and are on one of Cardiff University courses you are able to register for a SCONUL card to allow you access to a local university library.

Read more about the service here.

Check out the list of participating libraries here.

And fill in the form here. Send it in to our library as below:

Distance Learning
Duthie Library
UHW
Heath Park
Cardiff University
CF14 4XN

Grey Literature

Grey Literature is in the most basic sense a document which has been produced but not been offically published. For instance, an NHS trust policy for internal use or government, academics and pharmaceutical document not offically published.

If you are searching for Grey Literature you are by its nature looking for documents which aren’t necessarily easy to find!

Try some of these resources, but also try to think…are there any communities online who would share practices or in house guidelines?

Index to Theses
Check out this page for Index to Theses guide and  off campus access.

British Library Catalogue

COPAC

DH-DATA, Kings Fund Databases

King’s Fund Library Catalogue

OpenSIGLE
Do you have any other suggestions on places to look for Grey Literature? Comment below if you do….

Requesting Articles

I hope that most of you know that you can request articles from us, which you have been unable to source via our electronic journals subscriptions.

To do this, you need to go to this requesting website.

The main thing to remember, if you have requested items in this way, is that- we still need a copyright declaration for each item you request.

When you make a request using the website above, each submission will produce a page for you to print out so you can physically sign it and send it in.

You can read more about how to request articles from us on the page at the top of the blog ‘requesting articles and books’

So please please don’t forget to send them in. Or you can fax them or scan and send by email to:
duthieill@cf.ac.uk
+29 20 74 3651

Remember, we can not supply your requests without them, so pop em in the post or fax them through or scan and email them to us.

In the not too distant future we will be moving to electronic  signatures and of course I will keep you posted when those changes take place.

Best wishes

Mari Ann

Use the MWE to reset your CU password

You can set yourself up with security questions on the MWE so that in the event of a forgotton password you can reset the password yourself.

To set up your security questions

• Login to mwe.cf.ac.uk
• Click preferences in the tab on the top of the screen.
• A box on the right should appear ‘Set up Security Questions’
• You need to fill in one required question and two of the random questions set out.
• Click save Answers.

Then, in the event that you forget your password….follow the instructions below.

If you have forgotten your password:

1. From the login screen in www.mwe.cf.ac.uk, click Forgotten Password below the Log in button. You will be redirected to the Password Management Page.
2. Click the Forgotten Password link.
3. Enter your username in the User ID field and click Search.
4. Answer the security questions that you have previously set up and click Check Hints. Your password has now been reset.
5. Enter and confirm a new password, then click Change Password.
6. Wait while your new password is registered.
7. You should now be able to login to the MWE Portal using your new password.

Twitter

We have a twitter account.

https://twitter.com/dlsduthie

Follow us. Tell us if you do or don’t like it!

Twitter is a way of staying connected with your friends, collegues or groups with with you have a shared interest.

Henry Stewart Talks

This collection of specially prepared animated audiovisual presentations with synchronized narration by world leading scientists is keeping researchers informed throughout the world.

The resource is organised into comprehensive series of talks and is regularly expanded and updated.

To find talks matching your interests browse the series or use the search facility. To be kept up to date as new series and talks are added to the collection, complete the Keep Me Updated form.

To Enter the resource off campus go to:

http://abc.cardiff.ac.uk/login?url=http://www.hstalks.com/

Behind the Headlines

Behind the headlines provides an unbiased and evidence-based analysis of health stories from Bazian on the National Library for Health website.

They aim to publish their summaries on the day that the news is published in the press.

How the system works

Each day the NHS Choices team selects health stories that are making headlines.

These, along with the scientific articles behind the stories, are sent to Bazian, a leading provider of evidence-based healthcare information.

Bazian’s clinicians and scientists analyse the research and produce impartial evidence-based assessments, which are edited and published by NHS Choices.

You can set up RSS feeds for either the Behind the Headlines News or Document of the Week. 

This is useful for those wanting an overview, but for those of you keeping your eyes peeled  for your own area, you can also set up a feed for the clinical areas you are interested in.

Ebooks Survey – Win £200 in Amazon Vouchers

The University Library Service would like to ask for your help by responding to this UK wide JISC survey about e-book usage:The aim of this survey, certainly the largest of its type yet conducted in the UK, is to explore whether electronic books might offer a solution to improving access to popular course texts. In other words, would you like to see the Library providing direct links to electronic versions of core textbooks?
The survey will take 10-12 minutes to complete, much less if you don’t already use e-books – but we would still greatly value your views.
You can enter the survey at http://tinyurl.com/9gt936 . If you leave your university email address at the end of the survey, you will be entered into a prize draw for £200 worth of Amazon vouchers.
You are under no obligation whatsoever to take part in this survey. Any information you give us will be held securely and we will under no circumstances reveal any findings other than at a highly aggregated level. We are collecting the data through a third-party, Survey Monkey, and you can check their privacy policy at http://www.surveymonkey.com/Monkey_Privacy.aspx

Looking for Something Nice?

Searching for NICE guidelines is simple and straightforward.

Go to:

http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp

You can either search by type, topic or date.