Prime Minister opens Hub

Prime Minister Helen Clark opened the new Hub last week and took the opportunity to check out a copy of Richard Bolstad's Transforming Communication (someone should have told her 100-odd student nurses are after that book too!).

You can watch a slideshow of lovely pictures from the opening, or if you prefer your pictures moving, spot your favourite librarians on Maori TV and TV3.

Montana Poetry Day

Modern Stupid

It's much easier to be stupid these days than in previous times.

Back in the old days they had to do it all by hand. It was sheer drudgery.

Now we can do it faster and with more comfort, thanks to modern methods.

You can fit it into a busy life, it's available to everyone. It's right there at your fingertips.

Michael Leunig

Reference this!

If the thought of referencing all those library books you've quoted in your essay is just too much let the Library's OttoBib bookmarklet help you out.

If you're using Firefox drag this Reference this! link to your Bookmarks Toolbar. Alternatively you can right-click and select 'Bookmark This Link…' (If you're using Internet Explorer, right-click on this Reference this! link and select 'Add to Favorites…'.)

Now when you come across a book in our catalogue (or anyone else's catalogue for that matter) that you'd like to reference simply select the ISBN of the book and click 'Reference this!' on your toolbar.

Remember to always check the formatting of any reference this, or any other online tool provides. The Library has a comprehensive collection of referencing help available.

Never judge a book by its cover

Have you noticed that cover images now grace the catalogue entry for many of our books? The more eagle eyed among you may have also noticed the additional information provided for those titles too.

These catalogue enhancements are being trialed for the time being while we canvas your opinion. Do you appreciate the enriched catalogue entries? Leave us a comment.

I wanna be a librarian

It seems doubly appropriate in the midst of New Zealand Music Month to highlight New Zealand gothic/country/pop band Haunted Love's dark ode to librarians.

The Dunedin duo don twin-sets and pearls to dress-up as their book-stamping heros and punish a wayward library patron who breaks all the rules in this 4 minute film-noire pastiche.

Leave us a comment listing all the protocols our library defiler breaks and go in the draw to win some Haunted Love of your very own.

While we haven't got any Haunted Love in our library yet perhaps you could make do with something else from our New Zealand music collection.

So many books, so little coffee

We welcomed Theresa to the library fold today with another lengendary library morning tea which doubled as our contribution to New Zealand's biggest coffee break.

Wintec librarians, purveyors of fine coffee and chocolate cake, are doing their bit to help the world's coffee farmers work their way out of poverty by only imbibing fair trade coffee during our (small) coffee breaks. We apologise if the freshly brewed smell of fair trade coffee interrupts your study.

As easy as 1, 2, 3

Using Firefox or Internet Explorer 7 as your web browser? Then searching the new Library catalogue just got simpler:

1. click in the Search bar,
   
2. type your keywords, and
   
3. press Enter.

The most relevant results are displayed in your browser window—no need to visit the catalogue!

If you use either Firefox 2.0 or IE7 you can install the Wintec Library search plugin by clicking on the Search bar icon and selecting Add "Wintec Library" from the drop down list.

If you use an older version of Firefox, either get Firefox 2.0, or click here to install the plugin.

Happy searching!

Q. When is a 3 day loan not a 3 day loan?

A. When it's a 12 day loan!

Yes, you read that right, until 5 p.m. Thursday April 5 we are issuing 3 day loans until April 16!

Why the early Easter egg? Well over the Easter break the library bunnies will be installing a new library management system. As additional consequences of this:

• we can cannot accept recalls or reserves until Friday April 13, and


• renewals cannot be made between Thursday April 5 and Monday April 16 (so if your books fall due within this period they must be returned).

Thank you for your cooperation in this changeover period.

Sugar anyone?

This morning's NZ Herald ran an Associated Press story under the headline: Soft drinks clearly associated with diabetes. The article, which linked soft drink consumption and poor nutrition, draws from the soon to be published research of Yale University researchers who analysed 88 previous studies. Equally disturbing is their finding that:

…studies funded by the food industry reported significantly smaller effects than non-industry funded studies.

A timely warning given that the American Beverage Association funded research published this month which questions the standard explanation for the link between soft drink consumption and obesity. What's more the researchers were found to have serious undisclosed conflicts of interest.

All of which only highlights the importance of information literacy when deciding who to believe. Feel free to contact the Library if you'd like to know more about how our information literacy programmes can help you or your students.

On tour

With the start of the new term we're back to longer opening hours. If you're learning at Wintec for the first time or just need a refresher we're offering daily tours of the library at three times:

• 10:15 a.m.
• 12:15 p.m.
• 2:15 p.m.

Meet your tour guide by the information desk and allow about 15 minutes for the tour. The midday tour is followed by a brief look at the library's online resources. (You're welcome to join us in the library training room around 12:30 p.m. even if you missed the tour.)