Inspiring Minds: #UoYTips

So we're a few weeks into term, you're settling in, and you're wondering about how the library works and where to find things. Here's a guide to kick-start your studies.

What are the different library buildings for on Campus West?

We have three Library buildings all joined together - you enter through the Morrell, which contains most of the books, then turn right to go to the Burton and left for the Fairhurst. Between them they contain a variety of study spaces for different purposes (for example group work, or silent study) and a huge amount of books, journals, AV equipment, PCs and so on. Here's a video which tells you more about what goes where:

Are there any other Library sites I can use?

There are two University libraries in the heart of York which you can study in, and borrow items from: King's Manor Library, and the Minster Library. They're both in beautiful buildings. Here's the beautiful Minster Library:

A post shared by Uni of York Library & Archives (@uoylibrary) on Jul 21, 2017 at 6:40am PDT

You can find more information including opening hours on our Locations webpage.

I want to find books and journals

Our catalogue, called YorSearch, will search our collections for you - it will tell you what we have, whether it's electronic or physically available in the Library, and where to find it. Check out this guide to YorSearch, which includes info on the book reservation system.

Finding what you need with YorSearch: #UoYTips from University of York Library

What about databases, where do I find them?

Databases are essential for academic work - they contain collections of high quality articles, reports, data, newspapers and more, which Google can't get to. You'll find them either via our E-resources Guide, where you can search by category or Department, or on our Subject Guides. The Library Subject Guides are curated collections of useful resources for your studies, alongside useful information on how to evaluate and organise sources.

Can I book study spaces in the Library?

There are more than 1200 study spaces in the Library but it still fills up during peak times. You can book single, group or accessible study rooms online here.

What else can I expect from the Library & IT?

Glad you asked. Here's a video which tells you a lot more about what we can provide.

I want to talk to someone about how to use resources...

There are all sorts of ways to get help with Library services and resources. You can visit the Help Desk, which is staffed from 9am - 7pm on weekdays and 10am - 6pm at weekends. You can use the Library chat service online at any time, day or night. There's some FAQ with the chance to ask your own questions too, via LibAnswers. If you need to alert us to a problem with behaviour or building matters, you can text us on 07919 293133.

When it comes to using resources, it's worth checking out our Skills Guides. These contain useful info and interactive tutorials to improve your digital skills, and details of our training sessions. And you can always speak to your Academic Liaison Librarian, whose contact details you'll find on the Subject Guide for your Department. Here's a brief video about how Academic Liaison can help you.

So best of luck in your studies, and if you need any help from us, please just get in touch.

Ned Potter is part of the Academic Liaison Team

Ned Potter shares a few tips for new students

Welcome to the University of York! It's great to have you here. We hope you're settling in.

There's a lot to take in in the first few weeks, so we wanted to strip things down to the essentials for this blogpost. Here's five resources to get you started:

1) An interactive map of the library. We've created a map of the Library in Prezi, which will take you on a guided tour of our three main buildings. Just click the 'Start Prezi' box below - you can either navigate through the tour using the arrows, or skip straight to a part of the library you're interested in by clicking on it.

2) YorSearch, the library catalogue. You'll be needing books, articles and other materials depending on what degree you're studying. There's a number of ways to get these, starting with the search tool YorSearch which tells you what we have in stock at the Library, as well as linking to hundreds of thousands of online resources. You can find YorSearch on special catalogue PCs around the Morrell Library, or you can go straight to yorsearch.york.ac.uk from any device, put in your keywords and see what we have.

Embedded below are some UoYTips on finding what you need and getting the most out of the system:

Finding what you need with YorSearch: #UoYTips from University of York Library

You may also be directed to resources from the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment), via Resource Lists put together by your lecturers which link out to YorSearch and other useful sources.

3) The Subject Guide. Every Department has a Subject Guide. It's a curated collection of information and resources for your subject. Choose your Department from this menu and see what we have that can help you study.

There are many advantages to using the resources on the Subject Guide. There are often huge collections of online journals or books which you can search all at once with keywords. All the resources are high quality academic sources, the majority of which Google won't be able to find because they're behind a paywall. And we, the Library, have paid to get you through that paywall so you don't have to - just make sure you find the journals and databases via the links on our site, so they ask you to log in with your IT username and password and you get the full access entitled to you as a student at York.

4) The YouTube channel. We have a LOT of useful videos about the Library, IT and Archives on YouTube. But we don't want you to be overwhelmed, so we've created a UoYTips playlist with 6 key videos to start off with: New students start here!

Here's the first video on the playlist, outlining what you can expect at York.

5) The New Students webpage. We've put together a little to-do list on our page aimed at new starters over on the main library website. Have you written on the walls at the top of the Fairhurst yet?

The final tip on that page is to search for more #UoYTips online. You'll find guidance and advice on the website, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, as well as YouTube and Slideshare as mentioned above. We've also created a special Subject Guide to pull together all the resources we've made - open the UoYTips Subject Guide now and take a look!

We hope you can find useful tips on just about everything, and we'd really like you to add your own across social media. If you've found something that has helped you, let your peers know about it too... Just use the hashtag #UoYTips so others can find it.

Good luck with your first term. If you need help, just ask!