WUR Library

WUR Library News

Keep up to date with the latest developments for students and staff. The WUR Library newsletter is send by e-mail, approximately 8 times per year.

  • December 17, 2024
    Access to ABI/Inform and Zoological Record discontinued
    As of 1 January 2025, WUR staff and students will no longer have access to the ABI/Inform and Zoological Record databases. You can read more about this Library subscription choice and alternative resources in this news article.
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  • December 9, 2024
    Spotlight on OpenAlex
    With over 260 million indexed works - including research papers, authors, and institutions - OpenAlex offers a new and free gateway to scholarly information. Curious about how it works and what it can do for you? In our latest open science blog post, we discuss its features, possibilities, and tips to make the most of OpenAlex.
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  • December 6, 2024
    Exhibition Beautiful Botany postponed
    Update 9 December 2024. The exhibition is expected to open in mid-February 2025. Keep an eye on this website for the final update. Berthe Hoola van Nooten was one of the finest Dutch botanical illustrators of the 19th century. In a new exhibition, Special Collections showcases her beautiful drawings of tropical plants from Java.
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  • December 5, 2024
    Holiday reading tip: The slow professor
    Looking for an inspiring holiday read outside your field of study? Tip: The slow professor: challenging the culture of speed in the academy by M. Berg and B. K. Seeber. This book invites you to reflect on academic life and its fast-paced culture. Valérie Toebes, an information specialist at WUR Library, shares her insights and why it’s worth your time.
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  • December 3, 2024
    A boost for open educational materials at WUR
    Two innovative WUR projects won €50,000 each through the “Boost Your Collection” initiative by the National Growth Fund program Npuls. The funding will help enhance the accessibility and availability of educational materials about information literacy and nutritional epidemiology.
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  • December 2, 2024
    Forum Library: Open during the holidays
    During the end-of-year period, the Forum Library is open, but with different opening hours. Check the schedule below to plan your visit. To bring some holiday cheer, we’re offering free chocolate milk on some days - perfect for cosy winter study sessions. Wishing you a joyful and festive holiday season!
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  • December 2, 2024
    RDM support: wrap-up of 2024 & expert tips
    In 2024, the Research Data Management team supported many researchers. In this article, we look back at our main activities and highlight our plans for 2025. Also, there are some tips that we’d like to share.
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  • November 25, 2024
    Forum Library returns to regular opening hours
    Starting 30 November, the Library will be returning to its regular opening hours. Please note that while most areas will be accessible, some parts of the library are still under repair. We look forward to welcoming you back!
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  • November 25, 2024
    Extended opening hours for exams
    Exams are coming up! We’re happy to return to our usual extended hours for self-study and exam weeks. Don’t forget to book your study spot in TimeEdit to secure your place. Good luck with your exams!
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  • November 20, 2024
    Annual open access quota reached for four publishers
    We've reached the maximum quota for hybrid open access publications at Taylor & Francis. This cap follows similar caps for Springer Nature, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) and Oxford University Press. Read more on the implications and explore alternative options to make your research accessible.
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  • November 19, 2024
    Bye bye Black Friday: Welcome books on sustainable living
    Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, but did you know a growing movement promotes the opposite? Greenpeace introduced Zero Saturday—a day to buy nothing and reflect on our consumption habits. In support of this initiative, the Library offers a new online bookshelf on minimalism and degrowth. These inspiring titles provide practical advice for a more sustainable and mindful lifestyle. Borrow them or read them online!
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  • November 15, 2024
    Monica Mars on creating impact through open textbooks
    Dr. ir. Monica Mars, Associate Professor at the Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour Chair Group, is developing an open textbook for her "Basic Sensory Science" course. For this open science story, she shares her experiences and insights on creating this resource.
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  • November 7, 2024
    Maximum number of free open access articles at Springer Nature has been reached
    The 2024 maximum for free-of-charge open access publishing in Springer Nature journals has been reached. This means that WUR authors will have to pay the Article Processing Charges (APCs). Read more on the implications and explore alternative options to make your research accessible.
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  • October 23, 2024
    NWO grant for 'flipping' journals to diamond OA
    Are you an editor of an academic subscription journal? NWO has announced an upcoming call to support academic journals to switch from a subscription-based model to a Diamond Open Access model.
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  • October 21, 2024
    New initiative to 'OpenUp' education
    Teachers play a crucial role in the transition towards Open Science and Education. Next year, WUR will stimulate teachers to adopt open education practices through the OpenUp programme.
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  • October 18, 2024
    ChatGPPeter: experimenting with Large Language Models
    What started as a playful farewell gift turned into a fascinating and highly instructive exercise in exploring the potential of LLM technology for WUR Library. WUR Library's tech team developed ChatGPPeter, an internal, custom-built, language model based on the open-source Gemma 2 model.
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  • October 17, 2024
    Kickstart your master’s thesis research with the DMP template
    Are you a WUR MSc student preparing for your thesis? We strongly recommend writing a Data Management Plan (DMP) to handle data throughout your thesis. WUR Library developed an MSc DMP template to help you in this process.
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  • October 17, 2024
    Graffiti wall in the Library: Share your feedback!
    The Library would like to hear your thoughts and suggestions about the Library. From 28 October, you can share your feedback on the graffiti whiteboard in the Forum Library. What do you love most about the Library? Is there anything you feel is missing or areas where we can improve? Share your ideas with us and we’ll consider them!
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  • October 17, 2024
    Prevent CANS/RSI: sit right, study better
    Long hours spent studying on your laptop can take a toll on your neck and shoulders. Preventing the problem is better than finding a cure. WUR offers a discount on purchasing a laptop riser, an ergonomic mouse and an external keyboard to help you prevent CANS/RSI. If you want to try this out, you can borrow a CANS/RSI prevention set at the Library.
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  • October 15, 2024
    WUR’s Edepot 15 year!
    From a dissertation dating back to 1920 to a scientific poster or a report on salmon trout in the Geul, WUR Library’s Edepot houses over 600,000 documents. This year marks the Edepot's 15th anniversary, a good opportunity to highlight its contents and showcase its crucial role in WUR's knowledge infrastructure.
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  • October 7, 2024
    Springer Nature Open Access quota soon to be reached
    We expect to reach the 2024 maximum (CAP) for free open access publishing in Springer journals by the third week of October. Once the quota is reached, WUR authors must pay the Article Processing Charges (APCs). Read more on the implications and explore alternative options to make your research accessible.
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  • September 26, 2024
    WUR loves Art | Mini exhibition in Forum Library
    In Forum Library you can now see a small selection of artworks from WUR’s art collection. The mini-exhibition includes work from the well-known Dutch artist herman de vries.
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  • September 9, 2024
    Ordering books for WUR? There is a new mandatory supplier from January 2025
    Starting 1 January 2025, all WUR organisational units must order books and ebooks exclusively from the Erasmus Bookstore Amsterdam. This applies to central book acquisitions by the Library and individual department orders. The new procurement contract stems from a mandatory European tender.
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  • September 6, 2024
    New in the collection: The Economist
    Follow the latest news from the world of international politics and economy. WUR staff and students now have access to The Economist. This leading weekly newspaper covers international affairs, the global economy, business, politics, technology, and culture.
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  • September 3, 2024
    Improving Library e-learning accessibility
    At WUR Library, we want to ensure that our e-learning material is accessible to everyone. To do this, we’ve started a new project to improve the digital accessibility of our e-learning modules.
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  • September 3, 2024
    From downloading to crediting: how to attribute images
    Just as you must cite the source when using someone else's text, it's equally important to credit the creator and source when you reuse images in your work. You also need to check if you can legally reuse the image from a copyright point of view. You should then properly attribute these images. The following tips from the Copyright Information Point (CIP) explain how to do that.
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  • September 2, 2024
    Registration open for the Wageningen Model and Data Day 2024
    On 17 October 2024, you can join another edition of the Wageningen Model and Data Day. This event is for all data, software, AI and model enthusiasts at WUR. You can register now.
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  • September 2, 2024
    Use Lean Library to detect hijacked journals
    Last week, the Library embedded a hijacked journal list into Lean Library. Now, you can check with the Lean Library plug-in if you're on a cloned journal’s website. This can prevent submitting and paying a publication fee to fake journals.
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  • September 2, 2024
    The Open Science story of Peter Tamás
    For this Open Science story, we interviewed Peter Tamás. Peter is a lecturer and researcher in research methodology at the Biometris group. He explains how GenAI technologies and natural language processing (NLP) can improve qualitative analysis and systematic review.
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  • August 16, 2024
    Join the National Open Science Festival and Barcamp 2024
    The National Open Science Festival will take place on Tuesday 22 October at Maastricht University. You can also attend the Barcamp on Monday 21 October, organised by the Dutch network of Open Science Communities (OSC-NL. Registration is currently closed due to high demand. More spots will be released soon; please join the waiting list through the registration portal.
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  • August 14, 2024
    Peatlands Weerribben-Wieden in historic photos
    Recently, WUR Library digitised a special collection of historical photographs on peat extraction in the Weerribben-Wieden. Now, you can view the photos in the WUR Image Collections.
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  • August 12, 2024
    Join the new series of Library essentials webinars
    This autumn, you can join a fresh series of Library Essentials webinars. Each session covers a topic that is directly beneficial to your work, such as literature review, research data management, open access publishing, copyright in educational materials, and author profiles & impact.
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  • August 6, 2024
    Lippincott, Wilkins & Williams open access quota soon to be reached
    The 2024 maximum for free-of-charge open access publishing in Lippincott, Wilkins & Williams (LWW) journals is expected to be reached by mid-September 2024. Once the quota is reached, WUR authors will have to pay the Article Processing Charges (APCs).
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  • July 11, 2024
    Nominations for The Dutch Data Prize 2024 are open!
    Every two years, the Dutch Data Prize is awarded to an individual or team that makes research data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable).
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  • June 25, 2024
    Springer Nature Fully Open Access quota has been reached
    As of 25 June 2024, the quota for the discount on Article Processing Charges (APCs) for Open Access publishing in BMC and Springer Nature Fully Open Access journals has been reached for the year 2024.
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  • June 20, 2024
    Semantic Scholar, an AI tool to complement your literature search
    Semantic Scholar is an AI tool you can use to search for scientific literature. You can use it to start your literature search by gathering a few papers before searching in bibliographic databases.
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  • June 20, 2024
    Collections in the spotlight: Nature Portfolio
    Nature Portfolio is a fundamental part of the Library’s collection. We've gathered data on how frequently WUR researchers read these journals and how often they publish in them. We’ve also asked WUR researchers about their experiences with the editorial process of Nature portfolio journals.
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  • June 20, 2024
    Generative AI and copyright: how does it work?
    Generative AI tools can generate large amounts of text or images in an instant. In this article, we discuss several copyright aspects you should consider when using GenAI.
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  • June 17, 2024
    Are you a WUR student with a functional disability? Your insights are crucial!
    The Library is looking for students with a disability to help us improve the Library’s digital learning materials. The Library is organising several sessions where you can share your unique perspectives and experiences in return for a gift card.
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  • June 17, 2024
    Tool tip: How to check for problematic papers?
    Scientific publishing is facing a huge increase in fake and fraudulent papers. In this article, we discuss a set of tools to gauge the legitimacy of research articles. These tools can help you lower the chances that you cite retracted or problematic papers.
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  • June 17, 2024
    Looking for a WUR teacher with an interest in Open Educational Resources
    Would you like to contribute to the reuse and sharing of educational resources at WUR? Do you create, share or use Open Educational Resources (OER) in your courses or have an opinion about them? The Coordinating Group OER (in Dutch: Regiegroep) is looking for you!
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  • June 13, 2024
    Users' opinion to improve education
    WUR Library Education Support team teaches the MOS module ‘Finding and using literature for your MSc thesis’ with ~250 students per year. The team reflected on how students and teachers experience the course by using user-centered techniques, including break-up letters and diaries. The results were used to improve the teaching materials.
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  • June 13, 2024
    Text and data mining | publisher policies
    The Library subscribes to numerous full-text databases and journals. This article discusses everything you need to know about publishers' policies regarding text and data mining within these databases.
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  • June 11, 2024
    Graduating this summer? Please return your Library books!
    Congratulations to everyone who is graduating this summer! We wish you all the very best for the future. Before you leave Wageningen, please make sure you've returned your Library books!
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  • June 10, 2024
    Finding more open content with Unpaywall integration
    The Library has recently integrated Unpaywall into its Get It link resolver. This allows library users to find more Open Access versions of articles from sources we don’t subscribe to.
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  • June 3, 2024
    Interactive video installation IMU in Forum Library
    WUR Library is currently exhibiting the interactive video artwork I M U by artist Juul van der Laan. I M U is a philosophical essay in images that invites reflection.
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  • May 28, 2024
    Rector kicks off Open Science & Education campaign
    Transparency, collaboration and building on each other's work: don't we all want that? In recent years, WUR has taken several steps in the field of Open Science. For instance, almost all publications are open access. But much more is still possible! To encourage more open science practices, WUR has started a university-wide campaign.
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  • May 16, 2024
    Online bookshelf: LGBTQ+ inclusion
    The Library has recently acquired several books to promote awareness and understanding of LGBTI+ inclusion. We encourage you to explore the topics covered in these books and gain a deeper understanding of different identities and experiences.
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  • May 3, 2024
    WUR is close to 100% Open Access
    In 2023, 98% of the peer-reviewed articles by WUR corresponding authors were published Open Access! A big thank you to our researchers for publishing Open Access, enhancing the visibility and impact of WUR’s research findings.
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  • May 3, 2024
    Check, share & teach: copyright for teachers
    Teachers often use copyrighted scientific literature in their courses. However, journal articles, reports and books cannot be posted on Brightspace without restriction. You have to comply with the copyright law. The Library has created a flowchart to clarify the rules. So, before you upload a PDF in Brightspace: check, share & teach!
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  • May 2, 2024
    College life in Wageningen during the Second World War: small exhibition
    For students at the Agricultural College in Wageningen, the Second World War was a disruptive period and is still remembered in many places. WUR Library's Special Collections houses numerous documents and items dating from that period. A small exhibition on the 3rd floor of Forum Library displays several (copies) of these documents and items.
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  • April 29, 2024
    Web of Science and Scopus | Search discrepancies explained
    Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection and Scopus are sometimes thought to be similar databases. However, they have important differences in coverage, indexing and search functionalities. In this article, information specialist Ria Derkx outlines the differences and shares tips to address discrepancies in search results.
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  • April 29, 2024
    Your voice shapes the Library: Library improvements coming soon
    Last month, we reached out to students to gather their feedback on how we can enhance the Library space. In this article, you can read more about the planned improvements.
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  • April 23, 2024
    New & renewed literature databases
    This article updates you on the latest Library subscriptions and collection developments. As of 1 March, WUR staff and students have access to Nature Today, Repbase, PsycInfo, PsycArticles and EBSCO's Psychology and behavioral sciences collection.
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  • April 23, 2024
    Plant virus researchers and WUR Library join forces
    Over the past two years, plant virus researchers from the Laboratory of Virology and the Biointeractions and Plant Health group have joined forces with WUR Library to build a database on transmission modes and vectors of plant viruses. The database is based on over 3500 publications spanning 100 years of plant virus research.
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  • April 16, 2024
    Meditation course in Forum Library
    From 6 to 10 May, Spectrum is organising a 5-day meditation course during lunchtime in Forum Library. It is open for beginning and experienced meditators.
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  • April 16, 2024
    New guide on predatory and questionable publishing practices
    At the Library Dialogue on questionable publishing last fall, researchers emphasized the need for clearer guidelines and more information on selecting reliable journals for publication. Open access experts from four Dutch universities have now written a practical guide on how to avoid questionable and predatory journals.
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  • April 16, 2024
    Library website: navigation menu update
    WUR is currently implementing a new website menu. To do this, we've temporarily removed the familiar navigation menu on our homepage. We expect the new library menu will soon be fully implemented. The new design aims to improve navigation and findability of the content on the Library's website.
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  • April 11, 2024
    New copyright statement guidelines for WUR reports
    Selecting the right copyright statement for research reports can be tricky. The Library, along with Corporate Legal and Corporate Communications, created clear guidelines and a flowchart to assist researchers in selecting the appropriate copyright statement for research reports.
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  • April 4, 2024
    Launching the refreshed "Get it!" form
    On 4 April, WUR Library launched a revised "Get it!" form. You come across the Get it! button, when you're searching for literature in WUR Library Search, Scopus, Google Scholar or other bibliographic databases.
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  • March 28, 2024
    Lecture on Professor T.H. Thung
    On 24 April 2024, Frans Glissenaar will give a lecture on the life of Professor Thung (1897-1960). The lecture is part of the extended exhibition Fascinating Viruses at Special Collections. We're pleased to inform you that the exhibition is now also available online. In this news article, you'll find more information on the lecture and online exhibition.
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  • March 20, 2024
    Facts & Figures WUR Library 2023
    What are the top 5 journals with the highest number of downloaded articles, how many searches were executed in WUR Library Search and what percentage of peer-reviewed articles have been published Open Access? We've gathered these 2023 key facts and figures in a compact summary.
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  • March 19, 2024
    Should I put an embargo on my PhD thesis?
    WUR's Open Access policy requires making your PhD thesis publicly available in the PhD theses repository. Do you want to publish one or more chapters of your PhD thesis in a scientific journal? Some journals have rules about publishing material that has already been made publicly available elsewhere. Consider putting an embargo on the full-text availability of your thesis.
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  • March 14, 2024
    “Without SciFinder-n, I wouldn't be able to do my job”
    A new series explores how WUR researchers and teachers value and use the Library's literature databases that are central to WUR’s research domains. First up: Scifinder-n, a database for scientific literature and information in chemistry and related fields. Collection specialist Corrie Snijder and two researchers share their experiences.
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  • March 13, 2024
    Speed up your systematic review with ASReview LAB
    Doing a systematic review means you need to thoroughly search in multiple databases to find all relevant literature on your topic. This often results in thousands of potentially relevant publications. Reading the titles and abstracts to identify publications that meet your inclusion criteria can be time consuming. ASReview LAB can assist you in screening and selecting publications more rapidly.
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  • February 15, 2024
    Library Dialogue | How can we open up our education at WUR?
    On 5 March, WUR Library is organising a round-table discussion on Open Education. What’s WUR’s vision for Open Education? What are the practical issues that teachers run into when adopting open teaching and learning methods? And what infrastructure and solutions are available to open up our education at WUR? Your opinion is important! WUR teachers, staff and students are cordially invited to join the dialogue and share their experiences.
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  • February 5, 2024
    Pilot learning trajectory information literacy
    Last December, the pilot project ‘Information Literacy Learning Trajectory in the BSc Forest and Nature Conservation’, was completed. The project aimed to design and pilot a new learning trajectory for information literacy. The new trajectory enables students to become information literate step by step and can be easily implemented in other bachelor programmes as well.
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  • February 2, 2024
    New journals and databases in 2024
    This article updates you on the latest Library subscriptions and collection developments. These include national, large-scale read-and-publish (R&P) agreements coordinated by Surf, along with tailored bilateral subscriptions.
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  • February 2, 2024
    Is research data protected by copyright?
    Published research data allow you to search for and find data to reuse in your research. However, even though the data are publicly and openly available, they may still be copyright protected. Thus, their licence, i.e. terms of use, should be adhered to. In this article, we explain more about the specifics of copyright on data.
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  • February 1, 2024
    The making of the new portrait gallery
    For a few years now, WUR Library has been managing WUR's artworks and academic heritage collection. In recent months, we carried out the redesign of the portrait gallery in Omnia. In this article, we show how the portraits were removed and replaced.
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  • February 1, 2024
    Are you missing credits in your Tenure Track credit calculation?
    The Library often receives questions from researchers about credit calculation for Tenure Track reports. This article briefly explains the publication metrics the credit calculation is based on and why you sometimes may miss credits.
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  • January 30, 2024
    Find your ideal study spot in Forum Library
    As period 4 kicks off, let’s have a quick look at the different study places in the Forum Library. From group study rooms for collaborative projects to comfortable study pods for individual focus, with its varied layout, the Library always has a study place to meet your needs.
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  • January 19, 2024
    WUR Software Management Plan template available
    Research software (computer code, statistical packages, scientific apps, etc.) plays a crucial role in scientific research and has become a key research output. The Library has recently developed a Software Management Plan template. It offers researchers a structured approach to implementing good software management practices.
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