Extended hours at Main Library (Mt Albert)

Mt Albert Main Library will be open extended hours over the study and exam week period, from Saturday 3rd November until Thursday 22 November as follows:

• Monday - Thursday open 8am - 10pm
• Friday open 8am - 7pm
• Saturday and Sunday open 9am - 7pm

The other libraries’ hours and the Student Computer Centre hours are not being extended. Their hours will remain the same as during semester time. See http://library.unitec.ac.nz/aboutlibrary/hours.htm for our full hours.

Graphic novels galore!

Come to the main library in B110 at Mt Albert campus and see our fantastic graphic novels aka 'grown-up comics'. You will either find them on display downstairs (see photo below) or upstairs to the right in the Recreational Reading area near the group study area. Search our catalogue for your favourite characters or  see this link for all our 'graphic novels' .

Copy Centre Opening Hours

The Copy Centre at Mt Albert Campus B117 (behind The Hub) has extended hours for rest of semester. See below for details.

Where	Mt Albert campus (B117 and B1*) and Waitakere (B510)
Normal hours Extended hours (B117 only)	Monday to Thursday: 8.30am - 5.00pm Friday: 8.30am - 4.00pm * Building 1 is open 9.00am - 3.30pm weekdays Thurs 25 Oct - open until 7.00pm Friday 26 Oct - open until 7.00pm Weekends 27/28 Oct, 3/4 Nov, 17/18 Nov, 24/25 Nov: 10.00am - 2.00pm but not open weekend of 10/11 Nov
Contact	Copy Centre Phone +64 9 815 4315

For more info on services and special offers , see the Copy Centre's facebook page
 

 

Student printing issues - update

We will post updates about student printing issues to this blog as we get them.

Wednesday 24 October 2012, 12.30pm

Unitec IMS has been working hard to resolve the issues and Konica have informed us that the problem causing the printing issues has been resolved. We will keep you informed if problems reoccur.

Wednesday 24 October 2012, 11.58am

Unfortunately the student printing systems based in the Library and Student Computer Centre are experiencing performance issues which are preventing student printing on and off throughout the day.  This is caused by a network problem that was triggered last week by a power outage. Restarting the servers solves the problem temporarily, but then the problem can reoccur a few minutes later. Unitec IMS are investigating but we have no timeline yet as to when it will be resolved.  The Copy Centre which uses a different server and seems to be free of the issues we are experiencing,  therefore we are recommending that students use the Copy Centre. See Copy Centre Opening Hours.

Focus on Open Access

Next week (22-28 October) is International Open Access Week.

What is Open Access?

According to Peter Suber (Director of the Harvard Open Access Project)
“Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder. “
For a fuller explanation see Peter’s introduction to Open Access.

Why is Open Access important?

Traditional journal subscription models are restricting access to research. Students, teachers and researchers need better access to research and Open Access is a viable solution.  See this great handout with quotes from people about why they support Open Access and how it can help in many spheres of life. For more information see Peter Suber’s full overview.

What can I do?

Keep informed, lobby for your right to access research and get involved! Here are some ways for students to get involved:

• Join the Right to Research Coalition
  This Coalition was founded by students in 2009 “to promote an open scholarly publishing system based on the belief that no student should be denied access to the articles they need because their institution cannot afford the often high cost of access.  Since its launch, the Coalition has grown to represent nearly 7 million students internationally...”
  See http://www.righttoresearch.org/about/index.shtml

•  Join the “make textbooks affordable” campaign
  "We're fighting to rein in costs by promoting cost-saving solutions on campus, while also tackling publishers' stranglehold on the market to change prices for good.  We're educating students, faculty and bookstores, and raising awareness through research and the media.   We're also calling on publishers, colleges and foundations to support the creation of more open-source textbooks that could save students millions each year.”
  See http://studentpirgs.org/campaigns/sp/make-textbooks-affordable

Sign up at http://www.openaccessweek.org for access to all the support and resources you need, and to connect with the worldwide OA Week community.

For examples of how others are advancing Open Access and taking action during The Week, click here if you’re a: RESEARCH FUNDER | RESEARCHER/FACULTY MEMBER | ADMINISTRATOR | PUBLISHER | STUDENT | LIBRARIAN

Plus check out the Open Access Week website for handouts, posters and more ways to get involved.

Library Survey iPad winners announced

A big thank you to all students and staff who recently completed the Unitec Library survey. There were over 2,000 responses.  Library staff will be analysing your feedback with some preliminary results going up on the website before the end of the academic year.

We are delighted to announce the winners of the two iPads - Susan, a Nursing student based at Waitakere and Dhruv, a Business student based at Mt Albert. Both were excited to get a phone call from Rosanne van Leeuwen this week and are pictured here receiving their iPads.

Again, thank you all for participating in our survey - your feedback will be very valuable.  And congratulations to our two winners.

Focus on Unitec Research

Symposium speaker's research revealed

Kelston Boys High School Principal, Brian Evans was a keynote speaker at Unitec's Teaching & Learning Symposium on Monday 1 October. See his Master of Education thesis on Research Bank (scroll down for link to full-text)

Open access? Network enabled research ?

Find out what it's all about. Check out the videos and more from the Open Repositories Conference recently held in Edinburgh.

Recent items added to Research Bank:

• "Organic" growth: The second transformation of Victoria Park Market in Freeman’s Bay  Sampurno, Anindito Bayu (Master of Architecture (Professional), 2012)

  Adaptive reuse is a tool for retaining an architectural object from demolition, preserving its historical value. On the other hand, it can be perceived as a process of ‘building evolution’ to fit with the urban environment ...

• The adaptation of Islamic culture in a western society: “Building a contemporary mosque in Auckland” 

  Rashid, Maysum (Master of Architecture (Professional), 2011)

  Though it is from the East that the sun rises, showing itself bold and bright without a veil, it burns and blazes with inward fire only when it escapes from the shackles of east and west..."(3) - Muhammad Iqbal

• Success factors for transactional eCommerce websites: An investigation focusing on technical and business contexts 

  Wei, Lian (Master of Computing, 2012)

  This thesis research examines success factors for transactional eCommerce Websites focusing on technical and business contexts. Transactional websites in particular have become essential for eCommerce development and use. ...

• River flow forecasting using gene expression programming models 

  Fernando, Achela; Shamseldin, Asaad; Abrahart, Robert (HIC 2012 - 10th International Conference on Hydroinformatics: "Understanding Changing Climate and Environment and Finding Solutions", 2012)

  River flow forecasting models provide an essential tool to manage water resources, address problems associated with both excesses and deficits, and to find suitable solutions. With changing climate and environmental ...

For more Unitec research go to the Research Bank >>