Library guide for exams and revision launched online
The University Library’s team of Academic Support Librarians has now launched a new LibGuide for Exams and Revision, to help all students over the coming weeks. It is live at https://edinburgh-uk.libguides.com/exams/
Temporary access to e-textbooks until 30 June 2020
An approved third party e-book provider – VitalSource – has arranged temporary free access to selected textbooks from participating publishers for students who are unable to borrow print course materials due to COVID-19 campus closures.
Students may create a VitalSource Bookshelf personal account, and then select up to 7 textbooks from the range of participating publishers.
The range of publishers currently includes American Psychological Association; Bloomsbury Academic; Bristol University Press; Cengage; Edward Elgar; Elsevier; Macmillan International Higher Ed; McGraw Hill; Kogan Page; Pearson; Springer Nature; Taylor and Francis; Wiley; WW Norton. More publishers are being added, with the list available here: http://get.vitalsource.com/vitalsource-helps-ukir
Please note that the Library may already provide access to some of these textbooks, so it is worth checking DiscoverEd first (http://discovered.ed.ac.uk/) before selecting any of your 7 titles in VitalSource Bookshelf.
Setting up access to VitalSource Bookshelf:
- The Vitalsource Bookshelf login page provides instructions for students to set up a personal account – you must use your University of Edinburgh e-mail address ending @ed.ac.uk
- You will be asked to confirm your e-mail address, and you may then sign in and search for textbooks relevant to your studies
- Once you locate a relevant title, hover over it and click ‘borrow’ – please note that you may only borrow 7 titles – once you click on a book to borrow it, one of your allowances is used, and you cannot swap titles.
- VitalSource have FAQs which provide help and information: http://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360044467674/.
- If you are using a mobile device to access the Bookshelf, you will only see e-books which you have already selected/successfully launched. If you would like to download a book on device, you would need to launch it through the web browser first.
If you have problems please email IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk
Online study resources
Every day we see more publishers and suppliers giving us free access to more and more online study and research resources! You can see our regularly updated guide here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/covid-19
Just one example of open access material that you may find useful is The MIT Press’ offering of open access books and journals: https://mitpress.mit.edu/mit-press-open
Another place to look for open access books is the Directory of Open Access Books: https://doabooks.org/
UCL Press has open access books on art history: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/collections/area-studies-1 , the built environment: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/collections/built-environment and urban studies: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/collections/urban-studies among other subjects.
This update from the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, about open and free online resources, may be of interest to our art historians: https://www.history.ac.uk/library/collections/online-resources/open-access-resources
Covid-19 library update 24th March 2020
Please note that the University closed the Main Library at George Square at 5.00pm on 23rd March, and all libraries will now be closed until further notice.
For students with appointments at Student Counselling – you will be contacted directly to arrange an alternative.
The University is looking into alternative provision of safe study spaces for those that need it, and an update will be sent out as soon as possible from Tracey Slaven, Deputy Secretary Strategic Planning.
Please heed the Government advice and stay home and practice safe social distancing at all times.
You can check the latest updates and information from the Library at https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/covid-19
Support for revising from home
The University has a wide range of guidance and support for students revising for exams from home.
The IAD provides an online Exam Bootcamp on Learn, which includes revision advice. See https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/undergraduate/exambootcamp
You can also find lots of great online guidance and training on the IAD Study Hub at https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/undergraduate/learning-resource
You might also find the myriad online resources available on LinkedIn Learning to be very useful when you are revising from home: go to https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/is-skills/linkedin-learning
Working online using digital library resources
All students are encouraged to access our many digital library resources to help continue their studies remotely.
You can access the library journal article databases for your subject here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/library-databases/databases-subject-a-z
You can access your subject guides here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/subject-guides
You can make full use of LinkedIn Learning resources here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/is-skills/linkedin-learning
The Library catalogue DiscoverEd includes thousands of ebooks and full text e-journal articles. Go to https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery
Ensure you can access all these resources remotely from home by registering with the VPN (virtual private network), see https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/computing/desktop-personal/vpn
Voyage boxed: sea journeys, island hopping & trans-oceanic concepts
Our new display at ECA Library features Voyage boxed: sea journeys, island hopping & trans-oceanic concepts, curated by Imi Maufe and Rona Rangsch, Künstlerhaus Dortmund, c.2014.
This beautiful Artists’ Book consists of a collection of art works and an exhibition catalogue issued in a square box. The collection of artworks consist primarily of printed material on paper, a combination of single sheets and booklets, one wooden board printed in colour with string with a small sheet folded concertina style attached, plus a compact disc of ocean wave sounds. The artworks are either 15 x 15 cm, or folded to approximately the same size. Leaves of clear wax paper are interspersed between each work. The artworks are variously photographs, collages, drawings and poetry.
The box also includes one crumpled corner of a map of Shetland (20 x 20 cm), crumpled tissue paper, an unbleached fabric ribbon and a small ceramic egg, in a cloth bag with drawstring.
The 20 artists collaborating in this work included Nancy Campbell, David Faithfull, Christine Morrison and Ian Stephen.
Accompanying CD: Sea of curves, by Jeff Talman, with researchers Matt Fowler and James Traer.
Published in a signed and numbered edition of 50 copies.
ECA Library’s copy is number 42.
Dissertation Week 2020
UPDATE: 16th March 2020: due to the current pandemic the Dissertation Fair has been cancelled. Some of the online dissertation support sessions will still go ahead. Please see the Main Library twitter feed for details, or go to https://twitter.com/EdUniLibraries
The University Library will be hosting a week-long series of events helping you to Make the Most of Your Dissertation, from 16th – 20th March 2020, following a successful pilot in November 2019.
For more information go to the Guide at http://edinburgh-uk.libguides.com/dissertation
There is also support and guidance information about dissertations at https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/study-hub/learning-resources/dissertations
You can see the courses on offer from the Digital Skills team at https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/is-skills/programmes-courses-and-toolkits/classroom-based-courses
RIPM Jazz Periodicals online archive trial goes live!
We are delighted to announce that our trial access to RIPM Jazz Periodicals online archive is now active.
RIPM Jazz is a fully searchable rich and extensive collection of American Jazz Periodicals, a key primary source reference and research tool for all libraries. It benefits from RIPM’s partnership with the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, which holds one of the most extensive collections of jazz periodicals in the world.
To access the trial go to https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/library-databases/e-resources-trials
Enjoy!
Digital resource trials for ECA students
ECA Library has organised a couple of digital resource trials which are open to all ECA and UoE students and staff.
Our current trials are for:
1: Yale A&A E-Portal. This gives access to Yale press ebooks and a very smart image search function, and will be of most use to History of Art students and also architectural history and design students.
2: Bloomsbury Architecture Library. This gives access to a wealth of architecture ebooks, and the complete digital Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History of Architecture.
To access both of these trials and several others, go to https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/library-databases/e-resources-trials
In a few days’ time our trial access to RIPM Jazz Periodicals online database should also go live and will be accessible from the above link.