Focus Group

Just an idea. I need a focus group to tell me about their experience of the Library and LRCs. There are two sorts of people I'm looking for:

1 Students who use the Library lots
2 Students who never use the Library


Uh, actually there are *three* sorts of people I'm looking for. The third is staff - could do with a couple of tutors too.

The qualifications you need to join? Just be opinionated about everything, that's all.

Email me! hcrowther@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

The Curious Incident of the Book-Club in the Library

Well, that's a shameless rip-off of the title of our first read, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time', by Mark Haddon. Christopher is the protagonist, a boy with autism, who numbers his chapters with prime numbers, and tells us constantly he likes to think logically (although if he sees five red cars in a row, he knows it's going to be a Super Good Day and he feels instantly better - so not that logical then.)

The book is also about how people react to Christopher - through his eyes, we see their incomprehension, impatience and frustration - though, as he tells us, he can't always judge mood or feeling in others. In fact, several Book Club members reported that the mathematical problems with which Christopher regales his readers can be pretty relentless and frustrating!

Look out for the picture of an alien in the book - Christopher draws it. It's like a robot: we tend to anthropomorphise aliens when we imagine them, but Christopher doesn't. This alien has no face.

Our next books (for we are reading two side-by-side) are 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess, and 'Not without my sisters' by Kristina Jones. We chose these because the vote was even! Read together, both are depictions of violence and the struggle to assert freedom - so the choice was inspired, if you ask me.

We've also got some sponsorship to buy the next read - so if you're a bit of an entrepreneur, we'd like to hear from you!

See Helen if:
a) You'd like to join
b) You like a jolly good argument
c) You need inspiration to try different books

TTFN.

Info for Year 9 chemists!

Thanks Year 9s for coming to visit College and take part in the biofuels experiment. Here are some weblinks to help you research further:

http://www.dow.com/commitments/studies/fuelcell/how.htm
A simple animation that explains how fuel cells produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen to make water.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2006410004-2006410815,00.html
Brief notes on each alternative to petrol.

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/fleet/Vehicles/Alternativefuels/Alternativefuelsrefuellingmap/
Where to buy alternative fuels in the UK.

http://www.world-petroleum.org/education/atfuels/index.html
Detailed information about the chemical components of petrol ad alternative fuels.


http://claweb.cla.unipd.it/home/mcanapero/greenspeak/webtasks/wbfuture_car.htm
Resources to encourage students to investigate new alternatives to petrol or gas driven vehicles.

Hope you've had a good day with us! Keep in touch: email us if you've got any questions: library@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

Infotrac. University researchers use this - and so can you!

Infotrac is a subscription-only online database of zillions of articles culled from lots of journals. Because it's paid for by the Library, we need to ensure only the people who are entitled to use it do so - and this is where Athens comes in.

Athens - www.athens.ac.uk - is a password system which you need to log into BEFORE you get to Infotrac. I sent you all an email with your username and password - but there are of course numpties who've deleted this email - I mean, DUH! Email me if you'd like me to reset your password.


Once you're logged in, select 'Thomson-Gale databases' from the Resources list, and you're there! You can search for articles in the newspaper OR journal articles bit. You can also email the articles to yourself, download them to your desktop, or print them. And it costs you nada!

Go and have a play around with Infotrac - it's great for Sociology, Law, Biology, Media - or in fact anything. If you need to find good research info, start at Infotrac! And remember Helen and Claire in the Library can help you use Infotrac. Banzaiiii!

Suggestion for Book Club

I thought I'd kick things off for the Book Club by suggesting the 'Maus' series by Art Spiegelman.

Here's a bit of background information:

Maus: A Survivor's Tale is a memoir by Art Spiegelman, presented as a graphic novel. It recounts the struggle of Spiegelman's father to survive the Holocaust as a Polish Jew and draws largely on his father's recollections of his experiences. The book also follows the author's troubled relationship with his father and the way the effects of war reverberate through generations of a family. In 1992 it won a Pulitzer Prize Special Award.

Have a read, see what you think. I wasn't really a fan of graphic novels before but reading this changed my whole interpretation of the genre!

Moving things around in the Library

Yep, things have changed a bit. An extra bit of shelf has been added on at the front of the Library to create a nice reading area, complete with a selection of light reads, the newspapers, and some last-minute revision stuff.

There's a complete set of the 'Quick Reads' series, so if there's an author you've never tried, this is a great way to sample a short story before moving on to something else. There's everything from Kerry Katona to Anfdy McNab, so there's something for everyone, and will take, oooh, about an hour to read (just right for sitting out on the grass at lunchtime....)


Behind this shelf is a study table for groupwork, or for working with mentors - make sure you don't miss an appointment with your mentor by turning up at the wrong bit....

The magazines, reference, and Staff Development things have all moved, too, so you need to double-check you know where all the stuff is.

Ta ta for now!

Revision!

Yes, that thing again. You'll need something to make light that which was dark, and easy that which was burdensome. And you know what? Here is the Library stepping in yet again with some really useful stuff.

At the back of the Library, there are two twirly stands which are packed full of revision guides and textbooks which might just explain that tricky redox reaction, or J. Hiram Pipesmoker's (Professor of Whoopage at Boondocks State University) study of psychological trauma in the slightly confused.

Go and twirl a stand and see what you can find. The twirly stands are near the Silent Study Area. Now there's a popular place with all those revisers, er, revising away. You'll know who these people are: you'll be able to identify them by the large number of A grades they'll be getting in August.

Library and Ashworth Room open till 5.30pm

Well, I think lots of people know that the Library and Ash are open till 5.30pm, but some students are still genuinely surprised when told. I'm sure I told everyone on FirstClass. It all goes really quiet after 4pm, so it's a good time to get some revision done - in fact, we're starting to see a regular clientele at this time, so well done if you're one of these people. I bet your grades are gonna be fabulous!

Here's an idea: if there's a group of you who all need to revise the same subject, why not come in at 4pm? I bet if you asked nicely I could even arrange juice/squash to be served - yeah, I know, I know, food-and-drink-in-the-Library-is-a-bad-thing, but it could work (except for the dim bulb who spilled fizzy pop on the Library carpet this afternoon). Tell me what you think.

Also let us know if you want to come in during the half-term holiday: one of us at least should be around, so ask me about it next time you're in - or add a comment on this page. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

'How to do just about everything' - the students' favourite

This is a fabulous guide with a zillion tips on how to do, well, everything, including:

finding fossils, bowling a leg-break, winding a baby, selecting a futon - or (a personal favourite, this) become a private investigator. Whatever it is you've always wanted to know how to do, it'll be in this book. It's on the Reference section, and the joy and wonderment on the students' little faces when they read it brings a tear to my eye.

Actually, this last bit doesn't happen. I made it up.

New Library and LRC peeps!

We welcome two new members of staff to the LLRCs. Claire and Bradley, who are very lovely and helpful, joined us today (Monday), and are already settling in well. Claire is a full-time member of staff, and Bradley is doing a work placement with us for a couple of weeks. Pop in and say hi when you're passing!

Book Club

My, aren't book clubs taking off? If you're in Lower Sixth just now, you'll be excited to learn that there's going to be one in College from September. This will be a weekly meeting: the group chooses a book - or one from a set of books - and then talks about whether it was a heavenly read - or the spawn of Satan. Some books get you like that (I'm thinking of Dan Brown, of course - what a uniquely terrible writer.)

If you're interested, let us know - especially if you're one of those people who've been asking us to order books all through the year (yes, we take orders! Just ask us for the title you want: it goes into Library stock, and you get to be the first to read it, all shiny and new. And it costs you nada!)

Here's somewhere to get you started: http://www.bookblog.net/

It's a blog-stylee book club, with all their previous reads in a list on the left-hand side. Gee, we could do the Book Club right here in our blog!!

LLRC staff getting tough!

Yes, it's true - we have been persuading, encouraging, coaching, and even bullying you to get on with some work. Why are we doing this? Because (unless you've been living in a cave for the past few months and haven't noticed) the exams are almost upon us, and we really do want you to do well.

So don't get mad - get on with it! Any LLRC staff member will help you with whatever research, IT or study problem you have - and will reward you with a smile and maybe some sweeties if you've been really studious. Any thoughts on our new policy? Then post! Or email library@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk.

Site of the Week: www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com. Lovely.

These are some books that may be coming soon to a library near you. (At College...)

James Patterson - Maximum Ride: The angel experiment
James Patterson - Maximum Ride: School's out forever
Jodi Picoult - Keeping faith
Jodi Picoult - The pact
Jodi Picoult - Perfect match
Jodi Picoult - My sisters keeper
Jodi Picoult - Vanishing acts
Terry Pratchett - Any
Ben Elton - Inconceivable
Ben Elton - Popcorn
Will Eisner - A contract with god
Tony Deterlizzi & Holly Black - The spiderwick chronicles
Arthur Golden - Memoirs of a geisha
Art Spiegelman - Maus
Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun - Charley’s war
Alan Moore - V for vendetta
Alan Moore - A disease of language
Neil Kield & Jake Allen - Brownsville
Ho Che Anderson - King
Roy Thomas - Stoker’s Dracula
D.P Filippi / O.G Bolscommun - The book of Jack
Olivier Cadic, Francois Gheysens, Derenne, Barroux - Queen Margot Vol.1: The Age of Innocence
Joe Sacco - But I Like It

Kenneth Grahame - The wind in the willows V1 - the wild wood
Kenneth Grahame - The wind in the willows V2 - badger, toad and the motorcar
Kenneth Grahame - The wind in the willows V3 - the great escape
Kenneth Grahame - The wind in the willows V4 - panic at toad hall

Graphic Classics - Volume 1 - Edgar Allen Poe - The Raven, Masque of the red death, hop-frog, the fall of the house of usher & the tell-tale heart
Graphic Classics - Volume 3 - H.G. Wells - Time Machine, The invisible Man, The Star, The temptation of harrington & The war of the worlds


Not all of these will be coming soon.. but hopefully most.
I'll keep you posted :)

Welcome

This blog is for the Blackpool Sixth Form Library.

It is also, of course, for the students. (That's you.)

You can say what you do and don't like about the library,
and you can recommend or criticise any book or material you like.

Basically: say what you want provided it's library related

There will be posts on here at least once a week about different things
that aregoing on and changes that will be taking place within
and concerning the library.

But in the meantime, keep learning :)