Archive for the ‘planning’ Category

New Videos Added for ADBE Students

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

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The NBS Learning Channels database has hundreds of videos available which are useful for a wide variety of the courses run by the School of the Built Environment in the University of Ulster.

New videos are added every month. This months interesting selection include:

  • An Introduction to Eurocodes
  • Code for Sustainable Homes – Energy & CO2 Emissions
  • Code for Sustainable Homes – Water
  • Code for Sustainable Homes – Ecology
  • Commercial Property – Case Update
  • Flexible Planning Permissions
  • Fully Licensed? Data Licensing and Digital Rights Management
  • TalkBack: Cecil Balmond, Arup
  • Understanding Sound
  • Engineering a Recovery

To access any of these videos, login to the University Portal and navigate to NBS Learning Channels in the list of Library Databases. All the videos include transcripts and quizzes.

Posted in architecture, civil engineering, database news, planning, property, quantity surveying, surveying | No Comments »

Localaw UK – New Look Database

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Localaw UK is a database that crosses many of the disciplines in the School of Built Environment. It is a useful resource for Housing, Property, Planning, Transport and Environmental Health courses, as well as having a module on Local Government. Covering legislation, case law and guidance relating to these diverse but interconnected areas, Localaw is about to become much easier to use.

Some of the new features of Localaw will include:

  • A breadcrumb trail so you can track your exact position within Localaw UK and how you got there
  • The ability to restrict your search results to cases, statutes or statutory instruments
  • More intuitive search results which include document titles and snippets that show the result in context

Posted in Environmental Health, database news, housing, planning, property, transport | No Comments »

Focus Online Database Extends to Northern Ireland

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

The Focus database for commercial property and planning has recently extended its coverage to Northern Ireland. Focus agents are actively pursuing Northern Ireland deals and making them available via their website. It not only covers office, industrial and retail properties, but also provides in-depth analysis of socioeconomic & demographic statistics for UK towns and areas. The town and area analysis will soon be extended to Northern Ireland too. If you are interested in checking out what’s available in Focus, login to the Portal, go to the Learning Resources Tab and find Focus in Library Databases. The required username and password will be displayed there.

Posted in planning, property | No Comments »

Planex Database – Temporary Access Problems

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Due to a problem beyond our control, the database Planex is currently unavailable. Engineers are working on trying to solve the problem at the moment, and you will be updated as soon as access is restored.

In the meantime, if you need help looking for journal articles relating to planning, property, local government or housing contact your Subject Librarians for further help.

Posted in database news, housing, planning, property | No Comments »

Planning Online Back to Normal

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

We have received a message from Planning Online informing us that it is working again.

The Planning Online website is down.

The webhosts Kattare (based in Portland Oregon) suffered storm damage yesterday and the fileserver is temporarily out of action.  Kattare staff have been working to restore it and we expect normal service to be resumed later today.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Posted in Uncategorized, database news, planning | No Comments »

Planning Online Database – Now Being Updated

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

The Planning Online website has been updated to 20 July 2009  – and you can now view details of approx 6800 new applications and 6600 decisions issued between 25/3/09 and 20/7/09. 

How to view the NEW data – To view new applications in your chosen area use the Map search, grab and zoom to find your location, place your pin, select radius you require and click on the Application Date ‘from’ box.  Then use the pop-up calendar to select 20/3/09 as the ‘from’ date  (leave the ‘to’ box blank) and click on Search.  To view decisions use the same routine for the Decision Date.

Some data still missing – but coming soon  Please note that the website does not show the Conditions, Reasons for Refusal and Informatives that relate to the decisions made since 25/3/09 but this information is expected soon, and subscribers and users will be informed when it is added.

Another quirk of the new information being received from Planning Service means that decision information on the website does not show the original application date. Hopefully, this problem will be quickly resolved.

Planning Online will be updated weekly from now on.  Since reviewing their earlier decision to withhold data, the e-Planning section of Planning Service has been very helpful and cooperative in enabling Planning Online staff to obtain the missing data in an acceptable format. They have also agreed to provide new data to enable the website to be updated on a weekly basis.

Posted in database news, planning, property | No Comments »

Important news for Planning Online users

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Planning Service restricts supply of data to Planning Online
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Users of the database Planning Online may have noticed that no new data from the Planning Service has been added since 25 March 2009. The providers of the database have been informed that a decision has been taken by ‘a senior DoE statistician’ to re-define all electronic planning decision data (not new applications) as ‘official statistics’. The effect of this decision is that the Department cannot release this data in electronic format until the official statistics for the relevant quarter have been published. Unless this decision is reversed, it will result in a delay of between 3 and 6 months in the supply of decision data to Planning Online and other commercial users. This data is not available online through the Planning Service website or any other official source, and until now, Planning Online has been the only source of comprehensive NI planning data.

For planning applications made since 25 March 2009, please consult local newspapers.
To read the full background to this issue go to the news item on the Planning Online website.

Posted in database news, planning, property | No Comments »

RUDI Added to Electronic Resources

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Access to RUDI is now available. RUDI, the Resource for Urban Design Information, contains lots of useful full-text material for the Urban Planning courses in the School. RUDI commissions, researches and creates materials for professionals in the public and private sector.

It provides immediate access to significant studies, guidance, best practice and other documents contributed by professional and government bodies, practitioners, academics and community organisations. Supported by a panel of independent editorial advisors, RUDI offers a unique combination of publishing expertise, practising professionals and academics and features more than 5,000 documents, 20,000 pages and more than 9,000 images.

Posted in architecture, database news, planning, property | No Comments »

The Einstein Channel – Latest Updates

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

One of the most interesting databases we subscribe to is the Einstein Channel, also known as En-Power Media. It contains hundreds of short training videos in four different areas:

  •  Planning
  • Civil Engineering
  • Architecture
  • Surveying

New videos are added each month. Here are the latest additions – you will need your Athens username and password to access them.

A New Standard of Lightning Protection  (21 mins) October 2008
The replacement of the old British Standard BS 6651 with BS EN 62305 will have a significant impact on the design and installation of lightning protection structures. This programme explains why the new standard has been adopted and discusses its key points.
Cross Rail  (19 mins) October 2008
Crossrail’s Dr David Anderson (head of engineering) and Sam Richards (head of urban integration) discuss the history of the project and provide an overview of the planned scheme.
Designing for Air Tightness  (24 mins) October 2008
All new commercial and public buildings must be designed and constructed to limit heat losses, heat gains and air infiltration through the fabric.
Signing up to Wayfinding Techniques  (18 mins) October 2008
Where a proper understanding of wayfinding techniques has not been employed, visitors to buildings such as hospitals, office blocks, transportation centres and retail outlets can become confused, frustrated and even develop a negative attitude towards those locations. In addition, staff employed at such sites may be distracted by those seeking directions – with resultant disruption of activities. Successful …
Sir Bryan Carsberg Interview  (22 mins) October 2008
When the Carsberg Review of Residential Property was first published in June 2008, its recommendation that Home Information Packs (HIPs) should only be voluntary caused some consternation. Nevertheless, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who commissioned the report, concluded that it ’should form the basis for major reform of the property sector’. In this interview, Sir Bryan Carsberg …
 
The Environment Agency’s Flood Map  (21 mins) October 2008
In this programme the Environment Agency’s Richard Groom discusses the agency’s flood map: what it depicts, how it is interpreted, operated and who uses it.
WRAP – Recyling and Waste Reduction  (24 mins) October 2008
The Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Construction (published in June 2008) aims to reduce waste from construction, demolition and excavation (‘CD & E’ waste) to 50% of 2008 figures by 2012. WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Programme, has developed a Construction Waste Commitment to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to increase the amount of recycled content used in construction. …

Posted in architecture, civil engineering, database news, planning, surveying | No Comments »

New Books Display for Property and Planning

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

University of Ulster librarians recently set up a display of recently acquired books for the areas of property and planning.

You can see these titles in the display cabinets by the entrance to the short loan room on the Jordanstown campus.

Some of the lecturers involved in this area came down to browse through the titles. Neale, Louise and Martin  enjoyed a look – you are welcome to borrow any of the titles yourself!New Properrty and Planning Books

Posted in planning, property | 1 Comment »