The Sir Duncan Rice Library and the Medical and Taylor Libraries are currently open for our students and staff. We are unable to provide library access to members of the public.
Remember to bring your staff/student card as access will be via swipe card at the main entrance. Card scanning at the security gates is compulsory to comply with current Government Test and Protect obligations.
Please be aware that a face covering must be worn at all times, including when seated, or display a sunflower lanyard if unable to do so.
Please maintain the 2 metre physical distancing rule whenever possible.
Sanitise hands on entry and exit and during your stay.
Only use study spaces and PCs marked with a green tick and surfaces, PCs and MFDs should be cleaned after use with the wipes provided.
Please also remember that no food or drink, other than bottled water, is permitted anywhere within the library, except when seated in the café.
If a book from the shelf is handled but not borrowed – the quarantine trolleys on each floor next to the atrium must be used.
Follow the designated one-way routes and please remember, lifts are to be used by one person at a time, so please leave more time to move around the building.
Please only approach Library Staff who are seated behind support desk screens.
We continue to welcome all University users who have no suitable alternative study space available to them. If a user is unable to evacuate unaided, we require prior arrangement before we can allow access – please contact libnotice@abdn.ac.uk for assistance.
A Click and Collect service is available through Primo, for those who prefer not to come into the library at present. This is a next day service and is available Monday to Friday. An email notification is issued when the requested items are available for collection. You can find more information about the Click & Collect service here.
Please note these guidelines are subject to change according to the guidance provided by the Scottish Government. Thank you for helping to keep our Libraries and Community safe.
We are pleased to announce that from Monday 26 April, as Scotland moves to Level 3 restrictions, we will be extending opening hours at The Sir Duncan Rice Library and the Medical Library (Foresterhill campus). Also, the Taylor Library will be reopening.
The Sir Duncan Rice Library and the Taylor and Medical libraries will all be open for our students and staff:
Monday-Friday 09:00-20:00
Saturday & Sunday13:00-17:00
Wolfson Reading Room to re-open
From 26 April we will also be able to offer research access, on an appointment only basis, to University of Aberdeen staff and students. For more details, please see https://bit.ly/2QNtHs4.
Hardback Café
As of Monday 26 April the Hardback Café in The Sir Duncan Rice Library will also be open Monday-Thursday 10:30-19:00 and Friday 10:30-17:00.
Further changes
Service changes will also see an increase in seating capacity at all library sites. Access to bookshelves will also be restored. Please note that Floor 1 of The Sir Duncan Rice Library will continue to be kept free of study spaces. Study spaces will be available from floors 2 through to 7.
All Covid safety rules remain in place, including the wearing of face coverings at all times and a restricted number of study spaces.
If you do visit our libraries, please be aware that all the rules we put in place in 2020 still apply. These measures exist to ensure that we are keeping both you and our staff safe. Support us by taking time to read them and please observe the rules without requiring Library staff to remind you.
We’ve made some important changes in response to new Covid-19 restrictions in mainland Scotland. Please take some time to review the changes before you visit.
The Sir Duncan Rice Library (TSDRL) will be open 10:00 – 17:00 Monday to Friday from Monday 11 January. The Medical and Taylor libraries will open at a later date when it is safe to do so.
There will be access to a limited number of study spaces in TSDRL however we ask that you use these spaces only if you have no other suitable study space available to you.
Books are only available on our Click and Collect Service and cannot be accessed freely on the shelves. (This is a Scottish Government requirement)
We recognise the enormous value of the Library to our students and are working extremely hard to offer you Library services during this challenging time. Please help us by taking care to understand the rules and only visiting in person if you have an essential need. Please check the updated FAQ later on Monday 11 January, and email library@abdn.ac.uk if you cannot find answers to your questions.
If you have queries or comments specifically about our COVID-19 measures, please get in touch with coronavirus@abdn.ac.uk.
We have worked to reorganise our library spaces and services to ensure that they are COVID-19 safe for all of our staff and students. This work has followed Scottish Government guidance and has involved Library, Estates and Health and Safety professionals at the University. In order to allow safe access to resources and study spaces we have had to make a number of changes and the arrangements are outlined here. Please take the time to review these changes before you visit. We will continue to review our approach and welcome your feedback.
Opening dates
From Monday 14th September The Sir Duncan Rice Library will be open Monday to Friday, 9.00am – 5.00pm
From Monday 21st September, it is anticipated the hours will be extended and will include weekends – further details will be confirmed shortly.
Plans are progressing for the re-opening of the Medical Library at Foresterhill and the Taylor Law Library – dates for re-opening will be confirmed soon.
Hygiene
We are increasing the amount of cleaning being done throughout the building and introducing regular touch point cleaning. We ask our users to help by washing hands regularly, using sanitiser on entrance and elsewhere (it is provided on all floors) and using wipes to clean keyboards and printer/scanners. We also ask that no food or drink (except bottled water) be brought into the building.
It is also a legal requirement that face coverings are worn all the time you are in the building, unless using the café (see details below).
Capacity
We need to maintain 2 metre physical distancing in the building and this has meant a substantial reduction to the number of desks we have available at this stage. We are providing 170 desks on the upper floors (of which, 22 have PCs). When we reach this number of users through the security gates, we will be unable to allow anyone else through until people leave. There will be a queuing system in place on the ground floor to allow a small number of people to wait. However, we do not expect to reach capacity in our first week of opening. We cannot provide for group working in the building. The building will be open to University of Aberdeen students and staff. External Library members cannot access the building but can use the Click & Collect service by arrangement. Access to visitors including schools and the general public is not yet possible.
The Special Collections Reading Room
Our Scan & Send service will continue to operate, enabling digital rather than physical access by researchers. Images will be provided for research, rather than publication purposes, and large-scale digitisation will not be possible as we focus on supporting numerous requests. We will try to prioritise photography and scanning according to the urgency of need.
From 14 September, in-person bookable access to the Reading Room is possible for University of Aberdeen staff and students. Research visits will be limited to enable social distancing and enquiries should be made at least one week in advance.
Books and other printed materials are available to browse and borrow but need to be placed on the quarantine trolleys provided after use, unless being borrowed.
We will also continue to provide our Click and Collect service to allow you to order items for collection at the entrance.
Service desks
In order to protect staff and students we aim to keep interactions to a minimum. Library staff should only be approached if absolutely necessary and when they are behind screens at service desks.
Café
We plan to reopen the Hardback Café with appropriate safety arrangements in place and will provide news about this in due course.
Whilst we are looking forward to welcoming students and staff back to The Sir Duncan Rice Library, please work with us by taking care to understand the requirements, being patient about these new procedures and following all the guidelines. This will help us avoid the need to impose further restrictions and make it easier for the Library staff working in the building.
A summary of our new building use requirements
These signs will be displayed on digital screens in the Library, to remind you when you enter the building.
Please observe the following rules when you visit:
Remember to bring your staff/student card as access to The Sir Duncan Rice Library will be provided via swipe card through the card-controlled door to the left of the main sliding entrance door. Card scanning at the security gates is compulsory to meet Government Test and Protect obligations.
Use hand sanitiser on entry and exit and wash hands or use sanitiser during your stay
Wear your face covering at all times or display your lanyard or show your exemption card if you are unable to wear a face covering
Maintain two metre social distancing and follow the designated one-way routes
Clean surfaces, PCs and Multi Function Devices (MFDs) after use with the wipes provided
Place any handled books which you do not subsequently borrow on the trolleys provided
Only approach Library staff who are seated behind support desk screens
Note that no food or drink other than water is permitted in the building.
Once in the building:
Lifts to be used by one person at a time, so please leave more time to move around the building
Only study spaces marked with a tick can be used, allowing 2m distancing
The water stations on each floor will not be available – please bring your own water (no other food or drink must be consumed in the building)
Due to the current restrictions and physical distancing, assisted evacuation from upper floors is not possible. However, study spaces will be provided on the ground floor for users who cannot safely access other floors.
Please speak to a member of staff at the Welcome Desk if you have any concerns or require assistance. Our updates page is at bit.ly/COVID-19LibraryUpdates
The Library’s Click and Collect Service, and the Special Collections and Museums Scan & Send Service, have now restarted, following a short suspension.
Our Click & Collect Service, which allows readers to request items which are currently available in any of our libraries and then collect them from The Sir Duncan Rice Library, will allow our users to place requests by logging in to Primo. Staff will then fetch the items and issue them, and readers will be informed by e-mail when the books are available for collection.
Please note that this service is currently for items that are not on loan. Items held at the Medical and Taylor Libraries may take a little longer to provide, as we will need to retrieve them on demand and bring them to TSDRL.
After you have received an email notifying you that the item is available for collection, you should come to the front of The Sir Duncan Rice Library between 13.00 and 16.00. When collecting items, we ask readers to observe the 2 metre social distancing guidelines. You will require your ID card to collect items and only 1 person at a time will be permitted to enter the collection area.
Any items not collected within 5 working days will be returned and reshelved following quarantining.
Special Collections will also be providing a Scan and Send Service to enable digital rather than physical access by researchers.
Library books can now be returned by using the external book drop slot at The Sir Duncan Rice Library, following the move to Phase 2 of the Scottish route map. Please use this facility for any of your University Library books, irrespective of which of our Library sites you borrowed the book from.
You will need a current student, or staff, ID card to use the book drop slot. If you have any difficulties in using this facility, please contact Library staff on libnotice@abdn.ac.uk.
We would like to remind our users that even though our libraries are physically closed, access to e-resources is unaffected and Library staff are here to help you make the most of our service.
Previously we told you about our list of additional e-resources made available temporarily by publishers, in support of online teaching, learning and research during the COVID-19 outbreak.
In today’s post we would like to highlight JSTOR, a collection of important scholarly journal literature. This database spans many disciplines and is particularly good for literature searching in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
In addition to the resources already available to us via JSTOR, we also have temporary free access to many thousands of additional full text journal articles and full text books across a wide range of areas. In addition, 26 journal archives in Public Health are available to everyone. Details available at https://about.jstor.org/covid19/.
Please note that this additional free content is not available within our alumni subscription.
Access to JSTOR is via Primo: remember to sign in to Primo and navigate to JSTOR via the Find Databases tab. Once on the JSTOR platform you can click on ‘Browse’ or perform an ‘Advanced Search’. You may find this worksheet useful.
As University of Aberdeen students are now spread far and wide, some of you may be missing your University city and region. VisitAberdeenshire have created a wonderful online project called #ABDNwillwait. Through the website you can explore some of the highlights of the region, from virtual castle tours to local recipes! Something to enjoy before you can return in person, or arrive for the first time in the Granite City.
One particular highlight is The Ballad of Blue, Granite and Green, winner of the Sound of the North-east competition. It was created by Benjamin McMillan, an Aberdeen Music graduate, and Paul Anderson, an honorary research fellow of the University’s Elphinstone Institute.
Our picture at the top of this post is of Dunnottar Castle, former home to one of the most powerful families in Scotland and inspiration for Disney’s Brave. University of Aberdeen graduate Gordon Cameron is a technical advisor at Pixar Animation Studios, who created the film.
We would like to remind our users that even though our libraries are physically closed, access to e-resources is unaffected and Library staff are here to help you make the most of our service.
Previously we told you about our list of additional e-resources made available temporarily by publishers, in support of online teaching, learning and research during the COVID-19 outbreak.
In today’s post we would like to highlight Kortext, an approved third party e-book provider, through whom we have temporary free access to a small selection of online textbooks. The e-books available are listed on our page: bit.ly/COVID-19LibraryUpdates
(Scroll to section ‘Temporary access to Additional E-Resources’ – Kortext)
Some of the items we have temporary access to via Kortext:
Bryman, Alan. Social Research Methods. 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. Available via Kortext at https://app.kortext.com/borrow/242728
Please note that the first time you log into Kortext, it is necessary to create a Kortext account. Click here for further instructions on how to access and use Kortext.
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We would also like to remind you of VitalSource Helps, another scheme that provides temporary online access to selected textbooks for users who are currently unable to borrow print materials.
Publishers taking part in the scheme include the American Psychological Association, Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor and Francis and others.
Students can create a bookshelf within VitalSource and select up to 7 textbooks from the range of participating publishers.
Please note that some of the textbooks accessible via VitalSource Helps may also be available through existing Library subscriptions or via alternative temporary access providers. Check Primo and other temporary resource providers before selecting and saving your 7 titles to your VitalSource Bookshelf.
We may be unable to post books out to our Education Distance Learners at the moment, but we are still here to help. As always, the Distance Learner team are available Monday-Friday from 9am-12pm, responding to your queries. Please get in touch with distancelib@abdn.ac.uk if you need help with anything, as we would be happy to help!
Since the library building closed, we have been working hard to gain access to more e-books which are available via our online catalogue Primo.
We also have temporary access to some additional electronic resources; you can find a full list of what we have access to here. VitalSource and EBSCO eBooks are two that you may find particularly useful as they have access to some useful education resources and e-books. First time users of VitalSource: click on ‘Create a VitalSource account’. After setting up an account, VitalSource lets you borrow up to maximum 7 textbooks, you can read more information about VitalSource in one of our blog posts here.
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