When enquiring about our Library Services or seeking IT advice, you can use our web-based enquiry management system called Freshservice.
To access Freshservice, please click on myit.abdn.ac.uk. You will be asked to sign in, using your University of Aberdeen (UoA) username and password. When you land on the homepage, please select the first option to Report an issue and a new window will open where you can submit details of your enquiry.
Once you have submitted your enquiry, it will be given a unique reference number (ticket number) in Freshservice, which will be emailed to your UoA email account. You will then be able to interact with staff members, ask further questions and receive support.
As soon as all actions and conversations have been concluded, staff will resolve the ticket, and you will receive an email to that effect. A subsequent email will follow with a short satisfaction survey, to offer you the opportunity to provide feedback on the process and on the outcome of your enquiry.
Did you know the quickest and easiest way to return library books is at the Returns Room through the self-return machines? You will find the Returns Room on the Ground Floor of the Sir Duncan Rice Library, to the right of the main entrance.
Photo by Library staff
It’s as simple as placing the books through the slot one by one. They are removed from your borrowing record as soon as they have passed through. You don’t even need to use your ID card to return books this way.
You will also find an external slot on the right-hand side of the entrance to the Library. This is only available when the library is closed so you don’t need to wait for us to open to return your books! You will need your ID card to be able to use this.
Don’t forget to take your receipt as proof of your returned items.
Heavy Demand books can be returned in the Heavy Demand Area on Floor 1 (using the self-issue/returns machine), or at the Returns Room.
If you have any problems with book returns, please speak to any member of staff, or email library@abdn.ac.uk.
Any printing on campus is via networked multi-function devices (MFDs). You can send files for printing from a classroom PC or your personal laptop. There are printers in or near all PC classrooms and at least one printer on each floor of The Sir Duncan Rice Library.
Print from a networked (classroom) PC
To print from a network PC, you need to send your files to a holding queue, e.g. Pull-print-mono on PrintD.uoa.abdn.ac.uk. You can retrieve your files from any MFD on campus by logging in to it using your ID card or your username & password.
Steps:
For Word documents: select the File tab, then Print. For PDFs: select the printer icon in the toolbar
Select the name of the printer, e.g. Pull-print-mono on PrintD.uoa.abdn.ac.uk By default, the printers will print double-sided. You can edit the default settings by clicking on ‘Printer Properties’/’More settings’
When ready, click on the large ‘Print’ icon
Log in to any MFD to print your document
Print from your laptop
To send a job from your laptop to a networked printer, your laptop must be connected to eduroam. In order to do this, please see the following guides on Toolkit:
With PaperCut you can upload files directly to our network from your own devices, whether you are on the move or working off campus. Once you’re back on campus, you can use our MFDs to print your documents. All you need to do this are your University log in details and a device connected to the internet.
On the PaperCut page, log in with your username and password
Click on Web Print, and then select Submit a Job. Select either a Greyscale or Colour Printer and the number of copies, and then Upload your Document.
If the upload is successful, you will see your document(s) listed in the Print Queue (you may notice that details will change from ‘Submitted’ to ‘Rendering Job‘ as it is processed. You will also see details of your file, including date and time, file name, pages, status
When processed, the file status will change from Rendering Job to Held in Queue. You will see two options: Colour-Pull and Mono-Pull. For Black & White, select Mono
When you are ready to send the file to print, click on the button containing the name of the required printer – this will change the file status to Printed. Retrieve the job from the MFD
Log out from the top right corner of the screen
Please note that with Web Print, there is no option to print A3 sized documents.
Top-up your print budget New students start with an initial print budget of £1. Each time you use your ID card to print or copy, the relevant cost is deducted from your print budget.
You will need to log in to the system using your username (e.g. u01abc01) and password. All payments are made in exact multiples of £1 and minimum payment is £5 with maximum payment being £20.
To check your balance:
Swipe your card on the MFD and tap the Pull Print icon. At the top left of the window you will see your name, the number of documents in your printing queue and the amount of credit remaining in your account.
Note: Remember to not top-up more than you need; remaining amounts are not refunded.
The IT service desks are located on Floor 1 of The Sir Duncan Rice Library& Room 1:122, Polwarth Building on the Foresterhill campus. They are open Monday to Friday 09:00-17:00. (Wednesdays: 10:45-17:00; Polwarth desk closes daily 13.00-14.00)
Welcome to the University of Aberdeen. We are pleased that you have chosen to study and do your research while using our resources. We also realise that you may have questions regarding how many books you can borrow, and our rules and regulations. Please read on to learn more about borrowing from the hundreds of thousands of high-quality books available in our Library Collections.
The table below shows you how many books you are able to borrow from our Libraries at any one time, depending on the type of Library Account you have.
Type of Library Account
Number of books you can borrow
Undergraduate Student
20
Taught Postgraduate Student
20
Research Postgraduate Student
40
University Staff
50
Temporary Services Staff
10
NHS Grampian Staff
10
External Members
10
SCONUL Access Students
5
How long can I borrow the books for?
The books available in all of our Libraries can be borrowed for different lengths of time, depending on how much they are expected to be used for teaching or research. See below for an explanation of the different loan types available and how you can easily identify them on the shelves.
Heavy Demand
How can I tell if a book is Heavy Demand?
There will be blue tape on the book’s spine, as well as the shelfmark. These books are core reading materials across all courses and therefore have the shortest loan periods in our collection. Please also be aware that you can only borrow 2 booksat a time from this collection.
How long is the loan?
1 day, due back 10.30am the next day – or Monday if borrowed on a Friday or over the weekend.
If borrowing before 10.30am please check the due date and time carefully – if the item is booked it will be due back at 10.30am that day. Check the screen and your receipt for the due date and time.
A few items are on 3 hour reference. You may borrow the item using the self-service kiosks in Heavy Demand but must return it within 3 hours.
Can I renew the loan?
No phone renewals are allowed. Renewals must be done in person, with the item present. This is because items must be returned by a specific time during the day and very often the item has already been reserved for another reader.
3- Day Loan
How can I tell if a book is 3- Day Loan?
There will be yellow tape on the book’s spine, as well as the shelfmark. These books have been recommended for reading on different courses.
How long is the loan ?
Return within 3 days, weekends included e.g. borrowed Wednesday, due back on Saturday. Holds may be placed to reserve these.
Can I renew the loan?
Items may be renewed as long as no-one else has placed a hold on the item.
Items will be renewed automatically for you if not requested by another reader.
If the book is recalled an email will be sent to your University account telling you when to return it.
You can renew 3-Day Loan items yourself via MyAccount in Primo, or in person at one of our libraries up to 9 times.
4-Week Loan
How can I tell if a book is 4-Week Loan?
There will be white tape on the book’s spine, as well as the shelfmark.
How long is the loan ?
4 weeks from date of borrowing, but they can always be recalled at any time by another user of the library, including over holidays.
If the book is recalled an email will be sent to your University account telling you when to return it.
Can I renew the loan?
Items may be renewed unless recalled or on hold by another reader. If the book is recalled an email will be sent to your University account telling you when to return it.
Items will be renewed automatically for you if not requested by another reader (Aberdeen University students and staff).
You can renew 4-Week Loan items yourself via MyAccount in Primo, or in person at one of our libraries up to 9 times.
Long Loan
How can I tell if a book is Long Loan?
There will be no coloured tape on the book’s spine, only the shelfmark.
How long is the loan ?
Until the end of the Summer term, but they can always be recalled at any time by another user of the library, including over holidays. If the book is recalled an email will be sent to your University account telling you when to return it.
Can I renew the loan?
Recalled items cannot be renewed. Before the annual return of books in May items can be renewed via MyAccount in Primo or in person at one of our libraries.
24 Hour Restricted Loan
How can I tell if a book is 24 Hour Restricted Loan ?
There will be a 24 Hour Loan label on the first page of the book. There will be no coloured tape on the book’s spine, only the shelfmark.
How long is the loan?
Return within 24 hours from the time of issue, weekends included, e.g. issued 16.45 on Tuesday, due back by 16.45 on Wednesday.
Can I renew the loan?
Restricted loans may be renewed as long as no-one else has placed a hold on the item. You can renew 24 Hour Loan items on loan to yourself via Primo up to 9 times.
Self Issue Machines and PINs
Set up your PIN now to access the self-check machines in our libraries!
Did you know that there is an automated system for issuing and returning books in both the Sir Duncan Rice and the Taylor (Law) libraries? Once you have set up your PIN you will be able to use your student ID card and issue books to your library account without requiring the assistance of a staff member!
How to set up your PIN:
You can either follow the instructions and the link sent to you by email shortly after you’ve registered, or you can visit any of our libraries (Sir Duncan Rice, Taylor (Law), Medical) and ask a member of staff to do that for you at one of the Information Points or Help Desks – don’t worry, it only takes a few seconds!
Library Fines
Following a steady reduction in the amount of fines in recent years, and in light of the current cost-of-living crisis, we have permanently stopped charging fines for overdue books. We have done this to ensure wider access to our resources and to ease financial stress on students and staff.
As fines were in place to encourage people to bring items back on time, we need everyone to play their part to make this work – support your University community by checking your University e-mail account regularly and returning items by their due dates.
If items are not returned on time, we will not ask you to pay a fine, but as other students need access to our items, your library account will be frozen and you will not be able to borrow any more items until the overdue item has been returned.
If the item has not been returned after two weeks, we will need to ensure we have a way to provide it to others, so we will begin the process of invoicing you for the replacement cost plus a handling charge.
We also conduct an Annual Return of Books every May across the library service, so please ensure that you keep an eye on your library account.
If you have any questions about borrowing books, or about using our libraries, our staff are always happy to help. Please email us via library@abdn.ac.uk.
Here’s an outline of what help is available from the Library and IT Services for those of you working on your thesis.
Searching for theses in your subject area
You can access three large databases of theses through Primo:
Sign in to Primo
Click on the Find Databases tab
From the left-hand menu, click on the arrow next to All General Resources
Select Theses from the options shown
Then click on each database for more information and to link out and search for relevant theses.
For further information and more theses databases, please see this guidance document created by Library staff.
A selection of University of Aberdeen theses are also available in the Digital Collections section of Primo. There are both Research and Taught Course theses covering a range of programmes, but it doesn’t contain all theses and dissertations submitted at the University of Aberdeen. For Research Theses:
Our Toolkit also provides a wealth of information on IT and Academic Skills to assist in organising and managing your time and information. The IT Services Team have also created the Working with Long Documents section, which has plenty of handy videos and guides to help you with creating and manipulating long documents in MS Word.
Remember, we are here to support you through your studies, so if you require further help and advice, please do contact us via informationconsultants@abdn.ac.uk.
Best of luck to all those of you working on your thesis!
Library staff will be running live Q&A sessions for PGR studentsnext week on21 & 24 June. Please do come along and our team will be happy to provide guidance and short demonstrations based on your needs. Sign up on the Course Booking site.
Remember we are here to support you throughout your studies, so please do get in touch (library@abdn.ac.uk) if you would like some help.
IT help
The IT Services Team have created the Working with Long Documents section on Toolkit, which has plenty of handy videos and guides to help you with creating and manipulating long documents in MS Word.
The IT Services Training and Documentation team are also running sessions on 16 June:
Part 1: Adding Style to Your Thesis, 11am-12pm
Part 2: The Power of Section Breaks, 2pm-3pm
You can sign up on the Course Booking pages. Even if the session is full, it is worth getting on the waiting list as you may still be able to attend.
Best of luck to all those of you working on your thesis!
We thought you might be interested in additional e-resources from theBritish Academy that have been made available through our subscription to University Press Scholarship Online (UPSO). Recently expanded content includes 207 publications, spanning subjects in the humanities and social sciences, with new items being added as they are published.
Access to this electronic collection of books, essays and journals includes the series Proceedings of the British Academy, lectures delivered at the British Academy, available online from 2002 onwards.
The Library also has earlier and current print copies of this journal on Floor 2 of The Sir Duncan Rice Library and at other locations.
Access to UPSO is via the Find Databases tab in Primo. Once you are on the UPSO platform, please look for the Sign in via your Institution option.
Details of other collections that remain available on a temporary basis can be found on our designated Library page, which we update regularly.
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.
Did you know that a small number of e-books are available to us via the VLeBooks platform? These e-books are listed in Primo and require a Shibboleth login. Read on to find out how to access and use books on the VLeBooks platform.
Sign in to Primo and search for a title. If the book is available from VLeBooks, the following steps will apply:
In the book’s record, click on either the title of the book, or the Available Online link. You will be taken to the book’s details page:
In the View Online section click on the blue VLeBooks link. You may be asked to sign in with your University username and password.
Please note: if you didn’t sign in to Primo prior to your search, the following screen may appear:
Do Not Choose the above option. Instead, click on the Shibboleth option and on the next page type “Aberdeen” into the Find your institution box. Select University of Aberdeen. The University’s login screen will appear – log in as normal.
You will then be taken to the book’s details page:
Main options: Read Online & Download (equivalent to borrowing the book.)
If you choose to read online, you will see the below display:
The option for this item is to download for 1-3 days. Other items are avaliable for longer to download depending upon licence agreements.
Once the book has been downloaded, you can either choose to open it with ADE, or simply save the item to your desktop and then move it into your ADE Platform. Once it is displayed within ADE, you will be able to read it like an online book within the set time frame.
Additional Features
Help and Advice – Range of information on the “Help”icon on upper toolbar of VleBooks home screen with advice topics relating to downloading and reading a VLEbooks, and accessibility.
Accessibility Settings – ‘Edit Accessibility Settings’ are given throughout the site, above the link to ‘My Bookshelves.’ There are extensive options here to modify the display to suit your needs.
Also, within the book on the upper toolbar, you can change the background colour and choose the Read Aloud option using the icons at the top right hand of the screen. There is further information available from the ‘VLE Books Quick Reference Guide’, which is accessible through the question mark icon.
Adding Books to your Bookshelf – Add directly from the title page, into named folders if required.
Download Citations – The “Download Citations” function on the book details page will download an RIS File to your device containing the reference details of the item. Please be aware that the RIS File cannot be directly exported to RefWorks or any other reference software from VLE Books. Further information and support in this can be found in our Library guides (https://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/support/library-guides-101.php#R)
Digital Research Services supports researchers at the University of Aberdeen throughout the life cycle of their research projects, from conception to archive. We can support you with IT or data-related queries including but not restricted to those about hardware, software, cloud services, data management (including analysis, data management plans, meta data, protection, and storage). Contact us via digitalresearch@abdn.ac.uk.
InfoLinks 