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.  

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Scottish Marxist: blending politics and the arts – guest blog by Cameron Wilson

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Our guest blogger, Cameron Wilson, is a member of our Library’s Collection & Discovery team. Cam joined us for a two week project working with the Scottish Marxist. Here he gives us his personal reflections on its value as a primary source.

“The function, as it seems to me,  
O’ Poetry is to bring to be   
At lang, lang last that unity…”

  • Hugh MacDiarmid

As part of my library assistant graduate trainee program at Glasgow Caledonian University’s Sir Alex Ferguson Library, I was afforded the opportunity to intern in the library’s archive centre for two weeks. This internship has involved working with one of the most rewarding and valuable pieces of print media I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading – Scottish Marxist. For these two weeks I have worked on a comprehensive index of Scottish Marxist’s political articles, arts and culture articles, and original illustration and poetry.

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Keep the heid and read! – Library wellbeing event

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Coinciding with Mental Health Awareness week 9-15 May 2022 the Sir Alex Ferguson Library is supporting Keep the heid and read!: Scotland’s Reading moment 2022.

Reading just 6 minutes a day can improve your mental health.
To find out more and how to join in and visit Keep the heid and read! 

If you are on campus why not visit our new wellbeing space Relax and Renew at 3pm on Wednesday 11th May 2022 and join staff and students from the GCU community to pledge your 6 minutes and read.

You can select a book to read from our wellbeing collection or just relax and read in the space (near the Library desk on Level 0).

 

 

 

 

 

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

Workers Education Association Scotland archive – guest blog by Ray McCowan

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On the 24th January 2022 – International Day of Education – GCU Archive Centre are delighted to announce that the Workers Education Association Scotland story will be preserved, catalogued and made available for the use of current and future generations. WEA Scotland have played an important role in education for the common good over almost 120 years to date and now their historical records will begin a new life as a research resource, available to all. First discussed in early 2020 it was not until September 2021 that the full collection arrived here. This was, of course, mainly due to restrictions caused by the pandemic.

Our guest blogger Ray McCowan is the Director of the WEA Scotland. Here he tells the story of bringing their archives together and creating a national heritage collection. 

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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.

New study spaces on Level 2 and 3

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We are installing new study spaces on Level 2 and 3 of the Library on Saturday 2nd October and Sunday 3rd October. There will be some noise associated with this work. If you feel that this noise may affect your use of the Library, please feel free to use another area in the building. Level 0 has space for both individual and group study, and Level 4 is available for silent individual study.

We look forward to seeing you this weekend, and if there is anything we can assist with please contact us using the chat function on the Library homepage or by email at library@gcu.ac.uk.