Friday, September 30, 2011

If you have a problem...

... If no one else can help you
And if you can find them
Maybe you can ... Ask a Librarian
(daa da daa daaaaaa...)

OK, scratch that:
it couldn't be easier to find us!
Ask a Librarian at LibraryInfo@itb.ie

  • Want to access the databases from home?
  • Need the Harvard or IEEE referencing guide?
  • Not sure where to start looking for resources in your subject area?
  • Want help searching for a book?
  • Need tips evaluating the information you find online?
  • Questions about opening hours or borrowing entitlements?

When you have questions about the library, just let us know and we will point you in the right direction.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Happy World Heart Day!


Here are some tips for a healthy heart!

1. Stop smoking. Quitting smoking is the single most important thing a person can do to live longer. If you are a smoker, you are twice more likely to have a heart attack than a non-smoker. But from the moment you stop smoking, the risk of heart attack starts to reduce. With public smoking bans recently introduced, there has never been a better time to give up.

2. Cut down on salt. Too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Avoid foods like crisps, salted nuts, canned and packet soups and sauces, baked beans and canned vegetables, pork pies, pizzas and ready meals. Many breakfast cereals and breads that appear healthy also contain high levels of salt, so keep your eye on these too.

3. Watch your diet. A healthy diet can help to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, and can also help increase the chances of survival after a heart attack. You should try to have a balanced diet, containing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, oily fish, starchy foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta and rice. Avoid foods like biscuits, cakes, pastries and dairy products that are high in saturated fats and sugar.

4. Monitor your alcohol. Too much alcohol can damage the heart muscle, increase blood pressure and also lead to weight gain. Binge drinking will increase your risk of having a heart attack, so you should aim to limit your intake to one to two units a day.

5. Get active.The heart is a muscle and it needs exercise to keep fit so that it can pump blood efficiently round your body with each heartbeat. You should aim for 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a day. If this seems too daunting, start off gently and build up gradually. Keeping fit not only benefits your physical health - it improves your mental health and wellbeing too.

6. Manage your weight. The number of people who are overweight in is rising fast - already more than half of the adult population is overweight or obese. Carrying a lot of extra weight can greatly affect your health and increases the risk of life-threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. If you are overweight or obese, start by making small, but healthy changes to what you eat, and try to become more active.

7. Get your blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked by your GP. The higher your blood pressure, the shorter your life expectancy. People with high blood pressure run a higher risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. High levels of cholesterol in the blood - produced by the liver from saturated fats - can lead to fatty deposits in your coronary arteries that increase your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and diseases that affect the circulation. You can help lower your cholesterol level by exercising and eating high-fibre foods such as porridge, beans, pulses, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

8. Learn to manage your stress levels. If you find things are getting on top of you, you may fail to eat properly, smoke and drink too much and this may increase your risk of a heart attack.

9. Check your family history. If a close relative is at risk of developing coronary heart disease from smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of physical activity, obesity and diabetes, then you could be at risk too.

10. Make sure you can recognise the early signs of coronary heart disease . Tightness or discomfort in the chest, neck, arm or stomach which comes on when you exert yourself but goes away with rest may be the first sign of angina, which can lead to a heart attack if left untreated.

Source : British Heart Foundation

For further information please go to:


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

What do all of these people have in common?

Theo PaphitisNoel GallagherWinston Churchill
Dyslexia



College life

You may find it difficult to be well organized, and that you need some kinds of techniques to help. When working, try to vary your tasks: half an hour's writing might be followed by a change of activity - some work that involves moving around or telephoning people.

Use an organizer

This continuous diary will help you to keep up to date with assignment and essay deadlines, exams and appointments. You will also have you telephone numbers all in one place. Many people keep a "to do" list in their organizer (see below).



Time management

· knowing what you want to accomplish

· planning how to meet your goals

· having time for studying

· breaking tasks into smaller pieces

· having a personal life, too!

What do you want to accomplish academically? Personally?

Make a list, in order of importance to you.



"To do" list

A 'To Do' list is a list of all the tasks that you need to carry out. It consolidates all the jobs that you have to do into one place. You can then prioritize these tasks into order of importance. This allows you to tackle the most important ones first.

This will give you control over your work. It will ensure that things are not forgotten, and ticking things off as they are completed can give a sense of satisfaction!



One method is the ABC list. This list is divided into three sections; A, B, or C. The items placed in the A section are those needed to be done that day. The items placed in the B section need completion within the week. The C section items are those things that need to be done within the month. As the B, C items become more pertinent they are bumped up to the A or B list.

· Update your list daily

· Use your organizer rather than scraps of paper

· Keep your diary, calendar and 'To do' list in a place where they can be clearly seen

· Make a point of checking your key lists first thing each morning, before lunch, and at the end of the day

· Use a highlighter pen to mark important items or dates

· Cross off completed sections

· Plan rewardsfor yourself when you have completed a project

Learn to say "no"

For example, an acquaintance of yours would like you to see a movie with him tonight. You made social plans for tomorrow with your friends and tonight you were going to study and do laundry. You really are not interested. You want to say 'No', but you hate turning people down. Politely saying 'No' can be helpful. Saying 'No' can free up time for the things that are most important.

Avoid interruptions

It is extra hard to a dyslexic student to concentrate on two things at the same time. A telephone ringing, or someone calling in to see you, can break your thread of concentration. It can then take you a long time to get back to where you were before. Try to separate socialization from study.



For more information please visit:









Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Want to book a PC in the library?

Well, this is how it works....

Go to the library catalogue: http://blanchlib.itb.ie

Search for the PC you wish to book eg. PC 1, PC 2, PC 3...

Click on the Book this Item icon

Enter your Name, Student number and Library PIN



!!! Detour !!!
First time using a library PIN?
Enter your name and student number
Leave the PIN field blank
Click Submit
You should prompted to create a new PIN
Any problems - email LibraryInfo@itb.ie


Select a start time for your booking (including date & time)
..... book from the top of the hour, e.g. 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 .....

Select a finish time for your booking
 ..... bookings should be one hour in length .....

Click Submit (you should get a confirmation note on screen)

Questions?  Ask a Librarian at LibraryInfo@itb.ie

Monday, September 26, 2011

Read all about it!


Interested in the news around the world?


Through a special agreement with more than 800 newspapers worldwide, Newseum displays the front pages of major newspapers each day on its website.  The front pages are in their original, unedited form. 

It's a great way of getting the head stories from around the world and it's great for those who cannot access their national newspaper in Ireland.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Did you know that print credit can also be used for photocopying?


So... everybody is still getting used to the new cashless printing system in operation on campus this year.  Therefore, some of you might not be aware that when you top up your account, this credit may be used to photocopy also.

The old card system that was in place until recently has been retired.  You can no longer buy these cards on campus and very soon you will not longer be able to use them to print.

Students are advised to use up all remaining photocopy cards before Oct 3rd.

To photocopy using the new system, you will need to top up your account by going to http://www.itb.ie/cashless and using your Laser/Credit Card to add funds.

When your account is successfully topped up you will receive notification by email.  Then you simply log in at the photocopier using your student number and password and photocopy as normal.


It's a piece of cake!

For a guide on how to use the new print system, take a look at the recent blog post

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Feeling lost in the library?


Dewey Decimal Classification will help you on your way...........!
The Dewey Decimal Classification System is named after its creator, Melvil Dewey. The system uses numbers and letters to organise materials on the same subject and on related subjects to make items easier to find on the shelves. Each item on the shelf has a Class Number on its spine which is assigned to it according to its subject matter within the Dewey system.

In the Dewey system, knowledge is divided into ten main classes:
·       000  - 099  Computer science
·       100  - 199  Philosophy and Psychology
·       200  - 299  Religion
·       300  - 399  Social Science
·       400  - 499  Languages
·       500  - 599  Natural Science and Mathematics
·       600  - 699  Technology (Applied Sciences)
·       700  - 799  Arts
·       800  - 899  Literature
·       900  - 999  Geography and History

Each class has ten sub-divisions. These divisions are further divided--and then further divided. Each division becomes more specific. For example the 400’s (Languages) are divided in to sub groups of specific subject matter:

The more numbers, the more specific the subject. In this way, the Dewey classification system progresses from the general to the specific. For example a book with a class number 410.285 would bring you to books about Computational Linguistics. For a more detailed explanation on sub division of subjects, go here.

Some call numbers will have letters after the numbers. This is called a ‘cutter number’. If there are many books on the same subject, they will have the same number. Therefore, they need to be sub-divided further using the authors surname as a reference.

If you require any help understanding Dewey, or you need assistance finding material in the library, please follow the Class Number Guides on the side of each book shelf or ask one of our library staff to help you.



Here are some videos that may help explain things further:

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Step back in time

 
Irish Public Service Broadcasting has been producing and curating broadcast materials for eight decades. The RTÉ Libraries and Archives collections consist of radio and television programmes, still images, production files, scripts, music scores and manuscripts.

In recognizing the potential of this site as an educational resource, RTÉ aims to provide content that might be used in learning and teaching across all levels of Irish education. See 'History of RTÉ' for a selection of key moments in Public Service Broadcasting in Ireland since the foundation of 2RN in 1926.
In the mid-1990s RTÉ set up a digitising and cataloguing project that will eventually see all audio visual holdings preserved to best international practice. These collections offer a unique and important record of Irish life and continue to be augmented every day.  

 
   
RTÉ's archival holdings can be seen in the Look and Listen section.
RTÉ's Online Photographic Archive holds over 70,000 images

Monday, September 19, 2011

Want to borrow a DVD?

Here are some of your choices!

Amelie: an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love....

Band of Brothers: the story of Easy Company of the US Army 101st Airborne division and their mission in WWII Europe from Operation Overlord through V-J Day....


Bleak House: a suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th-century English legal system....

Cinema paradiso: a filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist....

City of God: two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer....

Dirty pretty things: an illegal Nigerian immigrant discovers the unpalatable side of London life....

Italian for beginners: several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives....

Life is beautiful: a Jewish man has a wonderful romance with the help of his humour, but must use that same quality to protect his son in a Nazi death camp....

Volver: after her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.


DVDs are located on level 1 near the photocopiers

In the habit of losing your USB?



Why not try ?

Dropbox allows users to store documents and files online, away from their computer.

By signing up for free you get :
  • 2GB of storage for free, with subscriptions up to 100GB available
  • Your files are always available from the secure Dropbox website
  • Dropbox works with Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android and Blackberry
  • Works even when offline.  You always have your files, whether or not you have a connection
  • Dropbox transfers just the parts of a file that change (not the whole thing)
  • Manually set bandwidth limits -- Dropbox won't hog your connection


For more information, watch this video:  http://www.dropbox.com/

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Having technical problems? Need help?


You can come to the Student Information Desk (SID) for help with some basic technical enquiries such as resetting your network password or applying for wireless internet access.

For more complex IT issues, you can contact the IT Helpdesk in the library at the following times:

Monday - Thursday
10.30am - 11.00am
2.00pm - 2.30pm
5.30pm - 6.00pm

Friday
10.30am - 11.00am
2.00pm - 2.30pm
4.30pm - 5.00pm

Want to know about the Harvard Referencing System?

We noticed that alot of you are asking for the Harvard Referencing Guide today.  You can collect a copy in the library or access it here online.

Harvard Referencing Guide (on campus via the Intranet)

Any questions - contact us at LibraryInfo@itb.ie and we will do our best to point you in the right direction!



New books in the library

Check out some of the new books available in ITB Library this semester (and keep an eye on our flickr page for the new books we add as the year progressess!)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Need help using the new print system?

This video shows you how the new print system will work and check here for information on how to top up your print credit.



*These links are located on the college intranet and can only be read on-campus

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Have you seen our new library catalogue yet?


For easy access to the library's print and online resources.
To hear about the library's services.
To keep up with our news.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Getting to know the library & SID


A big welcome back to all students for a new semester!  We look forward to seeing you in the library, and at the SID desk, throughout the year.
The library and student information desk (SID) staff are here to help you.

You can contact SID:
  • in person: at the SID desk in the library
  • online: sid@itb.ie 
  • by telephone: 01 8851592

You can contact the library:
  • in person: at the library desk in the library
  • online: libraryinfo@itb.ie
  • by telephone: 01 8851047


Friday, September 9, 2011

Have you heard about SID?


Check out the Student Information Desk (SID)  website to see how we can help you!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Want to use wireless internet at ITB?


All new students who wish to use wifi should complete an application form.
You can download the form from the SID website.
Bring your completed application form to the SID Desk and we will sign you up!



Students who registered for wifi last year should have received an email with access details for this term.  Check your student email!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Welcome!

Welcome to all the new students starting at ITB today!

The Library and Student Information Desk (SID) staff are happy to welcome you to ITB.  Most of you will attend an introductory tour of the library on Thursday or Friday this week, as part of your induction.  We look forward to showing you around.

In the meantime, feel free to call in and see us if you have some time to spare.  You can check your email, read the newspaper or browse the books.  We are located on the first floor of Block F.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Our opening hours

From Monday 12th September, the Library and the Student Information Desk (SID) will be opened as follows:


9.15am – 5pm
5pm – 8pm

Monday
LIBRARY
SID

Tuesday
LIBRARY
SID

Wednesday
LIBRARY
SID

Thursday
LIBRARY
SID

Friday
LIBRARY

SID



Monday, September 5, 2011

Information session

A big thank you to the Blanchardstown/Dublin 15 Citizens Information Centre staff who visited us on campus today.  The presentation for SID staff, and other ITB staff, was very helpful and informative.

The CIC offer an independent, free and confidential service to citizens about their social rights and entitlements.  Their website includes a wide range of useful information on topics such as student finance, housing, employment rights etc.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Trouble accessing your email?

Did you know that the student email service was upgraded this summer?
You can now access your email here: http://www.outlook.com/student.itb.ie

If you need to change your password, just come to the Student Information Desk (SID) in the library. 
Don't forget to bring your student card!

Friday, September 2, 2011

A treat this weekend



Are you looking for a great way to finish out the summer holidays?  Check out the Mountains To Sea festival in Dun Laoghaire from 1st - 11th September.
It's all ice-creams and authors at the seaside scantum of Dun Laoghaire where the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival will serve up a glittering array of literary talents.
Booker prize-winner Michael Ondaatje will open the festival with Dubliner Emma Donoghue (The Room) reading the following day...
For more information, see their website 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Welcome back


A big welcome back to all the academic staff!

We have had a few developments in the library, and at the Student Information Desk (SID), over the summer. Here are some things that might be of interest to you:

Let us know if you have any questions or comments: libraryinfo@itb.ie.  We look forward to meeting you in the library this term!