iSkills for Undergraduate Science, Michaelmas term 2022

Free training sessions to help science students develop the information skills to succeed with research and writing – find out more and book sessions online
using the links below.

Explore Virtual Reality and 3D Printing
Monday 31 October 2022, 5-6pm
Social Sciences Library Information Skills Training Room
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/workshops#/course/MPLS0001 

Easier Referencing with RefWorks
Thursday 3 November 2022, 5-6pm
Social Sciences Library Information Skills Training Room
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/workshops#/course/MPLS0002

Successful Searching for your Assignments (MSD)
Thursday 10 November 2022, 5-6pm
Online via Microsoft Teams
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/workshops#/course/MPLS0003

Successful Searching for your Assignments (MPLS)
Tuesday 8 November 2022, 5-6pm
Online via Microsoft Teams
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/workshops#/course/MPLS0004
Thursday 1 November 2022, 5-6pm
Social Sciences Library Information Skills Training Room
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/workshops#/course/MPLS0005

Sources for Science: Learning the craft of evaluating information and referencing academic sources online
Monday 7 November 2022, 5-6pm
Online via Microsoft Teams
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/workshops#/course/ISKILL0071

Bodleian iSkills logo

Free research skills sessions for MPLS – Tuesday 19 July 2022

The RSL is pleased to announce the following program of free research skills sessions for postgraduate students and researchers in MPLS:

  • Research skills for Materials and Chemistry – Tuesday 19 July, 10–11am Joining link
  • Research Skills for Physics, Mathematics, and Statistics – Tuesday 19 July, 11.30am–12.30pm Joining link
  • Research Skills for Engineering & Computer Science – Tuesday 19 July, 3-4pm Joining link

These sessions will be an opportunity to improve and extend your scientific literature research skills and to know more about support with Open Access and RDM at Oxford.

Objectives

  • Be aware of specialist library collections for your subject
  • Be able to find a wider range of material using subject-focused database and catalogues
  • Develop effective searching skills and strategies to help in-depth literature research
  • Have a brief overview on available support with Open Access and Research Data Management

To book your place, please email alessandra.vetrugno@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

ORA COVID-19 Collection – preserving Oxford’s COVID-19 response

The University of Oxford has been at the forefront of the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of this activity is reflected in the wide array of research outputs – journal articles, conference papers, working papers, preprints, and more – that have been produced in this area.

The Bodleian Libraries Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) COVID-19 Collection seeks to provide a one-stop point of access to all of these outputs, focusing on the full-text items available via ORA, and links to Oxford COVID-related research in a range of other locations. The ORA COVID-19 Collection ensures that these materials are available not only for today’s readers but also in perpetuity – to illuminate the story of the University’s contribution to the pandemic response for future generations.

Highlights include:

This is a live collection that is still being developed and we value your thoughts, comments and suggested additions. Contact ora@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or complete the webform.

If you are a member of the University of Oxford and can’t see your COVID-related paper here, then deposit your accepted manuscript to ORA.

New ejournals for MSD and MPLS

The Bodleian has been making considerable efforts to increase provision of online resources for researchers across MSD and MPLS. Additional funds were made available to us during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were used to expand ejournal access as well as provide enhanced access to ebooks.

We have been able to subscribe to a number of new titles and to purchase a range of online journal backfiles, identified via reader requests or turn-away data (attempts from within the University’s IP range to access content that we do not have access to).

We continue to take a proactive approach to the development of our ejournal collections in response to the continuing expansions in research activity and associated research outputs across both Divisions and welcome suggestion from our colleagues across MPLS and MSD. Please contact:

You can also recommend a purchase using our online form.

All titles are available via SOLO and BrowZine (our user-friendly one-stop for online journals). This includes publishers such as Nature, AIAA, ICE Virtual Library, SPIE, and SAE and individual titles such as Chem, Nature Astronomy, and Synfacts.

MPLS

Subscriptions

One-off purchases

MSD

Subscriptions and backfiles

Backfiles

Subscriptions

Note:

All these resources are accessible via SOLO when logged in using your SSO. Direct links to publishers’ platforms should also work when logged into Bodleian Libraries and Departmental computers, or when using the University VPN.

Thousands of new ebooks across science and medicine

We aim to build collections that reflect a diverse academic community and breadth of scholarship, and to support the University’s flexible and inclusive approach to teaching. To this end, we aim to continue to fill gaps in our current online collections, meet student expectations for 24/7 remote access to key materials, and address previously under-represented areas and revisions to the academic curricula.

Since March 2020, there have been considerable increases in ebook provision for both taught students and researchers across MSD and MPLS. Additional funds were made available to us during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were used to provide enhanced access to ebooks as well as expand ejournal access.

This expansion of ebook access included:

  • large collections from major publishers aimed at students and researchers across science and biomedicine
  • one-off purchases of individual texts available in perpetuity
  • some individual titles which require annual subscriptions

These include key individual ebook titles on undergraduate reading lists or individually requested, and also major reference works such as Encyclopaedia of the Life Sciences and Birds of the World. We have also acquired access to over 60,000 additional online monographs from the Springer and Elsevier ebook platforms.

There has also been a substantial increase in uptake of ORLO (Oxford Reading Lists Online) in MSD and MPLS, and staff have made great efforts to identify material newly available online, and online alternatives to reading list texts only available in print.

Very high usage levels are being reported for some these new titles and collections. For example, there were 8,000 chapter downloads from Berg’s Biochemistry online in just 6 months, and the big increases in downloads from our Elsevier and Springer ebook collections can be seen in these graphs:

Springer ebook usage from February 2021

Elsevier ebook usage from March 2021

New publisher ebook collection subscriptions in science and medicine:

MSD ebooks now available:

  • 265 key individual ebook titles in direct support of undergraduate reading lists – titles catalogued individually on SOLO

Packages:

MPLS ebooks now available:

  • 450 key individual ebook titles in direct support of undergraduate reading lists – titles catalogued individually on SOLO

Packages:

New databases and reference works:

Springer ebook collections purchased in perpetuity:

  • Earth and Environmental Science (2017 and 2020-21)* – titles catalogued individually on SOLO
  • Mathematics and Statistics (2017-21) – titles catalogued individually on SOLO
  • Chemistry and Materials Science (2017-21) – titles catalogued individually on SOLO
  • Springer Medicine (2017-2021) – titles catalogued individually on SOLO

Note:

All these resources are accessible via SOLO when logged in using your SSO. Direct links to publishers’ platforms should also work when logged into Bodleian Libraries and Departmental computers, or when using the University VPN.

*2018 and 2019 already purchased

New online resources for MPLS

Physical sciences

Life and environmental sciences

CABI titles