Check out our Resource of the Month – SPIE Digital Library

Posted on 3 June 2024 by lhoward

The RSL has a huge collection of physical and electronic materials. We have so much that we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of our items, whether recently added or an existing collection item. The resources are recommended by our knowledgeable subject librarians, who are excited to show off parts of the collection for their subject.

This month’s selector is:

Alessandra Vetrugno

Lead Librarian – Physical and Applied Sciences
Subject Librarian for Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Materials Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics.

Alessandra has selected SPIE Digital Library, available on SOLO.

Brief description

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, supporting the advancement of light-based research and technologies. The SPIE Digital Library provides access to the extensive collection of SPIE technical publications. It includes:

SPIE journals
SPIE conference proceedings and presentations recordings, covering photonics-driven advancements in a broad range of areas from biomedicine to defence and security
ebooks from SPIE Press from 1962 to the present

New content is regularly added, with more than 18,000 new technical papers and 25 ebooks added annually.

Who is this useful for?

This resource is particularly useful for students and researchers in Physics, Engineering Science, Computer Science, and Materials Science, and for those with an interest in the latest developments and technologies in optics and photonics.

How can I access it?

SPIE Digital Library is available through SOLO. To access it off campus use the VPN or sign in to the journal platform with your Single Sign On (SSO).

Check out our Resource of the Month – Zoological Record

Posted on 3 May 2024 by lhoward

This month’s selector is:

Ollie Bridle

Subject Librarian – Life Sciences and Non-clinical Medicine
Subject Librarian for Biochemistry, Biology, Forestry, Pharmacology, Plant Sciences and Zoology

Ollie has selected Zoological Record by Web of Science and Ovid, available on SOLO

This resource is available on two providers, Web of Science and Ovid:

Brief Description

First begun as a publication by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the British Museum in the 19th century, the Zoological Record is the oldest database of animal biology, with records dating back to 1864. The database has extensive coverage of the zoological literature published in journals, books, reports, meetings, etc. The Zoological Record has become the ‘unofficial’ register of taxonomic names for animals, and records in the database are enhanced by added taxonomic and systematics information.

A black and white drawing illustrating the bones in a giraffe skeleton

Credit: Gordon Johnson, Pixabay

Who is this useful for?

This database is useful for students or researchers looking for literature in zoology and animal biology and palaeontology. It is also useful for researchers investigating the taxonomy and naming of particular animal species. It is a particularly valuable resource for uncovering older literature in these areas which is often not included in other databases and is missing from web-based literature searching tools like Google Scholar.

How can I access it?

This database is available through SOLO. To access it off campus use the VPN or sign in to the journal platform with your Single Sign On (SSO).

Note that the database is divided between two providers – Web of Science and Ovid. To find older material use Ovid. To ensure a comprehensive search of the database you will need to search both providers to cover the whole contents.

Book Display – Kafka and Entomology and Species Decline

Posted on 2 May 2024 by rachelscanlon

Our latest book display showcases the extraordinarily diverse world of insects and their vital, but often overlooked, role in the ecology and continuing health of planet Earth. These books have been selected by colleagues in the Department of Biology, Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Oxford Entomology Society.

Close up photograph of Kafka book display showing the books, The secret life of flies, Oxford Reads Kafka and The Hidden World.

Curious about Kafka and creepy crawlies, check out our book display on the lower-ground floor of the RSL.

This display is part of the University’s wider celebrations of the writer Franz Kafka and his seminal novella ‘The Metamorphosis’ (‘Die Verwandlung’). During May and June there will be related events around the University. In particular don’t miss the Bodleian’s major exhibition ‘Kafka: Making of an icon’ opening at the Weston Library on May 30th. To find out about this and all other Kafka related events, visit the Oxford Kafka 2024 website.

For even more entomology recommendations which include not only books but also articles, websites, and videos, take a look at the Kafka reading list available on ORLO

Finally, check out our display of bugs and beetles in the Radcliffe Science Library Entrance Hall!

Display

Barenbaum, M. (2009). The earwig’s tail: a modern bestiary of multi-legged legends.

Online book available. Find it on SOLO.

Book cover of Essential Entomology 2nd edition.

Cover image copyright Richard lewington

McGavin, G. (2023). Essential Entomology (2nd Edition).

Online book available. Find it on SOLO.

Book cover of Edible insects: future prospects for food and feed security

Cover photos, clockwise from top left: Women selling caterpillars in Bangui, Central African Republic (P. Vantomme) Gold-painted crickets on top of Belgian chocolates (P. Vantomme) Black soldier ﬂy in a mass-rearing unit (L. Heaton) Appetizers prepared with insects (T. Calame) Coleoptera species used as a food colorant (A. Halloran) Palm weevil larvae (O. Ndoye)

Huis, A. (2013). Edible insects: future prospects for food and feed security.

Online book available. Find it on SOLO.

McGavin, G. (2023). The hidden world: how insects sustain life on Earth today and will shape our lives tomorrow.

Available in print at the RSL. Shelfmark: QL467.2 MCG 2023. Find it on SOLO.

Goulson, D. (2022). Silent Earth : averting the insect apocalypse.

Available in print at the RSL. Shelfmark: QL496.4 GOU 2021. Find it on SOLO.

McAlister, E. (2018). The secret life of flies.

Available in print at the RSL. Shelfmark: QL533 MCA 2017. Find it on SOLO.

Hoyt, E. (1999). Insect lives: stories of mystery and romance from a hidden world.

Available in print at the RSL. Shelfmark: QL4633 HOY 1999. Find it on SOLO.

Corbet, P. S. (2008). Dragonflies.

Available in print at the RSL. Shelfmark: QL513.O2 COR 2008. Find it on SOLO.

Sumner, S. (2022). Endless forms: the secret world of wasps.

Available in print at the RSL sooon.

Illustrations copyright Louise Bird.

Goulson, D. (2015). A buzz in the meadow.

Available in print at the RSL. Shelfmark: QL467 GOU 2014. Find it on SOLO.

Check out our Resource of the Month – GeoRef

Posted on 9 April 2024 by lhoward

This month’s selector is:

Rachel Scanlon

Subject Librarian – Physical and Applied Sciences
Subject Librarian for Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Materials and Statistics

Rachel has selected the database GeoRef, available on SOLO

Brief description

From the American Geological Institute (AGI), GeoRef is the most comprehensive geoscience database available. It provides access to a wide range of geoscience literature from around the world in the form of articles, books, maps, conference papers and more.

The GeoRef database covers the geology of North America from 1666 to the present and the geology of the rest of the world from 1933 to the present. The database includes references to all publications of the US Geological Survey.

Search functions

Along with the Basic Search function there is also an Advanced Search, though we recommend using the Multi-Field Search for ease of use. All these searches accept Boolean operators and allow you to conduct detailed keyword searches. GeoRef also has an excellent thesaurus function with more than 40,000 controlled vocabulary terms and the complete GeoRef indexing structure. If you find a Subject Heading in your results that you find useful you can click on that term and see all related results.

Who is this useful for?

This database is useful for students and researchers working in Earth Sciences, particularly geology, geophysics, geochemistry and seismology. It may also be of use to geographers or economists interested in petrology and mineralogy.

How can I access it?

The GeoRef database is available through SOLO. To access it off campus use the VPN or sign in to the journal platform with your Single Sign On (SSO).

A new book display for April concentrating on wellbeing

Posted on 4 April 2024 by lhoward

With exams and deadlines fast approaching Trinity Term can be a very hectic time for students and staff. It’s important to take time for your own wellbeing and many people enjoy reading literature, poetry or non-academic works as a way to take a break.

We have a wide range of titles in our wellbeing collection in the Radcliffe Science Library and have highlighted a few of them in our book display this month. Pop down to the lower-ground floor and check out our display with titles covering a wide range of topics from harnessing the healing power of classical music to escaping escaping into the fantasy worlds of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett to having a chuckle at the idiosyncrasies of British life with the irresistible humour of Bill Bryson (they do say that laughter is the best medicine…).

All of the books in the display are borrowable along with those in the Wellbeing Room. If there are any titles you would like added to the collection please contact rsl-wellbeing@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Do you prefer to bolster your mental health or read a short story?

Book Display

Gaiman, N. et al. (2022) Chivalry. London: Headline.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark PN6700 GAI 2022 (WBR)

Oseman, A. (2019) Heartstopper. Volume 5. London: Hodder Children’s Books.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark PN6737.O84 OSE 2023 (WBR)

Babalola, B. (2021) Love in Colour. London: Headline.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark PR6102 BAB 2020 (WBR)

Haig, M. (2016) Reasons to Stay Alive. Edinburgh: Canongate.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark WM171.5 HAI 2016 (WBR)

Barker, M.-J. (2018) Rewriting the Rules: An Anti Self-Help Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships. 2nd Edition. Abingdon, Oxon; Routledge.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark BF575.I5.B37 BAR 2018 (WBR)

Pratchett, T. (2013) Soul Music. New York: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark PR6066.R34 PRA 2013 (WBR)

Bryson, B. (2016) The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island. London: Black Swan.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark DA632 BRY 2016 (WBR)

Hislop, V. (ed.) (2021) The Story: 100 Great Short Stories Written by Women. London: Head of Zeus, an Apollo book.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark PR111 HIS 2021 (WBR)

Hooper, N. (2021) The Unbreakable Student: 6 Rules for Staying Sane at University. London: Robinson.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark WM101 HOO 2021 (WBR)

Price, D. (2022) Unmasking Autism: The Power of Embracing our Hidden Neurodiversity.
London: Monoray.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark HV1570.23 PRI 2022 (WBR)

Garcia, E. (2022) We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.
First Harvest paperback edition. New York: Harvest, An Imprint of William Morrow.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark BF637 GAR 2022 (WBR)

Burton-Hill, C. (2017) Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day.
London: Headline.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark ML160 BUR 2018 (WBR)

Find out more about Artificial Intelligence (AI) with our Book Display

Posted on 8 March 2024 by lhoward

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has captured the imagination of scholars and scientists for decades. The field of AI is now rapidly evolving and its impact on various fields is becoming increasingly evident.

We have curated a small book display that you can view in the break out area at the RSL. These titles offer insights into various facets of AI, from its history to current advancements, and applications in various disciplines, such as chemistry and computational biology. Other titles investigate the intersection of neuroscience and AI or examine the ethical and societal implications of AI technologies. These books are all available in SOLO.

Book Display

Sejnowski, T. J. (2018) The Deep Learning Revolution.
Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark Q325.5 SEJ 2018.

Levesque, H. J. (2017) Common Sense, the Turing Test, and the Quest for Real AI.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Available as a print book from the RSL at shelfmark Q335 LEV 2017.

Wooldridge, M. J. (2021) The Road to Conscious Machines: The Story of AI
UK? Pelican, an imprint of Penguin Books.

Available soon as a print book from the RSL.

Summerfield, C. (2023) Natural General Intelligence: How understanding the brain can help us build AI
First edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Available soon as a print book from the RSL or as an ebook.

Valls, A. & Gibert, K. (2022) Women in Artificial intelligence (AI)
Basel: MDPI – Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

Available as an ebook.

Rout, R. K. (ed.) (2023) Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Computational Biology
First edition. [Online]. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Available as an ebook.

Cartwright, H. M. (ed.) (2020) Machine Learning in Chemistry: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence London: Royal Society of Chemistry.

Available as an ebook.

Boden, M. A. (2016) AI: Its nature and future
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Available soon as a print book from the RSL or as an ebook.

Chellappa, R. & Niiler, E. (2022) Can We Trust AI?
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Available soon as a print book from the RSL or as an ebook.

Cirillo, D. et al. (eds.) (2022) Sex and Gender Bias in Technology and Artificial Intelligence: Biomedicine and Healthcare Applications
First edition. London: Academic Press.

Available as an ebook.

Photograph of Artificial Intelligence book display

Find the book display in the break out area in the lower ground floor.

Check out our Resource of the Month – CAB Abstracts

Posted on 4 March 2024 by lhoward

This month’s selector is:

Ollie Bridle

Subject Librarian – Life Sciences and Non-clinical Medicine
Subject Librarian for Biochemistry, Biology, Forestry, Pharmacology, Plant Sciences and Zoology

Ollie has selected CAB Abstracts by CABI, available on SOLO

Brief description

CAB Abstracts is an applied life sciences database, providing over 10.4 million records. If you are researching topics touching on forestry, agriculture, crop science, environmental sciences or nature conservation and biodiversity, CAB Abstracts can be a fruitful place to search for literature. Here’s why:

It has wide, international coverage, with material from over 120 countries in 50 languages
Every record is provided with an English language abstract
Extensive grey literature content is included – including bulletins, annual reports, field notes and technical reports
Each record is professionally indexed with terms from the CAB Thesaurus to make comprehensive topic searching easier

Credit: Manfred Antranias Zimmer, Pixabay

Who is this useful for?

This resource is useful for students and researchers at any level who are researching topics in applied life sciences. It is particularly useful for those researching topics in forestry, agriculture and environmental sciences.

How can I access it?

This database is available through SOLO. It is searched using the OVID database platform. To access it off campus, use the VPN or sign in to the journal platform with your Single Sign On (SSO).

LGBTQ+ History Month

Posted on 9 February 2024 by rachelc

As LGBTQ+ History month kicks off there is a range of informative and enriching events happening throughout the University.

We’d like to take this time to highlight two scientists from the LGBTQ+ community who are represented in the portraiture around the RSL.

Christopher Strachey was a computer scientist, leader in the field of programming languages and pioneer of early video games. See his portrait in the RSL and read more about this amazing figure on our blog.

Our colleagues in the archives have an amazing collection of his working papers and lectures that can also be consulted.

Oliver Sacks is one of the few scientists whose work became well-known through his published accounts of neurological case stories, particularly the adaptation of his book ‘Awakenings’ into a film starring famous American actors. He was also a man who lived at a time when he had to hide his homosexuality for fear of imprisonment or chemical castration. We are grateful to his foundation for allowing us to include this eminent Oxford alumnus in our portraiture. Read more about him on our blog.

Book Display

We have also put together a small book display that you can view in the break out area. The collection highlights the great work of LGBTQ+ scientists and their allies in history such as combatting AIDS or representing the LGBTQ+ community in data. Other titles provide advice for LGBTQ+ scientists or are interesting reads about the lives and experiences of the community.

Beyond our small display, Bodleian Libraries has created a reading list of LGBT+ resources. There are many great books and websites there that you may find useful to learn more about LGBTQ+ issues and history.

Books

France, D. (2017) How to survive a plague : the story of how activists and scientists tamed AIDS. First Vintage books edition. New York: Vintage Books.

Print Book available in the RSL – WC503.7 FRA 2016. Find it in SOLO.

Sánchez, J. P. (ed.) (2020) Succeeding in academic medicine : a roadmap for diverse medical students and residents. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Print Book available in the RSL – W21 SAN 2020. Find it in SOLO.

García, J. J. (2021) Heart, brain and mental health disparities for LGBTQ people of color. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

Print book available in the RSL – WA305 HEA 2021. Find it in SOLO.

Pearce, R. (2020) The emergence of trans : cultures, politics and everyday lives. Igi Moon et al. (eds.). Abingdon, Oxon ; Routledge.

Available as an ebook.

Bruce, K. M. (2017) Pride parades : how a parade changed the world. New York: New York University Press.

Available as an ebook.

Snorton, C. R. (2018) Black on both sides : a racial history of trans identity. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Available as an ebook.

Book cover of "Sexuality: A graphic guide" by MJ Barker.

Illustrated by Jules Scheele.

Barker, M.-J. (2021) Sexuality : a graphic guide. London: Icon.
Print Book, RSL Wellbeing Room – HQ21 BAR 2021 (WBR).

Find it on SOLO.

Getsy, D. (ed.) (2016) Queer. London: Whitechapel Gallery.

Print Book available from our Offsite Storage. Find it in SOLO.

Guyan, K. (2022) Queer data : using gender, sex and sexuality data for action. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Print Book available in the RSL, HQ73 GUY 2022. Find it in SOLO.

Check out our Resource of the Month – ACM Digital Library

Posted on 8 February 2024 by rachelc

The RSL has a huge collection of physical and electronic materials. We have so much that we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of our items whether recently added or an existing collection item. The resources are recommended by our knowledgeable subject librarians who are excited to show off parts of the collection for their subject.

This month’s selector is:

Rachel Scanlon

Rachel has selected ACM Digital Library by the Association for Computing Machinery, an association of computing professionals including educators and researchers, available on SOLO.

Brief Description

The ACM Digital Library brings together full text access to the full range of ACM publications including journals, conference proceedings technical magazines and books. It also includes publications from select publishers with over 3.5million publications in the library. ACM is the world’s largest computing society and their content covers the latest developments in areas of

Security and privacy
Computational theory and algorithms
Machine learning and natural language processing
Software engineering and programming
And more.

The ACM journals also have great open access credentials. Oxford has agreed a read and publish deal with ACM that allows all Oxford affiliated corresponding authors to publish open access in all gold and hybrid ACM journals. Research articles and conference proceedings are covered. Authors are asked to use an Oxford email address. Please choose CC BY and list Oxford as your affiliation.

Person standing in front of a screen showing the faces of many different people.

ACM provides great opportunities for networking and collaboration.

The people section is a great resource for finding experts and potential collaborators. There are filters on geography and subject so you can find the best people to work with.

The conferences section has proceedings from more than 170 computing conferences, symposia and workshops with content from renowned experts in various computer science disciplines.

Who is this useful for?

Researchers, DPhils and postdocs in the field of Computer Science particularly those looking to find collaborative colleagues. It is also useful for other scientists looking to develop skills and knowledge in computing.

How can I access it?

This database is available through SOLO. To access it off campus use the VPN or sign in to the journal platform with your Single Sign On (SSO).

New Resource – Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Posted on 19 January 2024 by rachelc

New online resource

Exciting news for all those interested in the field of Biology and Experimental Psychology, we have now arranged access to a new online resource, the Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science by Shackelford and Weekes–Shackelford.

What is it?

This comprehensive, twelve volume reference work reflects the interdisciplinary influences on evolutionary psychology and serves as a major resource for its history, scientific contributors and theories. It offers the full breadth of an area that is the forefront of behavioural thinking and investigation.

Photograph of four different humanoid skulls with annotations.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Who is this for?

This resource will be of interest to Students and researchers in Biology and Experimental Psychology.

How can I access it?

This book is available through SOLO. To access this off campus use the VPN or sign in to the journal platform with your Single Sign On (SSO).

Science and Medicine

A Bodleian Libraries blog

Category Archives: Collections

Check out our Resource of the Month – SPIE Digital Library

Brief description

Who is this useful for?

How can I access it?

Check out our Resource of the Month – Zoological Record

Book Display – Kafka and Entomology and Species Decline

Display

Check out our Resource of the Month – GeoRef

A new book display for April concentrating on wellbeing

Find out more about Artificial Intelligence (AI) with our Book Display

Book Display

Check out our Resource of the Month – CAB Abstracts

LGBTQ+ History Month

Book Display

Books

Check out our Resource of the Month – ACM Digital Library

Brief Description

Who is this useful for?

How can I access it?

New Resource – Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

New online resource

What is it?

Who is this for?

How can I access it?