Wednesday 27 May 2009

Library Opening Hours: June 09


Kevin St Library Hours June 09

Usual term hours continue from Tuesday 2nd - Tuesday 16th June:

  • Monday - Friday: 9.30am-9.30pm

  • Saturdays: 9.30am-4.30pm

From Wednesday 17th June summer hours apply:

  • Monday - Friday: 9.30am-5.15pm
  • Saturdays: closed
For other DIT Library sites summer opening hours see http://www.dit.ie/library/a-z/blogs/ or http://www.dit.ie/library/hours/

Friday 22 May 2009

More on ebooks.....

Kevin St Library's Short Loan Collection titles now also available as ebooks.

Elliott: Clinical Procedures in Primary Eye Care 2007
Wood: Understanding Immunology 2006
Klein: Mollison's Blood Transfusion in Clinical Medicine 2005
Petraco: Color Atlas & Manual of Microscopy for Criminalists 2004
Housecroft: Inorganic Chemistry 2008: 3rd edition
Hoffbrand: Postgraduate Haematology 2005: 5th edition
Cann: Principles of Molecular Virology 2005
Stokes: A Practical Guide to the Wiring Regulations 2002: 3rd ed
Jenkins: Electrical Installation Calculations 2003: 3rd edition
NicDaid: Fire Investigation 2004
To access go to http://www.dit.ie/library/a-z/ebooks/ and click on MyiLibrary. Or search the library catalog at http://library.dit.ie/ and choose the digital media title.

New ebooks available


Renewable energy ebooks now available:
  • Biofuels, Solar & Wind as Renewable Energy Systems: Pimentel
  • Handbook of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy: Goswami
  • Renewable & Alternative Energy Resources:a handbook: Smith & Taylor
  • Renewable Energy Conversion, Transmission & Storage: Sorenson
  • Renewable Energy: its physics, engineering, use: Sorenson
  • Solar Energy Fundamentals and Modeling Techniques: Sen
  • Solar Hydrogen Generation:a renewable energy future: Rajeshwar,
  • Wind Energy Renewable Energy & the Environment: Nelson

To access go to http://www.dit.ie/library/a-z/ebooks/ and click on MyiLibrary. Or search the Library catalog at http://library.dit.ie/ and click on the digital media version of the title.

Thursday 21 May 2009

Wolfram Alpha search engine launched this week

Wolfram Alpha launched last Monday and is marketing itself not as a search engine, but as a computational knowledge engine. It generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links. Wolfram Alpha's long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. For more info see http://www.wolframalpha.com/faqs.html

For reviews and comments see:

Tuesday 19 May 2009

New Google Fan Facts.......



Check out Google's Search Options function, a collection of new tools to filter searches:


  • by type: reviews, videos, images, etc.

  • by time: most recent, a week ago, etc.

  • related searches to expand a query including a Wonder Wheel graphic

To access these expanded search options first type an initial query, then click on the "Search Options" link at the top of the page. See the youtube tour and more discussion here.

Google are also previewing a new tool called Google Squared. GS doesn't find webpages about your topic; instead it automatically fetches and organizes facts from across the Internet. Available to users at the end of May on Google Labs.



New Science Data Resource


Science data - one stop shop

Intute are collecting together data tables, reference materials and guides from across the Internet to provide a convenient point of access to scientific data for student use. Simply select the appropriate link for the material you require from Intute's reference page.

Friday 15 May 2009

Mystery of the antimatter: science & cinema mix

Science & cinema join forces in Angels and Demons on general release, which tells the story of a plot to blow up the Vatican using “antimatter” stolen from Cern, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. While it is currently impossible to build such a bomb, antimatter is a hot research topic.

Irish scientists are deeply involved in the production and analysis of antimatter at Cern, near Geneva. NUI Maynooth PhD graduate Dr Paul Bowe leads the group producing antimatter on Cern’s Alpha experiment. One of his team members is an Irish PhD student, Eoin Butler. Meanwhile, University College Dublin’s Dr Ronan McNulty, who leads the only experimental particle physics research group in the Republic, is involved in Cern’s LHCb antimatter experiment. It is one of the major experiments attached to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the 27km-long atom smasher that can also produce antimatter particles.

Antimatter is easy to understand but very difficult to handle, says Dr Bowe. Our universe apparently consists of nothing but “ordinary” matter, the stuff that we, the things around us, the planets and the stars, are made of. The atoms in matter have a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. Antimatter is the reverse of this. Its atoms have a negatively charged nucleus, called an “antiproton” and positively charged electrons called “positrons”. Read Dick Ahlstrom's full article here

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Nature Milestones: DNA technologies


This is one of a series of 'Milestones' resources covering different biological topics produced by the Nature Publishing Group and of interest to undergraduates and researchers. It contains 23 short articles describing key DNA-related technologies that have led to important discoveries in biology. The Milestones are arranged along a timeline from 1952 to 2006 and each contains a short discussion of the selected method, along with a list of references. Subjects covered include electrophoresis, cloning, DNA sequencing, whole genome shotgun, PCR, microarray technology, DNA assembly programs and genome-wide maps of DNA methylation.

Immunology revision help


A group of illustrated tutorials and self-test questions is an interactive online resource for learning immunology, developed at the University of Arizona. Aimed primarily at students the tutorials and problem sets are grouped under the headings: Introduction to Immunology (including basic concepts about the immune system); Antibody Structure (examining how the physical structure of antibodies determines their interaction with antigens); HIV and AIDS (considering the interaction of HIV with the immune system and how treatments interrupt the HIV lifecycle; and Case Studies with accompanying self-test questions. http://www.biology.arizona.edu/immunology/immunology.html

Image from centocor.com

Monday 11 May 2009

Kevin St Opening Hours


Kevin St Library is opening at 9am from
20th April - 29th May.

Weekly Opening Hours are:
  • Monday - Friday 9.00am - 9.30pm

  • Saturdays 10am - 5pm
Any queries call 402-4894 or contact Ask A Librarian

Finding real solutions to our future energy needs


Setting the energy wheels in motion, green machines, electric dreams and electric cars, flexible systems of renewable energy, full speed to green. For these articles and more see the Green Power section in today's Irish Times Innovation supplement at http://www.irishtimes.com/innovation/

Friday 8 May 2009

Can science save us from the second wave?


The swine flu outbreak may be winding down in Mexico and causing fewer deaths than feared, but health officials now fear that a more virulent version will return to kill millions. So is the world ready for a killer, autumn wave of swine flu? What is now keeping health officials awake at night is the possibility that a more virulent version will come roaring back and kill millions. Flu pandemics historically come in waves, often getting worse as they go. The deadly one of 1918, which was also the last H1N1 pandemic, did just that. "So did pandemics in 1890, 1847, 1781 and others," says Lone Simonsen of George Washington University.

The HSE 's info leaflet on influenza A(H1N1) is available at http://www.hse.ie/eng/swineflu/ah1n1leaflet.pdf

Tuesday 5 May 2009

Calling all virologists, microbiologists and epidemiologists


Since opening on April 17th over 10,000 people have been exposed to INFECTIOUS at Science Gallery. Exploring the highly topical mechanisms of contagion and methods of containment INFECTIOUS is Science Gallery's flagship show.

Admission 17:04:09-17:07:09 - 12:00-20:00 Tuesday-Friday and 12:00-18:00 Saturday-Sunday. Admission free. Please note that the containment zone is inaccessible on Mondays. Location: Trinity College Dublin on Pearse Street in The Naughton Institute.
Find out more about the exhibition and Science Gallery at http://www.sciencegallery.com/.

Friday 1 May 2009

May Bank Holiday


Kevin St Library will be closed for the bank holiday on Monday 4th May.

Normal opening hours apply at all other times :

  • Friday 1st May 9am-9.30pm

  • Saturday 2nd May 10am-5pm

  • Tuesday 5th May 9am-9.30pm