Merry Christmas!

The Birkbeck Library will be closed for the festive period from Thursday 22^nd December, 4 pm, to 8.30 am on Tuesday 3^rd January 2012. Full details of our opening hours can be found at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/about/hours

We would like to wish all Birkbeck students and staff and all our followers of the Science blog a Merry Christmas and a creative New Year!

Image credits:

Santa Hat was drawn by Eleni Zazani but textures were taken from:

• Furry texture by Caleb Kimbrough used under CC License

• Red Sparkly Fabric by Jessica Torres used under CC License

UK scientific research to be open access

Greater access to the results of scientific research

A new policy announced by the Science Minister, David Willetts, will ensure that all publicly funded scientific research will in future be available on open access - this article in the Guardian explains more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/08/publicly-funded-research-open-access

Electronic Resource of the Month

Henderson’s Dictionary of Biology

With over 22,000 entries, Henderson’s Dictionary of Biology is an essential reference for students studying any of the biological sciences. We now have online access to the fifteenth edition (2011) which includes many updated and revised definitions and has included new terms from emerging areas such as stem-cell research.

It gives you clear definitions and explanations and covers a wide range of topics within the biological sciences. It also includes up-to-date classification tables for the kingdoms of living organisms.
 
Try Henderson's Dictionary of Biology
 
More online reference resources for the Biological Sciences

Staying current with the Science Librarian’s Blog

Our blog now features a new way of bringing you content into your mailbox. Simply type your email address into the box provided on the right hand side of the webpage (image 1) and click submit.

Image 1: Email subscription box

Five reasons to subscribe via email or by RSS

1. Time: An email subscription will save you from regularly checking the blog for newly added posts.
2. Stay current & informed: Each time we publish a new post an email alert will immediately reach your inbox, allowing you to keep abreast with the best resources on your subject.
3. It’s easy: Simply follow the instructions given to set up your email subscription. If you later decide to unsubscribe, simply follow the link given at the end of each email alert.
4. Be part of our readers’ community (Birkbeck Library’s blogosphere) and send us your feedback. Your comments are of great value to us. Did you like one of our topics and you want to see more on this subject? Do you have a favourite source you would like to share or a suggestion to help us improve our blog? Click on the comment link found at the end of each post to send us your comments.
5. It’s free!

Wellcome Images for the incurably curious

Do you need a picture for your Science presentation? Would you like to illustrate your academic projects and make them stand out? Why not to explore the Wellcome Images collection!

Wellcome Images is the “the world's leading source of images on the history of medicine, contemporary healthcare, social history, biomedical science and clinical medicine.” The collection contains almost 200,000 images harvesting 2,000 years of the mankind civilization and culture.

The images are available for free when used for educational purposes, under the Creative Commons license. Each image bears at the bottom the credit line: Wellcome Library, London. Remember to include the credit line and an attribution to the creators when mentioned. You do not have to be a registered user to download images, however, when signed in you can personalise your searches, save results, email pictures, etc.

The detailed handout on how to access and use the collections, provided by the Wellcome Library, thoroughly explains how to make the most of the collections. You can also visit the “How do I” section of the website if you are not certain how to find your way around.

Would you like to explore further where else you can find images for your presentations?

If you are a Stratford Birkbeck student why not join us in a free Library workshop on “Finding “free to copy” images for your presentations” on Wednesday 30 November 2011 6.30 pm - 8 pm.

During the workshop you will have the opportunity to:

• Reflect on your image seeking patterns
• Consider your legal responsibilities when using digital images from the web
• Be given a selection of sources of copyright cleared images for enhancing your presentations (publicly shared and HE sources)
• Explore what is considered “acceptable use” when using the Flickr Creative Commons pool
• Discover where to find more help and online tutorials

To book your place, please email our Birkbeck Stratford study skills support team at: clpdstratford@bbk.ac.uk or call on 020 8223 4389 or 020 8223 4386.

My Favourite Scientist

Who is your favourite scientist?  Great Birkbeckian Rosalind Franklin is nominated as one blogger's favourite scientist:  A scientist talks about Rosalind Franklin and her ground-breaking work in the Guardian : http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/nov/09/1

Read more about Rosalind Franklin:

 

Book:
Rosalind Franklin - dark lady of DNA
Web:
Scitable
Wikipedia

Scitable – Online Scientific portal

Scitable is an online scientific website, offered by the editorial teams of Nature Publishing Group, currently focusing on Genetics and Cell Biology, with plans to expand into other areas of life sciences.

Content in Scitable is free to access and use, and all the articles are peer-reviewed by scientists and educators prior to being published.

You can start exploring Scitable by visiting the Topics area, or by choosing a guided path through the Learning Paths for more complex topics, such as Genetic variation and evolution, cancer, etc.

You can also register on the website to connect with other science students or experts in the field, save your favourite articles and join a group.

Do you want to go beyond Scitable? The Birkbeck Library subscribes to the Nature Journal published by the same publishers. To access it outside the college, just search for “Nature” in the ejournals search box, follow the link provided and enter your ITS username and password.