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