LILAC conference – DCU Library on DCUBS postgraduate training

Last March I was a delegate at the LILAC annual conference on information literacy in Limerick. This international event is aimed at librarians and information professionals who teach literacy skills and want to improve the information seeking and evaluation capabilities of library users.

I presented a paper on delivering library training to postgraduates and took the example of a selection of DCUBS taught programmes – the MBAs, the MBS in Accounting and the programmes covered by the ‘Next Generation Management’ module). The idea was to examine practice and progress in delivering skills to business postgraduates, but firmly in the context of the many changes we all have to contend with. These include increased enrolments, changes in the way classes are organised and assessed, and evolution in how information resources are delivered.

You’ll find all these issues elaborated on in my presentation at this link. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions on the presentation, whether relating to your programme or not. Or indeed if you have any broader queries on information literacy at DCU Library!

RefWorks training for researchers and staff: May/June 2010

The Library is offering RefWorks training for researchers and staff for the following dates:

• Tuesday, 11 May, 13:00-14:30
• Wednesday, 9 June, 14:30-16:00

All DCU staff and researchers are welcome to attend. Click here to find out more and to book your place.

What is RefWorks? Check here.

Avoiding plagiarism!

The latest issue of The College View (Vol. XI, Issue VIII, 9 March 2010!) reports on their survey which found that 66% of DCU students admit to plagiarism. At it’s most extreme plagiarism includes blatant practices like reproducing the entire work of another author and passing it off as your own. It can also be relatively inadvertant like, say, omitting to cite a source in an essay. You may not intend anything by this, but you may give the wrong impression (to an eagle-eyed lecturer correcting your work!) that someone else’s idea was yours.

There are a few simple steps you can take to avoid plagiarism:

• Keep records: make a note of the sources you find while researching an assignment. Many e-journals databases (e.g. Ebsco and Web of Science) enable you to save search results for future reference. Or you can simply print off search results and keep them in a folder! If you’re a bit more ambitious, you can also use bibliographic management software like RefWorks.
• Cite properly: use our Quick guide to Harvard referencing.
• Keep yourself informed: learn more about plagiarism using resources like the LETScite module in LETS, our online e-tutorial for students!

It’s never to late to get into good habits so you won’t fall foul of university plagiarism rules.

PS: you can report any instance of plagiarism in this post by submitting a ‘Comment’ through the link below! 😀

RefWorks for researchers and staff

The Library is offering RefWorks training for researchers and staff for the following dates:

• Wednesday, 24 March, 14:00-15:30
• Thursday, 8 April, 10:30-12:00
• Monday, 12 April, 12:00-13:30

All DCU staff and researchers are welcome to attend! Click here to find out more and to book your place.

What is RefWorks? Watch this video clip.

Pick up a ‘FAME’ guide at the Information Desk

We have a small number of print guides on how to use FAME, our companies information database for Irish and UK companies. The guide gives a comprehensive overview of the impressive range of information you can get out of this key database, and some screen grabs from the upcoming new FAME interface. You can get the guides beside the A4 display at our Information Desk. Please feel free to take one.  You can access the database itself on the ‘Data/reports’ list on the Business Subject Portal.