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-Z of UWTSD Libraries...

Image courtesy of: Josh Filhol / Library A-Z

Hot on the heels of UWTSD Swansea Libraries recent accolade at the Student Led Teaching Awards (“Best Non-Academic Department”), it’s time to highlight some more great things we have to offer! Our library A-Z has reached the letter R this week...

R is for:

·         Research – Make the library your first port of call when beginning your research for assignments, presentations, group work and dissertations. We can provide you with access to a vast selection of up-to-date, relevant, peer reviewed information, both in print and online. We also have Subject Librarians at hand to help if you get stuck! Think of us as one big friendly search engine! Who needs Google when you’ve got us at your disposal?!

·         Reading Lists – Don’t panic! There’s no need to buy everything on your course reading lists, come and borrow the required textbooks from us...free of charge! You can save your bank balance and the environment at the same time! We should have most, if not all, of the items you require.

·         Reference Material – Some of the items in our libraries are marked ‘Reference Only’, this means you can’t borrow them. Why is this a good thing?? It means that we will always have copies of the most essential and in demand texts available for you to use in the library...even when all other copies are out on loan.  

·         Relaxation – Libraries are a great place to relax and enjoy some quiet time in between lectures. Whether you just want to check your emails, read a novel, or catch 40 winks in a comfy chair (yes, we’ve spotted you snoozing in the corner!) libraries are the perfect place to unwind.

Do you need maps for your research?

Image courtesy of potowizard at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Typing the word 'map' into the Digital Library demonstrates just how many ways the word is used, from noise mapping, wind contour mapping and  mind-mapping to name just a few! You'll also find articles which focus upon maps of the imagination, maps of time and how people perceive and use maps....the list is endless!

 However, if the maps you need are, as described in Oxford Reference Online, geographical diagrams 'showing specific features of the land such as roads, contours, reservoirs' (!) , then why not try Digimap, available through our  library website.   Using Digimap, you can view and annotate maps, download geospatial data for use in CAD and GIS systems, access help and information about geospatial data and resources, and view historical maps.

You can also view historical maps using the website Old Maps Online. An easy to use search engine for historical maps, it is freely available through your internet explorer.

If you need teaching resources on the Blitz, Bomb Sight is another freely available resource. An interactive map, it shows the location of bombs dropped on London during World War II, together with photographs of the sites.

It can be difficult to determine if the map resources you find on the internet are the best for your needs. Mapperz is a blog which aims to show you current resources, which may be useful for your research. If you have time, take a look at the Global Wind Animation map which looks like a Van Gogh painting! 

Finally, if you’d like a map which is closer to home, you’ll find the map of our Swansea campuses  available on the UWTSD website!

Study Skills Books Display

Our Study Skills Books display in Owen library is so popular that we’re constantly replacing the books. One of the most popular is ‘How to use reading in your essays’ by Jeanne Godfrey. Full of useful tips and techniques to help with assignment writing, it contains advice about how to compare different points of view and highlights ways of checking and correcting your work. Copies can be found on the shelf at 808.042 GOD. Bryan Greetham’s ‘How to write better essays’ , located on the shelves at 808.042 GRE, is also proving popular and describes how to develop paragraphs and conclusions.

The wide range of study skills books, found in all our libraries, are easy to find on the catalogue. For example, if you need help with your dissertation writing, typing the word ‘dissertation’ into the catalogue produces lots of resources, such as ‘Your undergraduate dissertation: the essential guide for success’, by Nicholas Walliman, which you’ll find on the shelves at 808.066378/WAL in our Townhill library. Additionally, many of the study skills books are also available as ebooks, which can be accessed on or off-campus.  

Want to find out more? Just ask at the counter in any of our libraries and we’ll be happy to help. And if you’re passing by Owen Library, come in and see our display for yourself!