City of Dublin ETB’s Adult Education Service have developed the Climate Justice Education in Practice Tutor Handbook and is now available on the Document Library.
We have sent out our last newsletter of 2023. This issue is a little different and goes over the Digital Library's 2023 in numbers. The online version of the newsletter is available on the Newsletter Archive.
More new ProQuest ebooks can be seen on the recent acquisitions page.
We have created a new video guiding you through searching and browsing ProQuest eBook Central. This video covers both basic and advance searching on ProQuest eBook Central, as well as how to browse by subject. We have added this video to the Searching and Browsing page of our ProQuest eBook Central guide.
Our subscription to Mintel has ended, and we will no longer be providing access to this resource.
The Digital Library has acquired access to Global Newsbank. This expands the newspapers available on NewsBank from just UK and Ireland to worldwide! With Global NewsBank you can explore local, national and global topics, people and events in areas such as business, health, education, environment, political and social issues and more in over 200 countries.
Happy St. Andrew's Day to all who celebrate! Nothing to do with the day, but we have some more new ProQuest eBooks and a selection of them can be seen on the Recent Acquisitions page
The Digital Library has acquired two new resources:
We've added a page on abstracts to the Academic Writing Section
The slides from the latest ETBI AI webinar - Artificial Intelligence for the FET Learner and FET Practitioner have been added to the document library
You can now read ProQuest Central eBooks online without having to log in! See this Library Resources page for details (password required)
We've created a variant of the Assignment Calculator for presentations! The Presentation Calculator breaks down presentation planning into manageable steps based on the presentation due date. Each step has its own recommended completion date and includes tips, tools and useful links. Feedback on the calculator is appreciated!
Some more new ProQuest ebooks can be seen on the recent acquisitions page. Titles cover coaching and mentoring, arboriculture and group working
We've added a Library Resources page to the Sales subject guide
ProQuest ebooks with 1- and 3-user licences are first come, first served, and if the book is not available, then you need to check back every so often to see if the book has become available. A new enhancement to the ProQuest eBook Central platform allows you to place a hold on books with 1- and 3-user licences so that you are notified when the ebook you want is "returned". The ebook will also be held for you for 24 hours to access. This page on the eBook Central guide has instructions for placing a hold.
We're delighted to say that there's a new addition to the Maths for Trades workbook series. Maths for Trades for Brick and Stone/Plastering is now available for download.
A new page has been added to the Mentorship Practice guide: Videos
We have added a new subject guide on Mentorship Practice. This guide has been organised by topic.
We held a NewsBank UK and Ireland training and familiarisation webinar with a NewsBank trainer. The session was recorded and is available on the NewsBank resource guide help page
Like a presentation, being assigned a piece of group work can be both a stressful and rewarding experience. We've expanded the Study Skills group work page into a section of its own, providing advice on every aspect of working in a group and offering some downloadable templates to help you organise your groups.
Our subscription to Mintel will expire at the end of the month and we've made the decision not to renew it.
Learners may be interested in using ChatGPT and generative AI tools to help them with their coursework. That's fine, but using these tools to do the actual work is a breach of academic integrity. This page in the Avoiding Plagiarism section looks at why using generative AI tools is a bad idea and suggests ways that learners can use these tools without breaching academic integrity rules
To mark World Mental Health Day, the ETBI Inclusion Unit hosted a webinar, in partnership with Jigsaw, delivering R.A.L.L.Y. Training and launching the FET Learner Mental Health and Wellbeing Accreditation initiative on Tuesday 10th October 2023. A recording of the webinar, along with the presentation documentation and a FET resource pack, are all available on this Document Library page
We've centralised resource access through one website section. Library Resources (password protected) provides access to all the Library subscription resources. Contact the library for the new password.
Three pages added to the Evaluating Information Sources Section
More updates forthcoming, but we have a few new eBook titles that can be seen on the Recent Acquisitions page of our ProQuest eBook Central Guide
Liam Cleere returned to education with Tipperary ETB after a break of 39 years. The Digital Library is pleased to host his book, ‘My Journey from the Back of the Class with Tipperary ETB’.
On 23rd September, Touria Jouilla McKee of the ETBI Quality unit presented a webinar on Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction for ETBs. The webinar recording and the presentation slides are available in the Document Library
The use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools is becoming more common. This is (mostly) original work, but it still needs to be cited. A new page in the referencing section discusses how to reference use of generative AI text tools.
In the Computer Basics section, we previously linked to a tutorial for new computer users. That's gone from the web, so we've created our own version; it's a self-paced tutorial designed for people who have never used a computer before. It concentrates on using the mouse and a few other basic skills.
Another new section expanded from Study Skills. Presentation Skills offers advice on planning, designing structuring and delivering presentations and provides suggestions on overcoming presentation anxiety
We also have a new resource: the Assignment Calculator. This breaks down class assignments into manageable steps based on the assignment due date. Each step has its own recommended completion date and includes tips, tools and useful links. Feedback on the calculator is appreciated!
In academic writing, a thesis statement states the topic and purpose of your essay. We've added a page in the Academic Writing section describing thesis statements and why they're useful.
We've expanded the Time Management page in Study Skills to a section of its own. It includes a quiz and some downloadable planning and scheduling templates
We've a few new sections forthcoming, but for now all broken outgoing links have been fixed, either replacing them with alternatives or using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (a very useful resource in its own right) to provide archived access to sites
We've acquired a few more ProQuest eBook Central ebooks. See the new titles here
On 14th June, ETBI's Professional Learning and Development Unit organised a seminar on Lifelong Guidance: An Evolving Landscape. The presentations from which are now online.
The navigation menu of the Document Library section has been reorganised
We're now up to 304 owned ebooks on ProQuest eBook Central. See our latest acquisitions here
The recording and presentation from the latest Academic Integrity webinar are now available
A common interview style used more frequently by employers these days is the competency-phased interview. A new page in the Careers section describes these interviews, gives examples of questions and a little advice on how to prepare for them
We've added a page of study skills ebooks to the Study Skills section. The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell is particularly recommended
We've added some new web-based numeracy resources and a new downloadable handout Editing and Proofreading Tips and Tricks providing tips, suggestions and strategies for revising and proofreading essays/assignments
The recording of the PL&D Webinar on supporting positive behaviour in classroom settings is now available
A new page has been added: Meet the Team. Meet the people behind the Digital Library!
New resource: Business Source Elite provides full text access to scholarly journals, trade publications and magazines in business and business-related subjects. Also included is full text access to the Harvard Business Review and detailed profiles of 10,000 of the worlds' largest company.
Some new web-based literacy resources have been added - some sites offering printable worksheets and other resources
A few new ProQuest eBook acquisitions
On 2nd May 2023 Ali Nazari-Nouri, a ProQuest trainer, gave a session on using ProQuest eBook Central. The recording of that session recording is available on the ProQuest eBook Central Help page.
Steps to a successful essay is a downloadable one-page handout that offers some tips and instructions to write a better academic essay
Two new pages:
The Academic Integrity page of the Document Library has been updated to include the most recent webinar, held on 28th April.
On 18th April 2023 Ali Nazari-Nouri, a ProQuest trainer, gave a session on using The Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times Historical Archive. The recording is available on the resource's Help page.
We've added a page to the EBSCO eBooks for FE Subscription Collection guide detailing the accessibility features of the EBSCO eBook platform
After a successful trial, the Digital Library has acquired access to NewsBank. NewsBank is a newspaper resource that provides access to Irish and UK newspapers, including The Irish Times.
To get access to NewsBank for you and your learners, get in touch. Please use your ETB, institution or college email when requesting access.
When you have an assignment or coursework to do, you’ll probably have to go and search information sources for material that will help you with your work. It might be a good idea to organise your searching so that you can note interesting sources and how you found them. New The Search Process page, Search Log has a downloadable log you can use to keep track of your searches and what you found
A few new ProQuest ebooks are listed in the Recent Acquisitions page
We've tweaked the home page a little, bigger boxes, bigger text and the home page displays a lot better on mobile devices.
The Sustainability eBook Subscription is a collection of over 7,000 ebooks hosted on the ProQuest eBook Central platform that are mapped to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Titles span subject areas such as
This subscription collection is available on trial until 9th April.
You can access the books in the collection with your eBook Central account, or if you don't have an account, you can use the login details given on the Subscription eBook Subscription Access Page (password required - use the same password as for the Irish Times Historical Archive or the ebooks for FE Collection)
Two new resources shared by the sector. English Writing Tips is a Moodle course created by GRETB suitable for advanced ESOL learners and native English speakers looking to improve their written English (with thanks to Alison Jones and Aoife Fitzsimons). The course needs to be installed in Moodle before using. Instructions for adding to Moodle can be found on the Literacy Resources section Sectoral Resources and ESOL Resources pages
In the Craft Electrical Guide, a Voltage Drop Calculator spreadsheet has been added. This resource, contributed by Tim Buckley (CETB) uses the new formula / method as prescribed in the new regulations IS:10101:2020. Thanks also to Nicole Callaghan (CDETB)
PressReader comes with an auto-translate feature, which can translate publication articles into a variety of different languages. A new page in the PressReader user guide has instructions for translating articles
The ETBI Inclusion unit are launching the FET Learner Mental Health Framework on 1st March. The framework and some event information can be found in the Document Library
After a successful trial, the Library has acquired a subscription to the Irish Times and Weekly Irish Times Historical Archive. The user guide to this resource provides more information and access details
An archive page of library newsletters has been created. Here you can find web links to previous issues of the Digital Library newsletter.
The PressReader guide has been updated with a video detailing how to access and login to PressReader. This video can be found on both the Quick Guide and Access pages.
Three new (and old) resources on trial:
More details can be found on the Library Trials page
We sometimes have resources on trial, with a view to seeing if users and learners find them useful or not. To keep track of trial resources, we have a new page, Library Trial Resources, to provide some information about trial resources currently available.
ProQuest eBook Central guide has been updated with a video detailing how to access and login to ProQuest eBook Central. This video can be found on both the Quick Guide and Access pages.
The ETBI Pathways unit held an Academic integrity Webinar on 26th January. The webinar recording and the presentations are hosted in the Document Library
EBSCO, who provide some of the Library's resources, including the eBooks for FE Subscription Collection, offer free training webinars. We've added details of their calendar of events to the help pages of EBSCO resource user guides
To keep you more up to date with new ebook purchases, we've added a recent acquisitions page to our eBook Central user guide
Our trials of International Newsstream and the Historical Irish Times archive come to an end on Wednesday. We're interested in feedback on International Newsstream and how it compares to NewsBank and would appreciate you taking the time to complete this short feedback form
Two new pages in the EU Projects section
A link to Donegal ETB's EtBytes added to the Computer Basic's links and resources page. This is a series of short instructional videos on IT related subjects.
We've added a quick guide to referencing to the Referencing section, summarising the section in one page.
A couple of new sectoral literacy resources, courtesy of Tipperary ETB, have been added to the literary resources section
Five new subscription or trial resources to mention. After successful trials, we have full subscriptions to UK & Ireland Points of View Reference Centre and UK & Ireland Reference Centre
Until 30th November, the Library has a subscription to Mintel Ireland Reports
Two news resources on trial until 15th February are International Newsstream and The Irish Times Historical Archive. Contact the library with your ETB/training centre or college email for access (no webmail addresses, thanks). We also have a short feedback form for your thoughts on International Newsstream.
As we increase the number of library resources, the Resources tab in the navigation menu gets longer and longer and you have to scroll down the page to see all resources. To stop having to scroll (for now!), we've created a new navigation menu tab, Library Resource Guides, to store all our guides to external resources.
Subject terms are used by library resource providers to describe the contents and main themes of items. They are a useful search tool and a new page in the Effective Searching section describes them in more detail
A new page in the EU Projects section hosts some content from the last meeting of the European Advisory Council on Vocational Training
We've added a quick guide page to the Avoiding Plagiarism section, summarising its contents on one page.
A happy new year to all our readers! We have some new ProQuest eBooks covering Early Learning and Care, Education and Teaching and a new fiction section.
