History – Library Subject Support

All New Student Texts Collection (STC)

The Student Texts Collection

The Student Texts Collection (otherwise known as the STC) is located on level 2 of the Philip Robinson Library…just to the right of the Library Help Desk, as you come in the main entrance:

What is in STC:

- Essential items on reading lists, not available electronically
- Items meeting a flurry of high demand (sometimes items are transferred to STC on a temporary basis with the agreement of the Liaison Librarian)
- Items that are rare, out of print or expensive (arranged with the agreement of the Liaison Librarian)

If an item meets the criteria above, there should be one copy in the STC for you to consult or borrow (if not, contact your Liaison Librarian).

Loan Periods:

Student Texts Collection (STC) items are usually issued for 4 hours, and you can borrow a maximum of 3 items at any one time. If the item has already been booked (see below re booking STC) then it might be issued for less than 4 hours – always check the receipt!

At the Philip Robinson Library, STC items can be borrowed until the following morning

Term Time Monday – Friday after 6pm
Term Time Saturday – Sunday after 4pm
Vacation times may vary

At the weekends Walton STC overnight loans start at 5pm. Walton STC items cannot be booked.

Why book an item in the Student Texts Collection (Philip Robinson Library only)?

Booking an item (you can book 3 STC titles at a time) allows you to reserve it for a particular time, then you can borrow it for four hours (or overnight, see above).

To book an item in the STC login to Library Search and follow the Request link next to the item you are looking for (remember to sign in to Library Search first):

Overdue charges

There is an immediate overdue charge of £1 plus £1 per hour or part hour after that, the maximum overdue charge for an STC item is £15.00

Self-issue/return

Philip Robinson Library has a self-service unit in the STC so you can issue your own books (either STC or General loans).

Walton Library has a self-service unit in the STC room for the loan and return of STC items only.

Please remember to take the receipt from the machine which shows the date and time the book is due back. All STC books should be returned on the unit in the STC area (not on other self-issue/return units in the library).

Help on Student Texts Collection

Check out our FAQs on the STC or contact us via Library Help if you have any further question.

Find resources with the Library’s super search

We’re a couple of weeks in to term, and for new (and returning) students, it’s time to start looking beyond your reading list. Reading lists are a great place to find the essential reading material for your modules. But when you begin to look in more depth at topics that interest you, and to read for your seminars and assignments, you will need to look beyond your reading list to the wider books, ebooks, journal articles and more, that you will find using Library Search.

This week we are putting the spotlight on Library Search, to give you tips and tricks to help find good quality, relevant information, quickly. We are going to share videos that show you how to search. Tips to help with your referencing and keeping track of the information you find.

Let’s start off with Library Search in 90 seconds …

Trial: Bloomsbury Popular Music

The Library has trial access to Bloomsbury Popular Music until 31st December 2019. This wide-ranging resource comprises:

All volumes of the landmark reference work, Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World.
All 130 short books in the 33 1/3 series, focusing on significant LPs from a wide range of genres and eras.
A selection of other scholarly ebooks on popular music published by Bloomsbury, including biographies and historical overviews.
Interactive features, including a pop music timeline and map.
Biographies of hundreds of artists.

You can search or browse it in various ways, such as by artist, genre or location. Watch the short trailer for an overview. As always, your feedback will be very welcome: you can either email it, or leave a comment on this blogpost.

If you are off-campus, please login to RAS first of all, and then access Bloomsbury Popular Music from a browser within RAS.

Finding theses from elsewhere

Although the Library holds copies of all Newcastle University PhD theses and copies of theses written for other research degrees, you may find you need a thesis from elsewhere. If this is the case, our Theses and Dissertations guide is a good place to start. This tells you what print and electronic theses we hold and where to find other UK or international theses.

Ethos

Ethos allows you to search the details of 500,000 UK theses from over 120 institutions, from the 1970s to date. The full text of about one fifth of these is available for immediate download to registered users, and in other cases, you may be able to request a copy in digital or other format (for which there may be a charge).

Can’t find the theses you’re looking for? If all else fails, it may be worth checking to see if an institution has its own repository.

OFF THE SHELF – National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day marks its 25th anniversary this year with a mass participation campaign that highlights poetry’s power to harness the truth about life.

In commemoration of the event, Teaching Fellow Sue Spencer will be returning to the Law Library and Walton Library to take poetry off the shelf and share some meaningful conversations about the truths that really matter.

Drop in for a one-to-one chat and she’ll offer a listening ear and a poem to inspire, soothe and comfort you!

Wednesday 2nd October, 3-5pm
Law Student Common Area, Newcastle Law School

Thursday 3rd October, 4.40-6.30pm
Walton Library, Newcastle University Medical School

No appointments necessary.

Brought to you in conjunction with the Medicine in Literature and Law in Literature Collections.

Welcome to the University Library

Welcome

Whether you’re a fresher or a final year student we want to help you get the most from your Library. From discovering resources to finding the right study space, to where to go to get help with your coursework. We’ve made a short video so if you’ve only a few minutes to spare it’s all you need to get started….

Transitioning from school to university

Lego person with suitcase getting out of car

Your bags are packed and you are excited to get started at uni, but you may be beginning to wonder what on earth to expect? How does it differ from a school environment? Never fear! We have created a short video just for you and put lots of advice and tips on our transitioning web pages. We’re looking forward to meeting you soon!

P.S. Even if you’re not coming straight from school, some of this advice will still be relevant for you too, so do take a peek.

Summer professional readings

Looking for something to read this August – whiling the time away with your toes between the sand, the sound of waves splashing, and the sun warming up your bones? I know a summer read is normally something a bit fluffier, however you might want to read one these top reads that were recommended at two conferences I attended recently here on campus (Professional Services Conference and the SAgE PGR Conference). All three books are conveniently available for you to loan from Newcastle University Library…click on the book cover to take you to the library catalogue entry:

New service helps you search beyond our Library

A new search service, Library Hub Discover, has just launched, replacing the old COPAC database (which enabled you to search across UK academic and research libraries) and SUNCAT (which searched for journals elsewhere).

Library Hub Discover offers a new and improved interface to search across the catalogues of 100 UK and Irish academic, national and specialist libraries, with many more libraries due to be added soon.

A new related service, Library Hub Compare, enables you to analyse and compare library collections and identify relative strengths. So, if you want to assess which libraries in a region have particularly strong holdings relating to your research area, this is a neat way of doing it.

Read more about the new services and keep up with developments by following JiscLibraryHub.

Be wise – start thinking about your Reading Lists

Although it’s now the summer vacation, it is time for our academics to start thinking about the reading lists for 2019/20. So, what resources are you going to recommend to your students to support your teaching? How will you ensure the Library has what you need in stock?

Use the Library’s Reading Lists to create, manage and update your own lists online. Or, you can send your list as an attachment to your Library’s Reading List team using our submission form.

Why use this service? Well, your lists will help the Library to order the correct number of copies of the titles you want to recommend, to decide on the appropriate loan periods of those printed books and enable access to electronic resources for your students. CLA scans (digitised book chapters and articles) can easily be requested through Reading Lists too. There’s no need to email us or fill out a separate request form; simply tag the item on your list and leave it to us.

Benefits for you include:

Your book orders and scanning requests will be dealt with seamlessly by a dedicated team of Library Staff.
It is an effective and efficient way of getting your Reading Lists to your students via Blackboard, alongside your teaching materials.
You can add resources from Library Search, any database or while you’re browsing the Web (via the “Cite it” tool).
You will provide accessible information to your students about their required reading, with live links to Library Search, eBooks, full-text journal articles and book chapters.
You can organise the resources to suit your needs, e.g. by week, topic, lecture or seminar.
You can tag the items on your Reading Lists so your students can clearly see what is essential, recommended or background reading.
In tagging each item, the Library can ensure appropriate stock provision for your students based on module numbers.
You can notify the Library and your students of any changes you wish to make to your lists automatically.
Reading Lists can boost student engagement with your subject and you can see the access statistics for the items on your list, providing valuable insight on how the students are using the materials listed.

So, Reading Lists are a great way to let your students know what they need to read, and to keep the Library informed too; they are the wise choice.

You can find information about creating and managing your Reading Lists, and making resources available to your students here. And if you have any questions about this service, please do contact us at readinglists@ncl.ac.uk

Have a good summer!