Category Archives: Library news

News and posts of interest from the library

Scanning service update: revised key terms

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The Scanning service provided by the Library helps you make book chapters and journal articles more easily accessible for your students online. The material requested must comply with the Copyright Licencing Agency’s Photocopying and Scanning Higher Education Licence. Key terms of this licence have been temporarily relaxed until 30 June 2020 in response to the Coronavirus (Covid 19) pandemic.

  • The scans (subject to publisher permissions) can be taken from either a copy of the text owned by the Library or your own personal copy.
  • The Library can scan up to three chapters from a book or no more than thirty percent of a published work, whichever is greater. This is temporarily increased from the standard licence terms of one chapter, or no more than ten percent of a published work.
  • To request a new scan please fill in a scanning form, providing as much information as possible.
  • Full information on this service is available from the Library’s Scanning webpage.

GCU Staff | Working from home with LinkedIn Learning

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Working from home requires us all to develop new skills and knowledge – from using unfamiliar systems and software to managing our time effectively.

We’ve started to put together some useful resources in LinkedIn Learn that will help to support GCU staff and students throughout this period.

We’ll be adding new content over time so get in touch if there’s anything you’d like to see added.

You can access the collection here.

 

Online access to BS 7671:2018 IET Wiring Regulations

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We are very happy to announce that GCU staff and students now have full online access to the 18th edition of the IET Wiring Regulations as well as guidance notes, the On-Site Guide and the Student Guide to the IET Wiring Regulations. 

To access the regs, search for ‘IET Wiring Regulations’ in Discover or the Database A-Z or click here. Paper copies are also available from both Glasgow and London campus libraries.

Additional study space – Level 3

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Further to positive feedback on additional study spaces on level 2, we are creating more spaces for study on level 3 of the library.

Additional desks and seating will be installed on this floor on 25 and 26 January 2020.

Due the noise that will be generated, the floor will remain closed during this time.

PCs will be available on level 2 with our short-loan laptop vending machine on level 0 for anyone wishing to still use the silent space on level 4.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Upgrades to Pure and Research Online

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Pure and the Research Online portal will undergo a major upgrade from Monday 23rd September 2019. Pure will be unavailable to users until 2nd October 2019; Research Online will remain accessible during this period. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The upgraded system will bring the following benefits to users:

  • Pure system now fully supported and maintained with upgrades and new functionality available each month
  • Cloud hosted system provides reliability and scalability
  • Improved functionality and new Pure portal with clean, modern user interface
  • Access Pure directly on and off campus without the need for VPN or remote desktop
  • Access for all academic staff
  • Improved data quality and integration with other University systems
  • New REF and awards management functionality coming soon

For enquiries regarding the upgrade or system downtime please contact librarysystems@gcu.ac.uk

For urgent enquiries relating to REF eligible outputs please contact repository@gcu.ac.uk

Discover your library – tours running 16th to 27th September 2019

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Saltire Centre walkways

Sign up for a Library tour Monday to Friday, 16th – 27th Sept.  

First tour 10am, then on the hour, until the last tour at 4pm. Tours last only 45 minutes. You will be able to:

  • find the resources you need for your course
  • get started using our huge online library of ebooks and journal articles
  • borrow books and laptops and renew your loans
  • get help from the library staff
  • find the best study space for your needs

We encourage you to come along and get the best start for your studies.

Download the GCU 2019 induction app or book directly on Eventbrite.

New Westlaw

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There is a new version of Westlaw, the law database.   You can access it via the Database A to Z or the Law subject guide.

If you have used the previous version of Westlaw you will find new Westlaw familiar, but it has more features and is easier to use.  The publisher has provided step-by-step help guides which you can find here.

Help is also available from your academic librarian. 

The publisher will be withdrawing the previous version so please update your bookmarks and links.

Screenshot of new Westlaw platform

 

Summer shelving project

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Big changes are coming to the library this summer, making it easier for our students and staff to find the books and journals they’re looking for.

In response to student feedback, the mobile shelving on levels two, three and four of the Saltire Centre will be converted to static shelving. The books and journals currently held on the mobile and existing static shelves will also be integrated, meaning library users will no longer have to go to different sets of shelves to see all of the material on any one subject.

Robert Ruthven, Director of Library Services, said: “Our students have told us that they find the mobile shelving off-putting and difficult to use. This is also reflected in the low usage of the material that’s held in this shelving.

“We’re, therefore, moving these books and journals to static shelving, meaning the material that’s currently ‘hidden’ in the mobile shelving will be easy to find by users as they browse.

“This is a huge project for the library, which involves moving almost every book and journal in our collection.”

The work will be carried out over the summer months, which is typically a quieter period for the library.

To keep disruption to a minimum, work will be carried out on one floor at a time, starting on level four in May, after the exams have ended. Each floor will be closed and the material held on that floor will be unavailable to users for about four weeks while the work progresses. The work is due to be complete by early August.

Robert said: “To give our users as much access to our physical collection as possible, we’re encouraging them to borrow early in advance of the floor closures. We will not charge fines on items borrowed over the summer period and we’re investing in additional e-books. Our inter-library loan service is also available to all students and staff.”

The mobile shelving on Level 0 of the Saltire Centre will not be converted to static shelving. Instead, its electronic-management system will be upgraded and it will be used to house low-use items that have not been borrowed for more than ten years. At the end of the project this material will be available on request and will be fetched by library staff.

The mobile shelving in our Archives Centre, which holds the University’s archives and special collections, is also being upgraded to securely house these resources for many years to come.

Inter-library loan service update

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If you need an item to support your research, teaching or coursework and we don’t have it in stock you can request it through our inter-library loan service.  We have now introduced a quicker, easier method of placing requests through Discover and you can track the progress via your library account.

To place a request, either:

  • Carry out your search and select Expand My Results Beyond GCU Library Collections;

choose the Get it tab where available and sign in;

click Inter-library loan request, you will be taken to the request form which will be automatically populated with the information about your chosen item.

or

For a trial period, we are extending this service to all GCU staff and students.

Full information is available on our web pages.

Please let us know what you think of this service by completing our feedback form.