Welcome to the University Library for distance learners

Not registered as a distance learner?

Click here for a campus focused welcome

Distance learning based welcome

WELCOME TO THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Studying at home online Distance learning services Getting help Visiting the Library

CHOOSE a topic to explore

• Using the VPN
• Discovery Service
• Subject pages
• Other resources

In this section

studyingat home online

Using the University's Virtual Private Network lets you use resources otherwise only available on campus, makes access to resources more reliable, and saves you having to log in to most resources. Setting up the VPN is a simple, one-time process, after which you can log in and use the University network for any academic work whenever you want. Click here for a video guide to setting up the VPN. If you have any questions or want someone to talk you through the setup process, please get in touch.

01

usingthe vpn

The EBSCO Discovery Service finds books, ebooks and journal articles from most Library resources from a single simple search. It offers powerful tools to help you quickly to refine your searches and find the most useful high-quality scholarly evidence for your assignments and research.

02

EBSCODISCOVERY SERVICE

Your subject page(s) provide links to more powerful most powerful subject resources that go beyond the Discovery Service to find specialist subject information. For law, design and engineering your subject page should be your starting point for every search. You can also contact your Faculty Librarian through your subject pages, for those times when you need truly in-depth subject help. Click here for your Subject page.

03

Subjectpages

The Library offers a wide variety of products and services that are useful whether you keeping up to date with current affairs or fashions!

Some resources that might interest you include:

• Online newspapers - including current and global news, and searchable historic news archives
• Print and online magazines
• Recorded television services
• Diverse film and video archives
• Music and sound resources
• Art and image databases
• Statistical and demographic data resources
• Company and market reports and sector analyses
• Historical, local, OS, and extensive digital maps
• Books and academic journals - in print and online

04

OTHER RESOURCES

• 24/7 help
• Subject teams
• Library blog and social media
• IT support

In this section

24/7 help andsupport

Our friendly enquiry team and out-of-hours service are here to help you 24/7 every day of the year. Click on the online chat or question mark buttons on the library website to ask us anything library related. You can even book a librarian for a longer online video chat. We can help you to:

• choose the best eresources to search for your assignments
• log in and use databases and other eresources
• find the information you need using eresources
• evaluate the academic quality of sources
• cite and reference information you have used

05

24/7help

Your subject team, led by your Faculty Librarian(s), are the definitive experts in the information resources for their subject area and will be able to help you find the most obscure and complex information. If you want a video chat with your Faculty Librarian, or for them to demonstrate eresources to you, let them know several dates and times that you are available and they will offer you an appointment.

06

subjectteams

The Library blog offers tips, tricks, news, expert advice on everything from wellbeing and study skills to resource reviews and opinion pieces. Varied and fun, it is a great way to keep up to date with everything library and be introduced to new ideas Follow @uoplibrary on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news, updates and links to events and fun content

07

liblog andsocial media

IT Helpers in the Library and the IS Service Desk offer computing support, including:

• installing and using Windows and other networked software
• VPN setup and problem troubleshooting
• account login issues for Moodle
• other computing issues

You can find current information on known IT problems, phone or chat to an IT Helper online and more through the IS Service Desk.

08

itsupport

Everyone learns best in different ways. Whether you prefer to listen to the spoken word rather than read from a page or collage your notes visually, there are a variety of apps that can help. Click here to read more about apps to personalise your learning. If you have any kind of visual impairment, difficulty reading text, or any other specific learning challenges, please let us know as soon as possible because we may be able to make resources, particularly printed books, available in alternative, more accessible formats. Click here for information about what we can offer.

09

Accessibilitysupport

• Requesting scanned copies of printed book chapters and articles held in stock
• Requesting postal loans

In this section

distancelearning services

Even if you never intend to visit the Library in person, you still need to register for a library card, including uploading your photograph to two separate systems during the registration process so you can access all the services we offer distance learners. Please make sure you have uploaded your photo a second time at the end of your registration process. This allows all our systems to update so we can post books to you and supply scans of book chapters and journal articles sourced from other libraries.

10

HAVE YOU REGISTERED FOR A LIBRARY CARD?

Start with reading lists

Your online reading lists show what your lecturers most want you to read. They link to online resources and show how many copies of printed books are in the library and where to find them.

11

READing lists

You can save yourself time by finding the shelfmarks of the books you want to read before visiting the Library. You can use the Library catalogue to find books and ebooks that go beyond your reading lists.

12

using the library catalogue

We can post books to you, free of charge. Your books will renew themselves automatically unless someone else requests them. You can then keep the book until your course ends or you receive an email from us informing you that someone else has requested the book, asking you to return it. You can post books back to us. We strongly recommend using a signed for postal service to do so, such as ParcelForce48.

13

postalloans

We try to ensure that we build reading lists for distance learning courses around ebooks and other electronic information resources but some books are still only available in print. If you need a single chapter from a book we hold in stock and for which there is no available ebook you can ask us to email you a scanned copy of that chapter. You can also ask for a scan of one article from any one issue of our printed journals or magazines that are not available electronically. Click here to visit the Library Distance Learning Services webpage for full details.

14

requestingscanned materials

Hopefully, this whistlestop tour of Library services and facilities has given you some idea about how the Library can help you in your studies. Before you go, remember that friendly Library staff are here to help you. You can chat with a librarian 24/7. You can also email us at any time and we will get back to as soon as we can - often within a few minutes if it's during office hours. Click here for an overview of the ways you can get library help

15

WE're here to help