Using Google Scholar – some tips

Whilst it may lack the powerful filters and quality content of our business databases, Google Scholar is a quick and easy search tool that focusses on academic material (Google is a little sketchy on defining what this actually is).

Setting up Google Scholar

When you are working on campus Google Scholar should be automatically configured to link in with Swansea University’s “iGetIt” service so you can check for the full text of articles where a direct PDF link is not provided. If you want to set up your own devices to work this way, we have a handy guide:

Connecting to Swansea University resources through Google Scholar (PDF)

Using Google Scholar with EndNote / EndNote Online

The guide above also links to information on using Google Scholar with EndNote or EndNote Online. Unfortunately you can only import one reference at a time.

Keep up to date: alerts

You can set up Google Scholar alerts so that you are emailed when new content appears matching search terms that you specify. More info on Google’s website.

Discovery of more recent papers

If you find a really good article on Google Scholar, you can use the “Cited By” link underneath the result listing to see what other papers have included your article in their reference list. This can be a good way to discover further useful material that has been written after your article (and which may therefore be more up to date).

Learn More

Google Scholar has its own blog where you can read more in-depth articles and learn the latest news. A recent article goes into great depth on “Using Google Scholar in Scholarly Workflows“.

Our top 5 Business Resources

1. EBSCO Business Source Complete = our massive business database and a one-stop-shop for quality business information and articles. Includes academic journals, trade publications, company & industry reports and more…

2. Proquest Business Collection = a similar business database but can often turn up slightly different results so worth trying alongside EBSCO.

3. Mintel Oxygen = a market research resource with in-depth reports for some markets and analyst insight across a wide range of subjects.

4. FAME = Financial Analysis Made Easy. Financial details for hundreds of publicly-listed UK and Irish companies. Also useful for competitor analysis.

5. Our “Library Support for School of Management” area on Blackboard – find it listed alongside your modules under “My Studies”. Information and links to a whole load more useful stuff!

You can find even more business resources on iFind Research. Click the little “i” for more information on each one and a link to a guide. If you are prompted to log in for any of these resources, your username is your student number and the usual password that goes with it.

How to read a journal article (the easy way)

(Image by tvol on Flickr, reused with thanks under Creative Commons license)

Journal articles are not always easy to read and often you will not need to read the whole thing to learn if it will be useful to you or to understand the main arguments. The articles below are taken from material at other universities and are aimed at undergraduates:

“Reading journal articles” is part of a great page on Reading at University from Napier University. This section is short but illustrates the general format of journal articles – the abstract and conclusion are good places to start.

“Evaluating journal articles” – from the University of Bath. A reminder that the quality and value of articles will vary and how to check.

A more advanced explanation of both these aspects is on Champlain College’s “Understanding Scholarly Articles” web page. This gives more information on the different sections within a journal article. A “Background”/”Literature Review” section can be extremely useful for surveying a topic in a more general sense (journal articles can have a very specific research focus). More recent articles will have the most up-to-date literature reviews.

Library Zones: Silent & Quiet Study Areas

Within the library there are different types of study zone, we have …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before identifying where the silent and quiet study areas are located, let’s look at the layout of the library.

The publicly accessible part of the library (the Tower is a staff only area) has four levels which are split between two wings; the East Wing and the West Wing.

You enter the library on level 3, this is where the cafe and our service desks e.g. Issue Desk, Information Desk, and IT Support are located.

 

Silent Study Areas

As the name suggests these areas are for silent study only; that means talking and mobile phones are prohibited in these areas.

There are many silent study areas located in the library; lets look at the library floor by floor:

On our floor plans silent study areas can be identified by a red spot  

East Wing

Level 1: There are two silent study areas, located either side of the main entrance.

Level 2: There are two silent study areas, located either side of the main entrance.

Level 3: All the study spaces located on this level are for silent study only.

Level 4: Also known as the Law Library – the whole of the Law Library is a silent study area.

West Wing

Level 1: There is a silent study room located on the furthest corner of this level.

Level 2: There is a small collection of silent study desks located to the left of the Folios.

Level 3: This level mainly consists of the Study Hall, which is a group study area – there is a silent PC Room located to the left of the main stairwell.

Level 4: There are three silent study rooms on this level: Training Room 3, the Postgraduate PC Room (far side of the gallery) and the Silent PC Room (next to Training Room 3)

 

Quiet Study Areas

Within the quiet study areas quiet conversation is permitted, and we ask that you change your mobile phone to silent mode.

There are many quiet study areas located in the library; lets look at the library floor by floor:

On our floor plans silent study areas can be identified by a yellow spot 

East Wing

Level 1: There are only silent study areas on this floor.

Level 2: There is a large quiet study room located on the far side of the floor (from the main entrance turn right)

Level 3: There are only silent study areas on this floor.

Level 4: Also known as the Law Library – the whole of the Law Library is a silent study area.

West Wing

Level 1: There are only silent study areas on this floor.

Level 2: There is a large quiet study area located on the far end of the floor.

Level 3: This level mainly consists of the Study Hall, which is a group study area – there are no quiet study areas.

Level 4: There are two quiet study areas on this level; the area next to the newspapers and the gallery walkway.

 

Please be considerate of your fellow student and abide by the rules of the study area you are working in. 

 

If you have any difficulties locating a specific study area please ask at the Information Desk or use our floor plans 

Library fines (and how to avoid them)

Unfortunately we do charge library fines if your books are past their due date / time. Information on this is on the library website  (see the “Overdue items” tab under “Renewing/Reserving”):

(Click for a larger image)

“Fines accumulate to a maximum of £10 on short and overnight loans, and £5 on other loans. If unpaid fines exceed £10, you will not be allowed to borrow any more items until you have reduced your debt.   Overdue Notices will be emailed to you to remind you of the outstanding loan.”

To avoid fines, be vigilant about your books’ due dates and renew in good time. The date the book is due back is shown in bold on the paper slip you are given when you borrow it. You can see the dates for all your books by using the “My Account” feature in the library catalogue – “Login” with your student number and password to see your dashboard.

Most fines occur when someone has requested one of the books on loan and this prevents it being renewed. In this case, you would need to make sure you allow enough time to bring a book back to the library if it cannot be renewed.

Renew your books….

• Online: “Login” to iFindDiscover, then click “My Account”, then “Items on Loan” and you will have the option to renew all your books or selected items.
• By Phone: 01792 295178. You can leave a message if the desk is closed but please remember to leave a contact number in case there is a problem renewing your books.
• At the Issue Desk in person

If you find you have accrued library fines due to exceptional circumstances, visit the Issue Desk with a doctor’s note or supporting evidence.

How to print, photocopy and scan

Our new machines now combine printing, photocopying and scanning…

Registering your card and adding credit

• Before using our printing/photocopying/scanning machines for the first time you will need to register your student ID card.

To do this, simply go to one of our new machines and swipe your ID card (see below)

You will then need to enter your usual username and password

As a further security measure you will be asked to create a 4 digit PIN, which you will need to use every time you print, photocopy, or scan.

• Once your ID card has been registered you will be able to add credit to it.

There are two devices within the library that you can use to add credit to your card, they are known as re-valuers: one is located on level 2 by our main collection of machines, the other is on level 4 by the Postgraduate PC Room.

• To add credit to your ID card simply swipe your card at a re-valuer (see below)

Then enter your PIN using the on-screen keypad and press the ‘log in’ button (see below)

• Once you are logged in you can add credit to your account by inserting coins or notes into the re-valuer.

Charges

Mono (Black & white) A4 printing/photocopying costs 5p per sheet

Colour A4 printing/photocopying costs 30p per sheet

Mono (Black & white) A3 printing/photocopying costs 10p per sheet

Colour A3 printing/photocopying costs 60p per sheet

Scanning is free of charge

Please note:  the default setting for all printing is duplex (double sided)

• The on-screen display will tell you how much you have added as well as your current balance.

• When you have finished adding credit tap the ‘Tap to finish’ icon

The message ‘Account updated successfully’ will display when the transaction is complete.  Then a receipt will printed.

Using our printing/photocopying/scanning machines

• Printing

Send your document to print as you normally would – your print job will be sent to a central queue which serves all the new machines in the library.

Go to the printing/photocopying/scanning machine and swipe your ID card & enter your PIN

An ID confirmation message will appear on screen – click OK (see below)

The function menu should appear, select XPR Print

The screen will then display your document/s – use the touch screen to select the document you want to print.

Then press the big blue button to start the printing

To return to the main menu press the Exit button displayed at the top of the screen

• Photocopying

Go to the printing/photocopying/scanning machine and swipe your ID card & enter your PIN

An ID confirmation message will appear on screen – click OK

Select Copy from the function menu

A standard photocopying interface will appear – if you want your photocopying to be in colour use the color button to see a full menu

Press the big blue button to start the photocopying

• Scanning

Go to the printing/photocopying/scanning machine and swipe your ID card & enter your PIN

An ID confirmation message will appear on screen – click OK

Select XPR Scan from the function menu

You will then be given two options : Scan to folder & Scan to e-mail

Scan to Folder – will store the scanned document in your P: drive on the network.

Scan to Email – You will receive the scanned document as an email attachment in your inbox.

Select your preferred option – then press the big blue button to start scanning

Please remember to log off when you have finished using the machine

If you leave the copier without logging off, then the next person could potentially copy documents using your credit!

To log off press the Access button (this button is located to the right of the main screen) the screen should then return to the log in screen

 

If you have any problems try our FAQ document  or visit the IT Help Desk located in the Library

Flying textbooks

We are seeing many of the key textbooks fly off the shelves this term and have more copies on order for some of them already. If you can’t find the books you need on the shelves, remember you can make a request via the library catalogue:

Search for the book you want. If all the copies are out, you can use the “Recall This” link which appears next to one of the copies:

(Click for a larger image)

You will be prompted to log in and then you can “Submit Request”:

You can alter the date (one month is the default, after which your request would be cancelled) and the collection location – students at Hendrefoilan may be find the Miners’ Library more convenient.

Once your request is submitted, you will be in a queue to get the next copy of the book that is returned to us. Students who have the book on loan will not be able to renew it. As most textbooks are one week loans, normally the longest you would need to wait is a week. We will email you when the book is ready to collect at the Issue Desk.

Many textbooks are also in our Short Loan collection which is held behind the Issue Desk. These cannot be requested in the same way but if the book is out, Issue Desk staff can reserve it for you when it comes back.

Three things to emphasize:

1. Please do make requests if all the books are out as this will trigger us to order additional copies if we see the request queue building up for a title.

2. If the catalogue says a copy should be available and you cannot find it on the shelves, please come to the Information Desk in the library so we can have a look for you. It may be waiting to be shelved on a trolley or it may have gone missing (in which case we need to order a replacement).

3. Do let us know if you are struggling to get the books you need – we can check numbers of copies and, if need be, move one to the Short Loan collection. Email us on buslib@swansea.ac.uk and be sure to tell us the relevant module codes.

“Introduction to the Library” Sessions

We enjoyed meeting 456 new students last week at the “Welcome to the Library” School of Management sessions!

Resources

If you would like copies of the materials we have the rolling Powerpoint used at the start (PDF) and a PDF of the handout (Undergraduate and Masters versions).

If you would like to take a closer look at some of the resources we mentioned:

• You can access our Business resources from this iFind Research page – click on any title to be taken to that resource, you may be prompted to log in (Student number + usual password).
• Company reports available in “Business Source Complete“
• “Mintel Oxygen” UK market research reports
• Setting up Google Scholar to link to Swansea’s resources off-campus (PDF link)

Extra Sessions

We have had some requests for extra sessions for students who missed them so we are running two more next week:

• Wed 8th Oct, 1pm
• Friday 10th Oct, 12pm

Both will be in the library’s Training Room 3. Please book a place if you would like to attend: http://goo.gl/forms/CyR5WNifZV