Tag Archives: online resources

5 Reasons to check out LibSmart I and II

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(text) 5 Reasons to Check out LibSmart I and II

Introduction

If you haven’t heard about LibSmart I and II yet – then what have you been doing?! 

To quickly summarise, LibSmart I and II are fully flexible, self-enrol Learn courses designed to help you get started and advance your library resource knowledge. If the description has got you intrigued and you want to know more, do not worry! In this blog, I will give you five reasons why LibSmart I and II can be beneficial to your studies, general university knowledge and digital skills development.

1. Builds awareness on library offerings

Edinburgh University’s Library and University Collections (L&UC) has a range of awesome resources – I am sure you will be aware of  DiscoverEd, Special Collections and physical library locations like the Main Library. Well, the department has two new assets by the names of LibSmart I and II. They will help you discover other library-related services that will help you build your information literacy skills.

Image outside the Main Library entrance on George Sqauare

The Main Library entrance on George Square. [Taken by Paul Dodds, copyright of the University of Edinburgh]

2. Increases your knowledge: LibSmart helps you be more productive

The information contained in LibSmart will not only boost your awareness of library resources but also guide you, so you can use these resources effectively! Throughout the modules, there are activities and quizzes to help you consolidate your knowledge and test yourself.

 

3. Supports subject specialism 

With LibSmart I you build a foundation of knowledge so you can confidently use library resources when researching for a report or topic. LibSmart II enables you to “advance your library research”, supporting you as you complete your thesis or dissertation. The modules in LibSmart II are subject-specific so you can tailor your learning to your project needs. See the image below of the 10 different modules tackled in LibSmart II. 

 

4. Fully-flexible 

As mentioned earlier, LibSmart has been created so that you can work independently and interact with the modules as and when you wish. By working at your own pace, you can make the most out of the courses, ensuring you understand the content available. You can still interact with others who are completing the course and Academic Support Librarians (ASLs) using the discussion board whenever you want, so you gain thoughtful insights into the material you are learning. 

 

5. Earn Digital Badges 

The final reason you should enrol onto LibSmart is because you have the opportunity to be rewarded for the work you complete with Digital Badges! After finishing a module and subsequent quiz you will be notified that you have earned a LibSmart eBadge that you can share on various digital platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or a website. 

Image of all LibSmart Badges with text "Choose the modules relevant to you and earn digital badges to recognise your achievement!"

LibSmart badges

Library Bitesize Session Review

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Introduction

Despite being in my fourth and final year, I am still constantly discovering resources offered to students by the University! Most recently, I attended a Library Bitesize course for “Online Resources for Literary Studies”.

In the past, I have completed Bitesize courses. However, they were in person and not subject-specific. For those interested, it was on referencing and avoiding plagiarism (and I would highly recommend it)! Therefore, this was a bit of a new experience for me and I did ask myself when signing up how learning about literary resources would benefit me. However, by the end of the session, I was extremely glad I went! Reading this blog you will understand why and hopefully be encouraged to attend a session for yourself.

The Session

The session was hosted on blackboard collaborate by Academic Support Librarian (ASL) Shenxiao Tong.  It was easy to follow and informative – and fortunately, there were no technology issues during the event!

 

The session began with a helpful introduction to the online library resources made available to university staff and students. It is easy to forget that the Library has such a vast collection of e-books, databases, streaming videos and e-journals. The definitions of primary and secondary resources were also provided! This allowed the rest of the presentation to flow as I was shown which databases to use for primary and secondary resources, with demonstrations given on key resources. Other online resources were also covered including internet resources like google scholar, bibliographies and book reviews. Throughout the session, the usefulness and drawbacks of the different materials were highlighted meaning you would be able to draw your own conclusions to what resource would be most effective for you. This tied in well with the conclusion of the presentation which covered next steps such as how to construct your own research strategy!

 

Conclusion

You can never go wrong learning new digital skills and resources that can help you with your work! Even if you don’t explicitly need to know about these literary resources for your studies – they may be useful for your extracurricular activities! Plays, poems and novels can all be found using the resources covered in the Bitesize session I attended. If you still aren’t convinced, why not look at what other topics Library Bitesize sessions cover, and I am sure you will find a subject that information needs!

A guide to subject guides

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A blue outline of a mountain stands against a blue sky dotted with clouds. A wiggly path leads from the front of the image to the top of the mountain, where a red flag on a flagpole is placed.

Image by ijmaki on Pixabay

One of the key parts of our role as librarians is to help staff and students find the things they need to complete their work. One way in which we do this is to create subject guides, which are like mini websites which collate all kinds of useful links and information we think will be helpful to those working and studying at the University.

You can find a full list of the subject guides we’ve made here, but some of our most popular during 2020-2021 have been the guides for Law, Business, East Asian Studies, English Literature and Engineering. As you’ll see from this list we have guides dedicated to each School and sometimes very specific guides which deal with subjects within those schools.

However we’ve also created guides which we believe are helpful resources for all students in any subject. For example our Exam and Revision guide is aimed at any student looking for top tips and news on the help that’s available from the library and university services to help make their studying more successful.

A screen capture of the Exams and Revision subject guide

Our Dissertation Festival guide contains loads of useful resources for students based on the events that took place in our recent Dissertation Festival (March 2021). Check it out if you’re looking for advice on how to get started with your dissertation research, or are interested in finding out more about some of the collections available from our library suppliers. Just like a face-to-face event you can also pick up your Festival Bag from this page, jam-packed with videos, information and helpful tips. You’ll hear more about the Dissertation Festival from one of our student interns in the coming weeks so watch this space!

Over the summer we’re working on guides relating to Disability and Open Resources which will be published in the coming months.

Did you know we take requests?
If you think that there’s a previously untapped topic we should make a guide for, please let us know by leaving a comment on this post or emailing your Academic Support Librarian using the links on this page. We’d love to hear from you!

SarahLouise McDonald, Academic Support Librarian