Please return your library books!

Do you still have library books that you borrowed last term? Do you still need them? If not, please return them as soon as you can to give other students a chance to use them.

Exams are over and you’ve submitted your assignments. A new term of teaching starts next week, so you probably have a new set of module reading lists to look at. Make some room on your library card by returning books you no longer need. It’s easy to check which books you have on loan – just Sign In to iFind and go to My Account.

Are you still using the books you borrowed last term? Don’t worry, our automatic renewal system means it’s ok to keep them for now. Please remember to check your student email account regularly, though. If another student needs a book you’ve borrowed, you’ll get an email that asks you to return the book to the library. If you don’t bring it back on time, you could be charged a fine! There’s more information about automatic renewals and overdue books on our website.

Don’t let your library books pile up at home! Return the ones you don’t need. (Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Library resources over Easter vacation

Easter vacation is almost here and we hope you enjoy your break. If you are planning to do some studying over the holidays, though, you’ll be pleased to know that in most cases your books will be automatically renewed until Wednesday 13th April 2016. There are some exceptions to this, so if you’re not sure, please check with the Library Desk in person, over the phone (01792 295697) or by email (library@swansea.ac.uk).

Bay Library is open 24 hours a day over Easter vacation, but staffed hours at the Library Desk may vary. You can check the information on the Opening Hours page of the Library website.

Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Summer news

Rather than ‘I know what you did last summer’ (classic 90s horror movie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt – remember her?), this is more ‘You’ll know what we’re doing this summer’! We’ve got a few changes ahead of us, so we thought this would be a good time to give you some of the highlights and let you know what it means for you.

Those of you who follow the ISS News blog may already be aware that we’ve got a big book move coming up in August. The Bay Library is due to open on the 1st September and we need to make sure all your books are on the shelves by then! As you’ll see from the ISS News post, we’ve got this all in hand and we’ll keep the books available to you for as long as possible. So, if you’ve got resits to do, don’t worry, the books will be on the shelves in the LIC until the resit exams are over. After that, though, there will be a week right at the end of August when you won’t be able to borrow books while we pack them up and move them to the new library. Our online resources, including ebooks, will of course still be available.

Our other big news is that iFind Discover and iFind Research are changing. The library is bringing in a new and improved iFind search facility that will let you look for books, ebooks, journals, articles, conference papers and theses all in one place. No more figuring out which iFind you need! Work will begin on the upgrade this Friday (19th June) and we expect the new system to be in place next Tuesday (23rd June). iFind Discover will be available during this time to help find items in the library, but it won’t be possible to check how many copies are on the shelves. You’ll be able to borrow and return items when library issue desks are open, but you won’t be able to make requests, renew books or use the self-service machines while the upgrade takes place. iFind Research will be unaffected during this time. Keep a look out on the ISS Facebook page for the latest news and exciting new features.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please get in touch at library@swansea.ac.uk or buslib@swansea.ac.uk.

We’ve got an exciting summer ahead – a brand new library AND a new iFind! (Photo courtesy of pat138241 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Do you need to borrow a book in Bath, study in Stirling or use a library in London?

Swansea University are members of UK wide borrowing and reading schemes which will allow you to use a range of other libraries.

SCONUL

The SCONUL Access scheme is a co-operative agreement between a number of higher education libraries. The scheme allows Swansea University academic staff, postgraduate research students, full-time postgraduates, part-time, distance learning or placement students to borrow or use books and journals at other libraries belonging to the scheme.

Image courtesy of cuteimage at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Students and staff must register with SCONUL Access by applying online and have their application authorised by Swansea University before visiting any of the other participating libraries. This guide explains how you can join the scheme.

It’s important to note that not every library will grant you borrowing rights. The SCONUL website will tell you what services your chosen libraries can offer you.

Libraries Together

The Libraries Together scheme is managed by SWAMP (South West And Mid Wales Partnership) and funded by CyMAL (Museums Archives and Libraries Wales).

A Libraries Together passport allows any current member of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire public library services to use anumber of local, further and higher education libraries in Wales. Participating libraries include Gower College Swansea, Neath Port Talbot College, Swansea Metropolitan – UWTSD and University of Wales Trinity Saint David – Lampeter and Carmarthen.

Image courtesy of hywards at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you are not currently a member of a local public library, please visit your nearest public library within Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire and join the library. To register with the scheme you can download a Libraries Together Passport and take it with you to have it stamped or ask for one when joining.

Game of Loans

Despite the comprehensive collection of online journals, e-books, datasets and print items you can access through the library, you may find that you’re not able to find what you’re looking for. If this happens don’t despair Document Supply Services are here to help.

You can use our inter-library loan request service to borrow or obtain a copy of an item from another library.  Document Supply Services will scour the seven kingdoms to obtain journal articles, books, theses and conference papers from local, national and international libraries.

All staff and registered students of Swansea University can use the inter-library loan service.  Making a request will incur a charge for your department and only members of academic staff are permitted to authorise requests. Alternatively, you can make a personal payment for an inter-library loan. A charge will be added to your library account when the item arrives.

Click on the info-graphic below for more information.

You can use the COPAC to search for items which are held at a number of other libraries. The COPAC allows you to search the catalogues of over 90 libraries at once, including the UK national libraries, University libraries, and specialist libraries.

“A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Going home for Christmas? Take the library with you!

Make sure you get the most out of your library over the Christmas break!

If you are heading home…

1. Make sure you have renewed all your library books or fines will accrue daily! You can access your library account online: https://ifind.swan.ac.uk/discover/MyResearch/Home. Login and go to “Items on Loan” to check what you have out. If you run into problems, call our Issue Desk on 01792 295178. You will not be able to renew books that are in demand and have been requested by other students so these will need to come back to the library before you leave (or be posted back).
2. Vacation loans start on Tuesday 9^th December 2014, the return date is Wednesday 7^th January 2015. Books renewed on or after the 9th December will have not have to be returned or renewed again until the 7th of January.
3. Remember you can access all our electronic content off-campus: follow the links in our library catalogue or iFind Research to access databases and journal articles. You can alsoset up Google Scholar to link into our paid-for content. Try our guide on troubleshooting problems with e-journals. We have had some problems recently with off-campus access to Proquest Business Collection but this should now be working – please do contact us if you run into difficulties so we are alerted to problems! The best email to use is library@Swansea.ac.uk.
4. We have a large collection of e-books which you can access from home, including some key business titles. Our e-books are on three publisher sites – we have a guide on how to make the most of each one.

If you are staying in Swansea…

• The library opening hours over the Christmas period can be found on our website (see the menu on the left for future dates). Please note that the library is completely closed on 25th & 26th December and 1st January.

For any Business / Economics queries, contact your library team onbuslib@swansea.ac.uk. Our information area on Blackboard has links to lots of useful resources including referencing guides.

Enjoy your break!

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.

Vacation borrowing

Just a reminder that vacation borrowing starts on Tuesday 15th June 2010.

Items borrowed for the vacation will be due for return on Wednesday 29th September 2010. Not all categories of borrower are entitled to vacation loans and certain categories of material are also excluded.

From Tuesday 15th June until Wednesday 22nd September users will also not be able to reserve books using Voyager the library catalogue.