We love databases!

Today we're continuing our 'We love databases!' series, featuring IEEE.

IEEE Xplore Digital Library recently celebrated its 15^th year as an online resource. Enabling access to scientific and technical content published by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and its publishing partners, the database IEEE Xplore provides web access to more than three million full-text documents from some of the world's most highly cited publications in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics. Its content includes over 160 journals, over 1,200 conference proceedings and more than 3,800 technical standards, with 25,000 new documents being added to IEEE Xplore each month!

An easy to use database, IEEE Xplore contains a wealth of information for electrical engineering, computer science and electronics students. You'll find it in the Databases section of our library website. Simply enter a topic in the search field, e.g. electronics, and you’ll be presented with 1000s of results such as conference proceedings and full-text journal articles. You can refine your results to include journals and magazines and select the date of the articles you wish to view. There’s also a handy Standards Dictionary Terms resource which displays dictionary terms sorted by relevancy of the words you’ve typed into the search box. You can view a summary of the article to see if it’s relevant for your research and check if the author has other articles on the database.  IEEE Xplore often includes full-text pdfs with its references, lists if articles have been cited, and enables you to view articles on a similar topic, again often containing the full-text. Finally, IEEE also displays keywords related to the article, which can be really useful if you are trying to refine your search.

 If you would like help accessing the information on IEEE Xplore or any of our library resources, please contact your subject librarian.

A-Z of UWTSD Libraries...

Image courtesy of: Josh Filhol / Library A-Z

How much do you actually know about your UWTSD libraries? Our A-Z series aims to highlight some of our best features and raise awareness about all the services we provide! Today we continue with the letter D…

D is for:

·         Dewey: The Dewey Decimal system is the numerical order that UWTSD libraries use to keep all our stock grouped together appropriately by subject. Use the library catalogue to find books on a particular topic and it will tell you the corresponding number at which they can be found. Library staff will be happy to help!    

·         Databases: Visit our Online Library to access a vast range of subject related databases that will give you access to thousands of journal and newspaper articles. They are completely free to use, they can be accessed on and off campus from any internet enabled device and can save you a lot of time when researching topics for projects and assignments.

·         DigitalLibrary: This is an integrated search engine that gives quick and easy access to relevant academic material available through the library. It searches our catalogue, ebooks and most of our journal and newspaper databases in one single search (think of it as the library equivalent of CompareTheMarket.com!). If you are struggling to know which databases are relevant and don’t know where to begin, give this a try.

·         Digitisation: The University’s CLA license permits staff to make digital copies of extracts from books, journals and magazines and supply them to students enrolled on a course of study via a secure network e.g. Blackboard / Moodle. The license facilitates scanning from UK publications only, and the material must be held by the Library. Academic staff must submit all requests to the appropriate library representative to be processed. Carmarthen and Lampeter staff can use the online request form – Swansea staff should contact caroline.mitchell@uwtsd.ac.uk

·         DVDs: All our libraries have a vast collection of DVDs for loan, ranging from feature films, television series, educational programmes and foreign language materials. 

It's Adult Learners' Week!

Adult Learners’ Week runs from the 18^th to the 24^th May this year, so it’s already well underway. The event is a celebration of lifelong learning and aims to highlight some of the benefits it can bring. You can find out more from the official website which includes Learners’ Stories of their achievements. Inspiring stuff!

As a university library, adult learning is really important to us and we try to offer you plenty of resources to help with your studies. You’re all adult learners, but some of you might also be teachers of adults, or perhaps have a particular interest in the value of lifelong learning. You can find out more about adult learning by searching our Catalogue or Digital Library. If you’d rather browse our shelves, you’ll find plenty of books at 374 on the first floor of Townhill Library.

If Adult Learners’ Week has inspired you to think about taking another course, why not have a look at the BBC’s Adult Learners page for inspiration. You could improve your spelling and grammar, learn to cook, learn another language, brush up on your IT skills… All for free!