Wednesday 17 February 2016

Referencing

From Twitter ... in the depths of Referencing unhappiness...



Do not despair
or email librarians@beds.ac.uk for help 

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Luton - PCs logging out

My complaint is about this whole logging out of computers! It does not make sesne to me that I have to be logged out in the middle of my work!
This is ridiculous I'm final year student and extending time should be allowed!! And not allowed to log in stupid!

Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I am sorry that you got logged out of the PC you were working on. There may be two reasons for this:
1) if you do not use the keyboard for ,ore than 15mins the PC will log off as it considers itself abandoned
or
2) if you are using a PC from the bookable area you will be asked to extend your "session" via a pop up reminder on screen and you will need to opt to extend your session. There is a brief session around midnight where this is not possible and it could be that you got caught up in that.

If you regularly save your work to your network space or a USB (NOT the desk top) you will not lose any work.
My best advice is to use PCs from the general PC areas so you don't get caught up in the booking software. if in doubt please ask staff at the customer service desk.

Monday 15 February 2016

Luton - study environment

The idea of silent library is not maintained at all. For the 3 years i have been here I am extremely disappointed at the lack of enforcement of this matter

Thank you for raising your concerns with us. I am sorry that it has taken 3 years for you to mention that there is a problem.Silent Study floors: level 2 & 3 of Luton's LRC are designated Silent Study floors. Provision is made for group and social learning elsewhere in the LRC. There is an expectation for students to choose their preferred study environment and abide by the requirements. The Silent floors are monitored electronically and this is backed up by staff patrols - during staffed hours. Any student caught breaking the Silence requirement is allowed one warning after that Library sanctions come into effect. 

Bedford - Laptops

Came to Bedford library and wanted to loan a laptop for group work as we can in Butterfield to us in the library


I am sorry that you expected to find laptops for loan at Bedford library. Bedford Library has plenty of desktop PCs to use and I hope that you found that provision a helpful alternative. Our website quite clearly states
A small number of laptops are available for loan to use on Campus at Oxford House, Aylesbury LRC and Butterfield LRC only. - See more at: 

http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices/pcsandsoftware/laptops-at-the-health-sites

Luton - Study space and exams

I don't feel as though I should have to wait until the evening to use a computer because that would have been the only times the rest of the library would have been free for us.
Also, I agree there are other computers but there were none with two together which we need as we are working together; which also excludes silent study due to us needing to be able to talk.
I understand it may take long to set up but surely you could leave the doors out across the it suite and then just have the door open for people to use during certain times?


I am sorry that you feel that there weren't two PCs available together during the day at Luton LRC. I must say that I know that there were PCs available for joint working as I was on duty at Luton yesterday. If you ever have trouble locating available PCs staff can help you. Please ask for help at the Customer Service desk or wander around the LRC to check spaces for yourself. The Park Street End of the LRC (level 1 or the ground floor) has some lovely locations for paired work and I think this would suit you well. 
There are PC availability screens as you enter the LRC on the ground floor and level 1, this could also help you find a suitable study space.
I agree that group[ work excludes the silent floors from your choices but the Park Street End as well as the Church Street end would be fine.
PCs are reconfigured for exams so I am afraid leaving the doors open would only frustrate anyone who tried to use an exam PC as they wouldn't have the same access as other student PCs.
I sympathise with your frustration but there really are facilities available for you during exams at Luton. There is a floor plan that will help you find your way around
For peace of mind you may choose to book a PC to ensure that you have a PC to work on

http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices/book-a-pc

Ref Works

Could you please advice on what to do to get a RefWork account?

Thank you in anticipation.


Thank you for your enquiry. As a rule of thumb Learning Resources remote help is available through our website LRWeb and I would like to suggest that you bookmark it to help you find immediate answers to your enquiries.

There is a whole section on LRWeb on Referencing
which you may find useful.

There is a specific section on Refworks

which will take you through the set up process
RefWorks can save you a lot of time with preparing assignments, reading lists or publications.  

You can access RefWorks by searching the 
library catalogue. Log in with your usual University username and password. The first time you use RefWorks you will need to register your account using your University email address.

With more detail here
There are specific guidelines for NHS databases

And a troubleshooting guide which offers solutions to some of the most common problems
http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/guides/a-guide-to-referencing/RefWorks_Intro/refworks-troubleshooting-guide

I have tried to answer your question as thoroughly as possible. If you need me to expand further or if I have missed anything out please get back to me.
There is a wealth of information on LRWeb to help you http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices/availableservices
Why not try our FAQs to see if they can help?
http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/faq
There are subject specific support pages on LRWeb for your course and you may find these useful

If you’d like to take advantage of the on-line support offered by Learning Resources check our Study Hub section of LR Web
http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/studyhub
Support also includes:
·         Specialist staff: Academic Liaison Librarians, Computer Skills Training and Professional and Academic Development teams: http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/studyhub/study-hub-teams
·         The Study Hub What’s On? Calendar lists our FREE regular training workshops and drop in sessions on finding and using information in your subject area, developing your study skills and using Microsoft Office applications http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/studyhub/whats-on

·         There is a series of on-line guides which may be helpful to you too: http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/studyhub/self-help-guides

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Alumni services

I would like to use the scan system but I am told its not allowed for me. I am not sure why this is as it does not cost you any loss. I know other alumnis who would like to use this service.Please have this service in place asap.

Many thanks for your enquiry. Learning Resources adds to the range of services available to the University's Alumnus community via the service offer specified here
http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices/alumni

I will look into making sure that it is clearly stated on our website that access to print services is not included.

Learning Resources' scanning facility is available via our multifunction printer/photocopies/scanning machines. To use the service you must have University ID to authorise access to the network, University email account and a University print credit account - which must be in credit. Scanning does not cost anything but to access the service there must be some money on the account.
http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices/availableservices/scanning

Alumni do not come into this category so this cannot be made available at this time. I will however forward this suggestion as a service improvement for  managerial discussion. 

Monday 1 February 2016

Book a PC

PCs keep login me off on teh second floor. The machine tells mne I have 10m to finish my session. This is annoying as I am trying to write a paper

I am sorry that you have experienced a problem with one of the Bedford PCs in the booking zone. The University is experiencing problems with the Book a PC software today. There was a University wide Tweet this morning which was displayed on the front page of LRWeb and Bedford Library has a message on the whiteboard for everyone to see about the issue.

Any PC in the booking area is subject to the Book a PC software and normally you would have had the opportunity to extend your session. Unfortunately that wasn't the case today. Saving your work logging off then logginig back on again should work.

http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices/book-a-pc

Book a PC

The computer kept asking met to logout without giving me an option to select for an extension, it was very inconvenient! Also, if the computer was booked I would've had moved to a differnt computer, this is not acceptable . I shouldn't have to move without having prior knowledge that the computer was booked

I am sorry that you have experienced a problem with one of the Bedford PCs in the booking zone. The University is experiencing problems with the Book a PC software today. There was a University wide Tweet this morning which was displayed on the front page of LRWeb and Bedford Library has a message on the whiteboard for everyone to see about the issue.

Any PC in the booking area is subject to the Book a PC software and normally you would have had the opportunity to extend your session. Unfortunately that wasn't the case today. Saving your work logging off then logginig back on again should work.

http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices/book-a-pc