This blog is for students and staff in Biological Sciences and Earth & Planetary Sciences at Birkbeck and students studying science subjects at Birkbeck Stratford. Keep up to date with Library news, information about new resources and web sites, tips for making the most of existing resources, as well snippets on science from around the web.
Almost 20 years after the discovery of the first
exoplanet this Insight brings together a selection of reviews discussing our
current theoretical understanding of exoplanets and their atmospheres, the
missions that led to exoplanet discovery and the instruments, both present and
future, that characterize planetary atmospheres.
Science Week is coming soon - 28th
June – 4th July 2014 This year, in addition in
talks on asteroids, X-Ray crystallography, mindfulness meditation and the
psychology of routine behaviour, there are lab tours, a workshop in science writing and an
evening of 1950's sci-fi films.
The Science Citation Index has been going for 50 years and, although I don't remember it that far back, I do remember the days of having to look up subjects in printed annual indexes (see picture), making literature searching an extremely laborious and hit-and-miss affair. The print was so small we had to keep a magnifying glass in the library to lend to users!
There are old videos showing how it used to work (see the one below for a taster), an interview with the founder Eugene Garfield, a timeline of its evolution, a podcast on the recent enhancements and more at this link. Science Citation Index 50th Anniversary page
The Library's programme of Saturday workshops for the Summer term is now out. This term they are aimed at postgraduates and ones that science students may find useful include:
Sat 10th May 2014 11.30am - 1.30pm Improving Your Search Skills.
Learn to get the best out of your searches on Library catalogues, databases and the web, with some time for hands-on practice.
Sat 24th May 2014 11.30am - 1.00pm Keep up to date using current awareness services.
Keep up to date with the latest journal articles in your field by using current awareness services such as ZETOC. Especially useful for PhD students.
Sat 31st May 2014 11.30am-1.00pm Introduction to the Web Of Science.
An introduction to searching the resources on the Web of Science, including the Arts & Humanities, Science and Social Sciences Citation Indexes) and Medline (biomedical research).
Saturday 21st June 2014 11.30am - 1.00pm Managing Your References Using EndNote
An introduction to EndNote, reference management software that helps you store, manage and cite your references correctly. There will be an opportunity for some hands-on practice.
We look forward to seeing you at a workshop. Don’t forget, if you can't make a workshop but need help in any of these areas or anything else to do with Library and information skills or tracking down information, please contact me and I can help out by phone, email or a one-to-one appointment. s.godsell@bbk.ac.uk
The British Library and the Society Of Biology are running a survey on the use of bioscience PhD theses. Whether you have never used a bioscience PhD thesis, or if you use them every day, they would love to hear your views. You could win a £50 BL shop voucher!