Five Open Access Tips for 21st century researchers: Tip #2

Posted by Sandra on 22 October, 2019

Open your work with a Creative Commons Licence

This #OAWeek we are introducing five tips on how to make your research open and find open research. Yesterday we looked at ORCiD; today’s tip is Open your work with a Creative Commons licence.

Open Access is the free, online availability of research outputs with reuse rights. This is where Creative Commons (CC) licences come in. An open licence is the difference between research outputs being available for free on the internet and being free to reuse. A CC licence shows how a work can be reused, how it can be distributed, adapted, remixed, built upon, or commercialised.

If you are publishing your research in an Open Access journal, you will retain the rights to reuse your own work. If you are handing over your copyright to the publisher of a subscription journal however, consider first publishing your images, figures, tables, or other supplementary material with a CC licence. This will allow you to reuse these research outputs in other publications, without the need to seek permission from the publisher. Researchers Sara Hanzi and Hans Straka have written about how they went about publishing their images of tadpoles and froglets with a CC licence on figshare.

Remember, open access accelerates the pace of discovery by exposing research findings to a wider audience. By harnessing the power of networks to share research findings with practitioners who can apply the new knowledge, open access also accelerates the translation of research into benefits for the public.

You can read more about Open access and CC licences on the Creative Commons Australia website here: https://creativecommons.org.au/open-access/.

Five Open Access tips for 21st century researchers: Tip #1

Posted by Sandra on 21 October, 2019

It’s #OAWeek and we’ll be introducing a set of key tools for researchers throughout the week. To kick it off we’re talking about researcher identifiers, specifically ORCiD. These Identifiers – basically the essential descriptive metadata of a researcher – will be become increasingly important as open access evolves into a longer-term vision of open scholarship – a future that could be summed up as an interconnected, equitable, global scholarly ecosystem of well-curated, interoperable, trusted research articles, data and software supported by a diversity of open publishing models.

ORCiD, and other identifiers are now the key connectors of research to researchers. More than 7 million researchers globally have an ORCiD. Here, more than 2000 researchers have an ORCiD associated with QUT. We use it to link QUT researchers to their work in online systems.

ORCiD can do much more than just link traditional research to researchers. It can link researchers to other scholarly activities, such as reviews. When kept up to date, it’s a living record of all a researcher’s academic activities. And there is a link to equity – this year’s theme of OAweek. By providing a unique, global identifier, it ensures that everyone, everywhere, no matter how common or rare their name, can be equally visible.

And because it’s such a powerful connector, it has been integrated into a number of tools, including this one by Adrian Barnett, which can format publication lists and even show which ones are open access. Give your ORCiD a little love this #OAweek.

National Science Week and Robotronica

Posted by David on 12 August, 2019

From 10th to 18th August, science and technology take to the streets for National Science Week.

Established in 1997, this annual celebration of science and technology acknowledges the contributions of Australian scientists to the world, and encourages members of the general public to engage with science in all its forms.

There will be hundreds of nationwide events, including many free activities, talks, workshops, and live shows.

Free events include:

VR immersive experiences. Explore beneath the sea or beyond the stars simply by putting on a slightly odd pair of goggles.
Public lectures. Listen to astrophysicists, meteorologists, and other science luminaries explain the mysteries of the universe from a scientific standpoint.
Scinema International Science Film Festival. Watch science films from around the world, screening in various locations around Queensland.
Children’s activities. Introduce your kids to the joys of chemistry, Lego boats, and aeroelastic flutter bees.

And no celebration of science and technology would be complete without quite a few robots. Speaking of which, the Robotronica robotics and technology festival, coming hot on the heels of National Science Week, will take place on 18th August at QUT Gardens Point campus. QUT Library will be part of the action: if you’re keen to experience Virtual and Augmented Reality, the Library is the place to be. Drop in: it’s free!

Get back into study…. again!

Posted on 18 July, 2019

Need to brush up on referencing? Received feedback that you need to find more academic or scholarly articles for your assignments?

The Library is gearing up for our next round of workshops and we are here to help!

Library workshops include:

Researching made easy – After this session, you will use databases more efficiently to find relevant information and current journal articles for your assignments.
Referencing made simple – This session introduces you to the principles and styles of referencing and citing using QUT cite|write. It also explains how you can paraphrase the work of others, avoid plagiarism, and make sure that your work has academic integrity.

Hands-on APA referencing – Ever had trouble working out exactly what it is that you’re trying to reference? Still not sure where to find all the bits and pieces you need to create a reference? This workshop will help you get more familiar with different types of resources and how to reference them in APA style, including articles, websites, reports, ebooks and more.

QUT students can register here for both face to face (on-campus) workshops and also online workshops!

If you can’t make it to a scheduled workshop you can access the online resources here by clicking on the name of the workshop or feel free to contact us here anytime.

We look forward to seeing you!

NAIDOC Week 2019: Voice. Treaty. Truth.

Posted by David on 7 July, 2019

Sunday July 7th marks the beginning of NAIDOC Week, an annual week of nation-wide events and activities celebrating the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

NAIDOC Week takes its name from the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, formed in the 1990s to help increase awareness of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Each year, NAIDOC Week is built around a particular theme. The theme for 2019 is Voice. Treaty. Truth., the three key elements of reform called for in the Uluru Statement. An overview is available here.

If you’re looking for some NAIDOC-related things to do during the break, take a look at this year’s program of events. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture, and languages.

You might also like to explore QUT Library’s extensive collection of books, films, and other resources focusing on Australia’s indigenous communities. An excellent starting point is The Little Red Yellow and Black Book: An Introduction to Indigenous Australia.

Do you love the library? Or maybe you’ve never even used it before?

Posted by David on 29 April, 2019

QUT Library is keen to hear what you think about our services and spaces. All staff and students are invited to provide feedback via the Library Client Survey.

We really value your feedback: it helps us understand what’s working and what could be improved.

And as a big thank you for taking 10 minutes out to answer the survey, you go into the running to win one of three $150 gift cards! See here for terms & conditions.

To take the survey, click here.

A Celebration of Books… and Copyright!

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Posted by David on 18 April, 2019

For those who love books (and who doesn’t?), 23 April is World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day, an annual UNESCO event promoting books, reading, publishing, and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.

World Book Day is a great time to rediscover the thrill of reading for pleasure, and QUT Library has plenty to choose from when it comes to recreational reading, including free access to collections of ebooks and audiobooks that can be downloaded to your smartphone or tablet.

When it comes to the slightly less fun but equally important issue of copyright, the Library’s Copyright Guide contains a lot of useful information. See, in particular, the section on copyright as it applies to study and research.

Finally, some World Book Day trivia: UNESCO chose 23 April because it’s a significant date in world literature. William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote), and historian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died on that date in the year 1616.

National Simultaneous Storytime – 22 May 2019

Posted on 11 April, 2019

QUT Library will be participating again this year so save the date!

National Simultaneous Storytime is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association. Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country.

This year the book is Alpacas with Maracas written and illustrated by Matt Cosgrove and QUT Library has copies here.

Follow this Facebook link to check out this super cute photo of author Matt with his book and two very gorgeous fluffy alpacas!

Stay tuned for further details…

Longer library opening hours

Posted on 28 March, 2019

Extended opening at Gardens Point Library for Semester 1

From Monday 25 February to Friday 21 June 2019 the Gardens Point Library is open:

Monday – Friday: 7am-2am
Saturday – Sunday: 9am-2am

(* with the exception of the mid-semester break, Saturday 20 – Sunday 28 April)

Services and study spaces

QUT students and staff will have extended access to all study spaces including study rooms, library collections (including the Course Reserve collection), and the 24-hour computer lab located on Level 2. QUT’s Wireless network is available to all QUT students and staff with a current QUT Access username and password.

HiQ will be available from 7am to 10pm weekdays, and 9am to 5pm on weekends. Self-help services available throughout the extended opening include:

borrowing via self-checkout
printing, copying and scanning from self-service printing stations.

Click here for building access details and further information

World Poetry Day 2019

Posted by David on 21 March, 2019

“Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.” So said eighteenth-century English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. If Shelley were alive today, he would no doubt be gearing up for World Poetry Day, an annual global celebration of poetry in all its forms.

Declared by UNESCO in 1999, WPD aims to promote the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry; to support linguistic diversity through poetry; and above all to remind us that poetry is a living and vibrant mode of expression—as is evident from contemporary spoken-word forms such as rap and hip-hop, not to mention the popularity of poetry slams.

If you are looking to explore the world of poetry, QUT Library is an excellent resource. Our extensive selection of print and e-books has something for all tastes, from the ancient Homeric epic The Iliad to the works of contemporary poets including Queenslanders David Malouf, Ellen Van Neerven, and QUT Creative Writing lecturer Sarah Holland-Batt.

And check out the Library’s video streaming service, Kanopy, to see poets and poetry come to life on the screen: there are documentaries, filmed performances, and more!