LibeRaCe’s Library Blog

Coleg Llandrillo Cymru Library Blog Wales

Archive for December, 2007

Library and IT Workshop Opening Hours Display

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 21, 2007

 There is now a permanent page to display our opening times on the blog.

 We will display any changes or holiday arrangements there in future, as well continuing to post notices around the Bodnant Building (K Block).

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Posted in General Library Info | No Comments »

Subject Finder - FE Online Resources

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 21, 2007

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Subject Finder (developed by Lambeth College) provides access to high-quality web resources for academics, teachers, lectures and students categorised by subject areas across many FE disciplines. It is designed to search only educational websites, without users being overwhelmed with a huge number of search results.

Find Online Resources for:

Construction             Carpentry            Engineering             Electronics         Sports  

Travel & Tourism          Accounting            Beauty Therapy        Social Care

     Sign Language            Sociology           Arts & Crafts          Charities        Performing

 and many more………

Previous posts on these subjects can be found by clicking the links on the left of the LibeRaCe home page.

Posted in A Levels, Art & Design, Beauty, Childcare, Citizenship, Construction, Engineering, English, FE Students, Fashion, Geography, HE Students, Hairdressing, ICT, Library Online, Science, Sociology, Sport, Volunteering | No Comments »

ESDGC News - Issue 2 - December 2007

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 20, 2007

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Planet Ark is an Australian based web site which “works to show people the many ways they can reduce their day to day impact on the environment - at home, at work and in the community”.  It also runs a number of environmental campaigns and initiatives.  More information on the website:  or subscribe with your email address to receive free daily world environment news - a great way to keep informed! 

Wow-Wow is an on-line shop offering eco-friendly, ethically sourced products and advice service to help both business and home to become more efficient in issues such as energy, water and recycling. It is their aim to provide friendly advice on how to cut running costs whilst becoming a greener entity. The WOW-BUILD SHOP sources environmentally sound build materials, from natural paints to flooring made of recycled material, or a rainwater harvesting system.
Freecycle is a website which enables people to give away items they no longer want (eg furniture, clothing, books).  Membership is free and there are 451 Freecycle groups in the UK, several being in North Wales
TreeHugger is dedicated to “driving sustainability mainstream”. They strive to be a “one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information”.  There is a blog, weekly and daily newsletters, weekly video segments, weekly radio show and a user-generated blog: Hugg.  There are a series of in-depth “how-to” articles to help you “green your life”.
The Pocket GreenGuide for Wales is a directory for planet-friendly living, packed with advice, tips and information to help combat climate change and make life greener.  It has been published in collaboration with WWF Cymru and is available, bilingually, and free of charge:  download from http://www.greenguide.co.uk/files/PGGWales%20W2007.pdf
£1million to be won in the Big Green ChallengeAn organisation devoted exclusively to supporting talent, innovation and creativity in the UK has developed a unique and exciting climate change competition worth £1million - the Big Green Challenge.  The competition, run by National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), is aimed at tackling one of the biggest challenges of our generation - climate change - by encouraging people to find new and better ways to tackle BIG problems like reducing CO2 emissions.  The £1million prize fund is designed to encourage and reward people working together to develop new approaches to saving energy, challenging you to reduce CO2 emissions in your community by 60%.Ten finalists will have a year to show they can turn their BIG ideas into action, with the winner announced late 2009.  Visit the BIG Green Challenge website for further information.
Oxfam’s curriculum for Global Citizenship outlines the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which they believe young people are entitled in order to enable them to develop as Global Citizens.  A free booklet for teachers is available for download from the website.  Although aimed at schools, there are excellent explanations and a few resources aimed at the 14-19 age range; plus links to useful online resources from relevant internet sites.
The iEARN Collaboration Centre enables young people to learn with - rather than simply about - the world. Find projects, partners and forums, including a forum for teachers to meet, talk, make announcements and updates quickly. Read 200+ project descriptions and browse student-produced media.
The Post-16 Citizenship website enables young people and staff involved in citizenship work to find out the latest news about post-16 citizenship. The site includes coverage of key citizenship issues and support for delivery with the opportunity to download free materials and resources and link to other useful sites.
The Sunday Times Magazine published a Climate Change Special Report on 4th November 2007 together with a DVD on “Extreme Weather”.  Copies of the article and DVD are available on loan from Julie Hanson-Williams, Ext 365.
Did you know ….. an Environmental Focus Group has been set up at Coleg Llandrillo?  The main function and purpose of the group is to aid the management of the College’s environmental impacts.  The first meeting is due to take place on 17th January 2008; for more information, contact David Phillips, Chair of the Group and Health, Safety and Environmental Manager.
The College has been successful in obtaining Quality Improvement Funding (QIF) in the context of ESDGC.  This will enable the College to identify the extent to which ESDGC is addressed within its Work-Based Learning curriculum and to disseminate areas of good practice.  Work on this project will commence in January 2008.

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What’s on G?

Further reading:

ESDGC at Llandrillo (FE) - Report

Useful Websites and Publications

Conference Presentations (June 2007)

G:\Planning & Standards\Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship

 ”ESDGC News and Resources” is circulated once each half term.

If you have any interesting links or news, or wish to contribute to the next edition, please contact:

Julie Hanson-Williams
Curriculum Manager
Room H35: Cinmel; Ext 365
email: 
j.hanson-williams@llandrillo.ac.uk

Posted in Citizenship, ESDGC Newsletter, Environment/Green Living | No Comments »

Free Online E-Books, Classical Music & Audio Books

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 19, 2007

The first place to look for academic e-books is your College library!

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In college you can access the collections via the Novell screen/Mulitmedia&Reference/Online Reference/My library icon.  

You can also access the libraries e-book collections at home if you have an Athens Password. Please ask in the library for details.  

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The best (and original) safe site for downloading E-books for free to help with your studies is Project Gutenberg. The majority of content is books whose copyright has ended and so can now be shared freely. Good for classics and English Lit. students.  

 

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The Classical Archives has worked with Project Gutenberg previously. If you register (for free) you can download up to 5 pieces each day.

 

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 Audio Books for Free is a British run site that also has had links with Project Gutenberg. You need to regsiter for free to download material. Subjects covered include classics, crime, science fiction, humour and even childrensbooks. You can also buy their whole collections in different formats.

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The University of Virginia’s Library  Etext Centre also makes e-books available for free online. Included in their collection is classic British and American fiction, major authors, children’s literature, American history, Shakespeare and African-American documents.

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Cornell University’s arXiv site is a useful resource for Science and Maths students for WBQ/IB/HE. Find full text articles for free on topics including Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology and Statistics.

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If you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader you can get PDF books for free as well! Books in stock are mostly classics with some IT titles available too. Again, would be useful for English students.

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A useful gateway site to finding other online e-book sites is E-Books AU. This is not hosted by an educational institution, but many of the links are useful and live.

Remember - you may have to register with a site before they will allow you to download material.

Posted in A Levels, Counter Questions, English, FE Students, Five Minutes, HE Students, Library Online, Music, Reading Group | No Comments »

Comics Top Ten Moments

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 19, 2007

http://liberace.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/superman75-tm.jpg?w=80&h=120Top Ten moments in comic history by the brillaint List Universe site!

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British Library Comic Archive

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The Middle East gets its first comic book heros!

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The first comics for boys and girls….

Posted in Art & Design, Counter Questions, Displays, English, FE Students, HE Students, Library Online | No Comments »

Labour Market Statistics - Free!

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 17, 2007

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 Nomis gives you free access to the most detailed and most up-to-date UK labour market statistics from official sources. You can find labour market and related population data for local areas from a number of sources including the Labour Force Survey (LFS), claimant count, Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), New Earnings Survey (NES), and the 1991 and 1981 Censuses of Population.

 If you have an Athens account you can also access:

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 Ask in the library for an Athens Account Request Form or Download one from Moodle.

Posted in A Levels, FE Students, Geography, HE Students, Library Online, Online Learning, Sociology | No Comments »

Things to buy your librarian for Christmas…

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 13, 2007

Librarian Avengers!         or      Librarian Action Figure Delux!

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Posted in Rebel Librarian | No Comments »

Library and IT Workshop Christmas Opening Times

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 13, 2007

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Posted in A Levels, FE Students, Five Minutes, General Library Info, HE Students | No Comments »

Geography Online - GoGeo!

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 12, 2007

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This online tool allows users to  identify and retrieve records describing the content, quality, condition and other characteristics of geospatial data within UK third level education and beyond. The site supports geospatial searching by interactive map, grid co-ordinates and place name, as well as by topic and keyword.

Posted in A Levels, FE Students, Geography, HE Students, Library Online | No Comments »

Post-14 Education Wake Up Call

Posted by LibeRaCe on December 11, 2007

Sir Adrian Webb’s report says education for those aged over 14 must undergo “radical” changes over the next five years if the basic skills gap is to be closed.

BBC Article

WAG Press Release Dec 2007

Initial Press Announcement 2006

Basic Skills Agency

More Responses to the Report - updated 12/12/2007

Posted in A Levels, FE Students, Five Minutes, HE Students | No Comments »