Category: Databases

Upcoming Changes to ProQuest eBook Central Bookshelf

Posted on by Library Communications

As many students and researchers will know, ProQuest eBook Central is one of our biggest digital resource platforms. The database, which is accessible through the Library website, enables users to read, download and annotate key titles from across our collections. Users can save their books and annotations to their personal Bookshelf.

The Library is now in the process of moving to a new authentication system for accessing subscribed electronic resources. Once this authentication change takes place for ProQuest eBook Central in November 2023, new Bookshelf accounts will be generated and old Bookshelves will no longer be accessible.

If you would like to retain your Bookshelf information, please complete one of these following steps:

Option 1. Offline backup

You can export your saved lists and annotations as an offline backup by following these instructions on the ProQuest Support site. Note: If you have multiple folders in your account, you will need to repeat these instructions for each folder.

Option 2. Merge your account

If you have a large number of items in your Bookshelf and would like your old Bookshelf to be merged into the new Bookshelf, please do the following:

  1. Go to your ProQuest Ebook Central Bookshelf
  2. Go to Settings > Profile
  3. Copy your unique code next to the “Email/Username” field: it will be a set of numbers and letters (eg. rYgBBArABUG122QeSm/LRw==)
  4. Submit your merge request to the Library by filling out this Bookshelf form with your details. We will then contact ProQuest on your behalf to process the merge request.

You must submit your form before 31 October 2023. However, we recommend submitting your form early for a seamless changeover.

If you have any additional questions, please get in touch via the Library’s Live Chat service.

Preserving our Indigenous Australian Languages

Posted on by Library Communications

Did you know that out of the estimated 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in Australia, 120 are still spoken and approximately 90% are endangered?

This year in the Library, we’ve started a project to add in additional spelling variations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages into our records.

Now you can more easily search & discover items in our collections that feature Indigenous Australian languages.

For example, whether your preferred spelling is “Kamilaroi”, “Gamilaraay” or Gamilaroi, you’ll now be able to find resources like Gagan = Colours, a picture book written for Gamilaraay language learners by Suellyn Tighe, a Gamilaraay woman and University of Sydney graduate.

“Our languages are inextricably linked to who we are. It encapsulates our identity and  connection to country whilst maintaining links to the past, present and future through our stories and songs” says Suellyn Tighe.

A selection of resources in our collections with AUSTLANG codes. From L to R: Gagan = colours by Suellyn Tighe (Language code: D23), Gamilaraay, Yuwaalaraay, guwaaldanha ngiyani = We are speaking Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay / Accompiled by the Walgett Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay Language Program. (Language code: D23 and D27), The rainbow by Ros Moriarty (Language code: N153) and Apmwe-kenhe arne = The snake’s tree by by Margaret Heffernan (Language code: C8)

This work is also timely as the United Nations General Assembly have declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IY2019). Australian indigenous languages are increasingly recognised as a precious global resource and IY2019 is an opportunity to raise awareness and to provide an opportunity to achieve positive change through improving the promotion and preservation of these languages.  

“The importance of our languages being spoken between generations can not be undervalued or replaced. We are fortunate to live in times when technologies can assist us to ensure that our languages are not forgotten. It does not replace human interaction, though it does provide us with the opportunity and ability to ensure our and future generations have a connection to ancestral belonging and knowledge.” says Suellyn Tighe.

This project is based on AUSTLANG, an online resource developed by Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), which provides comprehensive information on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages spoken across Australia in an effort to preserve our Indigenous Australian languages and what we know about them.

This NAIDOC week, you can learn more about the languages of Australia by looking up your local language using the AUSTLANG website and searching our Library for language resources.

6 ways to use the Library’s Digital Collections in your research

Posted on by Library Communications
A sample of the resources available through the new Digital Collection platform

The Library has launched the new Digital Collections platform making the Library’s digital resources more accessible. Over 5,600 digital items are now available to search online in one place.

Here are seven ways to use the Library’s new Digital Collections platform in your research:

1. For the first time, you can search across many of the Digital Collections

2. You can now save and sort resources according to your research projects under ‘My Collection’

3. You can view your ‘browsing history’ making it easier to find what you were previously searching for (this is automatically cleared once you leave the website for your privacy)

4. The search expands access to the Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections through making more of our digitised collections available

5. The platform has a mobile friendly interface, allowing for easier sharing and engagement

6. You can search across the text of collections like Hermes and Honi for the first time as our new system detects and uploads text from each page of our items

Browse and explore the Library’s Digital Collections.

Your new Library services platform

Posted on by Library Communications

Library online search gets a facelift: read about the new integrated Library search tool for research, teaching and learning.

Science library photo of ramp and books

The new Library Services Platform is a cloud-based tool used to manage information resources including a search portal, called Library Search for discovering library collections. This interface has replaced CrossSearch, the Catalogue, and MyLoans from January 2019.

The new provider for the Library Services Platform is Ex Libris – a major technology provider for research libraries globally. Their customers include Cambridge and Harvard.

The interface was updated in January 2019 and the new Library Services Platform automatically replaced the current platform.

Searching: A new single platform

A separate, traditional library catalogue has been replaced with an integrated single portal, called Library Search. Early feedback from academic staff has indicated that the new Library Services Platform has made it “much easier to find and access specific journal articles”.

MyLoans

Some information from MyLoans, including current loans, will carry over to the new system, however some information will not:

  • Reading (Borrowing) History
  • MyLoans feeds.

FAQs regarding the new system

Who to contact

If you need any assistance, Library staff are here to help. You can contact frontline Library staff by phone, chat, by logging a ticket (outside of chat hours) or in person. You can also contact your Academic Liaison Librarian.

Changes to Document Delivery and BONUS+ services

Posted on by Library Communications
book shelves in Fisher Library

The Library is making some changes to the way it supplies material that isn’t held in our collections.  From Monday 22 October 2018 access to the Bonus+ service will be phased out, and clients will be able to use the Document Delivery service for all future requests.

As part of this change the Document Delivery Services is being extended to undergraduate students for a trial period. From Monday 22 October 2018 undergraduates will have access to requesting 10 items per academic year from hundreds of member libraries across Australia within the Libraries Australia Document Delivery (LADD) service. Researchers and post graduate students will continue to use the service as normal.

Find out more about document delivery services on our Library website.

Database Trials: De-classified documents and the Churchill Archive

Posted on by Library Communications

The library is currently trialing two databases that may be of interest.

Please have a look at these databases and let us know if you think they would be useful additions:

Churchill archive image

De-classified Documents Reference System

DDRS is a collection of previously classified government documents relating to domestic and foreign policy.  It fills an important gap in post-World War II domestic and foreign policy studies and provides unique opportunities for undergraduate and graduate comprehensive research in a rich primary source. In addition, Declassified Documents Reference System provides a significant resource for researchers in almost every discipline, including journalism, public policy studies, international law and security, and more.

 

Trial Ends: 9th October 2015

Please fill out the Database Evaluation Form – Thank you

 

Churchill Archive

The Churchill Archive is a unique resource that brings nearly 800,000 documents amassed by Winston S. Churchill throughout his life online for the first time.

To complement the core content, the Churchill Archive will offer an expanding range of additional materials, including pedagogical resources and secondary materials, plus editorially-selected links to other resources, video and audio content, and biographical and bibliographic databases.

 

Trial ends – 1st November 2015

Please fill out the Database Evaluation Form – Thank you