Tuesday 2 December 2008

New Business Podcasts

Emerald Group Publishing Limited is making a range of educational podcasts freely available for a limited period. The podcasts cover a range of subjects, including Accounting and Finance, Human Resources Management, Marketing and Logistics, and more. They are available now for download at http://info.emeraldinsight.com/tk/podcasts

The podcasts have been specially written by David Pollitt, Information and Research Officer at the University of Bradford's European Briefing Unit. David Pollit has also edited various journals on Strategic Management, Human Resource Management and Training.

Thursday 27 November 2008

The Credit Crunch isn't all bad for the global economy

- according to GMID anyway! They say:-

While petrol prices fluctuate, many consumers are turning to public transport to curtail spending at the pumps thus helping to save the planet by default

Amongst the fastest growing destinations in 2007 were Oman, Turkmenistan, Senegal, Romania, Serbia and Rwanda proving that the world is getting ever-more accessible to thrill-seekers

Indian whiskey volumes will exceed 1 billion litres in 2010 and in 2011 India will become the world's biggest consumer of rum, overtaking the US

Social networking sites such as www.couchsurfing.com now provide free alternatives to hotels and hostels by lining up individual hosts with potential visitors worldwide

Brazilians are generally emotional consumers keen on acquiring 'happiness' through what they buy and don't buy to fulfill a need but to assuage 'cravings' generated by the products

The country forecast to witness the highest growth in pet food and pet care in value terms is Russia with US$1.3bn over 2008-2013.

For these and other more relevant facts check out GMID - Global Market Information Database on the library website.
GMID contains:
8 million internationally comparable statistics
15,000 industry, company, country and consumer reports
17,000 rankings of leading companies by market and brand share
Insightful comments from industry and country experts on a daily basis

Monday 10 November 2008

Reaching Today's Media-Savvy Consumers

In line with changing social and economic conditions in Ireland, the way consumers are accessing media channels is evolving.

A key difference between young Irish consumers and more mature consumers is the speed with which new media have been integrated into their daily routines, with understandably greater enthusiasm among younger consumers. An important conclusion from Mintel's Media Consumption Report,[October 2008] however, is that few consumers are prepared to be left behind.
The challenge for advertisers is not only how to target consumers but how to reach them in new and more innovative ways, for example the proliferation of wi-fi spots. Today’s consumers have never been more connected.

This report looks primarily at the impact of technology on Irish lifestyles and why their relationship with technology is so important to consumers. Access it through the DIT Library web pages at www.dit.ie/library. Select databases on the left and Mintel from the alphabetical list.

Mintel Looks at Retail and Finance

Mintel Ireland has produced a number of interesting reports over the summer. These include an update on the Irish Food Retailing industry as well as a comparative examination of Retail Outlet Parks versus High Street Retailing. The opinion of Irish consumers on their financial security is analysed in the Property, Pensions and Investments report and in the Irish Leisure series, the Hotel industry comes under the microscope.

Interestingly, we are told that DIT staff and students are amongst the heaviest users of Mintel in Ireland. From April to November 2008, for example, 2260 users logged in, 3886 searches were carried out and 20,431 documents were viewed with 2,065 documents downloaded in full text.
Must be good stuff!

Friday 31 October 2008

Last Call for Book Orders !

The Aungier Street Library will be completing it's book ordering for this year in the third week of November 2008 and will not be recommencing until the end of January 2009.

As you will appreciate it takes time to source and order new material so the earlier we have your requests in the better chance we have of having them available to students as promptly as possible.

Orders can be placed on the Book Purchase link on the library page of the DIT website http://www.dit.ie/library/a-z/bookpurchases/ or you can contact me directly at Ciaran.quinn@dit.ie or at ext.7166.

Information needed includes: Author, Title, Publisher, Year of publication, Edition, Essential or Supplementary Reading,Course Code, number of students in the class and number of copies required.

It would also be appreciated if you could check the shelves in the Library that pertain to your subject and let us know if any of the titles are obsolete and need to be removed/updated.

Tuesday 14 October 2008

Image Searching on the Internet

Calling all Photography, media and design students and staff!
"Internet for Image Searching" is a new, free online tutorial to help staff and students in universities and colleges to find digital images for their learning and teaching:

http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/tutorial/imagesearching/

The emphasis of the tutorial is on finding copyright cleared images which are available free; facilitating quick, hassle-free access to a vast range of online photographs and other visual resources.

This tutorial has been created by TASI - the JISC Advisory Service for digital media, and Intute as part of the Virtual Training Suite, with funding from the Higher Education Academy/JISC Collaboration Initiative.

Friday 3 October 2008

Top Ten Global Insurance Companies

The US subprime crisis has led to turbulence in the financial services industry and is likely to have significant impact on insurance companies. The capital and stock market turbulence is likely to moderate the growth in the life insurance market, while pricing pressures and economic slowdown in industrialized markets are likely to flatten the growth in the non-life insurance market.

The Top Ten Global Insurance Companies is a new report published by Business Insights that examines market dynamics in the retail insurance sector focusing on the top ten insurance companies. This new report highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the top ten insurers, analyzes the reasons behind the growth of their businesses and indicate any potential problems they could face in the short term. Through analysis and forecasts, this report provides insight into the direction of the retail insurance market. See it on the library website at www.dit.ie/library. Select Reuters Business Insights from the A-Z list of databases.

Thursday 2 October 2008

Free Online Access to all SAGE journals until October 31, 2008

SAGE Journals Online provides users access to more than 500 journals in business, social science, humanities, science, technology, and medicine.

Earlier this year SAGE celebrated the launch of the 500th journal on the SAGE Journals Online platform.

To mark the occasion SAGE are offering free online access to over 500 SAGE journals with content available from 1999-date until October 31, 2008.

Since DIT Library already subscribes to several Sage journals, no registration is required to access the free content. Simply go to http://www.online.sagepub.com/ and browse or search all Sage journals.

Friday 26 September 2008

Research Seminar October 20th 2008

Following the highly successful research support seminar, organised by DIT Library Services in October last year, it was decided to make this an annual event. The 2008 Seminar will take place in Room 5-050, Aungier Street, on Monday 20th. October from 10.30am to 12.30pm followed by a light lunch.
Keynote speaker will be Dr. Ellen Hazelkorn, newly appointed Director of Research and Enterprise, who will outline her vision for research support in DIT. Dr John Donovan will speak on managing research information in DIT and Robin Beecroft from Digital Commons will outline developments in research dissemination through e-repositories. There will also be updates by Library staff on the Sconul Access Scheme, Endnote and other library supports for research.
The DIT Research Repository - ARROW - will be formally launched and Yvonne Desmond, Arrow Manager, will demonstrate the system.
It promises to be an interesting morning so please register your attendance before October 16th. by contacting Mary.conlan@dit.ie

Monday 8 September 2008

Full Text Online Access to the Oxford Reference Collection

The Oxford English Dictionary and the Oxford Reference Online Premium Collection are available for online searching via the DIT library website at
http://0www.oxfordreference.com.ditlib.dit.ie/views/GLOBAL.html?authstatuscode=202

Contents Include:

Bilingual dictionaries: (French, Spanish, German, Irish, Welsh, Latin).
Dictionaries of quotations
Dictionaries of maps and illustrations
Timelines of notable events:
arranged by theme, country and time period.
Encyclopaedias: including the world encyclopaedia and a guide to countries of the world.
Subject Reference Dictionaries: This collection includes 186 Full Text Subject Reference Books covering 21 subject areas which include Art & Architecture, Economics & Business, Law, Politics and the Social Sciences.

If you’d like advice on searching these please contact the Library at 4023068 or ainfo.library@dit.ie and we would be happy to assist you.


Tuesday 2 September 2008

Accessing Online Examination Papers

There is a new format for accessing the 2007/2008 examination Papers via the Library catalogue.

Examination papers can be accessed by entering “examination papers dit directories” in the subject search field on the Library catalogue or exam papers link. Then by choosing the faculty you require. The exam paper files are further broken down by year, sessional or supplemental, course code and year of course.

http://library.dit.ie/search/d?SEARCH=examination+papers+dit+directories

If you experience any difficulties please contact Ciaran at ext.7166 or
Ciaran.quinn@dit.ie


Thursday 21 August 2008

The Ireland Collection from JSTOR

The Library has been given free access to a new collection of full-text journals from JSTOR.

The Ireland Collection is the first regional collection hosted by JSTOR, and is being funded in part by a grant to Queens University Belfast from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), through the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the UK. Through this funding the Ireland Collection fees will be waived for non-profit institutions in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The Ireland Collection is an interdisciplinary resource of materials from and about Ireland. Although there are only a handful of titles in the collection at present, at its expected completion in 2009 it will contain a minimum of 2,500 manuscripts, 200 monographs, and 75 ceased and currently publishing journals with moving walls between 1 and 5 years. Complementing JSTOR's existing collections, the Ireland Collection adds resources across the arts, humanities, and sciences in disciplines such as music, art, history, literature, archaeology, mathematics, and biology. Materials span from the 1780s to the present.

The database is now accessible under "JSTOR Ireland Collection" from our Databases A-Z page.

Tuesday 12 August 2008

Emerald Suspends Alerting Services

Due to technical problems, Emerald has decided to suspend its alerting services until further notice.

The following services are affected:
- Saved search alerts
- ToC (Table of Contents) alerts
- Weekly digest.

We will let you know once we hear from Emerald that the problem has been resolved.

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Programme Documents now Online

The Library is delighted to announce that Part B of most Faculty of Business Programme Documents is now available in full text via the library catalogue. To search go to www.dit.ie/library. Select Library Catalogue from the menu on the left. Enter a subject search of Programme Documents Online to see the full online collection.
We are still missing some softcopy documents however. All stragglers welcome as soon as possible!!

Thursday 31 July 2008

August Bank Holiday


Please note, the Library will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday, August 4th.

Tuesday 22 July 2008

Contact the e-mail reference service.

Need help with your study or research over the Summer?

E-mail the library reference service at aungier.info@dit.ie and one of our librarians will be glad to help. All queries answered within 1 working day.

Monday 21 July 2008

New Banking Report from Business Insights

The Top Ten Global Retail Banks is a new report published by Business Insights that examines market dynamics in the retail banking sector focusing on the top ten retail banks. This new report highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the top ten banks, analyzes the reasons behind the growth of their businesses and indicates any potential problems they could face in the short term. Through analysis and forecasts, this report provides insight into the direction of the retail banking market.
Access via the library web site at www.dit.ie/library. Select databases and Reuters Business Insights from the A-Z list displayed.

Friday 4 July 2008

Welcome to the Sconul Access Scheme!

The Library is delighted to announce that DIT Staff and Research postgrads can now avail of the Sconul Access Scheme. This allows them to visit, study in, research and BORROW from 180 participating member libraries throughout Ireland and the UK. All Irish University libraries are members of the scheme with the exception of TCD.
This is a great opportunity for DIT researchers to have access to an enormous range and diversity of library collections.
Applications Forms are available at the Main Library Desk. For further details of the scheme see http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/users_info or ring the Library at 4023068.

Thursday 26 June 2008

Emerald moves into book publishing

Emerald Group Publishing Limited has recently launched Emerald Bookstore which allows visitors to browse through over 2,000 books by subject area and to order securely online at http://books.emeraldinsight.com

As part of the move into book publishing, Emerald now encompasses new areas of expertise, such as language and linguistics, sociology, psychology, and more, to add to its core portfolio of management titles.

Title examples include “Qualitative Research in the Study of Leadership” by Karen Klenke, a new edition of “An Introduction to the Physiology of Hearing” by James Pickles, and “International Handbook of Distance Education” by Evans, Haughey and Murphy.

Monday 23 June 2008

Trends in Ethical and Sustainable Packaging

Trends in Ethical and Sustainable Packaging is a new management report published by Business Insights that examines new innovations in ethical and sustainable packaging by category, region and material. It profiles major innovations within ethical and sustainable food and drinks packaging, including the latest packaging technologies and materials. Discover the key trends impacting the ethical and sustainable packaging market and understand how these are changing packaging design.

To view this report login to the library web pages at www.dit.ie/library, select databases and Reuters Business Insights from the alphabetical database list.

2007 Data Now Available on JCR

The 2007 data for the Science and Social Sciences editions of Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is now available.

The new 2007 data ensures that you continue to have the most current information available to determine a publication's impact and influence in the global research community.

JCR is available on the library web pages at http://www.dit.ie/library. Select Databases and then Journal Citation Reports from the alphabetical list displayed.

Monday 26 May 2008

Information on Irish M&A activity

Information on Irish Merger and Acquisition activities can be difficult to find. Ion Equity, a private equity firm based in Dublin and London, prepares a free quarterly report entitled the M&A Tracker Survey. This report provides a quarterly review of Irish trade sales, buyouts and acquisitions and is available at http://www.ionequity.com/media/surveys.asp

Thursday 15 May 2008

DIT Library now in Google Scholar's Library Links

DIT Library now participates in Google Scholar’s Library Links. This links the databases and electronic journals to which we subscribe with Google Scholar. This means that you can now link with a single click to the full text of articles that you’ve found by doing a search in Google Scholar, once those articles are available via DIT Library’s subscriptions.

To locate full text electronic content available through DIT Library, you can use Google Scholar Library Links. To do this you will need to:

-Go to http://scholar.google.com/
-Click on Scholar Preferences
-Type DIT in the Library Links section and click Find Library
-Tick the box next to Dublin Institute of Technology – Find @ DIT
-Click Save Preferences

The Find @ DIT link next to an article citation in Google Scholar will bring you directly to the full text if the article is available via DIT Library's subscriptions.

For more information see Google Scholar’s Library Links page and Understanding a Search Result.

Friday 9 May 2008

Student Survey

Be in with a chance to win 100 Euro!

Fill in a short survey at https://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/933ag3375e and you could win €100.

Survey responses will be accepted until Friday 16th May.

There is also a direct link to the survey on the DIT Library Website at http://www.dit.ie/DIT/library/index.html

Friday 2 May 2008

Check out Researcher ID.com from ISI Web of Science

What is ResearcherID.com?
ResearcherID is a service from ISI Web of Science whereby researchers are invited to join the Researcher Registry and receive a unique researcher ID number. Once registered users can:

  • Update their profile information.
  • Build a publication list using Web of Science search services or uploading a file.
  • Select to make profile public or private.
  • Use new tools in the interactive Labs environment to understand their personal metrics.
  • Use the Citings Articles Network which graphically depicts who is citing their articles using an interactive world map.
  • The Collaboration Network displays their collaboration associates also using an interactive world map.
  • The Badge is a "roll over" tool which can be placed on any web page to provide a summary of ones’ profile and recent publications.

Whether registered or not, users can search the Researcher Registry to view profiles and find potential collaborators.

For more details and to register with Researcher.id login to Web of Science from the Library A-Z Listing of databases at www.dit.ie/library

Monday 28 April 2008

Index to Theses – Full text online theses on the way.

Index to Theses has now launched an important enhancement to its web-based service that identifies and links to the full text availability of theses online (ETD - Electronic Theses and Dissertations).

For the majority of entries, where an ETD is not yet available, the new Index will describe alternative routes for obtaining the full text of theses including specific reference to the British Library’s British Theses Service.

Index to Theses has identified some 3000 full text doctoral ETDs to date and this figure is estimated to be growing at around 100 per month. This growth is expected to increase significantly to represent an important percentage of the 1500 theses processed by Index to Theses each month.

Digitisation of theses covered by Index to Theses in the past will also yield full-text links and records will be regularly updated throughout the subscription year, reflecting current ETD availability. With some 517,000 entries - and growing at an annual rate of 18,000 - Index to Theses remains the most comprehensive listing of theses accepted for higher degrees by British and Irish universities.

Access via the library A-Z listing of databases at www.dit.ie/library

Thursday 17 April 2008

The European Information Association

The European Information Association (EIA) is an international body of information specialists whose aim is to develop, co-ordinate and improve access to EU information.
Their website is at http://www.eia.org.uk, the information is easily digested and you can set yourself up to get weekly email reminders of their news roundups.

This week, for example, the news update covers:

- moves to allow use of mobile phones in-flight

- growth of .eu

- calls for an EU-wide missing child alert

- a European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training

- the 'Education and Training 2010' work programme

Thursday 10 April 2008

Multi-cultural Ireland

  • AIB customers made almost 6000 payments to Poland in 2003. By 2005 this had risen to around 60,000 payments.


  • Contrary to many expectations, 2006 data from the CSO indicates that the majority of non-nationals are working in managerial, professional and skilled jobs.


  • Non-nationals accounted for 13% of ROI population in 2007.

Read all about it in the new Mintel report on Multi-cultural Ireland. Access Mintel Irish Reports via the A-Z list of databases on the library website at http://www.dit.ie/library

Friday 4 April 2008

Database Trial - track grant opportunities.

DIT Library Services has arranged a free trial of the COS Research Support Suite of databases. The trial will be an opportunity to view a product which aims to provide a comprehensive approach to managing the business of research. The following databases are included:

The trial will last from 1st April to 30th April 2008




Friday 14 March 2008

Easter 2008 - Aungier St Library Opening Hours

March 17th: St Patrick's Day CLOSED
March 18th & 19th: 9.30am to 5.15 pm
March 20th: 9.30 am to 1.00 pm
The Library is closed from Friday March 21st to Tuesday March 25th inclusive.
March 26th to March 28th: 9.30am to 9.30pm
Saturday March 29th: 10.00am to 5.00pm

Friday 7 March 2008

Database Trials

Free trials have been set up to two new Gale databases as follows:

Academic OneFile
A cross-disciplinary database of peer-reviewed, full-text journals with daily updates. Could be of interest to both Arts and Business researchers.

Economist Historical Archive 1843-2003
Every issue of The Economist from 1843 to 2003.

These trials will be active until 21st March 2008. Please ask at the library desk for login and password details.

Monday 3 March 2008

Events for Library Ireland Week

  • 3rd-9th - Fomacs Centre Film Presentations:‘The Memory Box’, ‘The Richness of Change’& ‘Undocumented in Ireland: Our Stories’.
  • Tue 4th - Staff Room, Kevin St. 6:45pm Classical Chinese poetry & Traditional Chinese music performances.
  • Wed 5th & Thur 6th - Kevin St. Library 7.15pm Sufi poetry by Nuzhat Abbas, Sean Nós singing by Antaine ó Faracháin and Poetry readings by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill (Aosdána)

Tuesday 26 February 2008

What do women want?

Mintel’s latest survey might throw some light on this age old, vexed question! See Women’s Changing Lifestyles: What women want (January 2008).

Other new reports include:

  • Childrenswear - February 2008
  • Online Financial Services: convenience v personal service – December 2007
  • Online Shopping: has it reached its potential? – December 2007

Access Mintel from the A-Z list of databases on the library website at www.dit.ie/library

Monday 18 February 2008

Research Skills for Students

Better Googling & Internet Evaluation:
a guide to better internet searching and how to evaluate content.
Tuesday 19th February 5.45pm - 6.15pm
Thursday 21st February 11.00am - 11.30am (repeat)

For further details contact Ciaran at 402 7166

Lunchtime Sessions for Staff - Reminder

Global Market Information Database - GMID
Tuesday 19th February 1.15pm - 1.45pm
Finding and manipulating global statistics;
market and industry reports.

Contact Allison at ext 3266 for further details.

Monday 11 February 2008

Dissertation Students - Reminder

Intermediate Level EndNote
11th February: 1.15pm to 1.45pm
12th February: 2.15pm to 2.45pm (repeat)

The Intermediate level session will show you how to export references from Databases into EndNote using Export Filters; import references from the DIT Library Catalogue; print a stand-alone bibliography from your EndNote library; search for references in your EndNote Library.

Classes will be held in the Library Training Room.
Book now by ringing Israel at 402 7167 or call to the Main Library Desk

Thursday 7 February 2008

Lunchtime Sessions for Staff

Please see below for details of 4 short lunchtime training sessions which will take place at Aungier St Library over the next few weeks. All sessions, which are aimed at Academic Staff and Postgrads, will take place in the library training room from 1.15pm-1.45pm. For further details contact Allison at 3266, Ciaran at 7166 or Israel at 7167.

Thursday 14th Feb. - Intermediate Level EndNote
Tuesday 19th Feb. - Global Market Information Database
Thursday 28th Feb. - EndNote for Publishing
Wednesday 5th Mar.- Business Source Premier

Friday 1 February 2008

Drop in Classes in the Library Training Room - Reminder

Staff and Postgrads:

Monday 4th February: 1.15pm – 1.45pm
Using Communication and Mass Media Complete for Research and Current Awareness

Dissertation and Final Year Students:

Wednesday 6th February: 12.15pm – 12.45pm
Introduction to EndNote
Thursday 7th February: 3.15pm – 3.45 pm
Introduction to EndNote (repeat)

Two New Legal Databases

The library now subscribes to 2 new legal databases – Westlaw UK and Justis Irish Reports. Both can be accessed from the A-Z list of databases on the library website at www.dit.ie.

Westlaw covers all UK legislation, case material and a number of legal journals. Justis contains the Irish Reports series since 1919 as well as a number of other major report series. Authentication for Justis, within the DIT network, is via IP address, so just click on "continue" under the login box.

New Content on Westlaw IE

Westlaw IE is currently adding extra content to the database. This will be added gradually over the first and second quarters of 2008 and includes:-
  • Tottel Tax Cases (live)
  • Hibernian Law Journal (live)
  • Human Rights Law Reports – live - end of January ‘08
  • European Human Rights Reports - live end of January ‘08
  • Irish Law Times Reports (ILTR) archive back to 1867 to go live instages in the second quarter of 2008
  • Monthly updating of consolidated legislation - to go live in quarter one of 2008

Participations: journal of audience and reception studies

Media Studies staff and students may be interested in Participations - an online journal published by the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The journal was developed to expand the broad field of study of cultural and media audiences. It aims to publish research, encourage debate and collaborations and to provide a focal point for the development of the field. The website provides the full text content of the current issue and past issues dating back to November 2003
Access at http://www.participations.org/

Wednesday 30 January 2008

EndNote - Reminder

Aungier Street library will be running an introductory Endnote training session on Thursday 31st January from 1.15 - 1.45. The venue is the library training room. The session will cover:· Introduction to Endnote· Creating an Endnote Library· Manually adding references to an Endnote library· Selecting a reference type and style· Inserting references into a Word document.· Deleting a reference from a Word document.

To book a place, please contact Ciaran Quinn at 402 7166 or email at ciaran.quinn@dit.ie. Places are limited so they are offered on a first come first served basis. This session is for staff and PG students only.

Tuesday 29 January 2008

DIT Library Services has set up a DIT - wide subscription to the recently launched Irish Times Digital Archive.

The Irish Times Digital Archive is a fully searchable exact reproduction of all editions published by the Irish Times from 1859 onwards. Editions are added seven days after publication date.

To log on to the archive, click on the link to the "Irish Times" on our Library Databases A-Z page: http://www.dit.ie/DIT/library/resources/databases/index.html, and select the link to the "Digital Archive" from the right-hand side of the screen.

The archive is also accessible under "archive search" on the left-hand side of the screen.

Wednesday 9 January 2008

E-Books on the Web

More and more E-books are now becoming freely available on the web. Take a look at http://manybooks.net – with nearly 20,000 e-books available, in multiple languages and all free to download to PC, Ipod, palm reader etc.

Another interesting site is http://www.justfreebooks.info. This engine searches the content of more than 450 web sites to find public domain texts, open books, free audio books, ad-supported books and more. Use the search box to enter the book, author or theme you are interested in.

Adobe Reader will read downloads from both of these sites on your computer. Free E-book reader software is available for use with Ipods and other media.

Search for Video

If you are interested in finding film or video on the web - take a look at www.searchforvideo.com – a video search engine which searches video clips from thousands of content sources. The site is updated daily.

Updates to Taxfind

The following content has been updated on TaxFind Online; you can accessTaxFind Online at<http://www.taxireland.ie/> Please contact the Library for password details.
  • Seminar and Conference Papers
  • Irish Tax Review
  • TaxFax
  • Revenue Material
  • UK Material
  • British Tax Case Archive
  • British Tax Legislation
  • Inland Revenue Manuals
  • British Tax Reporter