We have lots of resources to help you with understanding referencing, and managing your bibliographies and citations. The first place to look is our Referencing subject guide.
Another very useful resource is Cite Them Right Online.
Find out more about avoiding accidental plagiarism with this Academic Integrity guide.
The Institute for Academic Development offers a Study Hub of useful resources too!
e-resources
A warm welcome to all our new students and returning students, from ECA and A&A libraries!
Happy Welcome Week and Week 1 to all our new students and returning students!
You can find lots of information about ECA Library, Evolution House, West Port, and the Art&Architecture Library, Minto House, Chambers Street, here
If you’d like a short introduction to our online library catalogue, DiscoverEd, click here
For a suite of orientation guides to each library site, click here
For more information about the digital library click here
Please remember to wear a face covering while in our libraries. We look forward to welcoming you in person soon!
New resource alert!
We now have access to the complete digitised archive of Rolling Stone magazine, through our ProQuest 350 subscription.
From the first issue in 1967 to the present day, The Rolling Stone magazine has served as a critical source of news, entertainment and cultural information. For generations, students and young adults have turned to this iconic publication for fashion, society, music news, criticism and more. This digital archive will allow scholars to find articles, images and adverts that support their research. The collection provides coverage of cultural and countercultural movements from the 1960’s forward, highlighting key figures and events such as Woodstock, or the Iraq War. It allows for cross-disciplinary teaching and research in music, popular culture, arts, entertainment, politics, and 20th century history.
You can find the Rolling Stone digital archive on our library catalogue DiscoverEd. It is also listed in our databases A-Z and on the ‘databases by subject’ webpage for Music databases .
Improve your library search skills with our LibSmart series 1 and 2!
The Academic Support Librarian team and colleagues across the Library services have produced a series of modules which students can work through at their own pace, via our VLE (virtual learning environment), Learn. LibSmart 1 launched last September and helped many new students learn how to navigate to, and make the most of, the library resources available to them.
Now for 2021/22 we have launched LibSmart 2, which features new modules on specific subjects, such as ‘Finding and using digital images’, ‘Digital primary sources and digital scholarship’, and ‘Special Collections fundamentals’.
You can access more information about the LibSmart 1 and 2 modules here:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/rm-and-consultancy/academic-support-librarians/libsmart
Have a question about the library services or collections? Contact your academic support librarian.
New library orientation guides for the start of Semester 1, September 2021
We have put together a suite of library orientation guides online, which you might find useful to view before you return to campus to use our libraries, or if you are coming to campus for the first time. There is one for each library site, for example, the ECA Library at Evolution House, West Port, the Art & Architecture Library at Minto House, Chambers Street, and the Main Library at George Square, plus there is an orientation for the digital library too!
You can access the full range of library orientation guides here:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/using-library/lib-locate/library-orientation-guides
Digital Skills Festival this May
The ISG Digital Skills & Training team will be hosting an online Digital Skills Festival from 24 to 28 May 2021. The week will be divided into 5 themes:
- Monday – Information, Data and Media Literacies
- Tuesday – Digital Creation, Problem Solving and Innovation
- Wednesday – Digital Communication, Collaboration and Participation
- Thursday – Digital Learning, Teaching and Development
- Friday – Digital Identity and Wellbeing
Free to attend for University of Edinburgh staff and students, the festival will include a number of interactive events, presentations, workshops and courses delivered by speakers from within and outside the University. To see more and to book onto sessions, go to their website
Web: https://www.ed.ac.uk/is/skills
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uoedigiskills
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uoedigiskills
Media Hopper: http://edin.ac/1UGe2zO
Not every book can be an ebook
It is a sad fact universally acknowledged that unfortunately, not every print book in our collections or out there in the world is actually available as an ebook! So what can you do to source a digital copy of an essential book, when the library print collections are not accessible due to Lockdown rules?
Firstly, double check on DiscoverEd for the title you need. You can filter your search results by “online resource”.
Then consider whether the Scan & Deliver service could be useful, if you just need one chapter, or 1 journal article. Please note that due to UK Copyright law and the CLA licence under which all Higher Education institutions operate, we are only permitted to copy 10% of a book, (or 1 chapter, whichever is greater), or 1 journal article from a journal issue. This is not an arbitrary decision by the library! You can see more about Copyright restrictions here: https://cla.co.uk/higher-education-licence
Consider using the Inter Library Loan service to get digitised journal articles or book chapters.
If you need a complete book, consider whether you can purchase a cheap second hand copy, eg using abebooks or another out of print book seller.
You could also try the various online archives of (usually out of print) books. Here is a list, in no particular order:
1: World Digital Library
2: Project Gutenberg
3: OpenLibrary.org
4: Internet Archive
5: Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
6: Open Textbook Library
7: OAPEN
8: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
For more information about open access educational resources and advice, take a look at the University of Edinburgh Open.Ed resource.
You could also explore the digital collections of the British Library and the National Library of Scotland.
If you are feeling very stuck please do contact your Academic Support Librarian for help.
New Scan & Deliver service
Scan & Deliver Service
- The new Scan & Deliver Service will provide online access to scanned book chapters and journal articles within copyright limits, where these are not already available online.
- Extracts from print items at the Main Library, UCF and site libraries will be available for request.
- The service launched on Monday 18 January at 9.00am.
- Scan & Deliver requests will be placed via DiscoverEd. Please do not contact EdHelp to make Scan & Deliver requests.
- This digital service can be accessed by all staff and students whether they are in Edinburgh or not.
- Full information about how to use the service is available on the library website.
Digital Scholarship LibGuide published
The Academic Support Librarian team recently published a new guide to digital scholarship and digital humanities, to assist all students in understanding and navigating this area of investigation.
You can access the guide here.
Qwest TV trial begins!
We are delighted to announce that the Library has arranged a one year free trial to Qwest TV, the online resource created by Quincy Jones which gives us access to a wealth of jazz, soul, funk and world music documentaries, films and interviews.
From Wednesday 7th October you can access Qwest TV from here.
