We love databases!

PsycARTICLES^®

If it is psychology you are interested in, then this database is for you!  It contains full-text publications of the American Psychological Association (APA) and other relevant publishers, e.g. the Canadian Psychological Association, so you have access to high quality peer-reviewed scholarly articles.  In addition to journal articles, there is access to book reviews.  Coverage includes current material and dates back many years, e.g. to the first issues of most APA journals.

You can save yourself time by using the search tips in the Help section, e.g. the “…” symbols used for Phrase searches help by ensuring you find documents that contain the phrase you want (if you don’t use the Phrase search symbols you will probably get some results where one word is in one place in the document and the other word is somewhere else in the document thus it might be nothing to do with the subject you are searching for).

Don’t be daunted by this vast collection as it can be narrowed to a more manageable number, e. g. by Field searches and Refining the Results. The Subject Librarian, Erica Fothergill, can be contacted if you want some help with using PsycARTICLES^®  (Erica can be contacted at the Townhill Library, telephone 01792 482113).

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UWTSD Swansea Libraries in numbers!

 We have so many fantastic resources and services available through the library, that we decided to look at the statistics behind these resources and services. For example, we calculated that there are over two thousand ebooks available through our catalogue, that  almost 211,000 people visited our four Swansea UWTSD libraries last year and that our blog has received over 60,000 visits as well! We decided that we would like to display the information numerically, as an infographic, and this term  have posted sections of the infographic on our Swansea UWTSD Library Facebook page and on Twitter. However, now we’re revealing the whole poster, in Welsh and in English. We hope you like it!

  If you have any questions about our  range of resources and services, or would like help finding information for your research, please ask and we'll be happy to help!

A reminder - why use your university library?

Again, this is a re-post of a recent post, but what with returning students now back at university, we think it's a good opportunity to remind everyone of what your university library has to offer!

Take a look at this video that was produced by CyMAL to promote university libraries in Wales - you may even recognise one of the locations, as it was filmed here in Swansea!

It gives lots of reasons why you should use your university library - including saving you time and money, providing you with expert help from library staff, as well as access to a vast range of print, and e-resources! So take a look and hopefully you'll be inspired to use your university library this academic year - we look forward to seeing you soon :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol_Nn8Jjhe8

Why Use Your Library?

Take a look at this video that was produced by CyMAL to promote university libraries in Wales - you may even recognise one of the locations, as it was filmed here in Swansea!

It gives lots of reasons why you should use your university library - including saving you time and money, providing you with expert help from library staff, as well as access to a vast range of print, and e-resources! So take a look and hopefully you'll be inspired to use your university library this academic year - we look forward to seeing you soon :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol_Nn8Jjhe8

How about some free journal articles to help with your dissertation?

It seems cruel to mention this on a lovely August day, but while most of you are enjoying the summer vacation and taking a break from your studies, we know there are quite a few of you who are busy planning and writing your dissertation. One of the key elements of your dissertation, once you’ve decided on the topic, is to decide on appropriate research methods to use. You might find it useful to take a look at the free, peer-reviewed articles from Sage on that very subject. They are part of Sage’s open access content, which is a collection of scholarly journal articles that have been made freely available for you to access. There’s no need to pay, and no need to login with your university ID!

Remember, we’ve also got lots of books and journal articles to help you in the library. As a student or member of staff, they’re free for you to access too! Try looking for books to help with your dissertation on our Catalogue and journal articles about research methods on our Digital Library. We wish you all the best if you are currently slogging your way through your dissertation. It’s definitely worth it in the end! Please get in touch if you need any assistance in finding resources to help.

25 Vintage Photos of Librarians Being Awesome!

Right, this one's for all you admirers of librarians out there! Times, fashion and technology may have changed, but this is a great selection of images of library staff going about their daily business way back when.

Which one is your favourite? (We're tickled by number 21 'A librarian helps a young hooligan'!!)

http://flavorwire.com/387224/25-vintage-photos-of-librarians-being-awesome

Enjoy :-)

Education on the Web – NFER’s guide to help you search effectively for online information about Education

We hope that all you Education students out there are already aware of the fantastic resources that the library has to offer you. You’re probably pretty familiar with our e-books and our online databases which let you find and access thousands of journal articles on and off campus. What about the rest of the web, though? There’s lots of information out there, but finding relevant and accurate sources can be tricky. Luckily, the NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research)  has produced a document to help!

Education on the Web: a Tool-kit to Help You Search Effectively for Information on Education does exactly what it says on the tin! It’s a free guide which systematically guides you through the process of finding literature through databases, websites and search engines. As well as helping you search for information, the guide also recommends good websites for different purposes, looks at using Web 2.0 tools for research and offers advice for sifting through the results of your literature search. If you’re embarking on a dissertation, research project or assignment, it’s well worth a look!

Remember that there’s plenty on offer in the library too, be it on the shelves or online. If you need any help finding or accessing resources for Education, just get in touch with Philippa Price or Suzanne Taylor at Townhill Library. Check Moodle for Philippa and Suzanne’s contact details, or give them a ring at Townhill Library on 01792 482113. We’re happy to help!

Drop-in session on library e-resources for Art & Design

The Art & Design Librarian at Dynevor campus (myself!) is holding a drop-in session on library e-resources for Art & Design students & staff on Wednesday 5th December. It will take place in Lecture Theatre 1 on the Dynevor campus, starting at 12.30pm.

The session will last around an hour, and will look at how to access electronic journal articles, e-books, images and newspaper articles (amongst other things). Everyone studying on/teaching an Art & Design course is very welcome and you will see the benefit of knowing more about these resources.

For staff/students not within Art & Design, do contact your Swansea Met subject librarian if you would like to have a similar session, plus we are also happy to see individuals one-to-one.

I therefore look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible a week Wednesday!

Having trouble finding relevant journal articles?

You’re very welcome to call in to your SMU library and ask to speak to a librarian for help, of course, but you might also like to take a look at some guidance from the National Library of Wales.: http://welshjournals.llgc.org.uk/content/students. The guidance includes some very useful tips on Effective Searching that can be used to help you find better results when using internet search engines and library databases. This brief guide provides a nice overview of how search engines work and how you can get the best out of them. It’s well worth spending a couple of minutes clicking in and finding out how to apply some simple strategies that will help you to find more relevant journal articles and resources!

This information is available on the Natioanl Library of Wales’ database Welsh Journals Online. This is a freely available database which is accessible via the SMU library web pages or by accessing the database directly. The database holds digitised versions of Welsh journals that can be browsed and read online.

If you would like to develop your internet search skills further, don’t forget to look at the Internet Detective tutorial, which we looked at on the blog back in November. Or just come in and ask a librarian!

Drop-in session on library e-resources for Art & Design students (and staff!)

All Art & Design students and staff are welcome to attend a drop-in session at 2.00pm on Friday 12th November in Lecture Theatre 2 on the Dynevor Campus. We will be looking at our electronic library resources for Art & Design– how to access ebooks, e-journal articles, images, newspaper articles and more. The session will be informal, and suitable either as a refresher session or if you haven’t previously attended something similar!

Library e-resources

Don't forget you have 24/7 access to hundreds of journal articles, e-books and other useful e-resources via our library website. And if you need help using these, please contact your subject librarian who will be able to advise!