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Jaargang 44, 8 november 2001 English page

Library walk-in courses now in English Improved services for foreign staff and students The university library has started a series of experimental 'walk-in courses'. These are designed to bring TU/e students and staff up to speed on what the library has to offer and how to find it. The courses are held in both English and Dutch, depending on the audience present. No registration is necessary, hence the 'walk-in' label. Each of the courses takes about an hour and is held around midday or at the end of the day. The library website is TU/e's largest website by far. The library has contracts with various publishers for on-line links. Through the library portal, TU/e staff and students have access to more than 3000 magazines and journals from all over the world. There are specialised bibliographic databases for searching by subject; some of the big names are Inspec, Compendex, Chemical Abstracts and Iconda. Also available is support software such as Reference Manager (compiles personal bibliographic reference files), electronic reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopaedias, manuals for databases and current awareness services for new publications. The website offers over 2000 full-text dissertations from TU/e. Bi-lingual website In fact, TU/e's current digital collection has become much larger than the physical one. The volume of information available is so great that library staff felt that some easily accessible 'live' courses were needed to help readers find their way around. "Not everyone is adept at learning through the instructions on the net. An experienced colleague of mine confided that he sat in on some basic first year courses on the TU/e network in September and now finally understands how it works. I'm sure he's not the only one who doesn't learn by magic", says ir. Rudi Bakker, librarian for the Electrical Engineering department. Bakker is one of a group of department librarians teaching the courses. Apart from the Central Reading Room and the Library Stack Room, there are six departmental libraries spread over the campus. "We're actually very proud of our newly bi-lingual website", says library webmaster and head librarian at the Central Reading Room Anneke Vriens. "The website is the gateway to the digital library and is therefore the most important part of our modern university library. We hope to improve our services to foreign TU/e staff and students with the new courses." One of the many advantages of a digital library is of course that it doesn't close. The information is available round the clock on the TU/e network. And if you live in Eindhoven, you can consult the library from your easy chair at home. ICT services at TU/e are working on a tunnel server to make the library accessible worldwide. Courses cover the content of the collection and the services offered. The various lecturers try to show participants the most effective strategies to access information quickly. The idea is to find the data you need within three 'clicks'. The subject matter of the courses changes every week, but some of the titles are: Reference Manager, Website Library TU/e, VubisWeb Library Catalogue, Social Science Information Resources, Internet Search Engines, PiCarta, Management Science Information Resources, Information Research Skills, Inspec and other WebSpirs databases, Elsevier Science Direct + Navigator. The basic one-hour course on the library website taught by Anneke Vriens covers specialised bibliographic databases, full-text electronic journals and TU/e dissertations, electronic reference works, the catalogue and links to other libraries, manuals and support software and important internet resources for various fields of study. The librarians teaching the courses plan to continue offering two or three courses a week for the next six months. Most of them are prepared to lecture in English, one is even a native speaker. Whether the courses become a fixed part of TU/e's library services depends on their effectiveness and the interest generated, says Vriens./. More information at: www.tue.nl/bib/ Photo: Bart van Overbeeke

Electrical Engineering announces 3mln deficit Dean Wim van Bokhoven of Electrical Engineering announced a big cutback operation this Monday. The department budget for 2002 is showing a deficit of more than 3 million guilders. The cutbacks will be carried out on three levels: two professors who are leaving will not be replaced, new PhD students will no longer be paid out of primary funding and a number of non-scientific staff (Ondersteunend Beheers Personeel) will be offered a severance package and asked to leave voluntarily. Prof.dr.ir. Wim van Bokhoven explains how the deficit at Electrical Engineering came about. "There are a number of reasons for the deficit in the 2002 budget. TU/e's financial situation only became clear half way through this year. We are not the only department to get unpleasant surprises", says Van Bokhoven. "We are looking at declining primary funding, problems with covering integral personnel costs and the work we do for Cobra. All these elements contribute to the deficit." But the cutbacks were already in the works, as Electrical Engineering wants to focus research on a number of areas in connection with international opportunities. "We are taking this chance to streamline our operation", Van Bokhoven explains. "We want to focus our research efforts in the areas of wide band communication systems, embedded multimedia systems and adaptive systems." In the long term, this will mean professorships in Computers Networks and Design (CND) and Radio Communication (ECR) will disappear./.   'Islam and Peace' lecture Multi-cultural student association Mosaic is organising a lecture on the theme of 'Islam and Peace' on Wednesday November 14 in the Auditorium. Reacting to the attacks in America, the members of Mosaic want to make it clear that their religion is peaceful. The idea that Islam is a violent religion has been gaining ground because of the attacks of September 11. This negative image is propagated by the western media, say Mosaic. "Regrettably there is always a small group that doesn't keep the rules. This is the group portrayed by the media. It makes it seem as if we're all like that", writes Khalid Manssouri, chairman of Mosaic, in an invitation to the lecture. Mosaic is inviting the whole TU/e community to the lecture. "This is very important to us", Manssouri comments. "Everyone is welcome, Muslim or not, black or white, Dutch or Moroccan." Speakers at the November 14 lecture will be Islam expert Sheikh Ali Mustafa Seinpaal and prof.dr.mr. Ruud Peters, professor of Islamic law at the University of Amsterdam (endowed chair). There will be room for discussion with the speakers after the lectures. The special 'Islam and Peace' lecture will be held in room 7 of the Auditorium at 5.30 p.m. The evening will end at 8.30 p.m./.

Sept. 11 discussion TU/e's 'Vredescentrum' (or peace centre) is planning a lunch lecture for Thursday November 8 on the attacks in America. This will be held in room 4 of the Auditorium from 12.45 to 2 p.m. TU/e's dr.ir. Fred Lambert, who was in Pittsburg on September 11, will be lecturing. The issue under discussion: what the best attitude toward the attacks might be. There will be room for discussion after Lambert's talk. Lecture on Kennispoort Architect Koen van Velsen will be lecturing about his work on Monday November 12 at the invitation of Architectuur Centrum Eindhoven. The talk will be in the Auditorium of the Witte Dame building downtown. Van Velsen is responsible for designing the Kennispoort building on campus, which is part of Eindhoven's Digital City or 'Kenniswijk' project. The lecture will begin at 8 p.m. and is free. Design Day The fourth annual 'Design Day' will be held in TU/e's Auditorium and at the Evoluon on Thursday November 13. This year's theme is 'Tease, sense and sensation in design'. Students and PhD students may participate free of cost in the seminar and workshops held at TU/e. Anyone interested in this should register with the organisers at extension 4000. The meetings will be held in English and Dutch. Fourteen companies, higher education institutes, other institutes and foundations are involved in the Design Day, including TU/e. The department of Industrial Design, Studium Generale and Stan Ackermans Institute are all playing a part. The Design Day is meant to bring designers and commercial business together and to bridge the gap between creativity and practical production demands. More information and a programme are available at www.dagvhontwerp.nl. The English Page is written by Paula van de Riet. She can be reached at engcur@stud.tue.nl.