Information Skills Advisory Service

Want advice on carrying out a literature search for your assignment or project?

Do you want some support with referencing, database searching or identifying reliable information?

Then come along to the Information Skills Advisory Service at the IC.

Every afternoon there will be a librarian on hand to offer advice and guidance. No need to book just drop-in!

Information Skills Advisory Service
Level 1
Information Commons
13:00 - 17:00
Monday to Friday 

BrowZine now available for Android Phone

The BrowZine app is now available for Android smartphones!

BrowZine is an app which enables you to browse, read and monitor current scholarly journal content on your tablet or iPhone. BrowZine works by bringing together articles in Open Access and subscription databases into a single place. 

You can save your favourite journals, view the tables of contents, and read articles as new issues are released. BrowZine is for current awareness and browsing, not focused research or searching. It complements StarPlus which should be used for focused research or searching.

The BrowZine app is available in the iPad, iPhone, Android and Amazon App Stores and is free to download, or you can download it from the Quick link opposite. After downloading, find University of Sheffield in the list and enter your University of Sheffield username and password when prompted.

History of Medicine

Hello to all our first year UGs in The Medical School.  You will now be well underway with your 'History of Medicine' assignment, so here's a little reminder of what we went through in your Library induction session:

The Video

StarPlus - The Library Catalogue

StarPlus is the library catalogue, it gives you a single starting point to find information.  To access StarPlus, sign into MUSE using your university username and password and then look for StarPlus - Library Catalogue under 'My Services'.  Remember to sign into StarPlus by clicking 'University Members' on the landing page.

Use the 'University Collections' tab to search for books, ebooks and journals.  A good medical textbook will be a great place to start your research.

Use the 'Articles and more' tab to complete a basic search of journal articles in your subject area. They provide a more detailed view of your subject area and are the best source of academic research.

If you need further assistance using StarPlus, take a look at our Information Skills Resource - Using StarPlus

The Databases

You can also use specialist databases to find information on your subject area.  MEDLINE via OvidSP  is the major international medical database. Take a look at the video above to see a screencast of how to search it for material relating to the history of medicine. Or take a look at our online tutorial .

The Websites

You can always find lots of information online.  In our video we looked at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the Thackray Medical Museum, and The Wellcome Trust, but you will need to check the quality of the websites that you are using.  If you are unsure how to evaluate information, take a look at our tutorial.

Remember...Think Critically!

If you need more information, contact your Liaison Team for Medicine, Dentistry & Health.

Nature Journals - all titles now available from the Library

Last November the University Library conducted a survey for staff and students.  Many of our customers commented that although we had access to some Nature journals we did not subscribe to some important titles.
 

After negotiations with the publisher therefore we now have a subscription to the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) complete collection! This includes all ejournals published by Nature Publishing Group.
 

For a full list of titles and access to the Nature website, please see http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/nature .

Or to access individual titles, please search for them on StarPlus.

  

No More Fines.

We've changed the way you borrow items! 

As long as no one has requested the item you have borrowed, we will keep renewing them until the expiry date of your account.

If we are unable to renew any of your items, we will send an email to let you know that you need to return the item.  Further to this, we will also send you a weekly borrowing statement to remind you of which items you have out on loans, and let you know which items you need to return.

If you want an item that is out on loan to another borrower, the best way to get hold of the item is to request it via StarPlus- the library catalogue.

What happens if you do not return an item?

We are attempting to get rid of fines! We know you don't like them, so for this academic year we are trialling a new system; if you do not return an item that is requested by another borrower, you will not be able to borrow any further items from the University Library until the requested item is returned, we will still continue to renew the other items already on your account.

You can avoid your account being blocked by returning your items when they are requested, and by checking your library account on StarPlus, and by checking your weekly statement.

If this works then we will get rid of fines in the University Library, but we need you to make this work!  If someone requests an item that you have borrowed, bring it back to the library so that they can use the item that they need!

Remember, we will renew items on your account automatically if they are not requested by another borrower.  If they are requested, we'll give you a couple of days to bring them back.  

What do you think?

We would like to know what your opinion is, please do take the time to tell us what you think.  We have a quick feedback form for you to fill in, we will also be using #nofinesUofS on twitter.

This is your chance to get rid of fines in the University Library!

New look 'Information Skills Resource'

We've been busy over the summer updating our webpages, in particular the Informations Skills Resource.

For those unfamiliar with this resource, it contains handy subject specific guidance, helpful resources on how to search effectively using StarPlus - the library catalogue, use databases, write a literature review, and referencing using EndNote.

It also has tutorials relevant to postgraduates and dissertation students, advice about research tools, research data management (RDM), good practice, and scholarship.

Take a look around and see how it can help you with your studies!

Welcome back

And of course, welcome to new students!

The new year has started and we thought it would be a good time to remind you of some of our key services.

You can find all the information you need to get started using the library on our web pages http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/services/new  

For more subject-specific resources check out the Library’s subject guides. Here you’ll find out where your material is located, a list of key databases and links to the Library’s online tutorials to help with literature searching, referencing and more.

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/subjects/subjects

There’s been some changes over the summer too…

This semester we are piloting a no-fines policy, and for this to work we need your help. You can keep your books for as long as you wish, as long as nobody else requests them.  If that happens we'll email you to let you know the date by which you need to return them. Please bring them back promptly, just as you would expect if you need a book which is out to someone else.

If you have any general questions you can email the Library HelpDesk at library@sheffield.ac.uk

Or contact us - your faculty library liaison team;

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/liaison/med

All the best for the next year!