In this section we are going to discover what learning resources are available to you across UHI. You will be given an opportunity to practise finding and accessing the resources you need and you will also learn something about how to use them effectively.

Objectives

By the time you have completed this section you should be able to:

• Recognise the importance of studying beyond the core materials
• Search for and access a range of resources
• Search for topics within journals and access appropriate papers
• Select credible sources of information

In many courses the learning materials you find in your week by week module content (usually in the VLE) form the milestones on the ‘road map’ to learning. However, it is up to you to follow the planned route to ensure you learn the subject by completing the suggested tasks and recommended reading. The higher the level you are studying at the more ‘reading round’ a subject you will need to do.

UHI libraries

UHI libraries are both physical and virtual spaces. They are made up of all of the physical resources available in the colleges and learning centres, and all of the electronic resources, like e-books and e-journals. Everything in UHI libraries is listed in the UHI library catalogue which is held electronically and is searchable. You can search the library catalogue in a number of ways:

• By keyword to find resources related to a particular topic e.g. global warming,
• By subject to find resources in a particular area of study e.g. geology
• By location to find resources near to you
• By resource type to find electronic resources only

Audio: Making full use of the UHI library

Making full use of the UHI library (25 seconds)
Download a transcript of this summary

Each UHI college library holds stocks of books on a wide variety of subjects but all students are also able to use the inter-site loan system to access books from any UHI library, not just their enrolling college library.

 Placing a hold on a book

To request a print book, use the ‘Place Hold’ feature (picture below, click to enlarge) in Library Search. You will be asked to choose a relevant pickup location or can request postal loan instead. You will receive an email from the system when your book is ready to collect. All library notifications are sent to your UHI email account.

E-books are electronic versions of printed texts and UHI students are able to access any e-books (or e-journals) in the UHI library no matter where they are studying. These resources are held in different virtual library spaces on the internet.

You can search for e-books (and e-journals) by using the drop down menu on the library catalogue to limit your search results to electronic resources only. You can click through from the search results to the e-book itself. You will normally be prompted to enter your UHI user name and password so that only current students can access the e-books.

E-journals are electronic versions of printed journals (also known as periodicals). These are specialist publications that contain a number of articles by different authors. UHI provides access to several thousand journals online so you have plenty of opportunity to read the very latest information and research. Many journals are peer-reviewed; so a panel of experts review each article to decide whether or not to publish it. This means that journal articles are generally trustworthy and of a high quality. Journal articles will be a key source of information throughout your university studies.

Library Search is way of searching the combined library resources. It provides a ‘Google-like’ way of searching many sources at the same time, in both the physical and digital parts of the library.

A laptop with a magnifying glass searching the internet

Using reliable resources

Whatever resources you are using you should be a critical reader; this involves questioning what you read rather than taking it at face value. With each resource you look at you need to ask yourself:

• When was it written? If it is old then any factual information it contains could be out of date.
• Who was it written by? Is it written by an impartial observer, or someone who may have a biased viewpoint?
• Why was it written? Is it written as a factual account (are all the facts correct? What evidence is presented for these?), a comment piece (so may express the author’s individual point of view), a press release or advertising campaign (so may be trying to sell the reader something).
• What evidence is given for the facts or views presented? Does the writer back up any claims they make with evidence; such as by referring to research or news articles about the topic?

When you write academically you are required to draw evidence from a range of different sources to show you have read beyond the reading list. Books are an obvious source of information but electronic resources and the World Wide Web provide you with ready access to so much more – and you are encouraged to use these to extend your learning.

The internet gives you access to an enormous amount of information. As well as the websites of individuals, companies and organisations, you can use it to access newspapers, online journals and e-books. One of the challenges in studying at this level is your management of time. You need to access but also read and reflect on the material; there is no value from simply downloading a lot of resources, however useful and relevant they look, unless of course you plan to read and review them.

Conclusion

This session has guided through the various ways in which you can access good quality reading materials for study, and you have been given an explanation of what is meant by ‘good quality’. The importance of wider reading has been emphasised and you have been given simple step by step instructions to access the resources you need.