Play, Learn, Win, Take the Engineering Academic Challenge!

Posted by Maddy on 30 September, 2016

ad_eac_235 Engage in real world contemporary engineering problem solving!

Do you have the urge to test your mettle against other students from around the globe? Then join the Engineering Academic Challenge, compete against thousands of engineering students from hundreds of institutions around the globe!

The prestigious worldwide Engineering Academic Challenge starts October 10th. Over five weeks contestants use QUT Library’s Knovel and the Engineering Village database Compendex to answer five real world questions about trending engineering topics to win great prizes.

The Engineering Academic Challenge has been created by Drexel University College of Engineering students; for students. Challenge problem sets are based around five themes –

Sustainable Energy
Connectivity for 21^st Century
Making (Future Manufacturing)
Future of Medicine
Future of Transport

Solving the themed problems will challenge and extend you. Develop, test and measure innovative solutions. Teams and / or individuals can take part. Students from any discipline are welcome to participate. To accept the challenge register now online.

Begins Monday 10^th October and end Sunday 13^th November. For more information visit Engineering Academic Challenge.

International Data Week

Posted by Alisa on 12 September, 2016

data

From 11th – 17th September, it is International Data Week. The theme for International Data Week is about mobilising the data revolution, exploring how to improve our knowledge and benefit society through data driven research and innovation.

While data scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders from across the globe gather at Denver, Colorado for the international conference, events closer to home are being held for researchers and those interested in what’s behind research data, such as managing research data, sharing and publishing research data.

Higher degree research students and new QUT researchers are encouraged to attend research skills workshops. Workshop details on the research support calendar.

QUT, together with the State Library of Queensland and ANDS (Australian National Data Service), will also host Sprint to the Finish for 23 (research data) Things. This event is an opportunity for those completing 23 (research data) Things to share what has been learned. The Sprint will also include a tour of The Cube, one of the world’s largest digital interactive learning and display spaces dedicated to providing an inspiring, explorative and participatory experience of QUT’s Science and Engineering research.

Sprint to the Finish is open to anyone, however you will need to complete at least Things 1-5 of the course. Register for this event on Eventbrite.

Save the Date for Open Repositories 2017 Conference!

Posted by Maddy on 2 June, 2016

brisbane-1222078_1920 cropped Griffith University, QUT and UQ are ecstatic to announce that Brisbane will be hosting the annual Open Repositories 2017 Conference. This international conference first started back in 2006 and Australia was the very first host. It is really exciting to see it come back to the land of kangaroos and Tim Tams and more importantly Brisbane!

This conference brings together library and information professionals from a range of backgrounds including higher education, government, galleries, libraries, archives and museums. These industries bring their brilliant users and developers of open digital repository platforms to provide an interactive forum. Around 400 people from all over the world are expected to attend this forum in order to explore the global challenges and opportunities facing libraries and the broader scholarly information landscape.

Linda O’Brien’s, Pro Vice Chancellor, Information Services at Griffith University, remarks from the recent press release clearly highlights what this successful bid means –

“This announcement confirms what we already know – Australian universities are amongst the most innovative around the world and that Brisbane is a world-class conference destination.”

The specifics of the conference are below –

Date: 26-30 June 2017

Venue: Hilton, Brisbane

For further information you can check out their website and sign up to their mailing list.

So, if you have an interest in digital repositories or want to learn more about them make sure you save this date!

Happy Birthday Wikipedia!

Posted by Annette on 19 January, 2016

Happy birthday Wikipedia! It’s hard to believe it has been 15 years since the website first launched on January 15, 2001.

See below for 15 interesting “Did you knows?” about Wikipedia:

“Wiki” comes from the Hawaiian word meaning “quick”
Over 5 million articles have been published in English so far
Some languages supported by Wikipedia are: Esperanto, Latin, Swahili, Vietnamese, and Simple English
The symbols on the Wikipedia logo are glyphs from a number of different writing systems in the world.
Anyone can contribute to Wikipedia by creating an account
The articles which feature a bronze star are considered to be some of the best articles in Wikipedia
You can race your friends to see how many clicks does it take for you to get from Moby Dick to Kim Kardashian
You can view a list of the recent changes to an article with the time and name of the editor
Wikimedia is a non-profit organization with a number of projects including: Wikibooks, Wikiversity, Wikinews
Being a Wikipedian in residence is a thing!
Wikipedia relies solely on donations and volunteer contributors
The majority of text and pictures on Wikipedia is covered by a Creative Commons license.
You can put together a list of articles from Wikipedia to create your own book
If you click on the “talk” tab of any article you can read a discussion on how best to improve the page
Apparently it would take 16 years to read all of English Wikipedia

Follow the hastag #1lib1ref on Twitter to see what the librarians at QUT (and around the world) have been doing to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Goodbye Mad Men

Posted by Annette on 30 May, 2015

10eHave you ever loved a television program so much that you cried when it ended? There were more than a few sad faces in the library when the season finale of Mad Men rolled around. We even had a tribute magnetic scrabble game on our staff message-board.

Mad Men ran for 7 seasons and reintroduced the modern world to the fashion, politics, and home-life of 1960’s America. We saw a glimpse of what life was like for the ad-men (and women!) of New York in a sometimes romanticised and sometimes no-holds-barred kind of way. The series grew to be a cultural phenomenon not only for the nostalgic value but for the social commentaries on gender, race equality, and of course, advertising.

Do you want to live in the world of 1960’s Madison Avenue for a little longer? Why not check out some of the awesome titles we have in our collection.

Books

Mad men unbuttoned : a romp through 1960s America / Natasha Vargas-Cooper.
Mad men and philosophy : nothing is as it seems / edited by Rod Carveth and James B. South.
Mid-century ads : advertising from the Mad Men era / edited by Jim Heimann ; introduction by Steven Heller.

E-Books

Mad Men and Politics [electronic resource] : Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America / Lilly J. Goren.
Mad Men, Mad World [electronic resource] : Sex, Politics, Style, and the 1960s. / Lauren M.E. Goodlad.
Analyzing Mad Men [electronic resource] : Critical Essays on the Television Series. / Scott F. Stoddart.

DVDs

Nineteen Sixties Drama

Happy Birthday Einstein … have some Pi!

Posted by Annette on 14 March, 2015

If you follow the day/month/year time format you’ll be happy to know that it is Einstein’s birthday today!

Albert Einstein was born in Germany on 14 March 1879 and would have been 135 today. So, what kind of stuff do we owe to this awesome theoretical physicist? I think these websites may do a better job at explaining things than me:

1. The theory of relativity

2. E = mc^2

If you would like to do a little bit of research yourself, why not take a look at these items in the QUT Library collection?

Einstein: his life and universe / Walter Isaacson.

Einstein: a biography / Jürgen Neffe; translated from the German by Shelley Frisch.

The theory of relativity [electronic resource]: and other essays / Albert Einstein.

“entrance mathematician’s building, TU-Berlin” By Holger Motzkau (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Fans of the month/day/year time format will be gearing up to celebrate Pi Day!

pi or π represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter and is known as the number 3.14. Can you guess why it is celebrated on 14 March every year?

One of the most interesting things about pi is that its decimal numbers are infinite and they do not have a pattern to them. How many decimal places of pi can you recite from memory?

Make sure to take a moment on Pi Day to observe this rare time event: 3/14/15 at 9:26:53

Literacy for all

Posted by Ellen on 8 September, 2014

Tome Reader by QQ Li (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The 8th of September is International Literacy Day. UNESCO proclaimed the 8th of September International Literacy Day in 1965, and it was first celebrated in 1966. International Literacy Day highlights the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and society at large.

This year’s theme is ‘Literacy and Sustainable Development’. Literacy is a key element in promoting sustainable development as it empowers people and communities to make the best choices in regards to economic growth, social development and the environment. Literacy is a human right and is a crucial foundation for sustainable, prosperous and peaceful societies.

Check out this video about UNESCO’s ‘Rewrite the future’ project, a two-year project focusing on literacy which aims to educate about 10,000 girls and women aged between 15 and 55 in seven different regions of Senegal.

Gruen Transfer goes Global: international market research reports

Posted by Emma on 5 September, 2012

If you’re researching Asia parenting styles, city living in China, the impact of technology on Children, Indian real estate trends or the clothing industry in Brazil then Passport GMID has the report for you.

Passport GMID is a fascinating database of international market research on consumer trends. It includes a country pulse section, should you want to know what’s the latest consumer trends in the United States or Vietnam.

It’s also a good way to get a grip on what’s happening in finance & economics but written and presented in a clear and accessible way. Not only essential for assignments but an excellent way to keep informed with the real data and facts behind the news.

An important user tip is to check out the excellent video tutorials to be found from the “Help” menu on the black bar.

Passport GMID can be accessed from here: http://libguides.library.qut.edu.au/databases/passportgmid

Get a grip on the World Economy with IMF stats

Posted by Emma on 10 April, 2012

An essential resource for Business students and anyone interested in gaining a clear understanding of what’s actually going on behind the news headlines

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides a rich source of clear information such as World Economic Outlooks. The data can be searched by country, topic or source – so you can checkout clear graphs to see Australia’s consumer price index, balance of payments and unemployment rate compared since 1980 or its top 10 export partners (who knew Indonesia & Korea would feature so prominently?)
The IMF is a great resource when you’re looking for World economic indicators and financial statistics such as Balance of Payments, Direction of Trade, Trade and Investment & Financial Soundness Indicators.

IMF stats is worth viewing alongside EIU Country Data and PRS Country Data

The IMF e-Library is available from here http://libguides.library.qut.edu.au/databases/imfe
Whilst a simple help guide can obtained from here: http://elibrary-data.imf.org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/Contents/HomePageUserGuide.pdf

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United Nations Day – 24 October

Posted by Jennifer on 24 October, 2011

United Nations (UN) Day annually falls on October 24 and marks the anniversary of the United Nations coming into force in 1945.

On this day in 1945, the United Nations officially came into being when the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council (France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States), ratified the founding charter document.

24 October has been celebrated as UN Day since 1948. It is an occasion to highlight, celebrate and reflect on the work of the UN and its family of specialised agencies. To recognise the day, the UN, particularly its main offices in New York, the Hague, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, organises special activities and events including concerts, discussions and debates on the significance of the work of the UN and proclamations by heads of state and other dignitaries.

Last year’s UN Day focused on the eight UN Millennium Development Goals of:

Ensuring environmental sustainability
Achieving universal primary education
Reducing child mortality
Improving maternal health
Developing a global partnership for development
Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
Promoting gender equality and empowering women

Learn more about UN Day on the UN website.