Friday 29 February 2008

Kevin St Library Event Wed 5th & Thurs 6th March


A series of events will take place in DIT Kevin St from the 4-7th March as part of Library Ireland Week and the Silent Voices festival.
  • Tue 4th - Staff Room , Kevin St. 6:45pm Classical Chinese poetry & Traditional Chinese music performances.

  • Wed 5th & Thur 6th - Kevin St. Library 7.15pm A Sufi poetry performance by Nuzhat Abbas, Sean Nós singing by Antaine ó Faracháin and poetry readings by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill (Aosdána)

See also http://www.dit.ie/DIT/library/PDF_Files/silent_voices.pdf

Thursday 28 February 2008

Encyclopedia of Life


Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a free, online collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.8 million species of living organisms known to science, which went live on February 26, 2008 with 30,000 entries. It is compiled from existing databases and from contributions by experts and non-experts on a wiki basis. It aims to build one "infinitely expandable" page for each species, including video, sound, images and text. See this brand new resource at http://www.eol.org/

Wednesday 27 February 2008

RadPod - picture of the day


This resource aims to post a new medical image daily, primarily relating to radiology, and is maintained by Dr. Laughlin Dawes, a neuroradiologist based in Perth, Western Australia. The archive of more than 350 high quality images, which goes back to November 2006, is searchable, and images can be selected by month or by category (brain, breast, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, head and neck, musculoskeletal, obstetrics, paediatrics, spine, and thoracic).

See this resource @ http://www.radpod.org/

Tuesday 26 February 2008

Chemical Tracer Models


This document is the first chapter in an online textbook about chemical transport models (CTMs). The textbook is part of a postgraduate module on the subject, run by Daniel Jacob at Harvard University. The document introduces CTMs and their applications in "interpreting atmospheric observations in terms of our understanding of underlying processes". An important distinction is made between CTMs and general circulation models (GCMs), which simulate the global atmospheric system, whereas CTMs use empirical observations as an input to the model.

Cut and past the pdf url to your browser:
http://www-as.harvard.edu/chemistry/trop/education/jacob_lectures_ctms_chap1.pdf

Friday 22 February 2008

HIV patients and new immune system therapy

Information on a new therapy which will help boost the immune system of patients with HIV is avaialable @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/feb/22/medicalresearch.hiv

Computers v Doctors!

Tests have suggested that a standard computer is better than a doctor at diagnosing certain brain diseases. Read more @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7257730.stm

University of Oxford Science blog

Click on the link below to access a science blog created by the University of Oxford:


Darwinian Crabs


Anyone interested in the research of Charles Darwin, will welcome the news that the University of Oxford has released images of crabs collected during an expedition on the Beagle. Additional information is available @


Bioengineers and blood vessels

Click on the link below to read how Bioengineers at the University of Limerick have developed a way of connecting severed blood vessels.

http://0-www.ireland.com.ditlib.dit.ie/newspaper/sciencetoday/2008/0221/1203471488565.html

Thursday 21 February 2008

MycoBank

Administered by the International Mycological Association, MycoBank is an online database of mycological nomenclatural novelties (new names and combinations) and associated data such as descriptions or illustrations. Each novelty is allocated a unique MycoBank number which can be cited in publications and will also be used by "Index Fungorum". A login is required to register a new name to MycoBank but not for searching the database, which can be done via fungal names, the authority or the MycoBank unique number. There is also a facility to search for publications on a particular fungus. The site highlights the ten latest items http://www.mycobank.org/

Source: INTUTE

Wednesday 20 February 2008

Faculty of 1000 - New Trial


DIT Library is currently offering access on a trial basis to Faculty of 1000 Medicine and the Faculty of 1000 Biology. These online services highlight and evaluate the most important articles published in medicine and biology based on the recommendations of a faculty of over 2400 leading clinicians and researchers.
The trial runs until 20 March 2008. Access is from: www.f1000biology.com/ or http://www.f1000medicine.com/

Proc Nat Acad Sci - 30 day trial


A 30 day trial for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal starts today. PNAS is a highly cited multidisciplinary periodical.
Access is at http://www.pnas.org/ and is IP authenticated within the DIT network.

Current awareness & research


Keep up-to-date with all the new and related resources in your field via INTUTE.

An RSS newsfeed of the latest academic resources for Science, Engineering and Technology is available at http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/rss/latest_sciences.xml


Alternatively look at the Intute blog or website: http://www.intute.ac.uk/

Tuesday 19 February 2008

Science Friction

Science Friction is a new documentary series on RTÉ One, featuring compelling subjects where science and society collide.

For further information please click on the following link:

http://www.rte.ie/tv/sciencefriction/

Critical thinking for students


Critical Thinking Web is an online resource providing free tutorials on critical thinking, logic, and reasoning. The short tutorials are suitable for independent use by students. Topics include: the nature of critical thinking and how to improve it; analysis of meaning and arguments; basic statistics; and fallacies and biases.

The site offers a downloadable short guide to critical thinking, plus a set of exercises suitable for use in class teaching. Compiled by Dr Joe Lau of the University of Hong Kong & Dr Jonathan Chan of Hong Kong Baptist University, this resource is available in English and both traditional and simplified Chinese. http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/

Source: INTUTE

New edition of Ophthalmic Lenses & Dispensing


The new and third edition of Mo Jalie's key textbook Ophthalmic Lenses & Dispensing is now available in the library. There are two copies in lending and two copies in Short Loan.

Jalie M. Ophthalmic lenses and dispensing
3rd edition. New York : Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann, 2008.
Kevin St. Lending 617.752 Kevin St. Short Loan 617.752

Friday 15 February 2008

Science Podcast


LISTEN TO OR READ A TRANSCRIPT OF THE LATEST SCIENCE PODCAST

HIV vaccine research impasse

Please click on the link below to read about the impasse in HIV vaccine research.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7246117.stm

Censoring Science

For those who thought censorship of science went out with Galilleo, Professor Reville's column in this weeks Irish Times provides some food for thought!

http://0-www.ireland.com.ditlib.dit.ie/newspaper/sciencetoday/2008/0214/1202509830767.html

New hope for osteoarthritis sufferers

New research being conducted on stem cells in Remedi, Galway's Regenerative Medicine Institute may offer hope to osteoarthritis sufferers. Full details are avaialble at
http://0-www.ireland.com.ditlib.dit.ie/newspaper/sciencetoday/2008/0214/1202509830751.html

Can Scientists dance?



"No one quite knew what to expect as the lights came up on a pair of astrophysicists dressed as binary galaxies. To the tune of an old tango, Ruth Gruetzbauch stalked and twirled before surrendering to his supermassive gravity. The rowdy audience of scientists exploded with applause. The world's first Dance Your Ph.D. Contest, with Christoph Campregher at the controls of the sound system, was off to a good start".

Science 15 February 2008:Vol. 319. no. 5865, p. 905

Thursday 14 February 2008

New look for Nanowires

Writing in the latest issue of the journal Nature scientists in the US outline their developement of novel brush-like fibres that generate electrical energy from movement. Weaving them into a material could allow designers to create "smart" clothes which harness body movement to power portable electronic gadgets.

Ottilia Saxl, chief executive of the Institute of Nanotechnology, believes the technology could also find a use in healthcare. "It could perhaps be used to power tiny medical devices like a true cochlear implant or heart pacemaker, or a delivery mechanism for subcutaneous drug delivery implants or antibiotic drug reservoirs for preventing infection in retinal implants," she said.

Monday 11 February 2008

Numeric Citation Style - an overview


Need some help with referencing items using the Numeric or Vancouver citation style?

Have a look at the following helpguide to get you started: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/training/referencing/numeric.htm

Friday 8 February 2008

Holographs in minutes!

Read about the exciting implications which the faster production of holographs may have for medicine and pharmaceutical researchers @
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7230258.stm

Thursday 7 February 2008

Irish experiments taken into orbit on Atlantis shuttle

The space shuttle Atlantis blasts off later today, carrying with it two Irish experiments that will measure radiation exposure risks faced by orbiting astronauts. Ireland plays a major role in this research thanks to several decades of work by scientists at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. To read the full article please click on the following link:
http://0-www.ireland.com.ditlib.dit.ie/newspaper/sciencetoday/2008/0207/1201903621034.html

Vaccines via Tattoos- an interesting idea?

At last tattoos may actually have a useful purpose! Click on the link below to learn more.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7231913.stm

Wednesday 6 February 2008

Mitochondria transplant

Scientists believe they have made a potential breakthrough in the treatment of serious disease by creating a human embryo with three separate parents. The Newcastle University team believe the technique could help to eradicate a whole class of hereditary diseases, including some forms of epilepsy.

Tuesday 5 February 2008

Harvard Referencing guide


There are lots of guides to and versions of the Harvard Referening system out there. For a concise, easy to use and 'cover all areas' guide have a look at the following link:

http://www.lisa.sbu.ac.uk/helpsheets/hs30.pdf

It covers everything from citing websites, multiple authors, blogs and databases to using quotations in the text of your assignment. Nice clear examples too....