INTRODUCTION AND CONTENTS
Welcome to the Summer edition of Update, the interactive Learning Resources magazine. Each section is packed full of useful tips and resources to help you with your studies, assignments and research. Click the images on each page to find out even more. Farewell Mons Hill and Castle View! Mons Hill and Castle View Libraries will be closing forever on 29th June. The majority of the books will have a new home in Broadway Library together with a large number of new titles. If you haven’t already done so, check out the sale tables in all three libraries for bargain books. Happy Reading!
General LR Information Computing Engineering Foundation Studies and ESOL Sports Studies Hair and Beauty Arts 6th Form Care and Early Years Public Services Our Quality to You
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LEARNING RESOURCES
LEARNING RESOURCES Borrow a Kindle!
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IBRARY
Broadway Library has 4 Amazon Kindles you can borrow. All are pre-loaded with novels, biographies and other interesting reads. Ask in the Library today!
COMPUTING
Coming soon! The Library has ordered the following titles which will be on the shelves in the next few weeks. Click the images below to check when they’re available. Please note only titles in capitals are ready to borrow now.
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LEARNING RESOURCES
NGINEERING
LEARNING RESOURCES New Books These books are all available from Broadway Library. Click the images to see whether you can borrow them now.
Across 3. Where component parts are joined together to make products. (8) 5. Component to turn electrical power on or off. (6) 7.The decay of a material as a result of chemical reaction with its surroundings. (9) 11. Mass per unit volume of a given substance. (7) 13.Triangular tool used for the accurate drawing of certain angles. (9) 15. An industrial term describing the manufacture of metal product. (11) 16. Construction drawings are always produced using _____ _(6) 17. A permanent mechanical means of fastening material together. (5) 18. C in LCD stands for (7) Down 1. Small stylised drawing which represents a more complex item. (6) 2. A design which is drawn using no tools apart from the pencil or pen – no straight edge is used at all. (8) 4.To alter a material to meet a requirement, for example drilling holes or chamfering edges. (7) 6. A process where iron is coated in zinc, making it far more resistant to corrosion. (11) 8. A2 + B2 = C2 (10) 9. Light line that joins an edge, or corner, to its corresponding dimension showing the link. (6) 10. A formal drawing technique where a horizontal line is drawn with typically 1, 2 or 3 vanishing points upon the line.The drawing is then produced accordingly using the vanishing point/s, generating an impression of depth. (10) 12. A classification of plastic resin that cures by chemical reaction when heated and, once cured, cannot be re-softened by heating. (9) 14. Construction plans are drawn smaller than real buildings so that they will fit on a piece of paper.(5)
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FOUNDATION STUDIES
CV Creator Need help with designing a CV? Click here for an online CV builder. All you need is your personal information, your work experience and your qualifications. You can then choose a design and download it into a word or pdf format.
Revision Help Are you struggling to revise? Below are a few of the books from the library that may help you with studying methods. Click the images to see if you can borrow them now.
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If you need help finding a revision book for your subject then please feel free to ask one of the library staff.
Also remember to take regular breaks otherwise it will become hard to concentrate on your notes. Have a look at some of the books and DVDs available in the library for when you need to take a break.
LEARNING RESOURCES
PORTS STUDIES
LEARNING RESOURCES Dudley Evolve Have you seen the new Sport facilities for the next academic year? Have a look at the New Build video here.
The multi-use sports hall has been built to official Sport England specifications and has fantastic facilities for students, which the general public can also hire. Accommodating 6 badminton courts, 2 five-a-side pitches and cricket nets, the large sports hall has a dividing partition to enable different sports to take place at the same time.
7 The environmentally friendly air-conditioned fitness suite is slightly unusual as it was once a fire station and since being developed has retained the original brick frontage and doors. Kitted out with the latest cardiovascular, resistance, strength-endurance and balance equipment, the fitness suite will be used by students during the week and open to the public during the evenings and weekends.
Job Searching Looking for a job? Here are a few useful links on the Directgov website that might help: Where to look for jobs CV Example 1 Online Search
Covering Letter Example
Writing a CV
Preparing for an Interview
HAIR AND BEAUTY
Get Blogging! Reading Blogs on the internet is a great way to check out the latest trends and up-to-date catwalk fashions in the Hair & Beauty world and also read great reviews on new products. Here are our favourites - click the logos to go straight to the sites:
8 Fabulous YouTube tutorials, step by step guides on creating looks:
Make-up product reviews:
Marie Claire Best Beauty Blog of the Year Winner:
Also keep up to date and follow the people in the know-how on Twitter! @InStyle
@BenefitBeauty
@skincaretweets
@sephora
@marieclaire
@makeupbymario
LEARNING RESOURCES
LEARNING RESOURCES Films recently added to the Library Catalogue
RTS
Here are a few new titles now available to borrow from the library. Please remember there is no charge to borrow a DVD but fines may be incurred if the item is not returned on time. Click on the images below to see whether they’re available to borrow now.
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127 Hours Battle: Los Angeles Black Swan The King’s Speech Pirates of the Caribbean Scott Pilgrim vs the World True Grit We Need to Talk about Kevin
Summer Blockbusters! Coming soon to a cinema near you...click the pictures for more details:
Brave The Amazing Spiderman The Dark Knight Rises
6TH FORM
Don’t forget! All textbooks are due for return on 15th June. If you have exams after that and need the books for longer, please come and speak to a member of library staff to avoid fines.
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LEARNING RESOURCES
TH FORM
LEARNING RESOURCES Need revision ideas? These websites cover most AS and A Level subjects. Click on the links below for revision tips, notes and techniques.
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The library has several books with handy hints for exams and revision. Here’s a selection of what’s available. Click the images to check whether you can borrow them now:
CARE & EARLY YEARS
Need to study over the Summer? Access the Nursery World website for news about childcare and Early Years education. Click the covers below to go straight to the site.
Click “blog� at the top of the page to access blogs written by the Nursery World team.
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www.nurseryworld.co.uk
Spotlight on Teaching Assistants We have several titles for students on Teaching Assistant courses. Click the books below to see whether they are available for you to borrow.
LEARNING RESOURCES
UBLIC SERVICES
LEARNING RESOURCES Interested in joining the Armed Forces? Check out these websites below. Click the logos to go straight to the sites:
Jobs in the RAF are far more diverse than you’d find in a civilian organisation. Everyone knows we have pilots, of course, but there are more than 50 other careers. To fill those positions, we recruit from the widest range of people we can. We’re interested in people from all sorts of backgrounds. This website will allow you to explore all the opportunities available in the Army. If you still have questions, contact our online office or visit us on Facebook.
Variety is very much central to a life in the Royal Navy. As well as unique opportunities for travel, adventure, training and teamwork, a career with the Royal Navy offers many practical benefits too.
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OUR QUALITY TO YOU
Service Level Agreements—How did we do? We always try hard to give you the best service possible within Learning Resources. This is why we have our Service Level Agreement to ensure they we stay on the ball at all times, giving you a consistently good service. Once a year we measure our performance to check that we are keeping our promise. Below are the results of this years audit: RBL Centres 1. Student can access a machine within 10 minutes of arriving. 96.6% of students accessed a machine within 30 seconds of arriving. 0.8% of students accessed a machine within 1 minute of arriving. 0.4% of students accessed a machine within 13minute of arriving. 2.2% of students left the centres before a machine became available.
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2. Faulty machines are fixed within 24hrs or reported to IT Services. 3 faults occurred with machines during the audit, all three of which were fixed with 5 minutes of the report. E-Learning 1. Monitoring via Survey (Results on next page)
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2. Requests for support or staff development in any area relating to ELearning are responded to within 5 working days. During the audit period, all received requests were dealt with on the same day and in many instances, within the hour.
Overal
3. Monitoring—Performance Management Reviews Performance Management Reviews for e-Learning staff are up to date.
LEARNING RESOURCES
LEARNING RESOURCES Libraries 1. Ensure e-mail reminders are sent 3 days before the books are due for return. All 9 reminders sent out on day of audit and on time. 2. Ensure overdue notices are sent out on time (14 & 28 days after due date) All 48 sent out on time. 3. Ensure reservations are communicated to users no later than the next working day. All reservation were communicated on the same day as the item became available.
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Student Survey Results—How did we do? We recently conducted a student survey to gauge if we are providing a good services to our customers. The headline results can be seen below: 0
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The Library has a good selection of books, materials and resources. The Library has helped me progress on my course. verall, how would you rate the service you receive from the Library? The RBL Centre has a good selection of hardware, software and resources. The RBL Centre has made a positive impact on my learning at the college. ll, how would you rate the service you receive from the RBL Centre? I find Blackboard easy to use. There is a good range of materials available on Blackboard for my course. Overall, how would you rate Blackboard? I find ProPortal easy to use. Access to ProPortal has made a positive impact on my learning at the college. Overall, how would you rate ProPortal?
Thanks to all 247 students who completed the survey. This gives us some really good information on areas to improve and these will feed into our development plan for the next academic year.
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The Teams If you have any suggestions for inclusion in the next edition of Update please contact the relevant team on 01384 363353 or 363374. Business and Computing Access and HE Construction Foundation Studies and ESOL Sports Studies Hair and Beauty Arts 6th Form Travel and Tourism Care and Early Years Public Services
Dena and Liz Dena and Liz Chris and Lee Suzy and Jon Suzy and Jon Sarah and Tracey Sarah and Tracey Amy and Suresh Amy and Suresh Sue and Janet Sue and Janet
Editor
Beth
Key Contacts: Learning Resources Co-ordinator: Richard Gibbons 01384 363374 richard.gibbons@dudleycol.ac.uk Library Co-ordinator: Dena Lewis 01384 363349 dena.lewis@dudleycol.ac.uk