Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
March 10, 2026
September Update
The end of September is rapidly approaching and things are moving forward quickly with the LOCH Project. All three partners have been thinking about workflows and are starting to make plans about how to handle the Open Access requirements for REF in each institution.
September has been a busy month for all the project partners. On Friday 19th September, Jackie Proven and I attended the a Jisc Monitor workshop in London, aimed at supporting the development of Jisc Monitor into something that will help to support Open Access processes in HEIs across the UK.
On September 22nd and 23rd, Janet Aucock, Jackie Proven and Linda Kerr and I attended the Pure UK User Group which was hosted at the University of Edinburgh. LOCH Project partners have all been influential in the development of a new Open Access specification for Pure, which will enable customers to better manage OA compliance and reporting for the next REF, with the side-effect of improving compliance for RCUK and Wellcome Trust requirements too. The specification is ready to be agreed, pending the disclosure of the final metadata and audit requirements by HEFCE. A final face-to-face meeting is being planned for the second half of October. All being well, the specification will be passed to Elsevier for development by the end of October, and the new functionality will be released in June 2015.
On Friday 26th Janet Aucock and I presented at the joint Jisc/Sconul/RLUK event in London, looking at how best to implement the Open Access policy in the next REF. This was an interesting and productive meeting, and it was great to see the approaches taken by different universities. Key points which came up included
- The need to engage with the policy early on
- The need to ensure adequate staffing is in place
- Advocacy and engagement are key to gaining high levels of compliance
- You could consider writing the policy into researcher annual appraisal documents
- It would be advisable to treat this as a project and write a plan
- You might want to consider a mock exercise next year to test compliance rates
As we move into October, partners are hoping to publish initial baseline reports and to finalise the functional specification for Pure.
Dominic Tate, University of Edinburgh
Managing your digital footprint campaign launches today
Today, 29 September 2014, the ‘managing your digital footprint’ campaign launches. The campaign is for all students (UG, PGT, online) and PhD researchers. It is being led by the Institute for Academic Development in collaboration with EDINA, the Careers Service, EUSA, Student Information Points, Information Services, and other University departments.
There will be various competitions (you could win a Kindle, book tokens and more), activities, workshops, resources and advice throughout 2014-2015. The focus will be on how to create and manage a positive online presence (digital footprint), which could assist with:
- professional networking
- finding the right job
- collaborating with others
- keeping safe online
- managing your privacy and the privacy of others
- how to set up effective social media profiles
- using social media for research and impact
For more information visit www.ed.ac.uk/iad/digitalfootprint
Blog: http://uoedigitalfootprint.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @UoEDigitalFoot #UoEDF
Facebook: www.facebook.com/uoedigitalfootprint
Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science
Use Searcher to find Library resources
Smart searching with Searcher is bookending the Pop up Library next week (see what I did there?).
Get up early on Monday morning and come to the Main Library 10am -12 noon and find out how using Searcher makes finding Library resources, such as, books, e-books and ejournal articles quick and easy.
Think of Searcher like a Library Google. There’s one search box for your keywords searching thousands of Library resources. Searcher is set up to only return results for content the Library subscribes to, or has in its collections, and to show books and e-books at the top of your results list.
Top tip: Use keyword search and a combination of author and title keywords. Miss out any punctuation.
For example, to find the following journal article:
- T. H. Breen, “Ideology and Nationalism on the Eve of the American Revolution: Revisions Once More in Need of Revising,” Journal of American History, 84 (1997):13-39.
Search keywords : Breen Ideology Nationalism American Revolution
The article is the first result and there is a link to JSTOR to read the full text.
It couldn’t be easier.
If you don’t make it out of your bed in time for Monday’s session, we’ll be back at the Pop up Library desk on Friday afternoon 2-4pm. Bring your reading list, we’ll show you how to find stuff and answer your Searcher- related questions.
Angela Laurins, Library Learning Services Manager
Discovering our Collections at the CRC
The Centre for Research Collections (CRC) provides access to the University’s heritage collections. These include rare books, manuscripts, University archives, Lothian Health Service Archive (LHSA), art collection, historic musical instrument collection and many more. With such a large number of collections, how do you go about discovering them. This blog post provides a list of the key resources and catalogues for discovering the different collections.
General Information: www.ed.ac.uk/is/crc
The CRC website provides general information on accessing the material at the CRC, as well as collection descriptions for our rare book collections, and manuscripts and archives.
Catalogues / Databases
Rare Books: catalogue.lib.ed.ac.uk
Archives & Manuscripts: archives.lib.ed.ac.uk
LHSA: www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/collections/index
Museum Collections (including fine art and historic musical instruments): collections.ed.ac.uk
Digital Image Collections: images.is.ed.ac.uk
Exhibitions: exhibitions.ed.ac.uk
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Get in touch!
Some of our collection material is not yet available on the online catalogues. If you are looking for something specific and cannot find it in our online resources, please get in touch as we have a printed catalogue resources at the CRC.
Email: is-crc@ed.ac.uk
Tel: 0131 650 8379
Visit: 6th Floor, Main Library, George Square (please see our website for opening hours)
Fran Baseby, Service Delivery Curator, CRC
Research Data Management (RDM) Surgery!
We all know that Research Data Management (RDM) is one of the essential areas of responsible conduct of research don’t we!
We also know that it provides a framework that supports researchers and their data throughout the course of their research and beyond. Right?
But did you know that the University recently launched a suite of services to support Edinburgh researchers with research data management tasks? See: https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/2014/08/29/dealing-with-data-conference-rdm-service-launch/
The launch of the IS-led RDM Services is the culmination of work detailed in the RDM Roadmap which began in earnest in August 2012 following approval of the RDM Policy by the University Court in May 2011.
RDM programme staff will be in the Pop-up library space on the first floor of the Main Library on Monday 29 September (2pm-4pm) to answer any questions you may have about our services including:
- DMPonline:
A free web-based tool to help researchers write data management plans for
funded-grant applications – https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/ - Data Share:
A free-at-point-of-use data repository to allow University researchers to upload,
share, and license their data resources for online discovery and re-use by others –
http://datashare.is.ed.ac.uk - MANTRA:
A free online course for researchers who manage digital data as part of a research
project http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra - DataStore:
500 GB free active storage allocation for all research staff and PG research students
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/researchsupport/ data-management/data-storage
For further information please also visit:
- RDM Website:
One stop shop for information about the University of Edinburgh RDM Programme
and Services http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-management - RDM Blog:
https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk
So please pop by and pay us a visit and let us answer your Research Data Management queries.
Stuart Macdonald
RDM Service Coordinator
email: stuart.macdonald@ed.ac.uk
Next week at the Pop-up Library
29thSeptember – 3rd October
| AM | PM | |
| Monday |
Smart searching with Searcher 10-12noon |
Research Data Surgery 2-4pm |
| Tuesday |
Paper Conservation – techniques and tricks 10-12noon |
Resources Plus: How do I get hold of the book I need? 2-4pm |
| Wednesday |
Art Exposed – Art in the University’s Collections 10-12noon |
Metadata Games 2-4pm |
| Thursday |
Finding Theses 10-12noon |
Box of Broadcasts 2-4pm |
| Friday |
Managing your digital footprint 10-12 noon |
Smart searching with Searcher 2-4pm |
RDM Surgery!
Do you have a query about storing, sharing or preserving your research data? Do you need assistance with a Data Management Plan?
RDM Service staff will be in the Pop-up library space on the first floor of the Main Library on Monday 29 September (2pm-4pm) to answer any questions you may have about our services including:
- DMPonline:
A free web-based tool to help researchers write data management plans for
funded-grant applications – https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/ - Data Share:
A free-at-point-of-use data repository to allow University researchers to upload,
share, and license their data resources for online discovery and re-use by others –
http://datashare.is.ed.ac.uk - MANTRA:
A free online course for researchers who manage digital data as part of a research
project – http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra - DataStore:
500 GB free active storage allocation for all research staff and PG research students – http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/research-support/data-management/data-storage
For further information please also visit:
- RDM Website:
One stop shop for information about the University of Edinburgh RDM Programme
and Services http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-management
So please pop by and pay us a visit and let us answer your Research Data Management queries.
Stuart Macdonald
RDM Service Coordinator
email: stuart.macdonald@ed.ac.uk
Zombie Apocalypse (or how to access Library resources off campus)
It’s happened! The Zombie Apocalypse is here and the real question is how do you survive both the zombies and your studies at the same time?
Stay calm … arm yourself with this list: Zombie Apocalypse Guide – How to access resources during a zombie outbreak (or any other event that may affect access to University services)
This guide created by the Library Learning Services team using Resource Lists @ Edinburgh provides handy tips on how library services can be accessed remotely and off campus. It also provides information on how to get the most use from Resource Lists and provides direction towards self-study in the areas of zombie outbreak and survival.
Library Learning Services will be up on the first floor of the Main Libraryfrom 10am-12noon 25th of September to answer all your off-campus and Zombie Apocalypse questions.
Note: if you are not already, you will be prompted to log in to EASE to access subscription content.
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Stephanie Farley
Library Learning Services Assistant
Reformation Revisited
We were pleased to host a recent visit from the Friends of the Reformation Museum in Geneva at New College Library. The Friends were delighted to be able to view a selection of treasures from the Library’s Special Collections in the Funk Reading Room. These included Andrew Melville’s Bible, an early Greek New Testament, a Bassandyne Bible and a Geneva Bible. Their packed programme for the rest of the day included singing a psalm from the Wode Psalter in Greyfriar’s Kirk.
Christine Love-Rodgers – Academic Support Librarian, Divinity
Finding newspaper content online
![By Charles Henry Alston, 1907-1977, Artist (NARA record: 3569253) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A%22WATCH_YOUR_LOCAL_NEWSPAPER%5E%5E%22_-_NARA_-_535653.jpg)
By Charles Henry Alston, 1907-1977, Artist (NARA record: 3569253) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
- Want to get access to a full-text newspaper article when the newspaper website wants you to pay?
- Want to find out how you can search for newspaper articles about a particular event or story, either historic or current?
- Need to compare how different newspapers are covering a story?
Come along to our Pop-up Library session on Friday 26th September 2014 and find out how you can do all of this and more.
We’ll be on the 1st floor of the Main Library 2-4pm to answer any queries about newspaper searching or show you how to find, access and use the databases and resources the Library has access to that will allow you to search newspapers and get full-text.
So pop up and see us!
Collections
Hill and Adamson Collection: an insight into Edinburgh’s past
My name is Phoebe Kirkland, I am an MSc East Asian Studies student, and for...
Cataloguing the private papers of Archibald Hunter Campbell: A Journey Through Correspondence
My name is Pauline Vincent, I am a student in my last year of a...
Projects
Cataloguing the private papers of Archibald Hunter Campbell: A Journey Through Correspondence
My name is Pauline Vincent, I am a student in my last year of a...
Archival Provenance Research Project: Lishan’s Experience
Presentation My name is Lishan Zou, I am a fourth year History and Politics student....