Goodbye to Athens!

Staff and students are reminded that from the 10th June the Athens username and password is a thing of the past. Resource searches should be started from SOLAR, using your network username and password where required.  If resources are accessed via another route, the Login via your Institution / Library / Organisation / Shibboleth link should be used. This route will also require your network username and password.  This change should make accessing electronic books, journals and databases much easier as it removes the need to remeber additional usernames and passwords.

Drama Online trial now running

We currently have access to a 90 day trial of the Drama Online Beta site.  This will be available until the 25th May and the resource includes scripts from both class and contemporary authors.  The link to access the site is as follows:  http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/.

Please do note the following points below:

-          The trial access is to the Beta site of Drama Online, so this is NOT the final launch site.

-          Therefore, there may be some bugs on the site. If there is anything in particular that does not seem to be functioning properly, please let us know and we can check with the Publisher whether this is a bug on the Beta site or not.

-          Not all the content will be on the Beta site. Drama Online will be launching this Spring with approx. 500 titles from the complete title list, and the Beta site currently has about 390 titles uploaded at the moment. The complete 2013 list will be added over the course of the coming months. You will also see that the Arden Shakespeare titles are not yet on the Beta site – the Publisher is just at the moment making some changes to fix some bugs around the scholarly notes. These will be available on the launch of the platform if not at some point during the Beta site trial.  

Please contact Maree Green if you have any feedback/comments on this resource: m.e.green@salford.ac.uk.

Trial for new Business resource - ReporterLinker for Libraries

The Library has a trial for a new Business resource called ReporterLinker for Libraries.   

"ReportLinker for Libraries finds, filters and organizes the latest industry data published by over 200,000 trusted public sources, including government departments, universities, embassies, trade unions, investment agencies and many more. With daily updates, our easy-to-use search engine provides instant access to official data and statistics on 350 industries around the world — all in one convenient location". 

All you need to do is go to www.reportlinker.com and you will automatically be redirected on the ReportLinker for Libraries platform.  The trial lasts for two weeks and we would love to have your feedback.  Please send any feedback to:   cass-library@salford.ac.uk.

Please note:  if you are accessing this resource from home you may need to set up web authentication.  For details on how to do this, please see the help guide at:  http://www.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/62729/Web-authentication-Apr12.pdf.

Library resource: Fashion Monitor

This is a reminder that our subscription to Fashion Monitor is alive and well; it’s just online only now. You can access it at www.fashionmonitor.com or through the E-Journals link on SOLAR (search by journal title). If you haven’t done so, you’ll need to create your own login using your University email address as your username, then make up a password.  

PLEASE NOTE: it’s available on campus only because of the limitations of the subscription.

New resource! - JISC Media Hub

About JISC Media Hub

The Library now has access to a new database called JISC Media Hub.  This is a resource of non-fiction films, videos, audio clips and images, with uses across many subject areas. It contains Performance Shakespeare, of interest to Performance staff and students. Many good examples of documentary films are also available through the database, including the ITN collections of news programmes. It also contains the Culverhouse Classical Music Collection – this allows you to listen to copyright free classical music online and, in many cases, legally download and print the music score for the piece.

For the films to play your PC should have a recent version of Windows Media Player; this will be automatically available on networked University PCs.

Accessing JISC Media Hub

To access the database, go to SOLAR and select the databases tab.  Then search for JISC Media Hub.  Once you reach the home page, if you are on campus then login via the direct access option. If you are off campus then login via the UK Federation link.

Both methods need require your Athens username and password. Click to agree to the Conditions of Use.
• Choose Advanced Search as it will allow greater flexibility of searching.
• Select the Collections you wish to search; by default it searches all of them. For example, if you are searching for a classical composer you may wish to limit to Audio sources. Keep at least one Collection Type selected; Inside JISC Media Hub is recommended.
• Enter your search terms.
• Click on Search. Your search results will display – click on the required title.
• Click on the arrow to play the film, sound clip etc...

A help guide is available here: http://www.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/132855./jiscmediahub.pdf

Box of Broadcasts

Box of Broadcasts, frequently known as BoB, is a useful resource for playing back and requesting off-air video and audio recordings. It is provided by the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) which offers students and staff the facility to record, store and create clips from television and radio broadcasts. BoB is a streaming service available to you personally for academic purposes as a student or member of teaching staff during your time at the University of Salford. Material available covers all subject areas. There is a link to a help guide if you would like to learn more.  This can be found here: http://www.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/65771/bob.pdf.

To access BoB, go to SOLAR - Find Databases - Box of Broadcasts.   If you have any problems accessing BoB, or would like help using it, please contact Andy Callen - Academic Support Librarian for Art & Design: a.callen@salford.ac.uk. Have a look at this great resource!

Freedonia Focus Reports - trial until 6th Feb

The Library is running a trial of Freedonia Focus Reports until Monday, February 6, 2012. You can access this resource, on-campus here : http://www.freedoniagroup.com/focusportal/FocusSplash.aspx.

The Freedonia Group is a leading international industry market research company that has provided clients with the data and analysis needed to make informed business decisions for over 25 years. Business and industry decision-makers worldwide look to Freedonia for insight and forecasts to help identify opportunities, develop strategies, evaluate threats and make investment decisions for growth in a diverse group of industries in U.S. and global markets. Now, this same research that is used by corporate clients is available to colleges and universities.

The Freedonia Focus Report Collection is designed to deliver concise market analysis which students and faculty can utilize in the same way corporate clients use the Focus Collection; to develop relevant and effective business plans, access benchmarks and statistics for strategic planning of new, growing and mature businesses. Each concisely-written, 18-25 page Focus is developed by Freedonia’s in-house research team of nearly 70 experienced economists, analysts, industry experts and editorial staff. Academic subscribers like the structure of the reports because they mirror how they need to write their own market research for real world applications and also because resources are clearly documented in every report within the Focus Collection.

This online, subscription based collection provides insight and analysis into over 700 U.S. and international business and industry topics. Approximately 65% of the collection addresses energy, construction & building materials, electronics, chemicals, industrial/manufacturing and packaging industry topics. The remaining 35% of the reports cover consumer products, pharmaceuticals/life sciences and service industries. Each report includes concise and valuable information on market size, product and market forecasts, industry composition, market leaders, regulatory issues and business trends.

If you think it would be a useful addition to stock please email s.c.barker-mathews@salford.ac.uk.

Interactive maps of historical London now available!

Researchers have unveiled a new interactive map that reveals London’s social history in unprecedented detail, enabling users to explore everything from the world’s first gay scene to eighteenth century riots.

Locating London’s Past is a new JISC-funded website that lets users delve deep into the capital’s past, revolutionising our understanding of London’s history. The website is the first to map information from a vast array of sources, covering:

• crime and punishment
• the distribution of wealth, poverty and occupations
• the ownership of consumer goods
• mortality

Using the new website, people are now able to explore fully geo-referenced detail using Google maps technology to reveal the distribution of crimes, wealth and poverty, mortality, archaeological finds, voting records and much more.

See how historical data can illuminate life in eighteenth century London and find out more about the project: http://www.locatinglondon.org/.

Visit the Old Bailey online: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/.

New ProQuest Platform

A few months ago, we told you about the new platform from ProQuest

The old platforms - CSA Illumina and ProQuest legacy - will be switched off in early January 2011, and all users from Salford will be re-directed to the new platform.

If you have any questions or concerns about this, do raise them with the Library, and we will endeavour to assist you.

From January, if you have any saved searches or alters in the previous platforms, you will be able to transfer them over to the new platform automatically using the Import to My Research feature which will be available, or manually using the instructions here.

New - Box of Broadcasts now available!

You can now access Box of Broadcasts from SOLAR!

BoB is a TV scheduling service that allows you to record TV and radio programmes that are scheduled to be broadcast over the next seven days as well as retrieving programmes from the last seven days from a selected list of recorded channels. It also has an archive of recorded programmes going back several years that you can use. It is likely to be of considerable use across all subject areas for providing streamed video material for teaching purposes.

To access Box of Broadcasts, just choose the Find Databases link, then choose Box of Broadcasts from the A-Z list. You will need your Athens username and password to access the resource, even on campus.

New resource: Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Online

The Library now has access to a new resource - Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology Online. Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology Online is "a vast resource giving instant access to the most authoritative and up-to-date scholarship in the field of sociology" and is "updated three times a year", and with "over 100 new articles already added, this resource ensures that you are kept abreast of the latest developments in the field". To access this new resource, you will need to access SOLAR via the student channel, select Find Databases and search for Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology Online. You will need your Athens username and password to access the resource from home.

If you would like help accessing this resource, please contact your Academic Support Librarian (see the where to get help link on the left-hand side). Take a look!

New full-text access to Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences databases

We will soon have access to the following nine Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences databases:

ABM - ArtBibliographies Modern
BHI - British Humanities Index
DAAI -Design & Applied Arts Index
LLBA - Linguistics & Language Behaviour Abstracts
ASSIA - Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts
LISA - Library & Information Science Abstracts
Sociological Abstracts
Social Services Abstracts
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

We will also have full-text access to these collections;

PQ Arts & Humanities
PQ Social Science
PQ Sociology
PQ Political Science

You will be able to access these resources from September 2011, so watch this space!