Tag Archives: IT

Welcome to the Library

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external photo of the Sir Duncan Rice Library

It has been exciting to see our new and returning students in the Library after the winter break. Library staff are here to help you make the most of our resources and services, whether you are based on, or off, campus. Please get in touch with any queries you may have.

For general or subject-related enquiries, contact us on library@abdn.ac.uk, or please do enquire in person: Library staff will be available at set times at the Information Centre on Floor 1, or on Floors 5 & 6 of the Sir Duncan Rice Library.

If you wish to contact the Information Consultant for your discipline, please check our website for their contact details.

Library Resources

When searching for books on your Reading List, or other resources, please use the Library’s discovery tool, Primo. Primo provides information about our printed resources, and is also the recommended access route to our extensive e-resources, digital collections and databases.

Our comprehensive Library guides offer detailed answers to any questions you may have about our resources. If you haven’t used Primo before, you may find the following guides helpful:

Primo Quick Guide
Primo: How to do a simple search successfully  
Primo: How to do an advanced search successfully
Accessing e-resources 

Please do contact Library staff if you are having trouble accessing or finding your resources. We are happy to help.

IT Issues

If you have any problems with your device or accessing information, please contact the IT Service Desk.

Visiting the Library

Please note that there is now a webpage on our site where you can see the current occupancy of the Sir Duncan Rice library and the Taylor library. Before you visit any of our Library sites please view our Library Opening hours.

Please follow us on our social media channels to keep up with news from the Library. Once again, we would like to extend a warm welcome to all our students and wish you all a happy new year.

Taught Postgraduates – further help with your dissertations and projects: library & writing skills

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student typing

In our previous post we told you about the upcoming online courses organised by our colleagues in IT in support of PGT students formatting and writing their dissertations using Word. There are still places available – please book a place by visiting abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and selecting category ‘IT Services Training and Documentation Team’.

In this post we would like to draw your attention to the support provided by the Library and Student Learning Service.

We have prepared a series of short recordings presenting techniques, tips and resources to help you find academic scholarly books and journal articles and reliable support materials. The issues of plagiarism and correct referencing are also covered as well as instruction on reference management software RefWorks.

Our colleagues in the Student Learning Service have also prepared the following recordings:

– ‘Planning and writing a dissertation’
– ‘Writing a Literature Review’

These useful materials can be found on our wiki at:
http://finditfastlibraryworkshops.pbworks.com/ – click on the ‘Taught Postgraduates’ tab on the pink line across the top.

Please get in touch if you need help with anything! Information Consultant details can be found at: http://bit.ly/InfoConsultants

 

 

Where to go for help in The Sir Duncan Rice Library

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A comfortable study and learning environment for all
The Library is here to support your study and research by providing a range of study spaces to suit your individual needs. Members of staff can be contacted at any point, in person or via email/telephone, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries about the Library’s facilities and services.

Finding the information you want – using the resources
Find books and journals in print and electronic format, museum objects, theses, images, exam papers and more just by using Primo, the Library’s discovery tool. If you are having difficulty using the different functions within Primo, speak to a member of staff in the Subject and Enquiry Team, on Floors 4-6 of The Sir Duncan Rice Library (north east side of building).

If you have a subject-specific question, need help constructing a search strategy or using one of our specialist databases, speak to the Information Consultant for your discipline. A detailed list can be found here.

Borrowing enquiries, fines, using the Heavy Demand section, collecting reserved items
Speak to staff at the Information Centre on Floor 1 if you need help placing requests on books or collecting reserved items. Staff on Floor 1 can also advise on fines, Inter-Library Loans and access to your borrower record. The Heavy Demand section is on the west wall of the building, next to the Information Centre. It contains books that are heavily used, a DVD collection, study spaces, self-service kiosks for borrowing, returning and paying fines. It also contains MFDs for copying, printing, and scanning. Staff on Floor 1 can provide advice on how the Heavy Demand section works.

Copying/printing
Speak to any member of staff on floors 1 to 6, if you need help using the MFDs. Also, there are detailed guides on the notice boards behind the MFDs to help you understand the functions of scanning, printing and photocopying. Remember to top up your printing budget! For information on paying for printing, click here.

IT-related queries
Our IT service desk is the first point of contact for issues relating to connectivity, printing, username & password problems, remote access and more. The service desk is located on Floor 1 of The Sir Duncan Rice Library. You can also email servicedesk@abdn.ac.uk or call 01224 -273636 (this number also connects you to the Out-of-Hours service). Calls can also be logged through MyIT, a self-service facility for reporting problems.

Printing and binding your dissertation
The University’s binding service is on 23 St. Machar Drive. Services include colour and black & white printing, soft and hard binding, lamination, large format poster printing and more.
Tel: 01224 – 272578
Email: printshop@abdn.ac.uk

Materials from our Information skills workshops http://finditfastlibraryworkshops.pbworks.com/w/page/86602816/Home

RefWorks
See our RefWorks Library guides at www.abdn.ac.uk/library/support/library-guides-101.php#R
(Navigate to our Library guides section on the Library website and select ‘A-Z’, then click on ‘R’ and scroll down to ‘RefWorks’)

Our Find it Fast! Library skills sessions, aimed at Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate students include a RefWorks module that covers managing references and creating bibliographies with RefWorks. Further instruction on how to use RefWorks’ advanced features is provided in our Literature Searching Essential Skills workshop series. These run 3 times a year and are aimed at Research Postgraduates and staff.

Alternatively, speak to one of the Information Consultants.

Further help & support

See our videos on using Primo at
www.abdn.ac.uk/library/support/information-skills-179.php#panel547
(Transcripts of the recordings are also included)

Information skills workshops
www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking

Library guides online
www.abdn.ac.uk/library/support/library-guides-101.php

Primo
http://primo.abdn.ac.uk

Inter-Library Loan service
www.abdn.ac.uk/library/support/interlibrary-loans-182.php

Email (general Library enquiries)
library@abdn.ac.uk

Tel (general Library enquiries)
01224 – 273330

Library blog (InfoLinks)
https://aberdeenunilib.wordpress.com

Library on Twitter
https://twitter.com/aberdeenunilib

Remember that we are here to help!

Taught Postgraduates – courses in May and June to help with your dissertations and projects

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Once the exams are over, many taught postgraduate students will be turning their attention to their dissertations and projects. IT Services, the Library and the Student Learning Service are here to help with a series of sessions:

From the 21st to the 23rd of May, the Library will hold a series of workshops that cover the research process from choosing where and how to search for high quality information to ensuring that your referencing is as good as it can be. The three workshops are: Part 1 – Starting your dissertation research, Part 2 – Going further with your dissertation research and Part 3 – Managing your dissertation research. To find out more and to book a place please visit: www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and look for Library Information Skills.

On the 28th and 29th of May, colleagues from the IT Services’ Training and Documentation Team will be running workshops to help with many of the common formatting issues that can arise when working with long documents. The workshops will look at: (Word 2013) defining and using an appropriate template, modifying inbuilt styles, inserting section breaks and page numbers, applying multi-level numbering, using captions for images, creating cross-references and creating tables of contents and tables of figures. To sign up to attend one of these workshops please visit: www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking and look for courses on MS Office.

The university’s Student Learning Service will be running workshops at the start of June aimed at taught postgraduates as they embark on their dissertations or projects. There will be two different sessions, the first looking at writing a literature review and the second focusing on the construction of arguments and the structuring of the dissertation. Same as with the IT and Library courses, visit:
www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking for more information and to book a place.

student_typing_keyboard_text_woman_

Come to these classes to ensure you start your piece of work with the skills to make the process as easy as possible!