Time to once again call in some favours...

Oh don't be like that, you don't even know what I'm going to ask yet!
Here's the thing; we're trying to work out how you use (or don't use!) DISCOVER.

So...myself and a couple of other librarians are running a full day researching the issue on Tuesday 5th November.

If you want to take part you just need to turn up in the LRC, head for the customer service desk and whoever's on there will point you in the direction of room 101b. We're running the research all day from 9am to 5pm, so if you've a free 10 minute slot (I promise it'll only take about 10 minutes to complete) at any point you can just turn up and help us out.

If you'd like to ask me anything about the research then please do email me.

Thank you.

Sharon Shoesmith compensation payout

Not that I'm particularly looking to create a heated debate here, but I'd be interested to know what you think of this one?

Some of you reading this are involved in protecting children at many different levels, although you don't need to be directly involved  in children's services to have an opinion I'm sure.

For any of you requiring a bit of background the Guardian reported the story like this.
I won't link to how the Mail reported it as my computer might melt.

If you'd like to leave a comment on the blog about the case then please do

A debate on immigration

Hello.
A few months ago I drew attention to a debate I watched online concerning whether pornography was good for society. The debate was hosted by Intelligence Squared who can usually be relied upon to come up with lively topics and entertaining speakers to argue their points.

The latest of these has just been made available and covers the pros and cons of immigration.

Once again it's 'lively' but quite entertaining and not just in a Jeremy Kyle sort of way which is a relief.

Why do journal articles have to be such hard work?

I know it can feel like that when you start reading them for the first time.
In fact it can on occasions still feel like that even in your final year. But the academics who write this stuff aren't a different species; they aren't even brainiacs remember. It's just because they've had lots of practice at writing in this particular style.

Your part in this dance between reader and writer is to learn the steps to reading journals. Which you mostly achieve with a combination of background research (you wouldn't try and drive an F1 car without having had some time in a Mini first!) from books and sheer dogged determination.

I'd also like to recommend a book that may help you get to grips with journals.

It's only in paper and we have loads of copies at the moment. The book itself is quite small, written with a very light touch and incredibly useful.

It's called How to Read Journal Articles in the Social Sciences and it's by Cho.
Chapters 4 and 5 are particularly useful I think.

Dear librarian...

...when have I got enough references?

There's three or four questions I get asked every year by every group I see;

1. Why haven't we got every book ever written?
2. Why don't you answer my emails within 10 seconds of me sending them?
3. Where do you buy your fabulous clothes?

And 4. When have I got enough references?
That's the tricky one.

The answer I give is always imprecise and maddening- "when you've got enough academic sources to answer the question originally posed". And that is the only answer I can give. The reason for this is simple in that for some assignments 10 references might do the job, whereas others may require four times that amount.

What I will say is this - if, during the searching phase, you reach the point where no matter what keywords you use you're still not finding anything new, then you've probably found everything useful already.

At that point stop looking for anything else and get on with writing the thing.

As a final piece of advice remember the 'find stuff, read stuff' suggestion.

Oh, and the answer to question 3 is Next. You're welcome.

Thinking Allowed

I haven't pushed Thinking Allowed for a while. I know I have mentioned it in the past but such a great show deserves to be mentioned more than once a year. For those of you new to the show, Thinking Allowed is a weekly radio show on all things sociological. It usually focuses on newly published research, but it's not dry in the slightest.

However, recently the show spent three weeks looking at theorists; Foucault, Goffman and Benjamin (which you can find on the website) and placing them within a historical context. The whole archive of shows are available for the foreseeable future from here.

In my opinion the easiest way to keep up with new shows is by subscribing to the podcast from here.
If you'd like any help with podcasts or in fact any other information about Thinking Allowed you've only to email me.

New report on 15 minute care visits

I was listening to the Today programme earlier and heard John Humphries talking to a housebound woman called Sally Lubanov, concerning what she currently receives as local authority care. He went on to ask her what she needs to improve her situation. The item was as a result of new research commissioned by the Leonard Cheshire Disability Organisation. They've been looking into the increase in 15 minute 'flying' care visits over the past five years.

The report is downloadable in full from here.

As for the John Humphries interview with Mrs. Lubanov and the subsequent interview with the Care minister Norman Lamb, they'll both be available for seven days via the link here.

This year's workshops

Hello.

This has only taken me about three years to sort out so...you know...I'm improving.

I've booked a whole years worth of workshops in training room 1 in the library.
They'll be every 4 weeks on a Wednesday afternoon from 2pm to 3pm.

The dates are as followed:

6th November
4th December
8th January
5th February
5th March
2nd April
30th April
28th May
25th June

It'll be first come, first serve and we'll see how it goes.