My brother is getting married this weekend, and along with revising my best man speech (gulp), I’m also anticipating a lot of relatives and newly minted in-laws asking the perennial question; what is it you do again?
GCU Archive Centre reading room
As ever, I’ll smile and reply that I work as an archive assistant. They’ll nod, pause and then ask, but what do you do? And that’s where it gets tricky.
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:
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.
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.
Please be aware that Lynda.com will be undergoing essential maintenance on Tuesday 9 July, the resource will be unavailable during this time. This essential maintenance is being undertaken in order to upgrade to their new platform, now called LinkedIn Learning.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
The life of a project archivist can sometimes be quite isolated. You can spend hours on your own in the archives arranging and cataloguing records. But sometimes a project comes along where you get to interact more with people, as I have discovered working on the Social Enterprise Collection (Scotland).
Working on records in the Archive Centre
Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) Archive Centre holds the Social Enterprise Collection (Scotland) which is a national archive of records from organisations and individuals involved in the social enterprise movement across Scotland. Continue reading
The Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science (affectionately known as the ‘Dough School’) may not immediately come to mind when one thinks of D-Day. Yet in the form of the flag carried into battle by the 308 Battery 128th (Highland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 51st Division, the College was represented.
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.
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:
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.
To meet someone gifting to the Archive Centre is (at least for this writer) in parts agreeable, humbling, and slightly nerve-inducing – exacerbated manifold if the materials are of personal or sentimental value.
The neatly folded and dry-cleaned blazer which Doreen Blanche brought to the reading room had belonged to her late mother and was the first of its kind received to Glasgow Caledonian University Archive Centre. Pale blue with purple stripes, it was worn by students of the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science – colloquially and affectionately referred to as the ‘Dough School’. Later renamed The Queen’s College, Glasgow, it is a founding institution of GCU.
We thought it would good to update you regarding our 2018 festive Feedback campaign, and some of the actions that have taken place in response to your feedback.
We received 72 responses over the festive period covering these areas:
19 positive comments were directed to our library staff including:
“I feel library staff and librarians are very friendly and helpful.”
“I was happy with the quality of response and help I received from my librarian when I e-mailed for help. She gave me clear explanations and was willing to help further by offering face-to-face help if I had not understood the e-mail. Thank you!”
“Thank you so much for the drop in sessions. I also got to call in for some referencing clarifications – I was pleasantly surprised all my questions were answered. Wishing you & your family a Merry Christmas”
“Thanks a bunch for all the work you do!”
We also received a further 19 kind comments relating to the library as a study environment including:
“Great place to study! Really enjoying it.”
“Enjoy every moment, every second. Love you :)”
“I think you have done an excellent job in creating a great environment for the students to study in.”
“Very nice and cosy library. Excellent job!”
As with all feedback campaigns, we also look to find areas we can improve on. We received feedback relating to catering, temperature, PC availability, and opening hours.
In relation to PC availability, we have a tracker for our computer usage in the Saltire Centre found here. In addition to this, our lapsafe vending machine on level 0 allows you to borrow a laptop for up to 3 hours – ideal if you need to find a quiet area to study, or wish to use one of our bookable study rooms.
The library continues to support students with extended opening hours during exam times. This included 24-hour opening from 2nd – 25th January 2019. GCU also offers students access to the 24-hr lab in the Students’ Association building 365 days a year.
Comments relating to catering and temperature issues back to our facilities management department, and will continue to liaise with them throughout the year when feedback is received.
Please remember that we are happy to listen to your comments at any point throughout the year. Our roving library staff are available on all floors of the library, so should you need any help please don’t hesitate to ask them. Our library desk on level 0 is staffed between 9am and 8pm Monday –Friday, and between 10-6pm at weekends.
Alternatively you can follow and contact us on Twitter @SaltireCentre, or use our feedback form: https://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/contactus/feedback/.