X Close

Economics & Public Policy Extra

Home

The latest Library news and information for economists and political scientists

Menu

Archive for the 'News' Category

Access to LSE & SOAS libraries

By Kieron L Jones, on 27 March 2015

LSE:

Access to the LSE Library will be restricted during the examination period from Monday 30 March to Sunday 7 June 2015 inclusive.

Staff and research degree students (MPhil, PhD) who have applied through the existing reciprocal schemes (University of London, SCONUL Access and M25) will not be affected.

Membership for all other visitors, including undergraduates and Masters students from University of London and SCONUL institutions, will be suspended from Monday 30 March to Sunday 7 June 2015.  These restrictions will also apply to visitors issued cards before 30 March.

In special cases, temporary access for a day may be provided if visitors can show a genuine need to access our collections specifically at this time.  Provision will also be made for visitors wishing to consult archives and other special collections.

SOAS:

We will be restricting access to some users from Monday 13th April to Wednesday 3rd June due to high demand for study spaces by SOAS students during deadline and exam times.  Also during this period, we will be changing the system that we use to manage library user information, so there may be some impacts to services that we deliver.

During the third term the SOAS Library can become very busy and there may be occasions when we have to restrict visitor access in order to ensure that SOAS students can find a study space.  If you come as a visitor to the Library at a busy time, please do not be offended if we ask you which of our research materials or special collections you need to see.  The afternoons are particularly busy so it may make your visit easier if you come to the Library as early as possible in the day.

So –

UG and TPG students: No new membership

PhD/MPhil/Staff: as normal

EThOS Share My Thesis competition

By Kieron L Jones, on 30 January 2015

“The British Library is currently running a Twitter based competition for all PhD authors and current doctoral students, inviting them to say why their doctoral research is/was important, using the hashtag #ShareMyThesis.

Twitter competition – https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23sharemythesis&src=typd

Competition web page – http://www.bl.uk/share-my-thesis/

The competition aims to raise awareness of the importance of doctoral research and increase visibility of the PhD thesis as a valuable source of research information. It is generously supported by Research Councils UK and Vitae, and there are some great prizes.

The range and quality of doctoral research being tweeted in 140 characters is truly amazing. Entries are flooding in already, and you can see them all here https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23sharemythesis&src=typd.

The competition closes on 9 February, when eight entries will be shortlisted and invited to expand their tweet into a blog post.”

Articles added to the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics

By Kieron L Jones, on 11 December 2014

Collection move

By Kieron L Jones, on 10 December 2014

Following consultation with the School of Public Policy Library Cttee. and SPP human rights students, the human rights collection in the Main Library has now been moved from the 2nd floor in the history corridor to the 1st floor in the corridor outside of the self-service issue area.

The aim of the move has been to create expansion space for the public policy and international relations collections, and make human rights easier to access. Also, it makes effective use of the shelves left empty after the reorganisation of the lending area, and brings the human rights material closer to the law collection.

E-books on demand@UCL

By Kieron L Jones, on 20 November 2014

UCL Library Services is now running three pilot projects involving users in the acquisition of e-book content.

For a trial period, UCL students and staff can read and download 1000s of extra e-books across a wide range of subjects. UCL Library Services will buy those used most often and add them to our existing collection of over 300,000 e-books.

Like existing UCL e-books, these additional e-books can be found using Explore – search All Resources then filter by Online resource and Books. Alternatively you can go directly to one of the three websites where the additional e-books are hosted:

Go to our Ebooks on demand@UCL webpage to find out more.

 

Christmas library opening

By Kieron L Jones, on 17 November 2014

The UCL Bloomsbury libraries will close on 23rd December and re-open for normal weekend opening on 03rd January.

The two Graduate Hubs and the Student Social Hub on the Japanese Garden will all be open 24/7 to provide secure learning spaces for students throughout UCL closure; and of course our digital services will also be available in this period.  

The opening hours web pages have been extended to show the availability of the Library-managed central learning spaces.  These pages also show the opening hours of those of our joint NHS libraries which are normally open during the UCL closure period.

Restrictions to LSE Library

By Kieron L Jones, on 1 October 2014

“As the new academic year begins we will be concentrating our Library staff resources on newly registered LSE staff and students throughout October.

Regretfully, this means that access to the LSE Library will be restricted for new non-LSE taught course students from Monday 29 September 2014 to Monday 3 November 2014 inclusive.

Membership applications for new undergraduates and Masters students from University of London and SCONUL institutions will not be processed during this time. New applicants are still welcome to apply for Library membership through our online form, but will not be able to complete their registration at the Library’s Membership Desk until Tuesday 4 November.

Staff and research degree students (MPhil, PhD) who have applied through our existing reciprocal schemes (University of London, SCONUL Access, and M25) will not be affected and can continue to access the Library as usual, as can those using our Archives and Special Collections in the Women’s Library Reading Room.

I am grateful for your understanding during this busy period, and my colleagues look forward to welcoming your students who need to use this Library from 4 November 2014.”

Liz Chapman
Director of Library Services
Library
London School of Economics and Political Science

The BL Newsroom to open at St Pancras, Monday 7 April

By Kieron L Jones, on 7 April 2014

Refurbishment work on the British Library Newsroom is progressing well and the new facility will open on Monday 7 April. Readers will once again have access to microfilm and digital newspaper collections as well as broadcast, multimedia and archived websites.

Periodical collections formerly held at Colindale are already available to order again, following an embargo that ran from June last year to 17 February. The majority of periodicals, amounting to some 24,000 titles, have been moved to Boston Spa and are available to order into any St Pancras Reading Room within 48 hours. A small number of high-use periodicals have been moved to St Pancras and will be available to order into any St Pancras Reading Room within 70 minutes.

Readers can choose to order these journals online in advance of their visit using Explore the British Library which has improved information about the titles and volumes held by the Library. Readers can also track the progress of their requests via My Reading Room Requests. Records for microfilm and print newspapers that are currently being moved are also visible. Although these items remain unavailable for the time being, the records will link to digital versions where these are available and will help Readers to plan future research.

Print newspapers will become available again in autumn 2014, where there are no microfilm or digital alternatives available in our collection.

For full details, please see the March Collection Moves Bulletin. (PDF)

Get answers to frequently asked questions about changes to access to newspapers. (PDF)

Find out how to upgrade your Newspaper Reader Pass to a full British Library Reader Pass. (PDF)

Find out what you should do if you still have credit on your Colindale self-help copying account. (PDF)

History tables – upgrade

By Kieron L Jones, on 9 December 2013

“UCL Library Services are working to improve the study environment. As part of a phased plan to upgrade furniture, we are replacing the Main Library 2nd floor History [including Public Policy] mismatched tables which have been collected over the years, with tables in keeping with the historical nature of the building. Any original Richardson tables (with the leather tops) are being retained. This work will also result in a modest increase in numbers of study places in the corridor.

On Monday 16/12, defunct tables will be removed. From Tuesday 17/12, the new tables (which will also have power sockets for laptop users) will be installed and connected to the building’s electrics. Work will be completed by Friday 20/12.

Provision is being made for table-top lighting, which will be added to the new tables in future.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope that you will enjoy the new facilities.”

Job vacancies at IFS

By Kieron L Jones, on 31 October 2013

We are looking to recruit 2-4 new researchers to join IFS next autumn.
We recruit exceptionally talented students direct from an undergraduate
degree or with a master’s degree. We are also interested in hearing from
the very best of those completing PhDs in relevant areas. We are looking
for highly motivated students who have shown an unusual aptitude for
economics, preferably combined with an interest in policy issues and a
taste for numerical work.

IFS has a strong record in training excellent social scientists, some of
whom continue to work at IFS for many years while others have moved on
to careers in a variety of organisations including the civil service,
the media and academia. Researchers at IFS have the chance to carry out
in-depth economic research and also to communicate their findings to
politicians, journalists, academics and many others. We aim to cultivate
a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment, encouraging
staff to develop their skills, through further study, ad hoc training
and by giving them opportunities to get involved with all aspects of
research and communication right from the start.

If you have any outstanding students who might be interested, I would be
grateful if you could suggest to them that they consider applying;
further details on the role can be found on our website
(www.ifs.org.uk/jobs). The closing date for applications is 24 January,
and interviews will be held at the end of February.

We also run a summer student scheme at IFS to give students, who are at
the end of their penultimate year of study, an opportunity to see
economic research in action. I would be grateful if you could also draw
this opportunity to the attention of any suitable students.

With best wishes
Emma Hyman