Delays to British Library Boston Spa services

The British Library stores some of its collections in storage buildings in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire.

In common with many buildings built at the same time, asbestos was used in the construction of the Boston Spa site, and the Library has a continuous programme of asbestos detection and removal. Recently, very small traces of asbestos were found in some areas. All air sampling tests have found there to be no health risk. However, the Library is taking sensible and responsible precautions to ensure the health and safety Readers, users and staff in full compliance with the very strict health and safety regulations applying to the management of asbestos.

This means that some areas of the Boston Spa site may be closed temporarily, and that some of our usual services may be unavailable.

The major asbestos removal works currently planned are expected to last for much of 2011. Up to 30% of the document supply collection may be affected, leading to items being unavailable in the St Pancras and Boston Spa Reading Rooms.

A list of affected material is currently being prepared and will be made available online soon. In the meantime, we would recommend that, wherever possible, you order material in advance to confirm its availability before travelling.

• The University of York Library provides a free minibus service to the British Library Reading Room at Boston Spa. More details about this and the British Library can be found at:

http://www.york.ac.uk/library/libraries/britishlibrary/

• Don't forget as an alternative to visiting the British Library you can request material not held by either Hull or York University Libraries via our Inter Library Loans services. Please see the information on this page:

http://www.york.ac.uk/library/subjectresources/medicine/libraryservices/

Copyright Advisory Service - new web pages launched

Do you sometimes find yourself struggling to get to grips with copyright law? If so, check out the University of York Library's new Copyright Advisory pages! These pages provide information on copyright guidelines and direct you to additional support, should you need it.

http://www.york.ac.uk/library/servicesandfacilities/copyrightadvisoryservice/

Win a Kindle eReader or £100 worth of Book vouchers!

Let us know how you identify and access the books you need for your studies and you could win a Kindle eReader or £100 worth of book vouchers.

The HYMS Library survey is available until February 11th 2011:

• On the HYMS VLE Years 1, 2 & Phase 2 & Phase 3 > Evaluation
  area
• In paper format from the reception in the HYMS buildings at Hull and York University, or from your local SLO.

What journals do HYMS students and staff need? HYMS Journal Review

To ensure that we are aware of the needs of the Medical School, HYMS Library Committee would be grateful if you could take 15 minutes to ensure that we are aware of the titles needed for your teaching and research. This will help us make informed subscription decisions within our own budget and in relation to those of the two universities.

The survey is available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GR68BGQ. We would ask that you scan through the listed titles and respond where you have a specific recommendation either:

• because of the title's importance
• or, because you feel that the title has very little to contribute.

Please give as much supporting information as possible.

There is also the opportunity to:

• identify titles no longer needed
• and titles not held which you believe HYMS should prioritise if funds are available.

Both university libraries have been affected by the current economic situation; the University of York Library has recently undergone a review exercise resulting in the cut of 292 journal titles. This type of wider university decision has implications for HYMS if relevant titles subscribed to by other departments are cancelled. Therefore we need as full a picture of academic staff needs as possible.

The Consultation is available until 18th February 2011. There are 207 titles listed, available via one or other of the university libraries and previously identified as priorities by HYMS staff.

It should be noted that these journals are NOT all paid for by HYMS and may be available at only one university.

If you have any queries regarding the Consultation please contact library@hyms.ac.uk.

University of York Library: new building opening soon!

In Easter 2011 the Harry Fairhurst building will open, providing IT-rich study and research areas, linked directly to the JB Morrell Library. Students and researchers will have access to over 500 new spaces, including reading areas, group studies, open collaborative zones, specialist research areas, research hotels and a bookable PC classroom.

The IT Support Office, IT Training, VLE and Learning Enhancement Team and Academic Liaison Librarians will be based on the first floor of the building, offering easy access to IT, study and research support.

The building will have WiFi access throughout and also include new printing and photocopying facilities.

For more information take a look at the University of York Library refurbishment pages (http://www.york.ac.uk/library/libraryrefurbishment/)
and the refurbishment blog (http://uoylibrary.blogspot.com/). Latest news will continue to be posted here too.

Third floor JB Morrell Library - now open

The newly-refurbished third floor of the JB Morrell Library is now open. As a result, the book retrieval service that was in operation throughout December has now ended.

Book collections on this floor are as follows:

General Science (R)
Mathematics (S-SF)
Computer Science (SK)
Astronomy (T)
Physics & Electronics (U)
Chemistry (V)
Geology & Biosciences (W-WX)
Technology (Z)

Half of the first floor is now closed for refurbishment. Look out for further information on this blog and on the University of York library refurbishment blog (http://uoylibrary.blogspot.com/).