Connect XIV: 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 the Summer Edition of Connect!
If you are new to the library the best place to start is the Welcome to the Library which offers lots of information about library resources and services.

A few highlights for this term -

• New Webinar Programme - focusing on referencing, academic integrity and plagiarism
• Love your library - how much do you use your library?
• New journals, including - Adaptation; Deleuze & Guattari; Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy; Professional Beauty; and more...
• News from the Archives -  the Tessa Boffin slide collection goes online!
• Plastics book coverings, new feminist reading list, 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 summer term - focusing on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism.  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.

The University has announced that it is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions from energy consumption by 2030, 20 years ahead of the government’s national target.

The Library is to contribute to the process by reducing our plastic consumption.   Instead of using plastic coverings on books and contributing to pollution, from April 2023 the Library will only buy bioplastic which will only be used on covering fragile or high value books.

Not only is this practice better for the environment but it saves money and time too. Books that no longer need to be covered will make their way to the libraries faster than before and money saved will be used to buy more books.

A Retrospective: Creativity past, present and future celebrates how the University (previously Kent Institute of Art and Design/Medway College of Art and Design) has influenced the careers and practises of its alumni, staff, and students.

More than 40 artists and creatives are featured in this exhibition, which is spread over three locations: Rochester Art Gallery, UCA Zandra Rhodes Gallery, and Medway Adult Education Centre. It includes sketchbooks, fashion creations, jewellery, pictures, artwork, and personal testimonies.

Tessa Boffin's research slides are now available online!
The collection of 35mm slides have been digitised and catalogued, they are available to view on ResourceBank.  You will find slides of her own work alongside slides of contemporary artists enabling you to trace her creative process and thoughts. The collection offers a fascinating insight into Tessa's research methods and creative practice.

Tessa Boffin was a photographer working from the 1980s (until her death in 1993), who taught at the Kent Institute of Art and Design (now part of the University). ​She specialised in LGBT issues, including work in response to HIV/AIDS and to cross-dressing. She co-curated the exhibition Ecstatic Antibodies: Resisting the AIDS Mythology producing a book of the same title (1990), and also co-edited Second Glances: Lesbians Take Photographs (1991).  The University holds much of Tessa's teaching, administrative, and research resources as well as her personal library of books, many of which are annotated.

In February, Ian Badger, Liaison Librarian Canterbury, ran a webinar outlining how you can make the most out of alternative languages, subtitles, reading aloud and translation tools in library resources -

On Tuesday 7 March 2023 the Digitisation Studio was packed with students and staff attending the Digitisation Studio Open Day.

Visitors learnt how best to digitise their work using equipment in the Studio. Sketchbooks were scanned using the book scanner, objects such as ceramics and jewellery were photographed, large posters and textile samples were scanned too.  Students were tested on their knowledge of obsolete formats and had great fun taking part in our quiz, to which three students won shopping vouchers.

If you missed the Open Day and would like to find out more about us, please visit us in the Digitisation Studio, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Thomas Library (based in Farnham).  The Studio is available to staff and students Monday to Friday 10:00 to 16:30 - booking is recommended - Digitisation Studio Booking.  If you you are not based at Farnham email us and we will see how we can help you - digitisationservices@uca.ac.uk.

Call all students and staff! You now have access to the BFI Player streaming service, showing a range of classic and contemporary films from around the world...

If you tick the BFI Newsletter subscribe box - you will be notified automatically  when new films are added.

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.

The aim of Feminist Reading List is to highlight some of the resources available in the library relating to feminism, and offers a starting point for researching this area. The list includes is just a small selection of what is available, but please contact the library if you have any other recommendations, or would like to order any other resources to support your studies.

In response to your requests, the Library has been busy buying new journals, a very small selection of new online journals - 

To explore all the Library's journals, online and print, take a look at the Journals A - Z.

Your library is popular, with over 3 million - views, searches and loans last year.  Usage is growing - 

Make the most of your library and remember - Contact Us - if you need help.

Dissertations Online
The Library holds 911 dissertations online - on ResourceBank. These have been viewed 15,412 so far this academic year!  So if you are looking for inspiration or examples of dissertations by previous University students - look no further than ResourceBank. Your most popular dissertations by course this year are - 

Library Enquires
Have a question or needed advice on academic skills or using the library?  Your Learning Development Tutors and Liaison Librarians have been busy answering your questions - over 1500 so far this academic year!

Your most popular questions - 

Lisa Moore
Copyright and Compliance Manager

Hi, I’m Lisa and I work in the Library as a Copyright and Compliance Manager. My job is what it says on the tin! I provide copyright advice to staff and students and ensure the Library complies with various legal regulations and contractual obligations, as well as ensuring that my colleagues adhere to these and our library policies.

I also work on projects that improve how we support our students with their studies. Most recently I have been working on an accessibility project which aims to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of content uploaded for teaching to myUCA.

I am passionate about empowering our students to know the worth of their Intellectual Property, especially copyright and how best to protect and explore their work.

To learn more, see - Copyright.