Monthly Archives: June 2017

Library refurbishment: demolition of staircase   

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Scaffolding against building, surrounded by red and black hoarding.

‘Stair 2’ is being demolished this summer to make way for new, bigger lifts (which will accommodate bigger wheelchairs) and a new staircase.

Refurbishment work in and around the Library Building continues over the summer vacation. One of the main tasks being carried out over the next few weeks is the demolition of ‘stair 2’ – the staircase behind hoardings on the right-hand side of the building as you walk into the Library through the front entrance, adjacent to the male toilets (south side of the building).

The demolition will be carried out in progressive phases, moving from top to bottom of the structure. Noise levels are likely to be high, depending on the works being carried out. The bulk of the noisiest demolition works are planned to be carried out before the start of the new academic term.

Study space across campus

You can find details of study space across campus on the Library refurbishment project page. This includes around 800 spaces in the URS Building and more in other campus rooms which you can find through the Free Room Finder.

Stay up to date

Image of red rubber hammer over text

A banner on hoarding around where new lifts are being created. Demolition should occur over the summer vacation.

Keep checking the Library blog for the latest refurbishment news and updates.

Details of the Library facilities available in URS (including services, map and opening times) can be found on our dedicated URS Building page.

All of the above can be easily accessed through our Library refurbishment project page: www.reading.ac.uk/library/refurb.

Rachel Redrup, Library Marketing Co-ordinator for
UoR Communications

 

Arts and hums books move floors for refurb

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books being packed into cratesIn advance of refurbishing the Library Building’s 3rd Floor, we’ve moved arts and humanities print books to the 2nd and 4th Floors. This is part of our strategy to always give you access to print books in the Library throughout the Refurbishment Project, although they will move location from time to time as work is carried out on different floors, and follows our making space for books by moving print journals off-site.

Where are arts and humanities books?

Art and humanities books previously shelved on the 3rd Floor include those with Call Numbers in the 100s (philosophy, psychology), 200s (religion), 400s (languages), 700s (arts), 800s (literature), music CDs and the Teaching Practice Collection.

Moved temporarily down to the 2nd Floor are:

  • 100s, 200s, 400s, 700s, 800s normal size items (Call Numbers with no prefix before number)

Moved temporarily up to the 4th Floor are:

  • Language dictionaries and 3rd Floor Reference books.
  • 100s, 200s, 400s, 700s, 800s larger size items (Call Numbers beginning ‘folio’ or ‘middle folio’).
  • Teaching Practice Collection, including kits.
  • Music CDs.

book shelves in the second floor reading roomThe catalogue is updated and revised floor plans are in place. If you have any difficulty locating anything, please ask us for help at the 2nd or 4th Floor Information Desks.

More information

Find more about the Library’s major £40 million refurbishment on the Library Refurbishment Project webpage (see FAQ 6 on book moves) or email us at library@reading.ac.uk.

Rachel Redrup, Marketing Co-ordinator

Out-of-hours Library chat this summer

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The summer vacation is finally here! From Saturday 10 June until Friday 15 September, the Library Building and URS Building will be operating summer vacation opening hours. Wherever you are this summer, there are still a number of Library services and resources available.

Out-of-hours virtual enquiry service

During staffed service hours, you can contact UoR Library staff to help with your enquiries. But what about when the Library and URS Buildings are closed (evenings and weekends over the summer vacation)? During these times, you can chat online via the blue ‘Virtual Enquiry Service’ box on the Library webpage.

This service is staffed by professional librarians working remotely to answer your queries from our website and other information we’ve supplied.  You can keep an email transcript of the chat. If they can’t resolve a particular issue they’ll refer you back to us during staffed hours.

Going away this summer?

If you are travelling further afield this summer, there is still a wealth of information available right at your fingertips. Check out our tips for searching and accessing a wide variety of e-resources from off-campus.

Don’t forget, summer vacation loans also give undergraduate and taught postgraduate students the opportunity to borrow standard loan item all summer! You may even be able to borrow from a university library nearer to you by registering with the SCONUL Access Scheme.

Lucy Shott, Library User Services

Do you use Lidar? New data trial in Digimap

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LidarDigimap have announced a trial of a new service – Digimap Lidar. Download Lidar data for England, Scotland and Wales as Digital Terrain Models, Digital Surface Models and the raw LAS point file data.

The data will be available until July 31 – for more information see the Digimap blog post.

If you are using or intend to use Lidar in your research, have a look at what’s there and fill in the short survey – you could win a £20 Amazon voucher!

3D scene with Aerial imagery and Lidar

3D scene showing imagery with hillshading derived from the 50cm Lidar DSM. © Getmapping Plc, © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015. All rights reserved.

Judith Fox, Map Librarian

Library systems upgrades: 3-4 and 17-18 July

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Sam Tyler grins whilst holding travel mug up to the camera

Systems Manager, Sam Tyler, will be celebrating with fizzy pop in his branded Library travel mug once Library systems are all successfully updated in July.

This summer the Library is upgrading its Library Management System in order to gain a more robust system and maintain its security. However, please be aware that there may be some disruption to Library services whilst we are setting this up on Monday 3 to Tuesday 4 July and Monday 17 to Tuesday 18 July 2017.

If you plan to use the Library on these days, either in person or online, please check our University Library News blog nearer the time to see how the system upgrade could affect you. The Library will remain open throughout, as will most of our systems’ functionality.

We hope that you have a great summer and are looking forward to a new upgrades as much as we are!

Rachel Redrup, Marketing Co-ordinator for
Sam Tyler, Library Systems Manager