SMS MSc Student Handbook 2018/19

21. Computing and Library Facilities


School of Mathematical Sciences facilities

SMS provides a shared PGT PC Lab (room W307 on the third floor of the Queens' Building) for MSc and MSci students, with computer facilities for project work, writing dissertations, online research and online access to the library catalogue, e-journals and e-books. There is also a laser printer. Please note that this is a "quiet" room for individual study and for taught PC Lab sessions, and is not a social space, and students are asked to respect this at all times.

There are also four Bloomberg terminals available for use by students, which are identifiable by the coloured keyboard which accompanies each terminal.  Bloomberg is the standard software used in the finance industry for the provision and analysis of financial market data and news, and competence in the use of such terminals may be of considerable benefit to your professional profile / CV.

Fair Usage of the Maths PGT PC Lab (QUEENS' W307)

Use of W307 is limited only to MSc and MSci students in the School of Mathematical Sciences.  No other students or guests are permitted into this room.  No food, drink, alcohol or prohibited items may be taken into this room and no disturbance may be caused to other students.  Any student found in breach of this fair use policy will be subject to a disciplinary procedure which may lead to withdrawal of rights and even expulsion from the course / Queen Mary.


Facilities available to students on the MSc in Mathematical Finance programme

Students studying on the Mathematical Finance programme are encouraged to make use of the facilities provided by the School of Economics and Finance (SEF). SEF have specialist software available to aid your studies, such as Datastream, which provides financial data (current and historical) and time series data, as well as standard econometrics software including Eviews, PCGive, Microfit and Matlab. SEF also provide full subscription access to a wide variety of financial databases such as CRSP and Bankscope and have access to 12 dedicated Bloomberg terminals. If you wish to use the software or terminals you can do so in the SEF offices in the Graduate Centre. Members of the SEF IT Team are available to help you if you encounter any problems whilst accessing the software or terminals.

Facilities available to students on the Financial Computing and Network Science MSc programmes

Students studying on the Financial Computing and Network Science programmes are encouraged to make use of the facilities provided by the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). EECS have three main areas for student computing:

  • The Informatics Teaching Laboratory (ITL);
  • EECS MSc Lab (on the ground floor of the Engineering building, room G52);
  • Computers in the Electronics Laboratory (second floor Engineering building) that are mainly for hardware-associated laboratory work.

You can access information on status of labs in the ITL here.

an introduction from Library Services

The Libraries at Queen Mary provide the study environments, resources and staff you need to support your learning during your time at the university. There are Libraries on each of the main Queen Mary campuses; at Mile End, Whitechapel and West Smithfield. The Mile End library provides resources for all taught subjects, while the Whitechapel and West Smithfield Libraries are the specialist libraries for medicine and dentistry.

The Libraries contain wide-ranging collections of print books and journals and audio-visual resources. If you find that a book that you would like to borrow is in short supply you can put in a request for more books: http://library.qmul.ac.uk/forms/more-books-at-your-request/#form. In addition, the Library provides access to over 14,500 online journals, 142 electronic databases and over 39,000 e-books, all available on-line 24/7. These can be accessed from the networked PCs within the Library buildings, and also from your halls or home or anywhere else you have internet access. You will need to log-in with your Queen Mary Student Service account username and password, which you will get from IT Services when you enrol, to access our e-resources when off-campus.

There are dedicated help points across all our libraries, where trained staff can answer queries. However, our staff are also happy to help with any queries you may have at the point of need. For more complex enquiries about your subject or some of our services, you may be referred to a specialist in that area. In particular, the team of Liaison Librarians are most familiar with the resources for your subject – you will meet them during induction sessions and they can be contacted at any time during your studies.

The library offers specialist subject support for Mathematical Sciences students. To learn more about the resources available to you, please see here.  The Faculty Library Liaison Officer is Mr James Soderman, available by email: j.soderman@qmul.ac.uk or telephone: 020 7882 7299.

Mile End

The ground floor of Mile End Library provides a modern environment where conversational learning is encouraged. There are clusters of networked PCs as well as wireless coverage and power points to every workspace, so you can use your laptop. The ground floor also houses the Teaching Collection, which contains the course reading list books most in demand by undergraduates, the Study Skills Collection, as well as the DVD collection and viewers. Also on the ground floor are the Learning Cafe, bookable study rooms, a seminar room and assistive technology room, as well as printing, scanning and photocopying facilities. The first and second floors of the building, containing the main book and journal collections, are silent study areas, mainly with individual study spaces. The first floor has additional bookable study rooms, a silent PC room and a range of training and consultation rooms, where tutorials and other training takes place. Finally, the second floor contains an Archives Reading Room, for consulting primary sources from the Archives, a Post Graduate Taught Reading Room and a Research Reading Room. Hive West as well as Canalside provides an informal environment for group and social study, with more clusters of networked PCs and printers. You also have The Nest which provides a social space as well as collaborative working spaces for group working.

Whitechapel

Whitechapel Library is based in the church of St Augustine with St Philip, just behind the Royal London Hospital. The Library has up to date course textbooks, as well as print journals, on the ground floor and in the basement. A large number of networked PCs are available throughout the Library, together with printing, photocopying and scanning facilities and wireless network access for laptops. The Library provides a range of study spaces from silent study to more informal areas, with group study facilities located in the recently refurbished basement area.

West Smithfield

West Smithfield Library, within the grounds of St Bartholomew's Hospital, is a traditional library, with the building and interior dating back to 1879. Course textbooks and journals are housed on the ground floor. There is silent study space, and a group study area, Networked Queen Mary PCs, Printing, photocopying, and scanning facilities are all available in the Library and study basement, as well as wireless network access for laptops.

Original primary resources are available in the Archives, which holds institutional and personal archives dating from the 18th Century to the present day. For more information, see the Archives website: http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archives. As an extension of the library collection, Queen Mary also funds access and borrowing rights for all students at Senate House Library, which has one of the largest arts, humanities and social science collections amongst UK university libraries.

Library opening hours

Mile End Library offers 24/7 opening during term-time.  This means you have access to the library all day every day before and during the main exam period. Details will be available on the library website.

Contacts

General:

Telephone: 020 7882 8800.

Email: library@qmul.ac.uk.

Website: www.library.qmul.ac.uk.

Twitter: QMUL Library (@QMLibrary).

Science and Engineering

Email: library-sande@qmul.ac.uk.

Twitter: QMUL Lib Sci&Eng (@QMULLibSciEng).

Information about current research, developments and events within the disciplines of Science and Engineering.

S&E Library Update (@seqmullibupdate).

Sister feed to @QMULLibSciEng. Provides the latest news about your favourite databases and search tools.