Author Archives: resourcemanagement

Read&Relax book club

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On Thursday 17th November, at 4 pm, join us for the first meeting of our themed book club Read&Relax in the Relax&Renew area.

Every month, we will choose a theme/topic and read books about it and discuss them at the following meetings.

The reading group is aimed at boosting international students’ English skills through reading, however we encourage any English speaker to join us, as we believe that the best way to learn is through collaboration and shared knowledge.

That is to say that EVERYONE is welcome to join us! All you need is to think of a book that you really liked, so that we can start from there together. We will play bookish games and fun activities to learn together.

Feel free to bring your own snack and drink.

Click here to register.

Read&Relax book club poster

Do you like reading and talk about the latest books you have read? Join our monthly book club: Read&Relax Thursday 17th November at 4pm. In the library – Relax&Renew area.

Lexis Plus – how to migrate your personal account

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LexisLibrary have recently upgraded GCU to their new Lexis Plus UK platform.

Any users who may have had saved searches, bookmarks or alerts set up in the older version of LexisLibrary can migrate their preferences to the new platform. Please follow the instructions below if you wish to migrate any personal preferences. Continue reading →

New ebook collection – CIPD Advanced

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The library is happy to announce access to a new collection of ebooks from Kogan Page.

The CIPD Advanced ebook collection gives access to 21 core textbooks and further reading for all CIPD qualifications and HR courses, covering human resource management, learning & development, employment law, reward management and more.

Users can find the ebooks directly on the Library’s Discover platform, by searching for “CIPD ebooks” in the Database A-Z or by clicking here.

Zetoc service to be retired

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JISC and the British Library have taken the decision to retire the Zetoc service from 1 August 2022.

This decision has been taken due to a progressive decline in its use and a diminishing number of users. In addition, the emergence of alternative services and changes to the way information is typically searched, means there is no longer a viable strategic case for Jisc to continue delivering this service.

Any users who are currently signed up to Zetoc should have already been contacted by Jisc and informed of their plans. From 1 August 2022 alerts from Zetoc will automatically stop and users will no longer be able to carry out searches.

If you have any particular queries, please contact help@jisc.ac.uk.

As an alternative to Zetoc, you may wish to use the online resource BrowZine. You can find out more information on this resource as well as help guides on our website.

Resource Lists@GCU feedback

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The library recently ran a survey of staff and students on the performance of our Resource List at GCU service during the 2021-22 academic year. Gathering user feedback has been an integral part of growing the service since it was launched in 2019 and our wish is to use the feedback to improve the service for the upcoming academic year.  

We wanted to circulate some feedback we’ve received from our users in order to share some more information about the Resource List service and platform.  

Continue reading →

Relax and Renew – the Library’s new wellbeing space

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A new wellbeing space will be opening in the Sir Alex Ferguson Library on Wednesday 27th April at 2pm.
Located near the Library Desk on Level 0, the ‘Relax and Renew’ area will provide our staff and students with a relaxing, contemplative space where they can take a break from their work and studies and engage with others from the University community.
You can also browse and engage with a selection of resources related to wellbeing and mental health, including self-care resources and literature on hobbies and on non-academic based fiction and non-fiction topics.   You can browse our print collection here.
We are delighted to kick off our book of the month series with a recommendation from GCU student Rachel S. Tying in nicely with Stress Awareness Month, Rachel has recommended Be Well, Learn Well by Gareth Hughes

Be Well, Learn Well by Gareth Hughes: I really enjoyed Gareth Hughes book; Be Well, Learn Well! It’s packed with information on how to learn and improve our wellbeing, including staying motivated and different ways we can study for exams while looking after ourselves. I’d thoroughly recommend it, especially now with exam season coming up!You can check out our April book of the month online here.

Those who are not on campus can access wellbeing resources via the Library’s webpages.

If you have any ideas for events or would like to suggest an item to add to our wellbeing collection, please contact us at: library@gcu.ac.uk

British Standards Online – FileOpen plug in

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We’re aware of an issue downloading standards from the BSI website. This is due to new digital security requirements put in place by the publisher.

For Academic Staff:

To download standards on a GCU computer you’ll now need to install a special plugin called FileOpen. You’ll find the plugin by searching for the Software Centre app on your computer and downloading Install BSOL plugin for Adobe Reader. You need to be signed into the Cisco AnyConnect VPN if you’re off campus. Please restart your machine before attempting to download any files. Files can only be opened in PDF readers such as Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, they can’t be opened in-browser.

You will also need an internet connection to open the documents for the first time. Once your documents have been authenticated, you will be able to access the documents offline.

Please let us know if you have any problems installing the plugin by contacting the team at ertenq@gcu.ac.uk

For students:

If you are using your own device, you will be able to download the FileOpen plug in directly from the BSI platform. You may not need to restart your machine before downloading.

If you are using a machine on campus, the FileOpen plug in will already be installed on your machine. If you have having any problems opening documents, please contact the team at ertenq@gcu.ac.uk

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Sage Research Methods

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The library is happy to announce that it now has online access to Sage Research Methods.

SAGE Research Methods is the ultimate methods library with books, reference works, journal articles, podcasts, an online project planner and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online in one place. The site is designed to guide users to the content they need to learn a little or a lot about their method. The online Methods Maps can help those less familiar with research methods to find the best technique to use in their research.

Users can find SAGE Research Methods on the Library’s Discover platform, by searching the Database A-Z or by clicking here.

12 Days of Library Christmas: celebrating the achievements of 2020

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2020 has proven to be a year of unprecedented challenges. Everyone connected with GCU has worked hard to adapt, delivering key services to the university community online.

The Library has been no different.

With this in mind, we took to Twitter at the beginning of December to celebrate the 12 Days of Library Christmas. From 1-12 December, our daily posts highlighted the volume and scope of work undertaken by Library staff in recent months (mainly from home). Continue reading →