New, improved Document Delivery service

From the beginning of February 2012 Imperial College will be moving onto the new British Library Document Supply Service (BLDSS). Once the system is implemented you will gain the following benefits:

• All documents, when available, will be delivered in colour.
• Articles supplied as hardcopy will be in an A4 sized stapled booklet format (A3 folded in half).
• Users will receive reminders if they have not downloaded documents supplied to them electronically 7 days before the end of the 30 day download period.
• The current loan period will be extended from 3 weeks to 5 weeks.

During the deployment period the current service will not be disrupted.

There will be a change to the email address for documents sent by the British Library Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) service. The sender’s name will appear as noreply@bldss.bl.uk. This should be added to your approved or safe senders list in Outlook so you do not delete the email.

Getting the books you want is now easier

We’ve changed the way that you reserve books. Changes include:

• When you reserve a book, all the copies we have in stock at all our libraries are now reserved for you, so you should get your books more quickly.
• You can choose which library you want to pick the book up from, and to specify the date after which you will no longer need it.

This system also replaces the inter-campus loans system. As before, if there is a copy on the shelf at your pickup library, you won’t be able to request a copy from somewhere else. These changes should mean that you get a copy of the book you need more quickly.

For more information on the changes to the system, please see the news item on the library website.

RCSU Science Challenge 2011 – win up to £2000!

This year’s RCSU Science Challenge is under way.

From their website:

The RCSU Science Challenge is an annual competition run by the Royal College of Science Faculty Union, and generously funded by the Faculty of Natural Sciences here at Imperial College London. The challenge is an essay competition that aims to encourage scientific debate, reasoning and the communication of science in a public-friendly context. Entries in this two-category competition are open to all students of Imperial College (not Faculty specific) and (in a separately judged category) students at school or college in the United Kingdom.

There are four essay questions to choose from, and you’ll need to write 800 words. The questions and full submission criteria can be found on the RSCU Science Challenge website.

Central Library Store Service re-opens

We are happy to tell you that the Central Library Store Service is operational again. Collection of items from the store will be made at the revised times of 12.00 and 16.00.

You can see more information about the service here.

Potential delays to document delivery services at the British Library

Traces of asbestos have been found in storage buildings at the British Library in Boston Spa. This means some areas will be closed temporarily and certain services may be unavailable.

Work has started on the removal of the asbestos and will continue through 2011. Up to 30% of document delivery material may be affected.

However the British Library is prioritising universities such as Imperial College London for any document delivery requests they receive. The Library will of course be looking for other locations to fulfil document delivery requests if delays occur.

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to the Imperial College Library blog for Environmental Technology. This blog should help you keep informed about library news, new resources, and other interesting information. You can either subscribe to the RSS feed, or if you prefer to get information by email, you can subscribe here.

If you’re a new student, then you might like to visit the 6 steps for new students section of the library website, where you can find all the information you need to start using the library.

If you’re a returning student or member of staff, you will notice some changes here in the Central Library. Over the summer, we’ve re-organised the books into a single sequence. You can read more about the project on the library website. This means that most books are now in a new location, as follows:

• Level 2: 000 – 532
• Level 4: 533 – 599
• Level 5: 600 – 999

Some useful classmarks are:

303.8 – Research Methods
330.13 – Environmental Impact Assessment
333.7 – Environmental economics
333.707 – Environmental reports
333.79 – Energy Policy
339.5 – Environmental policy
347.24 – Environmental Law
363.738 – Climate change
574.3 – Ecology
614.71 – Air pollution
620.9 – Renewable energy
628.5 – Environmental pollution

There are also new additions to the catalogue, in the form of QR codes and the ability to share entries on Facebook, twitter and delicious. Read more about these changes here.

If you have a question, please contact us (see the Get in touch! page), or leave us a comment here on the blog.

We look forward to hearing from you!

New library website launched

The Library has launched a new website which has been designed to make it easier for you to find the things you need and reflects the feedback we have received from last year’s student survey, a student focus group and library staff.

The homepage has a simpler design with links to most frequently used pages like the library catalogue, electronic journals and book renewals easily available. The menu headings are clearer and the content has been restructured to make it easier to find.

Look out for the following new features:

• Subject pages introducing your librarian
• New style campus library pages detailing the specialist collections at each one – see the Central Library’s page for an example
• A Central Library tour with 360 degree images
• Scrolling news on the homepage - check back regularly for updates
• Detailed information about how to find electronic and print PhD and Masters theses

And if you would like to send us your comments please use our feedback form

New service – Document Delivery straight to your desktop

The Library is now able to deliver articles requested from the British Library direct to your PC using the Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) service.

SED has many benefits; it is a more convenient service, requests arrive more quickly, and you can access the article from wherever you are without having to visit the Library.

Register for Document Delivery by completing our online registration form. Once you have registered you will be able to request items through the library catalogue. When it is available the British Library will send you an email with a hyperlink to your document. You will then have 14 days to download the document before the link expires. If you have questions, you can read the FAQ here.

Please note: Document Delivery will replace all references to Inter-Library Loans on the Library website.

Have you seen the Library survey results?

Thanks to everyone who completed our survey in November last year. Almost 2000 responses were received – about 15% of all Imperial students!

Areas of questioning included:

• Satisfaction with core library services e.g. study spaces
• Use and management of electronic resources e.g. adoption of social bookmarking tools
• Awareness and usage of library support services e.g. liaison librarians
• Suggestions for service improvement and change

The library team have a lot of information to work through. We will respond to your key concerns as soon as possible – we’re already discussing possibilities for more PCs with ICT.

In the meantime, see what you said about the Library at:
www.imperial.ac.uk/library/survey

Library survey closing soon

The library survey is still underway, and we’d love to hear your views! You have until Monday 30th November to fill in the survey and be in with a chance of winning a £50 Amazon voucher. So far we’ve had 17 responses from Environmental Technology students – there must be more of you with something to say!

There’s more information about the survey on the library website, or you can just go straight to the survey itself.