The Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science (affectionately known as the ‘Dough School’) may not immediately come to mind when one thinks of D-Day. Yet in the form of the flag carried into battle by the 308 Battery 128th (Highland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 51st Division, the College was represented.
Summer shelving project
Big changes are coming to the library this summer, making it easier for our students and staff to find the books and journals they’re looking for.
In response to student feedback, the mobile shelving on levels two, three and four of the Saltire Centre will be converted to static shelving. The books and journals currently held on the mobile and existing static shelves will also be integrated, meaning library users will no longer have to go to different sets of shelves to see all of the material on any one subject.
Robert Ruthven, Director of Library Services, said: “Our students have told us that they find the mobile shelving off-putting and difficult to use. This is also reflected in the low usage of the material that’s held in this shelving.
“We’re, therefore, moving these books and journals to static shelving, meaning the material that’s currently ‘hidden’ in the mobile shelving will be easy to find by users as they browse.
“This is a huge project for the library, which involves moving almost every book and journal in our collection.”
The work will be carried out over the summer months, which is typically a quieter period for the library.
To keep disruption to a minimum, work will be carried out on one floor at a time, starting on level four in May, after the exams have ended. Each floor will be closed and the material held on that floor will be unavailable to users for about four weeks while the work progresses. The work is due to be complete by early August.
Robert said: “To give our users as much access to our physical collection as possible, we’re encouraging them to borrow early in advance of the floor closures. We will not charge fines on items borrowed over the summer period and we’re investing in additional e-books. Our inter-library loan service is also available to all students and staff.”
The mobile shelving on Level 0 of the Saltire Centre will not be converted to static shelving. Instead, its electronic-management system will be upgraded and it will be used to house low-use items that have not been borrowed for more than ten years. At the end of the project this material will be available on request and will be fetched by library staff.
The mobile shelving in our Archives Centre, which holds the University’s archives and special collections, is also being upgraded to securely house these resources for many years to come.
Inter-library loan service update
If you need an item to support your research, teaching or coursework and we don’t have it in stock you can request it through our inter-library loan service. We have now introduced a quicker, easier method of placing requests through Discover and you can track the progress via your library account.
To place a request, either:
- Carry out your search and select Expand My Results Beyond GCU Library Collections;
choose the Get it tab where available and sign in;
click Inter-library loan request, you will be taken to the request form which will be automatically populated with the information about your chosen item.
or
- Use our Inter-Library Loan request form. You must log in to use this form and input the information about your request.
For a trial period, we are extending this service to all GCU staff and students.
Full information is available on our web pages.
Please let us know what you think of this service by completing our feedback form.
Gifts that keep on giving
To meet someone gifting to the Archive Centre is (at least for this writer) in parts agreeable, humbling, and slightly nerve-inducing – exacerbated manifold if the materials are of personal or sentimental value.
The neatly folded and dry-cleaned blazer which Doreen Blanche brought to the reading room had belonged to her late mother and was the first of its kind received to Glasgow Caledonian University Archive Centre. Pale blue with purple stripes, it was worn by students of the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science – colloquially and affectionately referred to as the ‘Dough School’. Later renamed The Queen’s College, Glasgow, it is a founding institution of GCU.
Festive Feedback 2018
We thought it would good to update you regarding our 2018 festive Feedback campaign, and some of the actions that have taken place in response to your feedback.
We received 72 responses over the festive period covering these areas:
19 positive comments were directed to our library staff including:
“I feel library staff and librarians are very friendly and helpful.”
“I was happy with the quality of response and help I received from my librarian when I e-mailed for help. She gave me clear explanations and was willing to help further by offering face-to-face help if I had not understood the e-mail. Thank you!”
“Thank you so much for the drop in sessions. I also got to call in for some referencing clarifications – I was pleasantly surprised all my questions were answered. Wishing you & your family a Merry Christmas”
“Thanks a bunch for all the work you do!”
We also received a further 19 kind comments relating to the library as a study environment including:
“Great place to study! Really enjoying it.”
“Enjoy every moment, every second. Love you :)”
“I think you have done an excellent job in creating a great environment for the students to study in.”
“Very nice and cosy library. Excellent job!”
As with all feedback campaigns, we also look to find areas we can improve on. We received feedback relating to catering, temperature, PC availability, and opening hours.
In relation to PC availability, we have a tracker for our computer usage in the Saltire Centre found here. In addition to this, our lapsafe vending machine on level 0 allows you to borrow a laptop for up to 3 hours – ideal if you need to find a quiet area to study, or wish to use one of our bookable study rooms.
The library continues to support students with extended opening hours during exam times. This included 24-hour opening from 2nd – 25th January 2019. GCU also offers students access to the 24-hr lab in the Students’ Association building 365 days a year.
Comments relating to catering and temperature issues back to our facilities management department, and will continue to liaise with them throughout the year when feedback is received.
Please remember that we are happy to listen to your comments at any point throughout the year. Our roving library staff are available on all floors of the library, so should you need any help please don’t hesitate to ask them. Our library desk on level 0 is staffed between 9am and 8pm Monday –Friday, and between 10-6pm at weekends.
Alternatively you can follow and contact us on Twitter @SaltireCentre, or use our feedback form: https://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/contactus/feedback/.
Want to know more about GCU’s history – read on…
A Wellcome Trust Research Resources Project
Our Wellcome Trust Research Resources funded project “Poverty, Health, Diet and Education in Glasgow: from Domestic Science to the Allied Health Professions, 1875-1993” is now finished. With its completion comes three comprehensive online catalogues, a glimpse into the archives via a new online exhibition and a set of blogs and tweets built up over a one year period. The door is now open for you to delve in and better understand the amazing story of one strand of our founding institutions. Continue reading
New Trial Resources
The library are currently running trials to three new online resources, available to all users. You can find them by searching the Database A-Z or using the links below.
JoVE – Journal of Visual Experiments
The JoVE video journal publishes experimental techniques in a visual format with detailed text protocols to increase scientific reproducibility and productivity. Also included in the trial is the JoVE Science Education library. These simple, easy-to-understand video demonstrations cover a wide range of STEM subjects including Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Psychology, Clinical Medicine and Engineering.
The trial is running until 4th March. You can find JoVE here.
MarketLine Advantage
MarketLine Advantage is an interactive database offering a comprehensive and unique collection of company, industry, financial, and country information extending across every major marketplace worldwide. Included in the trial is access to:
• 8,000+ Industry Profiles reports – including Porters Five Forces Analysis
• 101,000+ Company Profiles – with 12000 SWOT analysis including 25,000+ Company Financial Reports
• 600+ Case Study Reports
• 1,215,000+ Company News Articles
• 540,000+ Financial Deals Articles
• 170+ Country Reports with PEST and PESTLE analysis including Macroeconomic outlook reports and also Global
Risk Reports)
• 180+ City Reports with PEST analysis of major cities in the world including a breakdown of Business environment,
Travel and Tourism, Construction and Real Estate and finally Retail sectors of the given company.
The trial is running until 17th February. You can find MarketLine Advantage here.
SAE Mobilus
The SAE MOBILUS platform includes over 200,000 resources covering a wide range of technologies surrounding the aerospace, automotive, and commercial vehicle industries. These content types include:
• aerospace standards
• ground vehicle standard
• aerospace material specifications
• technical papers
• eBooks and ejournals
• magazines
• videos
The trial is running until 30 April. You can find SAE Mobilus here.
You can send us feedback on any of these trials directly via our Twitter or by email at ertenq@gcu.ac.uk
Library tours
Tours during trimester
Library tours run on Tuesdays and Fridays at 12 noon starting week beginning 4 February. Just come to the Library Desk.
Getting started with CINAHL – November workshops
Getting started with CINAHL workshops are running during November in Library Ask & Learn space, Level 1, Saltire Centre.
CINAHL (Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health) is an authoritative source within the field of nursing and allied health. The database indexes from more than 3,000 journals and allows you to search using a combination of free text (or keyword) and thesaurus terms (known as CINAHL headings) to produce precise results. It offers functionality to limit to peer review material and link out to full text articles.
If you need help to search CINAHL more effectively or have never used CINAHL before, these workshops are for you.
Check out our schedule or contact us if you can’t make these times.
[Technical issue: resolved] Broadcast registration
**This issue has been resolved. GCU users are no longer required to register individually to view Broadcast articles. Full access is available via the Library’s Discover search and Journal Browse services.** Continue reading