Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Posted on May 16, 2023 by saraht

Thursday 18^th May 2023 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)! From their website: “The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than One Billion people with disabilities/impairments.”

Library staff are committed to offering accessible digital resources to those who need them. When we purchase books and other resources, our preference is to buy electronic versions. However, this isn’t always possible due to licence or publishing restrictions. We have access to some additional free services for qualifying users – please get in touch to discuss how we can help you.

Our email address is librarydisability@abdn.ac.uk, please contact us any time, for any reason. We’re happy to answer any questions: if we can’t help, we’ll find out who can!

A close-up of a person holding tablet device in front of the Sir Duncan Rice Library.

RNIB Bookshare

RNIB Bookshare is a database of electronic resources offered by the Royal National Institute of the Blind. Their collection includes more than a million books and is completely free to use! All books can be downloaded in various formats and are compatible with screen readers and other assistive software. More information can be found on the RNIB Bookshare website.

To request an account, please ask your disability advisor to contact Library staff – this is so that we can make sure you meet RNIB Bookshare’s eligibility criteria. Library staff will create an account on your behalf then send you an email with the login details. Your account can be used until you leave the University.

Requests to publishers

Library staff can request free accessible materials directly from publishers. To do this, we must meet one of the following criteria:

at least one print copy of the title in stock, or
have electronic access to the title (but for disability-related reasons the student would benefit from a different file type or format), or
the student will own a personal copy and can provide proof of purchase which will be sent to the publisher

This isn’t always successful, or very quick, but we are more than happy to make requests. If you need access to a specific item, please email us at librarydisability@abdn.ac.uk with the title, author’s name, year/edition, and the format you require (eg. PDF, EPUB, or even a print copy). All enquiries are strictly confidential: we don’t share your details with publishers, and we’ll never share your personal information without your consent.

Personal scans

If you need access to a work available only in physical format, library staff can scan items on your behalf. These are only for personal use and must not be shared with anyone else. To make requests, please email librarydisability@abdn.ac.uk with book/article details. We will get back to you if we have any questions, then email the scan to you.

Reading lists

The library works closely with teaching staff to provide digital reading lists for each course. These are hosted in a web-based software package called Leganto. Leganto is compatible with screen readers and has options to change contrast, font size, and pop-up duration. It is also possible to export your entire reading list into an accessible file.

When essential materials are only available in physical format, teaching staff can request digital scans. These must comply with copyright law, so are usually less than 10% of the total work (more information on copyright can be found on our website). These scans can be accessed directly from Leganto and can be read using Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

E-resource providers

Many of our e-resource providers and databases offer features to help with accessibility. For example, VLEBooks offers a Readaloud feature, allowing you to use text-to-speech from any browser. A list of accessibility statements from providers can be found on our website.

Library staff member demonstrating how to borrow books on the self-issue machine.

Direct support

Library staff can also offer one to one support, either in-person or as an online session, at a time that suits you. We can help with a wide range of queries; including how best to use our catalogue, Primo, help with referencing, how to find resources for your assignments, or anything else!

We can make referrals to other support services if you want them (such as Assistive Technology).

Physical accessibility

We can offer a gentle introduction to the library, either for individuals or small groups. We recognise that our users may be neurodiverse, so these can be held at quiet times to minimise distractions. Staff can help with navigating physical spaces and finding an area that works for you, locating and borrowing books, and more. We also offer a book fetching service for our users – let us know if you’d like to access this.

We hope this information is useful. Our email address is librarydisability@abdn.ac.uk. Again, please do get in touch with us any time, for any reason. We’re happy to receive feedback and answer any questions: if we don’t immediately have answers, we’ll investigate and get back to you as soon as possible!

Black History Month – Help us Diversify our Collections

Posted on October 22, 2021 by LauraB

It’s Black History Month and we are looking for your help to Diversify our Collections. If there are any relevant books we do not have, either in print or electronically, that you believe that we should, please let us know and we will look into adding these to our collection.

We have set some funds aside for this and will purchase titles throughout October while these funds remain. Please contact us at subjectteam@abdn.ac.uk with the details of your suggestions for purchase.

This continues work we have already been undertaking to diversify our collections. You can see a full list of titles already purchased under this initiative on our website.

Books stacked showing just some of the titles we have already added to our collection through this initiative

Here is some more information about just a few of the titles we have added to our collection in the last year.

Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

You may recognise this title as it has been highly recommended across social media platforms since its release in 2017. Inspired by her 2014 blog post of the same title, Eddo-Lodge discusses issues such as eradicated black history, the link between class and race, whitewashed feminism, and the political purpose of white dominance. This book has received many accolades including the Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year 2018 by the British Book Awards and is a No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller. This book is an essential read to help understand race in a modern-day Britain.

If you prefer reading a physical book or listening to an audiobook, Aberdeen City Libraries have access to both here – https://bit.ly/3aSSLol.

Race talk and the conspiracy of silence : understanding and facilitating difficult dialogues on race by Derald Wing Sue

Dr. Sue provides guidance on how to turn what may be an uncomfortable conversation into one that is meaningful and how to get over any fears you may have when talking about race. Showing how best to approach, navigate and facilitate conversations about race. He goes over how to identify when a conversation on race may be unproductive, social rules to keep in mind when talking about racial issues, race specific difficulties and misconceptions and advice for parents and educators on how to approach race more effectively. Dr. Sue has included specific chapters on why people of colour may find it difficult to have honest conversations about race. This book seems incredibly useful if you want to have more productive conversations about race and why a ‘colour-blind approach’ may not be very helpful.

Ain’t I a woman by bell hooks

bell hooks provides an essential and classic text in feminist literature. This book covers the impact of sexism on black women during slavery moving into the continuation of the devaluation of black women. She also looks at racism amongst feminists and black women’s involvement in feminism. This is a must read for those looking to expand their knowledge of feminism and read a text that has been deemed ground-breaking in the field.

It is also available as a physical book if you prefer, you can find the details here – https://abdn.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/44ABE_INST/1eeeind/alma990016699270205941

We have also compiled a short playlist on Box of Broadcasts to celebrate Black History Month: https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/playlists/328235

We do hope you enjoy reading and learning from some of these titles and please let us know if you think our collection is missing any books, email subjectteam@abdn.ac.uk with any details.

EBSCO Quick Guide

Posted on June 18, 2021 by lucyd2020

The EBSCO platform contains databases across many subject areas. Each database contains information on research published in selected journals and conferences. Some of the databases contain information related to books. Here are the databases currently available from EBSCO:

Anthropology Plus, Art & Architecture Complete, ATLA Religion Database, British Education Index, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, Education Abstracts, Educational Administration Abstracts, ERIC, European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750, GreenFILE, LISTA, MLA International Bibliography with Full Text, RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, SPORTDiscus, Teacher Reference Center.

Sign in to Primo and search for a title. If the book is available from EBSCO, the following steps will apply:

The library catalogue, Primo, showing the title and link to the catalogue entry for a particular book.

Click on the title of the book to be taken to the book details page and navigate to the full text using your University username and password.

The full catalogue entry with the link to the database where the e-book can be read or downloaded highlighted.

Once you are in EBSCO, the book will be displayed like so:

The book displayed in the online database, with links to the PDF and to Download the item on the left hand side of the screen.

You have the options of Reading the book online (PDF Full Text) or Download the item. If you choose reading online, it will display like this:

The book is now ready to be read online in a PDF format.

If you choose to download, the following messages will be displayed on your screen. Please note that different books may have different downloading options, depending on the Digital Rights Management (DRM) agreements. For a non-DRM book, the steps to download are as follows:

Step 1 to Download the item: Image is highlighting the 'Full Download' link on the left hand side of the page.

The image is showing the prompt that will appear to 'Download Ebook.' There are options to do this as a PDF, or as an 'E-PUB' for mobile devices.

Once the item is downloaded, a second prompt box should appear letting you know.

For a book requiring a DRM licence, please note that you will need to set up an EBSCO Personal Account. Advice on how to do so can be found in this section of the support site: How to create and manage an EBSCO Account.

To download, select your preferred ‘Download Format’ like so:

A prompt box showcasing the different formats to download different items.

Once the item is downloaded, the site recommends you open it with Adobe Reader. More information can be found at:

Searching within EBSCO Books in the eBook Viewer
Adobe Digital Editions: Download

User Features in EBSCO

Once you have found the book(s) you need in EBSCO, there are a range of options as to how you can use them. This Tools section can be found on the right hand side of the item’s display page as shown:

Database display of a book, with the 'Tools' highlighted on the right hand side of the screen.

If you are reading online, similar icons are displayed across the top of the screen:

The 'Tools' for using the book in varied ways are displayed along the top of the screen when reading books online in EBSCO.

Adding/Saving Items to Folder: EBSCO offers this feature to act as a virtual bookshelf, where you also have options to save, print or email the details, and export them to RefWorks or similar programmes.

Exporting Bibliographic Details to Ref Works-Option to Export on right hand side of screen. Opens links to Ref Works and other providers, and can directly export. For further help, please see our detailed Library Guides.

Accessibility-The Help section includes an Accessibility Guide covering navigation of the site, the readers (PDF and EPUB), read aloud software and EBSCO’s commitments.

Help and Support-Extensive Help section on website (top right-hand side of screen). Includes user guides, accessibility pages and tutorials.

Licences-There are three categories here: ‘Unlimited User Access’; ‘Limited Access (3 Users)’, and ‘Limited Access (1 User)’. If the book is unavailable, the site will give various messages along the lines of ‘Item unable to download. Please Read Online’ or ‘Item unavailable for download, please try again later.’

If you wish to search a specific database on the EBSCO platform, please follow these steps:

Go to Primo and sign in at the top right of the screen

Select the Find Databases tab

In the new window that appears enter EBSCO in the box called Database Search and click on search

A list will be created containing the different databases which we currently have access to through the EBSCO platform

Click on any one of the databases to link out to the EBSCO platform. Primo will open the database’s details page. In the View Online section click on the name of the database e.g. ERIC (EBSCO). Once on EBSCO you can change the particular database you are actually searching in. If off-campus, you may be asked to sign in via your institution. Select University of Aberdeen and sign in with your username and password.

For more information see our EBSCO worksheet.

Lucy Drysdale and Louise Faustino

VLeBooks Quick Guide

Posted on April 28, 2021 by lucyd2020

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:

To download: please ensure Adobe Digital Editions has been installed on your device. Instructions can be found at https://www.vlebooks.com/Vleweb/Help/DigitalEditions

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)

Louise Faustino and Lucy Drysdale

Information Skills workshops for PhD researchers: places still available

Posted on June 3, 2019 by eleni boro

The Library is here to help all postgraduate researchers as they begin, or continue their in-depth research, with a short series of Information Skills workshops designed to their needs.

The workshops will take place on the 11th, 12th and 13th of June and will help you understand the resources available to you as researchers here at the University of Aberdeen, and how to get the best out of them.

There are three workshops on offer, each lasting three hours:

Literature searching – Part 1: Getting started
Literature searching – Part 2: Using databases
Literature searching – Part 3: Managing your references using RefWorks*

Across the three workshops we will look at:

Planning your search
Looking for books: using Primo and e-books
Databases of academic literature
Getting the best out of Google
Managing your references with RefWorks
Formatting Word documents with in-text citations and bibliographies

*IMPORTANT NOTE: The workshop focusing on the management of references
(Part 3) is not suitable for research postgraduates in the School of Law, as the software used does not support the OSCOLA referencing style required for legal theses.

To find out more, and to book onto the different workshops please visit www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and look for Library Information Skills classes.

We look forward to seeing you at the workshops!

MAINTENANCE: Wiley Online Library

Posted on March 4, 2015 by University of Aberdeen Library, Special Collections and Museums

A scheduled maintenance for Wiley Online Library will take place on Saturday 7 March from 10.00am for up to 3 hours.

Wiley’s Customer Support Team apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Elaine Shallcross
Information Consultant, Law & Business
e.shallcross@abdn.ac.uk

ScienceDirect books are mobile friendly!

Posted on February 24, 2015 by University of Aberdeen Library, Special Collections and Museums

Do you know that you can download one, selected, or all chapters from a book on ScienceDirect on to your computer or your mobile device? To find out how to do this follow the instructions on Elsevier’s Online Books Connect blog.

The ScienceDirect site is mobile friendly too, so you can view full text online, or view/download chapters directly from the site via the browser on your mobile device. You can also download any HTML article or book chapter in Mobi (Kindle) or ePub format. This must be done on a computer and the files transferred to any eReader device that supports these file types. Instructions for ScienceDirect ePub and Mobi downloads are available online.

Access ScienceDirect via our electronic resources portal, Primo. Open the Find Databases link at the top of any Primo page and simply type ScienceDirect in the Name box. Use the link provided to navigate to the database.

Elaine Shallcross
Information Consultant, Law and Business
e.shallcross@abdn.ac.uk

ADVISORY: Downloading E-book PDF files from Dawsonera

Posted on December 10, 2014 by University of Aberdeen Library, Special Collections and Museums

A problem has been reported when trying to download a PDF file from Dawson. An error message ‘The content failed to load’ may occur.

Reports say that “It is usually traced to a browser / PDF Reader problem. If you are using a browser such as FireFox or Chrome that contains its own integrated PDF reader, the book PDF will appear to download successfully, but if you then try to open it from its tab on the lower LH corner of the browser window (e.g. for Chrome), the file will open with a ‘Failed to load PDF document’.”

A workaround suggested by Jonathan Eaton, Senior Content & Systems Manager (IT) at the Library London Business School is: “Press CTRL + J keys or use the download toolbar button options to “open in folder” (typically for Windows this is C:\Users\\Downloads ) and double-click the PDF which should then open in Adobe Reader.” Alternatively, set your browser options to open PDFs with Adobe Reader, rather than the browser default.

Elaine Shallcross
Information Consultant, Schools of Law and Business
e.shallcross@abdn.ac.uk

Low cost books offer on SpringerLink MyCopy service

Posted on October 29, 2014 by University of Aberdeen Library, Special Collections and Museums

Book lovers – you may interested in a great deal we have with SpringerLink. Staff and students can order their own personal printed copy of an e-book for £24.99, including postage and handling. With nearly 14000 Springer titles to choose from you are spoilt for choice!

The SpringerLink MyCopy service offers ‘Print on Demand’ (POD) copies of a selection of e-books:

published from 2005 onwards, with less than 832 pages.
with an option to order directly from an e-book record.
for individual study only.

Each POD book is branded as a MyCopy book and has a cover in colour, and content in black and white. Illustrations that are in colour in the e-book version are monochrome in the corresponding MyCopy book.

Interested? Linking to SpringerLink can’t be simpler.

Go to the Library home page and search for springerlink in the Search Our Collections box.
Use the link provided in Primo to access the collection.

Springer is one of only a few publishers that permit you to legally download a whole book to your computer or mobile device to keep indefinitely for your own personal educational or research use. Please do not share or send the electronic (or paper) copy with anyone else.

If you cannot read materials in full text when working off campus, look for the Sign up / Log in link on the on SpringerLink website, then select the Institution /Athens Login option. Next, find your institution and Login via Shibboleth using your University computer username and password.

To limit your search to full text books only when browsing the collections make sure you ‘deselect’ the Include Preview-only content. To read a book online, or download a copy to your own computer, click on the title to open the record and select the relevant option to Download Book or download/save/print a PDF file of an individual chapter. You will also see an option to buy a POD copy on a book record.

As you can see our SpringerLink package offers a great deal. We really hope you enjoy this service.

Elaine Shallcross
Information Consultant
e.shallcross@abdn.ac.uk

Dawsonera planned downtime tonight, Thursday 26 June 2014

Posted on June 26, 2014 by University of Aberdeen Library, Special Collections and Museums

Dawsonera have just notified us of a planned downtime tonight (Thursday 26 June 2014) from 21.00 to 21.30.

The dawsonera service will be unavailable for a short period this evening in order to resolve and restore ePubs to the platform. They apologise for the short notice.

Further updates will follow as we have them. To keep updated with all the latest dawsonera news, follow them on Twitter @dawsonera.

Thank you for your patience.

Elaine Shallcross
e.shallcross@abdn.ac.uk

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