RCS Library Blog

Great Britons: Entrepreneurs and Innovators

rcslibrarian — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:05:28 +0000

Karren Brady
Article from the Scotsman newspaper - Article from the Independent newspaper

Ajaz Ahmed
Profile from the Guardian newspaper’s Media Top 100 2007 - Profile from Growing Business website

Richard Branson
Autobiography from Virgin website - Profile from the BBC

Andrew Carnegie
Profile from Spartacus Educational – Article from BBC Business website

Simon Cowell
Profile from the Telegraph newspaper - Biography from Internet Movie Database

James Dyson
Profile from BBC Business website – Profile from Vantage magazine

Martha Lane Fox
Profile from the Observer newspaper – Interview from the Independent newspaper

Philip Green
Profile from the Guardian newspaper - Profile from Drapers magazine

Peter Jones
Profile from Phones International – Profile from BBC Dragons Den website

Jamie Oliver
Official website – Profile from the BBC

Anita Roddick
Official website - Dame Anita Roddick from the Body Shop

Alan Sugar
Profile from BBC Business - Profile from the Observer newspaper

Great Britons: artists and entertainers

rcslibrarian — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:03:06 +0000

Ant and Dec
Official website - BBC Profile

The Beatles
BBC Profile – Rolling Stone Profile

Charlie Chaplin
Official website – Biography from Internet Movie Database

Norman Foster
Official website - Encyclopedia Britannica entry

Stella McCartney
Vogue magazine profile - Hello magazine profile

Michael Morpurgo
Official website – British Council profile

J. K. Rowling
Official website – Biography from Internet Movie Database

David Tennant
Biography from official website – Biography from Internet Movie Database

J. R. R. Tolkien
Biography from The Tolkien Society – Biography from Internet Movie Database

J. M. W. Turner
Turner Online from Tate Britain - Joseph Mallard William Turner from The National Gallery

Robbie Williams
Biography from Internet Movie Database – Biography from BBC

Jacqueline Wilson
Official website - Hotseat Jacqueline Wilson from CBBC Newsround

Great Britons:sportspeople

rcslibrarian — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:44:09 +0000

Ben Ainslie: most successful British Olympic sailor
Official website - Sports Reference profile

Roger Bannister: the first runner to break the 4 minute mile
Sports Reference profile - UK Athletics profile

Ian Botham: England match-winning cricketer
Official website - ESPNcricinfo profile

Tanni Grey-Thompson: Britain’s greatest paralympic athlete
Official website – 100 Welsh heroes profile

Lewis Hamilton
Official website – Official F1 Driver Profile

Kelly Holmes: double gold medal-winning runner
Official website – UK Athletics – Sports Reference profile

Chris Hoy: British cycling champion
Official website – Sports Reference profile

Ellen McArthur: record-breaking sailor
Official website – Profile from BBC

Bobby Moore: football World Cup winner
Official website – FA Profile

Paula Radcliffe: record-breaking runner
Official website – Sports Reference profile

Steve Redgrave: Britain’s greatest olympian
Official website – Sports Reference profile

Daley Thompson: Britain’s greatest all-round athlete
UK Athletics profile – Sports Reference profile

English Civil War

rcslibrarian — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:46:58 +0000

Here are some websites to get you started on your research about the English Civil War.

Civil War from the BBC and Open University

The English Civil War from Historyonthenet.com

The Causes of the English Civil War from historylearningsite.co.uk

Civil War and Revolution from the BBC

Civil War Chaos from Berkshire History

Oliver Cromwell from The Cromwell Association

Microbes and micro-organisms

rcslibrarian — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:17:28 +0000

Books about microbes and micro-organisms will have a Dewey number of 576.

Here are some websites that may help your research…

Health and disease - this revision bite from BBC Bitesize has links to information about microbes, spreading microbes, defence against microbes and antibiotics.

Microbes from Key Stage 3 science has links to keywords, revision notes and a quiz.

Microbes and disease – here’s a quiz to test what you know about microbes.

Here are two pages from the BBC website that explain the good that microbes do and the harm that microbes do.

Germs, germs everywhere is a website designed by some primary school children that has lots of information about germs. They also have a page stating which sources they used to find their information. Could be worth a look.

Countries

rcslibrarian — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:00:07 +0000

Looking for information on different countries? Try these sites.

BBC – Country profiles
Heavy on facts and information with few pictures, but a good overview of each country, it’s government and leaders, history and media.

CIA world factbook
Lots of in-depth information. Make sure to copy and paste the relevant information that you need into Word before printing.

Economist country profiles
Profiles on 60 countries which include basic facts about each country and the political and economic structure. There are useful links to recent articles about each country too.

Infoplease – Countries of the world
Each country profile provides information on: geography, maps, flag, history, current ruler, area, population, capital city, largest cities, languages, ethnicity/race, religion, literacy rate, economy, government. There is also world information on population, governments, climate, economics and religion.

Cultural profiles project
Website set up by the Canadian immigration authorities. Includes general and specific information about food and drink, customs, holidays, work patterns, religion, health and education systems etc… Useful pictures are included too.

Biofuels

rcslibrarian — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:15:07 +0000

The use of biofuels is a relatively new area of research. Therefore we don’t have a lot of books on the subject. Books on alternative forms of energy all have a Dewey number of 333.79.

Here are some websites which have more up-to-date information.

Biofuel - this article from Wikipedia explains what a biofuel is and highlights some of the different forms of biofuels and their use by different countries.

Biofuels - this revision bite from BBC bitesize explains the use of biofuels, specifically ethanol.

Biofuels - this webpage from Shell (the energy and petrol company) explains how they are developing the use of biofuels and considers its sustainability and the future of biofuels.

Biofuels: green dream or climate change nightmare - this webpage from Greenpeace outlines the key arguments that Greenpeace and other environmental charities are worried about if the government continues to develop biofuels. Here is an advert that was recently placed in national newspapers to alert the public to the dangers of relying on biofuels.

Quick guide to biofuels – this article from the BBC website gives a succint account of what biofuels are and their uses, whether they are climate-friendly and the downsides of biofuels. There are also some links to other articles about biofuels at the right of the main article.

Great Britons

rcslibrarian — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 07:30:58 +0000

Charles Darwin – Website 1 – Website 2

David Beckham – Website 1 – Website 2

Diana, Princess of Wales – Website 1 – Website 2

Ernest Shackleton – Website 1 – Website 2

Isaac Newton - Website 1 – Website 2

Isambard Kingdom Brunel – Website 1 – Website 2

James Cook – Website 1 – Website 2

Queen Victoria – Website 1 – Website 2

Steve Redgrave – Website 1 – Website 2

William Shakespeare – Website 1 – Website 2

Mobile phones: are they safe?

rcslibrarian — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:45:23 +0000

Ms Allen’s and Ms Liles-Wood’s Y9 classes are looking into whether mobile phones cause cancer. Here are some links to help your research. This is quite a contentious subject and some of these links may be writing from a particular viewpoint. Think about who is writing each article and what their background may be, before reading what they have to say.

16 masts in Cancer Street
Sun article about a high incidence of cancer in one street which has lots of phone masts.
Click on ‘Next page: for and against’ at the bottom of the page to read two people’s arguments about whether mobile phones are safe or not.

Do mobile phones cause cancer? and Mobile phones and cancer
Two short articles from Cancer Research UK

Early mobiles brain tumour risk
BBC report about a Swedish investigation into mobile phones and brain tumours.

Electromagnetic fields and public health
Fact sheet from the World Health Organisation which outlines key recommendations and health concerns.

Hospitals to allow mobiles
Article from the Daily Mirror stating that patients in hospitals will be allowed to use mobile phones.

Jury still out on mobile health
BBC article outlining some key reports from the New Scientist magazine.

Kids Wi-Fi radiation warning
Article from the Daily Mirror about the potential danger of radiation from wireless internet access in schools.

Mobile cleared of cancer link
Report from the BBC about a Danish study about the link between moblie phones and cancer.

Mobile phone radiation and health
Article from Wikipedia.

Mobile phones and health
Information leaflet from the Department of Health. Be patient, this website can take a few minutes to load.

Mobile phones, magnetic fields and cancer
Short summaries of key scientific studies into whether there is a link between mobile phones and cancer.

Mobiles slash your sperm count by 30%
Daily Mirror article about a Hungarian study.

No link for mobile phones and cancer
Short report from BBC Newsround.

Our mobile phones are safe (probably), but we can’t prove it, say experts
Article from the Daily Mirror outlining the problems.

Powerwatch
Website with lots of information about potential health risks from mobile phone masts, pylons and substations and mobile phones.

Should I worry about… mobile phones?
Article from the BBC’s series ‘Should I worry about…?’ with Richard Hammond.

Click on this link to find more articles on mobile phones and cancer from BBC

Climate change

rcslibrarian — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 08:02:31 +0000

Some UK cities held events to support World Environment Day on Thursday 5th June. Other towns and cities are also looking at how they can be more sustainable and combat climate change. Click on the cities to find out more.

Birmingham - Cambridge - Leicester - London - Sheffield