Feeling creative? Any wild and wonderful ideas for making our library a better place for
research — to encourage collaboration, serendipity of discovery, communication,
discovery? Read on — and feel free to send your suggestions to Mark Stubbs (MMU’s Head of Learning and Research Technologies) — m.stubbs@mmu.ac.uk

Thanks,
Mary

Mark needs your creative ideas on how to make our Libraries more effective research
spaces!

130+ academics applied to join a recent EPSRC “sandpit” on Designing Effective Research Spaces. Mark was one of 24 participants selected from different research backgrounds to attend the intensive 3 day “sandpit” in a country house hotel in the New Forest. The event was a cross between X-Factor boot camp and The Apprentice, and culminated in teams working into the early hours on outline funding proposals. Mark emerged as co-investigator in an interdisciplinary team (including Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick, the Royal College of Art and others) that was invited to work up a full proposal on developing an action-research methodology to design interventions for improving the effectiveness of spaces intended to support research activity.

Mark’s team proposed piloting the action-research approach in 3 different spaces - a research lab (in Cambridge), a research institute (in Warwick) and a library (in MMU). Each space would receive input from ethnographic/workplace studies experts for pre- and post- intervention analysis; space design and movement experts to look at new ways of using the space; IT experts to look at how the digital might complement the physical; specialists in engaging users in design; experts in smart fabrics and creating compelling art exhibits; and impact analysis experts to assess the success of the interventions.

What Mark needs to write the bid are creative suggestions for the type of interventions that the team should consider. If you had 100K and this team of experts, what would you do to make our libraries more effective research spaces?

The EPSRC have hinted that they are looking for radical interventions, rather than incremental tweaks, and the British Library is very keen to be involved. One suggestion has been to use web2.0 concepts to encourage researchers working on similar themes to get together around a Microsoft Surface table in the Library.

Time is tight: a 2 page proposal is needed for September, with the full bid submitted in October. Creative ideas on changes to library space could secure the success of the bid and make MMU a national showcase for library design work. Please do everything you can to help, and don’t reject any ideas for being too wacky - they could be the ones that turn into the real winners. Mark will be looking forward to your emails!

Professor Mark Stubbs
Head of Learning and Research Technologies
Manchester Metropolitan University
All Saints Library
Manchester, M15 6BH
+44 161 247 3739

Unfortunately there is another problem with off-campus access to the Emerald electronic journals service. A temporary solution has been found, this time different from the previous instructions. Please do the following:

1. Use the following web address http://www.emeraldinsight.com/
2. When the Emerald site opens, follow the Athens/Institutional login link
3. Do not choose Institutional: instead select Athens
4. This should take you to an Athens page containing a link to the MMU login screen
5. Input MMU network username/password
6. You will see an Athens Authentication Point screen with the following message: “Please
wait while we transfer you”
7. You should then be redirected to Emerald where the MMU logo, institutional name and the message “Welcome, MMU, you have successfully logged in” will appear as confirmation of a successful login

“The British Library is offering new postgraduates the opportunity to attend days in English, History, Social Sciences, Modern Foreign Languages and Art and Design in partnership with academic centres of excellence.

These specially tailored days combine a general introduction to the British Library with specialist sessions on material specific to the subject and discipline of the day. Each day will give students the opportunity to meet our curators, network with fellow researchers and
discover ways the Library can help in their research career.

Researchers will have the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the British Library collections, from oral history recordings to modern literary manuscripts and ephemera through a variety of sessions with curators.

Dates are as follows:
13th October 2009 - English (Medieval - 18th Century)
3rd November 2009 - Social Sciences
1st December 2009 - Art and Design
8th December 2009 - History ( 19th - 21st Century)
1st February 2010 - History (Medieval - 18th Century)
29th March 2010 - Modern Foreign Languages

The training days are run free of charge and there are a limited number of travel bursaries available to help ensure the scheme is accessible to research postgraduates across the UK. If you wish to register for a place on one of these days, please complete the online form on the British Library website.”
[Source: email from Carolyn Raven, Principal Officer, UK Council for Graduate Education, 20-07-09]

Sorry, blog readers, I forgot to let you know that Emerald’s access problems have been resolved. My excuse is that the RWB is a term-time only publication. I plan to post a few items to the blog over the summer, particularly announcements of workshops and conferences where there’s a deadline for applying. But for the most part, the blog will be relatively inactive till the new academic year starts.

Venue: The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, G1 3NU
Date: 14 September 2009 – 10:00 to 16:00

“The Research Information Network is holding this free event to raise awareness of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) as a tool for researchers and to aid understanding of the new access regime. The day will cover how to use FOI to access records and information and how to make successful requests. Case studies will be presented to explore how to use FOI in practice, offering strategies for what works well for particular disciplines and types of research and insights will be provided from the Scottish perspective.

Key speakers:
* Professor Duncan Tanner – Director, Welsh Institute for Social and Cultural Affairs, Bangor University
* Sarah Hutchinson - Head of Policy and Information, Scottish Information Commissioner
* Bruno Longmore – Head of Government Records, National Archives of Scotland
* Hugh Hagan – Senior Inspecting Officer Government Records Branch, National Archives of Scotland

The workshop is aimed at academic researchers; other research workers, such as journalists; librarians, archivists and other information professionals who provide research services and research training; compliance officers interested in facilitating access and advising requestors and public policy makers in the access to information arena.

For a full programme, more information and to book your free place, visit the conference website.

Emerald is currently experiencing problems with its authentication system. If you try to login via the Emerald link on the MMU Library Web site, you will have appear to have logged in successfully via the UK Federation but, when you are asked to ‘Click here’ on the Emerald Web site, you’ll be taken back to the MMU page — and not into Emerald.

While Emerald is working on the problem, please try this alternative route. First clear your cookies. And then follow this link. Login as follows:
- click the link to “Athens/Institution Login” at the top of the Emerald homepage
- click the “Institution Login” link
- choose ‘Manchester Metropolitan University’ from the drop-down list and clicking the
‘Select’ button
- enter your MMU network username and password in the MMU Login page as normal

Emerald is working on a solution but this may take some time. I’ll inform you via the RWB Blog as soon as the problem has been resolved.

Good news! Funding has been found and both OHSIS (the Occupational Health & Safety Service) and Engineer-it (product and supplier information for design and manufacturing - process engineering and electronics) have been reinstated. You’ll find both on the info4education service. Use your MMU network username and password to login.