Science Magazine online

Unfortunately we have had to cancel our online subscription to Science magazine, as the cost of renewing for 2013 has doubled from $3,000 to over $6,000. We have access to back volumes up to 2006 via our subscrition to JSTOR and we still have a print subscription - copies can be found up on Level 4 of the Library. Academic staff can request for articles to be scanned by the Library in order to make them available via Moodle.

We hope that we may be able to resume our subscription in 2014.

Open Access Week

This week is Open Access Week - promoting open access to publicly-funded research.

Want to know more?

It's all at http://www.openaccessweek.org/ where you can find out more about open access, watch videos, find out about events that are taking place as part of Open Access Week and even buy the tee-shirt!

American Chemical Society event for researchers





There is an ACS on Campus event at UCL next week (October 24th) and students from all colleges are welcome. There will be presentations on topics such as careers in Chemistry, how to publish your research and copyright and ethics in scholarly communication, as well as refreshments at the Science Cafe networking event.

More details here http://acsoncampus.acs.org/events/university-college-london-london-uk/



Wallace Online

Following on from the Darwin Online project http://darwin-online.org.uk/ which saw Darwin's works and letters made available online, a new project has made available the writings of Alfred Russell Wallace, who independently formulated the theory of evolution by natural selection, and announced it in tandem with Darwin in July 1858. The archive is at http://wallace-online.org/ and there is an article about both archives on the BBC web site here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19744135

Welcome to new Science students

Welcome to all new Birkbeck Science students. If you'd like to learn more about the Library and its resources, come along to a Library tour and/or a Saturday workshop this term.

The Library tours are at 5.30pm every day Monday-Friday and last about 20 minutes. There's no need to book, just come to the Library entrance on the ground floor.

The Saturday workshops cover using the Library catalogue and ejournals - details are here
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/news/infoskills

To familiarise yourself with the resources that are most useful for you, take a look at the Library subject guide for your subject - there are guide for Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences and Earth & Planetary Sciences

A great example of how Open Access can change the world

A teenager has discovered a new test for pancreatic cancer by using journal articles that were available on open access http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19291258


Just one great reason to publish your research in open access journals.

Another good reason is that many funding bodies and research councils now require that research funded by them is put on open access.

Read the new policy from Research Councils UK here http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/outputs.aspx
and from the Medical Research Council here http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Ourresearch/Ethicsresearchguidance/Openaccesspublishing/index.htm
The Wellcome Trust have a video here http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/About-us/Policy/Spotlight-issues/Open-access/index.htm

More information on open access is here:
http://open-access.org.uk/
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/guidance/authors.html

ScienceDirect Apps

ScienceDirect has moved into the world of apps and developers have provided some useful extra add-ons to make searching ScienceDirect even more useful.


Some of the ones that caught my eye are:

BrainLink For all articles in select neuroscience journals, this application identifies all neuro-anatomical structures, provides their 2D- and 3D-images (in a mouse, rat, monkey, or human, if available), and links them to the structure within BrainNavigator.

eReader Formats The eReader Formats application allows users to convert ScienceDirect articles as seen in the browser into ePUB or Mobipocket format, whichever is appropriate for the user's electronic reader device.

Protein Viewer A Jmol-based application for ScienceDirect which is displayed below the abstract if the article contains author-tagged protein identifiers, allowing you to browse through all protein models tagged in the article and interactively explore each of them.

Snippets Easily take and save snippets from the different articles you are reading, along with the article citation in MLA or APA formats. Snippets can then be exported to Google Docs for easy sharing.

Interactive Map Viewer displays supplementary geospatial data from Elsevier online articles as an interactive map.

You will need to sign up for a personal account with ScienceDirect and then you can add the apps to your profile. There are currently 90 apps available - see the gallery of available apps here
http://www.applications.sciverse.com/action/gallery?currentSelection=product&productFilter=ScienceDirect

Plantwise Knowledge Bank

Plantwise Knowledge Bank is a useful new free resource for those interested in crop pests and diseases. It has a pest problem identifier, a factsheet library and a great mapping tool which can match the distribution of pests and diseases to factors like climate, etc. You can keep up to date with their blog and their new pest reports. All this at http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/home.aspx

New electronic resource - Academic Search Complete

The Library has subscribed to a new major electronic resource which will be useful for Science students and staff. Academic Search Complete covers all subject areas and give us an extra 8,500 electronic journals, plus abstracts for a further 12,500. Some of the titles of interest to scientists include Nature back to 1997, many of the Nature and Nature Reviews sister journals, Science, Scientific American and New Scientist, as well as many others. The full list of titles is here.

Try Academic Search Complete now

Improve your search skills

There are still places on this Saturday's Library workshop on Improving Your Search Skills. This session will cover the general principles of preparing a search strategy and carrying out a literature search, together with useful hints and tips on how to get the best out of online databases.


Book your place now at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/news/infoskills

Learn new skills - come to a Saturday workshop

The programme of Library Saturday workshops is now available on the Library web site at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/news/infoskills. This term our workshops are mainly aimed at postgraduates, but all are welcome. If you would like to:

• Improve your search skills
• Find and access theses 
• Find out more about EndNote and EndNote Web
• Keep up to date in your subject area
• Learn to make the most of the Citation Indexes

book a place on a Saturday workshop. We look forward to seeing you there.

New books on scientific communication and how to be a successful scientist

Dissertation to write? Presentation to give? Here are some new books in the Library on scientific communication:

Successful science communication : telling it like it is. Edited by David J. Bennett, Richard C. Jennings.

The Craft of Scientific Presentations Critical Steps to Succeed and Critical Errors to Avoid by Alley, Michael.

The Craft of Scientific Writing by Alley, Michael.



Add interest to your writing or presentation with quotations from famous scientists - Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations or try the online Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations

Want to be a successful scientist? Get some tips from those that have done it:

How to succeed as a scientist : from postdoc to professor by Barbara J. Gabrys and Jane A. Langdale.

Becoming a successful scientist : strategic thinking for scientific discovery / Craig Loehle.

The art of being a scientist : a guide for graduate students and their mentors / Roel Snieder and Ken Larner.

Good Luck in the exams

Exams are now upon us, so here are some web sites with good advice on how to give your best and relieve stress during the examination period.

Some useful information from The Exam Skills Handbook, plus a free audio download
http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/studyskills/exams/techniques.asp

The Exam Skills Handbook is also available in the Library
http://aquabrowser.lib.bbk.ac.uk/ablbirkbeck/?q=exam+skills+handbook


The Birkbeck Student Centre have put together some online tutorials to help you - on exam preparation and managing coursework and exam stress

Cambridge University Students Union has a web site with some useful dos and don'ts, and a section specifically for Science students.
http://www.cusu.cam.ac.uk/academic/exams/

Revision and Exam Skills Top Ten Tips video from University of Leicester
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/careers/ld/resources/study/revision-exam-top10
and also a lot of good advice on their web site
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/careers/ld/resources/study/revision-exam

Don't forget that the Library is open from 8.30am to 11.45pm 7 days a week (apart from the Bank Holdays on 7th May and 4th/5th June when it will be open 10am to 8pm)

Good Luck!

Writing your Science dissertation this summer?

If you're writing a science dissertation this summer, you might be interested in the books the Library has on scientific writing. They're not in the science sections of the Library so you may not have come across them. They are mainly at 808.0665, up on Level 2.

Some of the titles you may find useful are:

• Successful scientific writing : a step-by-step guide for the biological and medical sciences by Matthews, Janice. http://ipac.lib.bbk.ac.uk/hipres/info/permalink.html?395834
• The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley. http://ipac.lib.bbk.ac.uk/hipres/info/permalink.html?220567
• Writing for science and engineering : papers, presentations and reports by Heather Silyn-Roberts. http://ipac.lib.bbk.ac.uk/hipres/info/permalink.html?309497
• Enjoy writing your science thesis or dissertation : a step by step guide to planning and writing dissertations and theses for undergraduate and graduate science students by Daniel Holtom & Elizabeth Fisher. http://ipac.lib.bbk.ac.uk/hipres/info/permalink.html?253922

and many more - see the full list here

Some new ebooks for Earth and Planetary Sciences

Some new ebooks on Earth & Planetary Sciences recently added to the catalogue:

Life In The Universe: A Beginner's Guide

Lewis Dartnell

Invertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution

Euan Clarkson

Life in the Solar System and Beyond

Barrie Jones

Geological and Soil Evidence: Forensic Applications

Kenneth Pye

 

 New Theory of the Earth

 Don L. Anderson

 Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins

 Cathy Busby

  

Sedimentology and Sedimentary Basins: from Turbulence to Tectonics

Mike Leeder

Geological Field Techniques

Angela Coe

Electronic Resource of the Month - JISC MediaHub

JISC MediaHub is a multimedia platform offering a wealth of digital image, video and audio collections. It gives you access to images, video and audio content, all licensed for educational and research use, via an easy-to-use interface.

You can browse by collection or search across all the collections.

To see what's there, click on Explore, and choose By Subject. Then select Science and you'll see the number of resources available in categories such as Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, etc. There's lots of Biomedical-related film on there too, from organisations like the Wellcome and St George's Hospital Medical School. Explore JISC MediaHub now

New acquisitions for 'Biology' to our catalogue during January 2012.

Last month enriched the content of our Library’s collection with104 new items, including books, electronic books and films, covering a wide range of Biology topics. The collection reflects your academic interests and areas of your studies, but also illustrates the fascinating nature of interweaved disciplines through topics such as Psychobiology, Social Bioarchaeology‎, Geobiology, Biogeography, and many more.

The list of new books and films is very long but worth exploring. Enjoy!

Books

Gills

‎Subjects: Gills, Congresses

Biomolecular crystallography

‎Subjects

: X-ray crystallography, Macromolecules – Structure, Biomolecules – Structure, Proteins – Structure, Crystallography – methods, Protein Conformation, Models, Molecular, Data Collection.

Structural and biochemical studies of the interaction between tubulin and the doublecortin family of neuronal MAPS‎

Subjects: Biology, 2011, Theses

From monkey brain to human brain‎

Subjects: Brain, Comparative neurobiology, Primates, Congresses, Evolution, Physiology, Congresses

Social bioarchaeology‎

Subjects: Human remains (Archaeology), Social archaeology, Adaptation (Biology), Human growth, Aging, Life spans (Biology), History

Impossible extinction‎

Subjects: Microbial ecology, Extreme environments, Extinction (Biology), Catastrophes (Geology), Exobiology, Microbiology

The cell‎

Subjects: Cytology, Molecular biology

Biology‎

Subjects: Biology, Textbooks

Gene expression to neurobiology and behavior‎

Subjects: Gene expression, Brain, Developmental neurobiology, Growth

Biological rhythms, sleep and hypnosis‎

Subjects: Biological rhythms, Hypnosis, Sleep, Psychobiology, Psychological aspects

Weathering the world

‎Subjects: Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2004, Tsunamis, Natural disasters, India, Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu (India), Social conditions, Environmental conditions

Biological evolution

‎Subjects: Evolution (Biology)

The living cell

‎Subjects: Cytology, Collected Works

Cell biology

‎Subjects: Cytology

Molecular genetic analysis of populations

‎Subjects: Population genetics, Molecular genetics, Genetics, Population, Molecular biology

Biology of plants

‎Subjects: Botany

Practical taxonomic computing

‎Subjects: Biology, Classification, Data processing, Plants, Animals

Modern crises and traditional strategies

‎Subjects: Indigenous peoples, Traditional ecological knowledge, Southeast Asia, Ecology, Environmental conditions

Ecology of woodland processes

‎Subjects: Forest ecology

Essential developmental biology

‎Subjects: Developmental biology

A dictionary of microbial taxonomy

‎Subjects: Microbiology, Dictionaries, Classification
Vocabulary pertinent to taxonomic practice, as well as biographies and introductory chapters. Intended as practical guide for taxonomists and scientists in other disciplines, such as bacteriology, zoology, and virology. List of references.

Biology

‎Subje

cts: Biology, Textbooks

Life

‎Subjects: Biology

Molecular biology

‎Subjects: Molecular biology

The organism

‎Subjects: Neurology, Neuropsychology, Holistic medicine, Philosophy

Fishers and scientists in modern Turkey

‎Subjects: Fisheries, Fishery management, Fishers, Marine resources, Turkey, Black Sea Coast, Black Sea Coast (Turkey), Management, Social life and customs

Biology

Subjects: Biology, Textbooks

Biology

‎Subjects: Biology

Microbiology

‎Subjects: Microbiology, Immune system, Metabolism, Medical microbiology

The chemical basis of life

‎Subjects: Molecular biology, Cytology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Collected Works

The analysis of biological populations

‎Subjects: Animal populations, Biological Evolution, Ecology, Genetics, Population

Lectures on biostatistics

‎Subjects: Biometry, Statistics

The botany of mangroves

‎Subjects: Mangrove plants, Mangrove ecology

Cell biology

‎Subjects: Cytology

Microbiology

‎Subjects: Microbiology, Bacterial Infections, microbiology

The organism and the environment

‎Subjects: Human ecology, Biology

Microbiology

‎Subjects: Microbiology, Metabolism, DNA, Human diseases, Pathogens, Viruses, Immune system

The causes of molecular evolution

‎Subjects: Population genetics, Variation (Biology)

Biological science

‎Subjects: Biology

The origins of angiosperms and their biological consequences

‎Subjects: Angiosperms, Fossil, Angiosperms, Paleontology, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Congresses

Order: in life

‎Subjects: Biology, Life (Biology), Philosophy, History

Biology

Subjects: Biology, Textbooks

Conversations on the beach

‎Subjects: Maritime anthropology, Traditional fishing, Ethnobiology, Indigenous peoples, Traditional ecological knowledge, India, Kerala, Kerala (India), Ecology, Environmental conditions, Social conditions

The logic of environmentalism

‎Subjects: Human ecology, Environmentalism, Ethnobiology, Philosophy

Imaging in developmental biology

‎Subjects: Developmental biology, Imaging systems in biology, Laboratory manuals

Landscape, process and power

‎Subjects: Indigenous peoples, Conservation of natural resources, Sustainable development, Environmental education, Ecology

Freud, biologist of the mind

‎Subjects: Psychoanalysis, Psychobiology, Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939, History

Experimental design for biologists

‎Subjects: Biology, Experimental design, Mathematical models

Cell biology of bacteria

‎Subjects: Bacteria, Cytology

Neuronal guidance

‎Subjects: Neurons, Axons, Growth

The origin of species

‎Subjects: Evolution (Biology), Natural selection

An introduction to nervous systems

‎Subjects: Nervous system, Comparative neurobiology

Biology of disease

‎Subjects: Biomedicine, Disease, Tissues, Diagnosis, Laboratory, Biology, Life Sciences

Magnetic resonance neuroimaging

‎Subjects: Brain, Magnetic resonance imaging

Biopsychology

‎Subjects: Psychobiology

Darwinian populations and natural selection

‎Subjects: Natural selection, Evolution (Biology)

Burton's microbiology for the health sciences

‎Subjects: Microbiology, Medical microbiology, Allied health personnel

Lippincott's illustrated Q&A review of microbiology and immunology

‎Subjects: Microbiology, Immunology, Outlines, syllabi, etc, Examinations, questions, etc

‎Subjects: Cytology, Molecular biology, Outlines, syllabi, etc, Problems, exercises, etcLippincott's illustrated reviews: Cell and molecular biology

Molecular biology

‎Subjects: Molecular biology

Cell biology

‎Subjects: Cytology

Basic bioscience laboratory techniques

‎Subjects: Biology, Life sciences, Laboratory manuals, Handbooks, manuals, etc

An introduction to molecular biotechnology

‎Subjects: Molecular biotechnology, Molecular biology, Genetic engineering, Biotechnology

Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders Diagnosis, development, neurobiology, and behavior

‎Subjects: Autism in children, Developmental disabilities

Prescott's microbiology

‎Subjects: Microbiology

Building brains

‎Subjects: Brain, Nervous system, Developmental neurobiology, Growth

Asking questions in biology

‎Subjects: Science, Biology, Methodology

Cell and molecular biology

‎Subjects: Cytology, Molecular biology

Biology

‎Subjects: Biology, Textbooks

Biological psychology

‎Subjects: Psychobiology, Comic books, strips, etc

Henderson's dictionary of biology

‎Subjects: Biology, Dictionaries

RNA biology

‎Subjects: RNA

Campbell biology

‎Subjects: Biology

Immunity

‎Subjects: Immune system

Molecular biology of cancer

‎Subjects: Cancer, Cancer cells, Molecular aspects

Medical microbiology

‎Subjects: Microbiology, Technique

Fundamentals of forensic DNA typing

‎Subjects: DNA fingerprinting, Forensic genetics

Free radicals in biology and medicine

‎Subjects: Free radicals (Chemistry), Antioxidants, Pathology, Molecular, Physiological effect

Human virology

‎Subjects: Medical virology, Virus diseases, Microbiology

Principles of development

‎Subjects: Developmental biology

The quest for consciousness

‎Subjects: Consciousness, Neurobiology, Physiological aspects, Research

Biology

‎Subjects: Biology

Introduction to proteins

‎Subjects: Proteins, Physical biochemistry, Structure-activity relationships

Mathematical models of biological systems

‎Subjects: Biological systems, Biology, Mathematical models

Physiological strategies for gas exchange and metabolism

‎Subjects: Respiration, Energy metabolism, Physiology, Comparative

Les sciences de la vie dans la pensée française du XVIIIe siècle

‎Subjects: Biology, Natural law, France, History, Philosophy

Methods of soil analysis Microbiological and biochemical properties

‎Subjects: Soil microbiology, Soils, Methodology, Analysis

People and wildlife

‎Subjects: Human ecology, Human-animal relationships, Animals and civilization, Animal attacks, Wildlife conservation

Song of the dodo

‎Subjects: Island ecology, Biogeography, Extinction (Biology), Endangered species

The management of chalk grassland for the conservation of invertebrates

‎Subjects: Wildlife conservation, Biology, Grassland ecology, Chalk, Invertebrates, 1987, Theses, Protection

Origins of us [Complete series] ‎Subjects: Human evolution, Evolution (Biology), Documentary television programs

Inside the human body Hostile world ‎Subjects: Documentary television programs, Human biology, Human body, Embryology, Human, Human development, Brain, DNA

Inside the human body Building your brain‎ Subjects: Documentary television programs, Human biology, Human body, Embryology, Human, Human development, Brain

Inside the human body First to last‎ Subjects: Documentary television programs, Human biology, Human body, Embryology, Human, Fetus, Death, Development

Inside the human body Creation‎ Subjects: Documentary television programs, Human biology, Human body, Embryology, Human, Fetus, Conception, Human reproduction, Childbirth, Pregnancy, Development

www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/elib

Henderson's dictionary of biology Year:2008 Subjects: Biology, Dictionaries	Henderson's dictionary of biology Year: 2011 Subjects: Biology, Dictionaries
Handbook of biochemistry and molecular biology Subjects: Biochemistry, Molecular biology, Handbooks, manuals, etc	The dictionary of cell and molecular biology Subjects: Cytology, Molecular biology, Dictionaries
Biochemistry and molecular biology of antimicrobial drug action Subjects: Anti-infective agents, Microbial metabolism, Microorganisms, Physiological effect, Effect of antibiotics on	Early life on Earth Subjects: Geology, Stratigraphic, Archaean
Fungal biology Subjects: Mycology, Fungi	Palaeobiology II Subjects: Palaeobiology
Molecular biology Subjects: Molecular biology

Image Credits: Leukocyte (white blood cell), Maurizio De Angelis, Wellcome Images

Spirals of DNA molecules, Annie Cavanagh, Wellcome Images