We also have study rooms that you can book if you are working on say… a group presentation and you require a space where you can practice your presentation. You can access our new screens which enable you to plug in your laptop and view data on the larger screen.

Level 1 has a more relaxed atmosphere. It is a more vibrant environment where you can chat amongst your friends and study buddies. We ask though that you respect others around you so as to make visiting the library a more pleasant experience for everyone. We also have bean bag chairs, booths and study carrels (with PC access) as well as standard tables for you to use. You may not get any study or reading done if seated or lying down in one of our many fabulous bean bag chairs ZZZZZzzzzz

Ground floor is a whole floor dedicated to computer access. We ask that you keep noise here to a minimum as fellow students particularly at this time of year are working on final assessments

So good luck with your assessments

As was Clusty, Yippy is a clustering engine – type in your term – get a set of  clustered results back.  Yippy can add something new to your search experience, especially in the way it presents results.

 Yippy retrieves results from Ask, Open Directory, Gigablast and others to generate an ordered list based on comparative ranking. This “metasearch” approach helps raise the best results to the top.

To see which search engines returned results for your query, click on the “Sources” link at the top of the search results list.

You can search the web, news, images and Wikipedia. Very useful if you’re not sure of what you want, or you’re searching a broad term and want to narrow things down.  Yippy helps you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items.

Below is a screen dump of a search with the terms Australian, election and 2010. The clustered results appear on the left, while a series of hits appear on the right hand side for you to start viewing immediately. If you would like a different slant to your search click on Remix (located in the clustered list on the left hand side of the screen) and you will find further information which may benefit your research. Research that you may not have thought of initially.

Have a look at this list on Wikipedia. It is by no means complete, but it will give you a great list of sites currently around

Here are some positives for social networking

Positives

• Being a member of different social networking sites  can be useful because each site may offer something different.
• Each social network may in turn attract a different audience type.
• You can connect with people who have similar interests as your own.

How ever,  there is always a downside to Social networking

Negatives

• It may be difficult to remove your account from a social networking site. After all it is in the best interest of the social network site to hang on to your custom. Visit http://deleteyouraccount.com. Here you will find the intructions on how to delete accounts from a variety of networks
• Having too many followers can dilute your security ie. the more people you know… the wider your circle the more chance you have of data escaping with out your control

 Words of Wisdom

• Choose wisely who you allow to join your inner  circle of friends
• Consider wisely the information you are willing to give out. Once it is out there for the world to see it can be quite difficult to remove completely
• Ensure your security settings are as you would like them to be. Keep your information safe and secure.
• Do not place comments in poor taste about your colleagues or workplace (current or former). It may come back to haunt you later

Have you any thoughts and ideas or Words of wisdom about social networking? Why not post a comment below?

Have a look at this website. www.searchzooka.com. Searchzooka is a search engine designed to help you trawl the internet using the major search Engines. The search engines used are

• www.google.com
• www.yahoo.com
• www.bing.com
• www.ask.com
• http://digg.com
• http://technorati.com
• http://delicious.com

You are able to filter by language, relevance, time period, country of origin, location of the keyword and file type as well as a whole lot more. The site remembers your searches and you able to go back and retrieve them at a later stage with ease. If you need help on how to use this site; there is an online tutorial video that you can view which explains Searchzooka’s functions.

Use it in conjunction with the online material we have to offer at Ultimo TAFE library. Try it and see what you think. Leave a comment if you think it is useful or otherwise.

WHAT WE DONT DO

• Provide cookies, stationery, change for a twenty or milk
• Provide refunds for the vending machine located in the library foyer : see Tim- canteen manager
• Conduct a reference interview like the librarian above
• Wear bow ties and wear lots of beige

WHAT WE DO

• Provide you with access to books, CDs, DVDs, journals and Electronic databases and a whole lot more
• Aim to assist you with  a reference interview designed  to find out what information you are really after
• Empower you with knowledge (via workshops and tours) that will allow you to use the library facilities independently
• Embrace all walks of life and treat staff and students with dignity and respect
• Assist in making the library visit a pleasant experience 

WHAT WE’D LIKE FROM YOU

• Be mindful of others in the library and respect that  many students and staff frequent the space.
• Be aware that some people find mobile phones ringing in the library off putting. Perhaps place mobile phones on silent and take the call to an area where others will not be disturbed
• Be able to come and ask us if you need some assistance … say for example learning how to use the catalogue or use a database.
• Take your belongings with you where ever you go in the library. Thefts have occurred here
• Not eat food in the library. We prefer not to feed the roaches.

Do you need help printing , accessing wireless and such stuff? If so come and see us in the library.

We have computers available for you to use on both the ground floor and level one of the library. Here is a link of what programs are available in learnspace.  Note: All computers have Microsoft Office 2007 . We also have dedicated catalogue computers in the library see staff for further information.

Sarah Wilson, 2009, Computers, Internet and wireless at Ultimo College Library, video, 03 November 2009, 10 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoHF-3qdzVk.

Our new printing system came into use a few months ago so if you seem to be having issues with the card come and see our staff if you need assistance

Go Sarah…. You rock….

Not sure where to find it in the library?

 Well have a look at this youtube video created by Sarah Wilson. A cool modern take on the layout of the library as well as useful information about locating items within our collection using the library catalogue

Sarah Wilson, 2009, Finding a book at Ultimo College Library, video, 4th November 2009, viewed 8th November 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR761dPRyHY

For more stuff watch this blog space for “Using computers, Internet and wireless at Ultimo College Library”

Would you like to search the library catalogue via your iGoogle account?

If yes! Click on the below links to add Ultimo TAFE Library’s Catalogue iGoogle Gadget to you own personal iGoogle page.

 Yes add the Library Catalogue to my iGoogle page!

Not sure what  iGoogle is?

Well its a personal home page which you can add different gadgets, widgets, games and access your RSS feeds from the one place.

To create your own personalised iGoogle account click here

Why reference?

One of the main reasons you should reference your material is to avoid plagiarism. Having the skill to correctly reference material when required will be of benefit to you when writing up academic documents

Referencing allows the reader to

• see that you  have made an effort to be familiar with and understand the data that you have used to support your document.

• see what information you have read and at what level. It also allows you to connect with the reader also allows you to participate  in the discussions among researchers in the field of your choice.

• locate the sources mentioned in your document. They may be interested in further reading themselves regarding the topic. It also allows the reader the ability to see whether the data has been interpreted in a satisfactory manner.

• to acknowledge that the ideas/thoughts belong to the person that first came up with them and that lack of acknowledgement amounts to intellectual theft

At Ultimo TAFE Library we have an interactive bibliographies page. You are able to enter the relevant data in a set of predesigned fields and it will generate a reference that you can simply cut and paste into your document. To use this inter-active guide, follow the link that best describes the item to be added to your bibliography

There are also guides that you can print out for

• Full guide to bibliographies
• Short guide to bibliographies
• How to do ‘in-text’ citations

As a member of the Student Association one of the many benefits you are entitled to is 1/2 price printing and photocopying in the library.

You will need to have your TAFE Card *encoded when you join the Student Association to receive this discount.

To join The Student Association, go to Building Z, Level 1 or Building W, Level 2.

*Please note currently you can only have your card encoded in Building Z, Level 1

Click here for more information on the Sydney Institute Student Association.