Connect XIII: Home

Hello and welcome to the Connect newsletter which highlights service and resource updates to help you make effective use of your library and learning services.

Welcome to returning and new students!
If you are new to the library the best place to start is the Welcome to the Library which offers lots of information about resources and services.

A few highlights for this term -

• New Fashion Resources, including - Business of Fashion, Unique Style Platform and Vogue Business.
• Highlights from the collections, including - Zines, Dissertations, Magazines and Newspapers.
• New books, service updates, and lots more...

and remember we are here to help - Contact the Library.

A new and exciting programme of library and learning webinars has been scheduled for the spring term.  For more information and joining details see - Library & Learning Webinars.

Don't worry if you miss a webinar - Library & Learning Webinars also gives you access to recordings of these and previous webinars.

In addition to our extensive range of print journals, there are lots library resources online, including over 4,500 electronic journals and magazines!  These are available 24/7 wherever you have an internet connection.  To browse these resources use the Journals A-Z which can also be found on the myLibrary header -

For help about how to find and use journals and magazines in your academic and creative work - book a tutorial with your campus Liaison Librarian.

UCA Research Online (UCARO) has a brand new look!  UCARO is where you will find over 2,500 articles, chapters, artworks, and other research written and created by your talented lecturers, as well as past University PhD theses -

If you are a member of UCA staff, you can upload your research outputs to UCA Research Online, for more information see Depositing in UCARO.

The library has also introduced a new ‘Read and Publish’ agreement with Taylor and Francis.  To learn more about read and publish agreements and open access publishing see Open Access Publishing.

Zines (pronounced zeens) are independently created publications that cover a wide range of subjects, including LGBTQ+ history and culture.

While traditional zines are cheaply made black and white, photocopied, cut and pasted DIY creations, some look more like expensive magazines. Nonetheless, the ethos behind zines is that anyone can make them, and that they have very few barriers to publication and access.

Join us in Epsom campus library 1st floor for drop-in zine making workshops. You will be able to browse LGBTQ+ and Fashion Zines from the collection and make your own DIY mini-zine. Materials will be provided but please feel free to bring along your own. 

Wednesday 8th February 2.00-4.00pm
Wednesday 15th February 2.00-4.00pm

To learn more about zines - take a look at the Zine Reading List.

To help you with your dissertation research - the library holds an online collection of the previous three years’ dissertations, including all dissertations that received a 70% grade or above, these are available to view and download.

To view dissertations see - ResourceBank.

Dissertations are organised in subject areas, such as Animation or Photography. Alternatively, you can use the search bar - by selecting Dissertation and choosing your course.

Do you want to be confident you know about issues such as plagiarism, collusion, referencing and academic misconduct?  Then try the Academic Integrity Toolkit - this self paced online session will take you through the basics elements of academic integrity, provide you will opportunities to get yourself and you can get yourself a completion certificate to show you know about academic integrity. 

Turnitin is a text matching tool to help you improve your referencing and citations skills in your written work as well as a similarity checker to assist staff in identifying plagiarism and other instances of academic misconduct.

Turnitin has recently been upgraded to provide a new interface and improved features.  Watch the following video to learn how to submit your assignment - 

If you need assistance with using Turnitin - Gateway ICT Advisers will be able to help - Contact the Library.

PressReader offers you access to almost 7,000 of the world’s best newspapers and magazines!

Access to publications is available as soon as the title is available on shelves and, just like reading a print magazine, you can flick through the pages and view all the images.

You can browse for content on the PressReader website or you can use the Journals A-Z to find specific newspapers and magazines.

Liaison Librarians have been busy buying new books for campus libraries ready for the start of 2023. Selections are made from reading lists, to enhance and reflect the curriculum and from staff and student suggestions. 

See some highlights below. Liaison Librarians also update Subject Resource guides regularly to showcase relevant new books and journals. 

Did you know that the library has a team of Liaison Librarians and Learning Development Tutors - who can work with you develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to be successful learners?  They can help you with a wide range of academic concerns - time management and organisation, academic writing, presentation skills, referencing, finding academic sources, understanding project briefs and feedback, and lots, lots more...

To see how they can help you see - Academic Skills.  To learn more about the team, see - Learning Development Tutors and Liaison Librarians; and if you need help - book a tutorial online.  

If you need help now - try the Academic Skills Reading List.

Click and Collect allows you to reserve three-week loan books and DVDs from across the University campus libraries.  

From February 2023 you will be able to request 7-day loan items as well using Click and Collect.  The library will be piloting this until the end of the current academic year.

If you can't find what you are looking for, we can help -

• Scan and Deliver
  Scan and Deliver is an electronic document delivery service for staff and students which allows you to receive by email scans of book chapters and journal articles that the library holds.
• Document Supply
  If the library does not hold the resources you are looking for then the Document Supply Service is what you need.  This means that the library will do its best to obtain what you are looking for from another UK library.  You can request books, journal articles, reports and theses that the University does not hold. Requests must be for your own personal research and study.

For further information see Requesting Resources.

The library has introduced some exciting new resources that you can access for fashion research, inspiration and industry events.

These, and lots more resources, can be found on myLibrary - Databases A-Z and in Fashion Resources.