Refworks – Update

RefWorks is our new online bibliographic software package. RefWorks is designed to help researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographiesWe will be running a series of introductory RefWorks training workshops for staff and research students over the next few weeks. They are sign-up sessions with a maximum of 15 places. If you would like to attend a workshop, please contact Jane Somervell on j.somervell@worc.ac.uk. Please let us know at least two working days before the workshop takes place. 

Each workshop will take place in PL1.2 (upstairs in the library):

Monday 31 March: 12.00-1.00;   Tuesday 1 April: 12.00-1.00;   Thursday 3 April: 12.00-1.00;   Friday 4 April: 12.00-1.00

Monday 7 April: 12.00-1.00;   Thursday 10 April: 12.00-1.00;   Friday 11 April: 12.00-1.00

Monday 14 April: 1.00-2.00;   Tuesday 15 April: 1.00-2.00;   Wednesday 16 April: 1.00-2.00;   Thursday 17 April: 1.00-2.00;   Friday 18 April: 1.00-2.00

You can register with RefWorks at: http://www.refworks.com/refworks. Registration needs to be from a computer on campus. Sign up for an individual account following the screen prompts. You will then be sent an email confirmation. Once registered, you can access RefWorks from off campus by entering the Group Code: rwunivworcester.All UW staff and students can use RefWorks. We will run some training sessions for students in the future.

Inter-Library Loans

NB BOOKS only – not articles!Procedure for Staff & Full-time Post-grads:

• Login to staff page of University of Worcester website.  http://cook.worc.ac.uk/staff/  You will need to log in with your staff password – click forgotten password if need be.
• Once on staff page, click on Resources Online link, on the left-hand side.  (If you bookmark Resources Online at this stage, you will not need to login via the staff page in future.)
• Check we do not have the book you are looking for in stock here.  Then, in the source field, click on COPAC.  (This is a merged catalogue of major university research libraries in the UK, including the British Library.)  If you are after a specific edition, you can use the advanced search.
• When you find a book you wish to request via the inter library service, check the book’s details by clicking on the title (you might want to check that you have chosen the correct edition, for example). If you wish to proceed, click request. 
• You will be asked for your borrower card number (remember to include the issue number at the end) and your library PIN number.  (If you do not have this, please ask at/contact the Issue Desk – tel 5341.)  Click log on.  On the next screen, click place request.  Resources Online will not allow you to proceed with the request if the book is available here, or you have exceeded your annual limit of inter library requests.
• You will then see a form which contains the book details.  Check again that this is the item you are after (eg correct edition). You do not need to add any details to the form, but might want to put a note in the “notes to inter library loans staff” field.  (No need to change site from ML, at bottom of screen.)
• Click confirm to send the request off electronically to the inter library assistants here at UoW.  We check the request before sending it off to the British Library.  There is a cancel option if you change your mind.  Click Log out (at top of screen) when finished.
• Please be aware that we are only the equivalent of one full-time person in inter library requests, and, at busy times of year, there may be a wait.  If you want to check the status of your request, you can also do this via Resources Online.
• After the above steps, the process is as before.  We will notify you when the book arrives, or if there is a problem.  Books (except those which are for library use only) will be issued on your card.  They are usually borrowed for six weeks, unless recalled.  Please contact us if you do need a renewal (there will be a bookmark in the inter library loan giving details).

The Leverhulme Trust

The Leverhulme Trust is delighted to announce the 2008 round of Philip Leverhulme Prizes.  The prizes are intended to recognize the achievement of outstanding researchers who are at an early stage in their careers but who have already acquired an international reputation for their work; they would normally be under the age of 36.  The scheme is designed both to acknowledge individual research excellence and to emphasize the distinguished quality of academic research in the UK. 

Each prize has a value of £70,000, and the prize holder may spend the award on a research purpose of his or her own choosing.  We are now inviting nominations in the following subject areas: 

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
History of Art
Mathematics and Statistics
Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern History
Zoology Further details and application materials are available directly from the Trust or from their web site:  www.leverhulme.ac.uk

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES)

Research students are invited to take part in the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) run by the University of Worcester together with the Higher Education Academy which will open on Monday March 3^rd 2008.  Seventy HE institutions are involved in this survey nationally. The overall aim is to identify, at both local and national level, areas where improvements could be made and efforts targeted to further enhance the provision of research degree programmes. 

PRES is an online questionnaire and it should not take longer than 20 minutes to complete.  All data collected in this survey will be held anonymously and securely.  Your results cannot be tracked back in any way and all results will be presented in an aggregated and anonymised form.  The survey consists of 5 pages and once you click ‘Continue’ you will not be able to come back to the previous page. The survey is open to you until Wednesday 30^th April 2008.

To complete the 2008 Survey go to http://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/ucw/pres2008

As some of you will know we participated in PRES 2007.  The response rate was very good and some way above the average but we would very much like a higher rate still this year: the higher the response rate the more robust the results.  For those who completed the questionnaire last time, please do so again.  Comparison of results from year to year will be very valuable.  Can I also encourage more part-time students to participate.  Response rates were considerably lower for PT students than for FT in 2007.   It is very important for the University to get a full sense of the experience of the part-time research student.  The results of the 2007 survey can be found here: http://www2.worc.ac.uk/graduateschool/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=166&op=page&SubMenu

The University is currently addressing issues that arose out of the 2007 data in order to improve the experience of all research students.If you require more information about PRES please don’t hesitate to contact me

Best wishes,
 

John-Paul