LRC drop-in sessions and World Mental Health Awareness Day

LRC drop-in sessions 

Are you having problems finding information for your course work ? Do you feel like you are spending hours at your computer and not getting anywhere? 

Then the LRC drop in sessions may be for you.

The LRC runs two drop in sessions for FE on a Tuesday, 12:30 – 13:00 and a Thursday, 13:30 – 14:00 and an HE session on Wednesdays, 13:00 – 14:00.

The FE, Find it Fast sessions are for you if you are studying at college and having problems finding books on the LRC catalogue or want to search some of our electronic resources for information. You can come along to the small IT room in the LRC and a librarian can help you find information. You are welcome to also bring your sandwiches and have your lunch in this room if you do not have much time and are attending the session.

The HE, drop in sessions are for those studying at UCP. These sessions are also if you are having problems finding information for your coursework and would like some help and guidance. This session is also run in the small IT room and you are welcome to bring your lunch.

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/english106/4357228667

Mental Health Awareness Day

In case you didn't see the video starring Ed Sheeran and Prince Harry, please see below.

Online access to Vogue magazines, photos and articles

Vogue Archive

Did you know that as a student or member of staff at PRC or UCP you have free access to the full archive of American Vogue from it's first issue in 1892 until the latest edition. The link to this is found on the Electronic Resources page on Moodle.

This includes photography, fashion, articles, adverts - in fact whole (in most cases) digitised copies of the original magazines which you can use as part of your course or for your own interest.

We advise you to use the Advanced search as then you can search specifically - for a particular accessory or fashion item , for example, or look for images by a particular photographer/ fashion designer. Alternatively if you want to look through whole magazines, you can browse individual issues.

For a comprehensive guide to using this resource click here. Alternatively ask a member of LRC staff to show you if you are unsure.

Fashion Show photo by AhmadArdity (CC0 Creative Commons)
from  https://pixabay.com/en/fashion-show-fashion-catwalk-model-1746581/
(Not from the Vogue Archive)

Who may find this useful?

Art students - Look at textile design or use the resources to inspire your own designs. Look at fashion or textiles as an art form and see it in it's context so you can understand what influences certain designs at certain times.

Photography students - Look at techniques used for fashion photography and photographing people. Study the lighting used perhaps or look for examples of effects you would like to create.

Media and Journalism students - Look at journalism styles and content through time or currently. Study and soak up techniques used in one of the leading fashion journals.

Hair and Beauty students - You can view hairstyle and make-up trends at a particular time in history and read the techniques used to create the various styles at the time. The more recent issues will show more up to date trends.

Performing Arts students - Like hair and beauty students you can see how actors should dress and look in something set in the past or in the fashion industry and try to recreate these authentically for a production.

Marketing students - Look at advertising and brand creation either currently or through time and within one industry (i.e. fashion).

Sociology students who for example want to look at how gender and class are portrayed over time or within or through fashion or advertising might find this useful. Images give an idea of popular culture at a particular time.

Anyone interested in fashion who has an interest in fashion (historical or present day).

National Libraries Week

National Libraries Week

During the week 8th - 12th October we marked National Libraries Week with some activities which focused on Well being (the theme had been chosen nationally due to World Mental Health Day being in the same week).

Libraries Week Wellbeing display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

At the beginning of the week, beauty students offered hand massages to students studying in the LRC. In the middle of the week, we hosted a cake and green ribbon badge sale with the proceeds going to the Mental Health Foundation. We also promoted our mental health resource leaflet. Thank you to everyone who supported the event - including the Student Union and College Counsellor who had stands at the event.

Libraries Week event cake stand
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Some interesting facts about libraries

To finish, Reader's Digest (American) put together 10 fascinating facts about libraries which you might find interesting.

Chester's first year at the Learning Resource Centre

This week’s blog is an interview with everyone’s favourite LRC puffin…Chester!

So Chester, to start why not introduce yourself…

Hi all. I’m really glad to finally be able to talk to you all and introduce myself. My name’s Chester and you’ll usually find me somewhere in the LRC, generally with my beak in a book. If you haven’t met me yet you can ask to see me at the main desk! 

How do you like the LRC?

I love my home here! I’ve been learning to use the LRC all year and I love how many resources I can access. I’ve learnt how to use the catalogues so I can always find what I want and if not the staff are always really helpful.

What’s your favourite area of the LRC?

My favourite place is the fiction area, it’s really cosy and lots of people sit there to read their favourite books. I also like the silent study area though because nobody talks in there.

My Harry Potter "shelfie"

What are your interests?

I like the seaside, reading and most of all fish, especially herring!

What do you think of the rules in the LRC?

I sometimes wish I could eat my lunch in the LRC but I understand that the students don’t want the place to smell of fish whilst they’re studying.

Not everyone is as fond as
my tuna fish lattes as I am!

What has been your favourite event this year?

I liked Star Wars day. It was so much fun and everyone worked so hard. I also really enjoyed dressing up and I got to be a Jedi knight and Darth Chester! Also did you know that Porgs were based on puffins?

What side do you choose the light or the dark?

Tell us a fact about the LRC that you think many people might not know?

The LRC has a returns box just outside the main door, this way you don’t need to return items to the desk. I have even used it myself!

Me using the returns box!

What would your advice be to students coming back/starting next academic year?

Come and explore the LRC early. Find where your books are, look at the PC rooms and just enjoy the space. It’s one of the best resources available in the college.

I love all the different study areas that the LRC has to offer.

Health and Safety at Work and finding trustworthy organisation websites

World Day for Safety and Health at Work

On the 28th April, it is World Day for Safety and Health at Work so we thought we would take a look at resources which may help when learning about health and safety. It is something which affects the workplace but is also relevant to the home, for example.

Most  (if not all) vocational courses at College cover this topic and everyone who works needs to know about it. You may even be asked about it in an interview. Health and Safety covers anything from use of computers and manual handling to fire safety to working with chemicals, food or specific tools.

Finding quality websites on health and safety

When using the internet to help with research, it is best to concentrate on information from trusted organisations. For example:

Government departments - identify these by the .gov at the end of the URL e.g. www.hse.gov.uk is the Health and Safety Executive website and www.food.gov deals with food hygiene. The Health and Safety Act  itself (plus other legislation) can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37 .

Charities and other trusted organisations - identify these by the .org at the end of the URL e.g. e.g. http://www.safetygroupsuk.org.uk (Safety Groups UK - a  charity that promotes health and safety).
You may find a .com website useful like The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (https://www.rospa.com/) but as a rule you need to treat these sites with care as anyone can set up a .co.uk or .com website whereas organisations and government departments can only register to use the .org and .gov websites.

Hospitals and NHS websites - identify these by the .nhs.uk at the end of the URL. The NHS patient safety website has all sorts of interesting information for those of you working in/ studying Health and Social Care particularly.

Academic websites, identified by the .ac.uk web extension, can also be trusted but perhaps not so relevant here. The College's moodle site (including your course page) has .ac.uk at the end of the main URL and includes information and resources created by your Lecturers.

If you are not sure, take a look at the About Us section of the website (if there isn't one, think twice about using it). Who are they? Who writes the website? What is their experience/ qualifications?

Google tip: To restrict your search to just government websites, for example, use site:.gov.uk in your search (Others would be site:.nhs.uk or site.ac.uk or site:.org.uk). You can also do this site:.uk to just find UK sites - something that is very important with anything to do with legislation. Other countries do not have the same standards and laws for health and safety as the UK although much may be the same.

Other online resources

The Health and Safety Executive website has a list of the ten worst Health and Safety myths. They also have a collection of videos on their website and a related YouTube channel. These include case studies and examples where health and safety has gone wrong.

They also have an e-learning package Slips and Trips which is free to use.

The Jisc Hairdressing Training resource (available from our Electronic Resources page on Moodle) has an activity where hairdressing students can test their knowledge of Health and Safety when blow-drying hair. It includes particular hazards in a salon environment like turning heating tongs off and not leaving them unattended, safety with perm solutions and keeping the salon clean.

Use Infotrac to find examples in the news or in magazines which demonstrate what happens if health and safety good practice isn't followed or where accidents have happened.

Remember also, that we have books too. The general books are at 363.11 with other subjects having specialised books in their own areas (e.g. construction 692.9 or 624.0684).

Loyalty Card Event

Loyalty Card Event

On Wednesday, the LRC hosted it's annual Loyalty Card event. 

Throughout the year, students and staff have been borrowing and reading fiction and collecting a stamp each time they have finished a book. Participants were entered in to a draw for a chance to win £50 of Waterstones vouchers or a copy of Darren O'Sullivan's new book.

We were thrilled to have local author Darren O'Sullivan with us for the event. Darren used to be a Performing Arts student at Peterborough Regional College and he has just had his first book Our Little Secret published in print. It is a thriller set in Peterborough.

Author and ex-student Darren O-Sullivan with LRC Manager Louise Auckland

Darren held a question and answer session with the students who attended and presented certificates and prizes to the 3 students whose names he pulled out of the draw. Congratulations go to Leon particularly who won the Waterstones vouchers!

Student feedback after the event included:

 "I loved the feedback and advice from a real author on how to write stories".

"I really enjoyed taking part in the reading challenge and encouraging the students"

"I really enjoyed the event".

Box of Broadcasts

BoB - Box of Broadcasts

The LRC now has a permanent subscription to the resource Box of Broadcasts (BoB). It can be found on the LRC Moodle pages, under Electronic Resources.

BoB is an online shared streaming service which allows you to record, search and view extracts of programmes on over 60 digital and freesat television and radio channels. You can record programmes 7 days in advance or you can retrieve them 30 days after they have been broadcast. Programmes from BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra, ITV1, channel 4, channel 5 and More 4 are automatically archived.

You can also create playlists and extracts which you can then save and use in your presentations.

If you have any problems using BoB, please come and ask us in the LRC.

Photo by Al Ibrahim CC BY-SA 2.0:   https://www.flickr.com/photos/crazysphinx/4081596290

Coming Soon - LRC Loyalty Card event

Loyalty Card Event

The Learning Resource Centre is holding a celebration event for those who have taken part in the loyalty card scheme.

The loyalty card scheme is a yearly initiative, run by the LRC, to encourage students and staff to read more fiction. The student or staff member obtains a loyalty card and gets their card stamped for every fiction book they have read. Once the student or staff member has read 6 books, they are then entered into a prize draw.

This year’s celebration event will be on the 18th April, between 3:30 and 4:30pm in the LRC. Students and staff can sign up and hand in completed cards until the 16th April.

The LRC now has a confirmed speaker for its loyalty card event.

Darren O’Sullivan is a local author and ex-PRC student. Darren has enjoyed success with his novel, ‘Our Little Secret’ and his second psychological thriller, ‘Close Your Eyes’ is out later this year. One lucky winner will receive a Waterstones voucher and three runners up will receive copies of Darren’s novel, ‘Our Little Secret’.

Darren O'Sullivan

Be Healthy Stay Safe Be Green

Be Healthy Stay Safe Be Green event

This week the LRC had a stand at the College's second Be Healthy Stay Safe Be Green this year. This time we went green with planters and piggy banks made out of old plastic bottles. Thank you to everyone who donated these and the seeds we planted.

LRC's Be Healthy Stay Safe Be Green stand
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

We also had a tree of encouragement. On the leaves were written some words of encouragement. Students were asked to take one from the tree and replace with a leaf of their own (with their encouraging words). This proved a popular idea with students.

Some of the words left on the tree at the end were:

• Spring is just around the corner.
• You need to be in the darkness to see the stars
• If everything goes not right, go left!
• Never give up!
• Get a goal in life and never let it go until you have achieved it.
• Today is a good day to smile.
• Keep trying your best.
• Always stay positive, fight the demons.

Trusting Health Information on the Internet

BBC's Trust Me I'm a Doctor recently did some features on using the internet to find health information and whether we should trust health apps. The links are here if you want to find out more.

Can you trust any of the health information found online?

Do the health apps on your phone really work?

Why are health headlines so confusing and how can you know which to trust?

Diversity Day 2018

Diversity Day

This week the College has been celebrating Diversity Day and the LRC this year used their stall to focus on 100 years since women in this country got the vote. We created a table quiz where students were asked to match the year to each country when women got the vote. Nearly everyone got Saudi Arabia right with 2011, but the others were tougher. It was hard to believe, for example, that women only got the vote in Switzerland in 1971 and in Portugal, it was 1976. 

We also had a word search - remember to hand these in at the LRC for the chance to win a prize - and some bookmarks to take away. As a backdrop we had a display of inspirational women which many found interesting.

LRC Diversity Day stand
Photograph: Peterborough Regional College

Diversity

Diversity is about celebrating our differences. There is a saying of Muslim origin:- "A lot of different flowers make a bouquet". Also, Stephen Covey has written "Strength lies in differences, not in similarities". This relates especially to teams in the workplace as well as groups in College.

Finally, have a listen to this short clip from a Radio 4 programme. It gives a scenario which could be said to test whether we unconsciously harbour racist and sexist attitudes - known as implicit bias. See what your first thought is when you hear it!

Reading for your assignments

Study Skills

Over the next term, we are hoping to introduce some skills you need as a student; skills that can help you get extra marks and help you work more effectively on your assignments. If you are an Access student looking to move to Higher Education, it is particularly good to start practising these skills before you get to University.

Reading skills 

(Some of these points have been taken from the Further resources listed at the end of this blog)

• You need to use a range of different resources (books, journal articles, reports, websites) by different authors to get a rounded view of a subject. The better mix you have, the better your marks are likely to be. However, you need to be smart about this as you don't want to waste your time reading information you don't need. Here are some tips:

• Choose an environment where you can concentrate on your reading - without distractions. This is usually quiet, but some of you might find it easier to focus if you have music on in the background.

• Know exactly what information you are looking for. Have your assignment question clearly in your mind. 

• You may want to read an introduction to your subject in a core textbook first so you have some understanding of the main facts, theories and viewpoints before you start focussing on more specific elements of the topic.

• You can't read everything , so choose what you are going to read by:

1. Scanning contents pages. Use indexes, blurbs and abstracts.
2. Looking for keywords - you should have a mind map or list of those you used when searching for the resources. You can also use these to search electronically within a document or e-book.
3. Looking for resources that demonstrate different viewpoints (not just one).
4. Making sure that it is relevant, relevant, relevant. Keep looking back to your assignment question.

• Make sure you note down all resources you are going to read in more detail (why not write the Harvard reference now so you don't have to do it later?) with the page numbers. Make sure you spell names correctly as a wrong spelling can stop you finding the resource again quickly.

• Read critically. Don't just try and collect facts; analyse what you are reading. This means to read as if you are someone on the outside looking in, viewing things from a neutral standpoint.. Think about what you are reading as much as possible and then when you have read all the viewpoints, bring your own judgement to bear.

• Ask questions like What is the author saying? What is their main argument? Do they have evidence to support their argument? Have they ignored certain facts? Are they biased? How does what I am reading link to other things I've read already?

Finally, for good time management, limit the amount of time  you are going to spend reading (first, to identify resources you are going to read and then in more detail to take notes) before you move on to writing your assignment. 

Photo: CC0 https://pixabay.com/en/to-read-the-book-library-reading-2784895/

Further resources on reading skills.

The SkillsYouNeed website has sections on effective reading and reading for note-taking.

If you are UCP students there are resources in their Study Skills Plus section on academic reading. This includes an interactive module you can work through to help you improve your reading and note-taking.

Star Wars Event and Letter Writing

Star Wars Event

On Wednesday, the LRC hosted a Star Wars themed event in the Enterprise lounge involving activities facilitated by different departments in the College. Inclusive learning students performed the Imperial March on boomwhackers and created Star Wars figures out of saltdough. Make-up students offered hand tattoos of Star Wars characters and other artists displayed their Star Wars-inspired artwork as well as creating Star Wars Christmas tree baubles (which will be displayed on the LRC Christmas tree). The LRC tombola together with sales from cookies made by hospitality students raised over £119 for the Book Trust so thank you to everyone who contributed.

See below for some photos from the event.

Yoda maze activity
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Science department's Chemist Tree!
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Animal care guinea pigs dressed up as Porgs for the event.
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Darth Vader mannequin (for selfies).
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Christmas is coming and Letter Writing (to Santa or otherwise)

It's nearly Christmas and traditionally it's a time for writing letters although most of our customers probably consider themselves far too old/ mature to write to Santa. However, you may need to write a "thank you" letter for a gift you've received (always a good idea and will mean a lot to the person who receives it - especially as letters are so rare nowadays).

Letter writing, even in this age of emailing, texting and direct messaging, is a skill you are likely to need in the workplace. You may need to write a formal letter arranging a meeting with a member of your staff or to thank a visiting speaker. When sending a CV to a company, it can make all the difference if you write a covering letter. See below for links to resources which help you learn to write a good letter. 

For covering letters see https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/cover-letters  or the National Careers Service website. The ARU website has an example in their CV guidance pack.

To learn how to write different sorts of letters, take a look at the SkillsYouNeed website - a great site for help with all sorts of life skills such as interpersonal skills, writing skills, learning skills.

Why not give it a go this Christmas and make someone's day by sending them a "thank you" letter if you receive a gift. If you are applying for work, remember to write a covering letter with your CV making sure it is tailored to the job. 

Learning activities for the lead up to our Star Wars event

Star Wars - The Last Jedi

The new Star Wars film is out next week and the Learning Resource Centre is putting on a Star Wars themed event in the Enterprise Lounge between 1.30 and 3pm. Different curriculum areas will be providing activities including a Yoda maze, a make up stall, quizzes, crafts and the Imperial March on Boomwhackers! We hope you can be there.

Darth Chester
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Online Star Wars-themed learning activities

In the run up to the event or even afterwards, we thought you might enjoy some of these activities which help with English and other skills or are just a bit of fun to do.

• Download a Star Wars Apostrophes worksheet on the TES website here. There are also other Star Wars themed activities here which may be useful where they aren't aimed at too young an audience. 
• Learn how to draw R2D2 on the Andertoons website (beginner). Tescos also have a link to the official Lucas drawing instructions which look a bit more complicated.
• The English Caddy website has a whole lot of ideas for Star Wars English language activities (they seem to be aimed at learners of English as a second language but could still help anyone brushing up on their English). However, I am unsure of the authority of this site. The Correct Yoda activity could be useful as a grammar exercise and there are other ideas including a critical thinking activity mainly around a scenario from the Force Awakens film.
• The BBC have created a What Star Wars character are you? quiz - aimed at children, but when it comes to Star Wars, age doesn't seem to matter!
• For those of you more musically minded, try watching this parody by the Piano Guys called Cello Wars: the Phantom Cellist

Hopefully we can report back in next week's blog on how the event went.

Live streaming and Fake News 

Meanwhile in the news this week, attention has been drawn to the risks of streaming apps. Go the thinkuknow website for more information. This website also has videos to help explain online safety to young people with learning difficulties.
The BBC have also announced that they are so concerned about fake news that they are launching a service to help children understand what is true and what is fake. IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) have a poster available for download on their website in different languages and we have some of these displayed in the LRC.

Box of Broadcasts - trial

Box of Broadcasts - trial

During November (until 6th December 2017) the College (through the LRC) is trialing a subscription to Box of Broadcasts (in College only). Those of you who are students or staff at ARU will possibly already be aware of this resource as they provide access to this.

BOB allows you to search for broadcast television programmes dating back to the 1990s and then view them (legally). This includes some foreign language channels.

• You can request future programmes (up to 10 a day) and watch currently available broadcasts.
• You can create your own playlists.
• You can create your own clips (see our Dave Gorman clip about the pitfalls of using Wikipedia as a resource on our Moodle 24/7 page.)
• You can view programme transcripts and subtitles
• You can embed programmes and clips in to a PowerPoint presentation or website (for as long as the College subscribes to this resource).

BOB also includes the BBC Shakespeare Archive content dating back to the 1950s.

To use the trial, please go to the link on the LRC 24/7 page on Moodle. Please follow the instructions there for logging in and setting up an account.

Search for a programme and filter by whether it is available now or TV only, for example.

At the bottom of the screen, you will find a link to Help which takes you to short videos to help you learn how to use BOB.

We will be checking usage at the end of the trial to see if it is worth us paying the money to subscribe to this. Please let us know how you find it and any comments - either as a student or lecturer.

Photo https://pixabay.com/en/video-camera-video-shooting-video-1197571/
CÇO

TV Programmes as academic resources

They are great primary source material for media and journalism students - for techniques and examples of how different issues are shown in the media at different times or how society views them. These can be analysed and evaluated.

If you are interested in scripts and language (as part of performing arts, perhaps), you can study the language used in soaps, dramas, news bulletins etc. by reading the transcripts and seeing how they are delivered.

TV documentaries often give a good short introduction to a subject especially where the subject is too new to be in a book or journal article  (e.g. Panorama did a one hour programme on the Paradise Papers).

If you are a visual learner, TV programmes may help you learn alongside books and other print resources - but check currency as facts may have changed since the programme was broadcast.

These programmes may show fashion and hairstyles at a particular time and can be used for inspiration for hair and beauty students. (Strictly It Takes Two currently broadcast slots each week from the make up and hair teams who work on the show).

TV programmes can be used as inspiration for media students to create something similar themselves as part of their course.

Cookery programmes may be a source useful to trainee chefs for recipes and presentation ideas.

And the list goes on......

Finally...

Remember - if you use a television programme as a source for your assignment, you should reference it - just as you would any other resource.

National Map Reading Week and Digimap

National Map Reading Week

This week is National Map Reading Week and organisations like the Ordnance Survey are using this to publicise and highlight the importance of having skills like being able to use a compass, plotting a map reference and using the right type of map for different activities.

• The latest research suggests the average British person ends up going the wrong way, or getting lost, 24 times a year.
• Mountain Rescue England and Wales call outs were up 170 in 2016 on the previous year and of the 1812 call outs, 360 were serious or fatal.

Given that we live in the age of the Sat Nav and smartphone, is it still necessary to know how to use a map? The statistics above suggest it is.

Being able to read a map and plan a route is still an invaluable life skill and maps can give us a lot of information. For example, a map will help you visually plan your route and see where you are in relation to other places. It can give you an idea of distance or how a hill is as well as what features are found in different areas.You do not need a battery, a mobile/ satellite signal or the ability to hear.

Sometimes a map or diagram is the best way to present information so directions can be understood easily.

Imagine explaining to someone new how to get from the Learning Resource Centre to Parcs Restaurant. Perhaps the best solution would be to take them there yourself. 

However, the alternative would be to explain to them that they need to turn left out of the LRC, past the Apprenticeship Centre, then turn left, follow the corridor round past the Enterprise lounge until they get to Alexandra Foyer when they need to go past the entrance gate and take the corridor to the left of the Pantry and follow this down to Parcs!

Or… you could draw a map!

Resources for learning map reading skills

For the beginner, Ordnance Survey provides a range of guides and videos to show you how to read maps. For example, understanding contours so you know whether you will be walking up a steep hill or not.

See below for Steve Backshall's short video guide to taking a 4 digit map reference.

Ordnance Survey have also devised a short quiz for you to test your map reading skills. Have a go!

Digimap

The Learning Resource Centre subscribes to Digimap which is an online service giving access to Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain. Students and staff can access it from the Electronic Resources Page under the Learning Resource Centre tab on Moodle. It is only accessible in College. Students and staff can save and/or print out their A4 maps.

The great thing about it is that you can search by postcode or place and then once you have centred your map, you can annotate it with shapes, labels, photos as well as measure distances. You might want to add starting points, places to camp, places to stop for lunch based on how long a walk is. Will you have to cross a river? Will you walk through woodland? Will there be steep hills? Will you pass through any villages? 

Public Services students have used this when planning for their week away walking the Pennine Way in the past.

LRC Grand Opening and Student Feedback on new LRC

LRC Grand Opening and Student Feedback

On Monday we hosted the official opening of the newly refurbished Learning Resource Centre. We were privileged to be joined by Fiona Onasanya, MP for Peterborough, who cut the ribbon for us and local author, Eva Jordan.

Eva Jordan, Terry Jones (PRC Principal) Louise Auckland (LRC Manager) and Fiona Onasanya
at the official opening of the newly refurbished Learning Resource Centre.
Photograph used with permission of Peterborough Telegraph

Fiona Onasanya was given a tour of the centre and Eva Jordan signed copies of 183 Times a Year, a teenage novel about relationships between mothers and daughters.

Eva Jordan signing copies of her book
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Thank you to PRC hospitality students who provided a super buffet for everyone who attended. You did a splendid job!

Student feedback on the new LRC (and other issues!)

We used Thinglink to create this image from our comments board to put on our Moodle pages. Roll your mouse over the information hotspots to see our responses.

Poetry and Puffins - LRC celebrates National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day

The Learning Resource Centre is celebrating National Poetry Day by holding a poetry competition. We have been encouraging students and staff to try writing Twitter poems – i.e. a poem that is no longer than the length of a text or tweet. Ironically, Twitter announced this week that they are piloting increasing their character limit to 280. A poem which is exactly 140 characters is known as a “twoosh”.

You can search for these mini poems by using a range of different keywords such as Twihaiku or micropoetry or the phrase "twitter poe*". (Putting "" marks round the two words keeps the words together as a phrase and the * allows for poet, poetry, poem and poems in your search).

 You can also search for these mini poems on Twitter using the keywords above as a hashtag (i.e. #micropoetry).

Poems

It has been said that Brian Bilston is the Banksy of the poetry world. Have a look here at some of his Twittle poems (as he calls them).

https://brianbilston.com/category/twittle-poems/

A couple of other short poems of his you may want to read in an odd spare moment are

You took the last bus home
No you cannot borrow my mobile phone charger 

Chester exploring the National Poetry Day display in the LRC
Photograph: Peterborough Regional College

Puffin news 

Finally, for those of you wondering what name has been given to the LRC mascot – it is Chester. There was a lot of discussion about whether the name should begin with P but in the end Chester had the most votes.

As it is National Poetry Day we close with an attempt at our own Twitter poem as we felt we shouldn't expect of others what we wouldn't try ourselves. We are sure your poems will be much better.

 There’s a puffin

Doing nothing

In the LRC

At PRC

There is nothing

Like that puffin

In the LRC

At PRC

Ok……..we won’t give up the day job!

Learning Resource Centre welcomes students at Freshers' Fair

LRC stand at Freshers' Fair

This week the Learning Resource Centre staff were at the College Freshers Fair with their stand welcoming new students with information, quizzes and freebies. It was great to meet everyone and to welcome them to the College.

Student at LRC stand at Freshers' Fair
Photograph: Peterborough Regional College

2 students at LRC stand at Freshers' Fair
Photograph: Peterborough Regional College

Thanks to the generosity of some of our electronic resources suppliers, we were able to give out some headphones, notebooks, pencils and some students were also able to choose their own Quick Read book. (These are also available to loan from the LRC).

We produced a Fictional World Quiz matching fictional worlds with book covers and particularly popular was our Name the Puffin competition. The puffin is our new LRC mascot (as chosen by an Inclusive Learning student last year) and below we've managed to photograph him/her taking a book out at the counter (usually puffins are very shy birds!). We'll let everyone know the chosen name on Twitter as soon as we've checked the entries.

LRC's puffin mascot taking a book out in the LRC!

We have UCP Freshers next week and again we look forward to meeting many of the new degree students then. We are already booked in for quite a lot of inductions over at UCP with LRC tours too so we will be kept busy over the next few weeks, but if you have any questions about how things work in the LRC, see our Moodle pages or come in and talk to us.

Welcome (back) to College and the newly refurbished Learning Resource Centre

New Learning Resource Centre

Welcome (back) to College and to the new Learning Resource Centre (LRC). We have a new name (Learning Resource Centre) and therefore we have changed the URL for this blog too so if anyone bookmarked this last year, you will need to change it.

Having spent the last 3 months operating from 2 classrooms, we have now moved back into the newly refurbished space and groups of students have been visiting us for tours and to carry out tasks set by their tutors. We have also created a Kahoot quiz activity for students to do in class (all details for tutors are on the tutorial pages) which will introduce the basics of using the LRC and the resources we offer. If you want details or have any problems accessing this, please ask someone in the LRC.

 Before /during the refurbishment
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

After the refurbishment
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Below is a walk-through video from the College's YouTube channel so you can get an idea of what the new LRC looks like.

The LRC team looks forward to welcoming students and staff to the new space. If you have any queries about using it, then please ask one of us for help.

Using E-books

Searching for an E-Book using the library catalogue

Did you know that the library has access to over 350 E-books which you can access from a PC at any time day or night.
You can use E-books anywhere from home or at college and all of our E-books are linked from the library catalogue and should present in a catalogue search.
To search for E-books, go to advanced search on the catalogue:

 Go to the drop down box for media type on the right hand side, select E-book and then type in what you are looking for

Results will be as shown below, click on the title of whatever you are interested in:

Then click on the Read Me link in the e-book record to access the e-book.

The e-book will give you the option to read the book online or download the book to your computer, please note that, if you download, it may only be on your computer for a limited time and then it will disappear.

If you download the book then you may be redirected to a page where you have to sign in with your username and password, this is just so that the system can recognise you as a PRC student. Use your computer login and password.

If you have any problems accessing or downloading E-books, please do not hesitate to contact a member of staff.