Succeeding through stress

Posted on by David Bennett — No Comments ↓

Library Colouring books - first floor displayIf you are feeling the pressure of study mounting, you are not alone.  Work stress can be helpful, motivating you to get on and succeed but you need to harness it and make it work for you.  This post from the Times Higher Education supplement gives some hints and tips on dealing with pressure at university.  You can find more tips about general stress management in this blog post and on the Student Union wellbeing web pages.

Too much stress is clearly not helpful, nor is it good for you in the longer term.  Control your stress levels by taking regular breaks, maintaining regular sleep patterns, and taking a short study break every half hour to reset your concentration.  Try our relaxation drop-in sessions in Library room 0.26 (Seminar Room 2) on Thursday afternoons and learn how you can relax and unwind in mere moments at any time and from the first floor display area for some mindful colouring to break up your study.

If you need to talk to someone or you are feeling stress from work and other areas of your life might be about to become troublesome, ask for help and advice from the Student Wellbeing, the UPSU Advice Service or your GP.  You can also contact Student Wellbeing if you notice a friend is starting to behave differently or might not be coping well.

Posted in Thing of the Day Tagged with:

Referencing pop-ups return (this week only!)

Posted on by David Bennett — No Comments ↓

Referencing drop-in clinicDon’t miss the return of the referencing pop-up sessions in the Library Atrium again this week.  They are running once again from 11-12 am , 2-3 pm and 4-5 pm every day ending this Friday.  You can still get help from Library staff at any staffed desk and you can ask for advice 24/7 wherever you are using our online chat service.

Posted in About your Library

Routledge Handbooks

Posted on by Reden — No Comments ↓

You won’t spot them if you walk into the building, but we’ve added an exciting new collection of ebooks that you might want to explore. 165 Routledge Handbooks can now be found by searching the catalogue (search for “routledge handbook” if you want to see what’s on offer or going to their web page https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/ which should automatically log you in to the content we’ve bought if you’re on campus.

There’s a wide variety of subject areas from criminology to the built environment, or business to linguistics. Example titles include:
The Routledge Handbook of Language and Humour
The Routledge Handbook of Political Islam
The Handbook of Forensic Science, and
The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Real Estate

but there are many more, so check them out enjoy reading them in HTML or PDF format.

 

Posted in About your Library

Academic writing using mind maps

Posted on by Reden — No Comments ↓

We’ve mentioned mind maps before on this blog and still find them a useful tool. We’ve recently come across this rather useful blog post which covers using mind mapping software for academic writing:
https://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/2018/04/18/using-mind-mapping-software-to-teach-academic-writing/

Although it’s aimed at using them for teaching, it has lots of great ideas to mine whether you’re new to mind maps or being using them for years.

Don’t forget that you can access Inspiration software via the University network. Use it in map mode for Tony Buzan looking maps or use it diagram mode for more freeform designs.  You can also easily generate outlines if you’re working on a larger project.

You’ll be unsurprised to find we have books on the subject if you want to explore further. Just search for Buzan or “mind map” on the Library Catalogue.

If you want more on the pedagogy of using mind maps, just search our Discovery tool (on the Library home pages for “mind maps” and use the Refine tool on the left to limit to Academic Journals – though you might still want to add some further keywords or be rather overwhelmed.

Posted in Thing of the Day

Colour!

Posted on by Reden — No Comments ↓

As it’s global creativity week, we thought you’d be pleased to hear that the well loved Library colouring books are back. You can find them on the first floor landing.  Share any finished creations over on our Twitter feed: @uoplibrary and we’ll retweet them.

 

 

Meanwhile, to get you inspired, here’s some creative work.  Captured by one of our colleagues this week.

Posted in About your Library Tagged with: , , , ,

World Creativity and Innovation Week

Posted on by Reden — No Comments ↓

It’s that time of year when we can celebrate creativity and innovation.  Though in the Library we’d like to think we celebrate it every day!

It’s World Creativity and Innovation Week starting tomorrow and culminating in “the Day” on the 21st April.

https://www.wciw.org/wciw-and-wcid-2018-celebrations/

Let us know what creative things you’re up to in the comments – perhaps you’re writing a novel, painting a picture, dancing to your favourite music or have composed the perfect tweet.  Maybe you’re in the middle of an assignment which lights you up with enthusiasm for its subject, have just had the best idea for a chapter of your dissertation, or have a brilliant suggestion to improve a job you’re doing.

Posted in Thing of the Day

Fashion revolution week

Posted on by David Bennett — No Comments ↓

Fashion Revolution campaigns for ethical garment production and workers rights, demanding supply chain transparency in the clothing industry. Fashion Revolution Week runs in the last week of April to commemorate the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013.  Find out more at www.fashionrevolution.org.

Read more ›

Posted in Services Tagged with:

The Book Nook receives its 3000th book

Posted on by David Bennett — No Comments ↓

"Brick Lane" - the 3000th book to cross the Book Nook shelvesOver three thousand books have now passed through the Library Book Nook.  That’s an average of a thousand books a year!  Here’s a photo of the 3000th book to proudly shared across our shelves.  May it be the first of many more.

If you haven’t found the Book Nook yet, it is nestled beneath the wooden staircase and can be found on your right as you approach the Library Café.  Bring in any books you no longer want and take away any that are useful or interesting, give, swap, and share alike.  If you want to sell books or advertise to buy specific books, you can use the book sale/swap board in the Book Nook, which is also available on the Library website.

Posted in Services Tagged with:

The EBSCO eBooksmobile app is retiring in May

Posted on by David Bennett — No Comments ↓

EBSCO will be retiring the EBSCO eBooksmobile app in May 2018 as it migrates its ebooks to the latest EPUB file format.  This change in file format allows EBSCO to offer an improved reading experience, supporting different screen and font sizes and better compatability with screen readers.

EBSCO recommend switching to any app supported by Adobe Digital Editions to read their ebooks, such as the Bluefire Reader, which will work both now and after the changes.

Posted in Services Tagged with: , ,

Sweatshop returns

Posted on by David Bennett — No Comments ↓

Female manikin sporting fashionable clothesIf you have been following the Library blog for a long time or have been browsing our back archive of posts, you might have come across this old gem about the controversial mobile game Sweatshop, which explores the exploitation in the clothing industry.  The Guardian wrote about the game back in 2013, and it has since made a reappearance on Google.

Next time you need a study break to clear your head (and regular breaks are helpful: taking a five minute break every 25 minutes helps you learn and retain more information overall!), click here to find the game on Crazygames.com and have a play.

Posted in Thing of the Day Tagged with: , ,