Welcome to St George’s to all our new students and welcome back to everyone who is returning to their studies with us. After the flurry of Freshers Week and the first weeks of classes, now is a good time to start familiarising yourself with the library’s resources and the services we offer.
Our ‘Library at a glance‘ page and our ‘Library essentials‘ guide offer brief overviews of key library services, while the library induction module in Canvas provides a more interactive means of discovering the essentials.
Library help guides
We have created a range of guides, called Libguides, to help you find out more and get to grips with your subject, library or research related skills. You can find all of them on the Libguides homepage.
Each guide includes information on which resources we recommend for your subject, including revision and e-learning resources, and databases, if you are doing complex literature searches. Subject guides also include information on how to reference correctly and who to contact to get further help. A little tip: it’s generally a good idea to email liaison@sgul.ac.uk for help with finding information or referencing.
We also have a range of skills guides, ranging from the basic guide on printing, to more in-depth guides on literature searching, referencing (which includes information on the indispensable Cite Them Right), and on how to use Refworks to manage your references.
E-learning tutorials
On Canvas you can find a range of self-directed library research-based tutorials that you can take at your own pace when you are ready. They each include some videos, explanations and short quizzes so you can test your knowledge as you go along.
Have you ever wondered how to Google like a librarian? Or how to select the best-quality information for your assignments? Give our Finding and Evaluating Information tutorial a go.
If you need to use Harvard referencing in your assignments, you will find our Referencing Essentials tutorial helpful. It covers the basics of referencing, explains what in-text citations and references consist of and guides you through the reference layout of the most commonly used resources.
Once you have completed the tutorial, why don’t you take our referencing quiz to see how well you can apply Harvard referencing? A little tip: you might find our Cite Them Right video helpful to answer the questions.
Liaison Librarians
If you have any questions about finding, managing or referencing information, there is an expert ‘on-call’ librarian available every weekday between 10am-2pm you can talk to in person. All you need to do is let us know at the library helpdesk and we’ll take it from there.
Every subject at St George’s has a specialist librarians, so you are sure to get the support you need for your studies. You can find out who your librarians are on your subject’s libguide.
You can also email us at liaison@sgul.ac.uk if you’d like any help with research, systematic literature searches, finding information in Hunter, referencing or RefWorks. For more in-depth enquiries we can make an appointment with you, either online or in person, depending on availability.
Reading for pleasure collection
Regular breaks from studying and revision are important, which is where our collection of fiction, poetry and popular non-fiction comes in. Not all our books are medical and healthcare-related textbooks. We have a range of books you might expect to find in a public library!
These books are grouped along different themes, you can find all our collections here. There are collections on science bestsellers, Black Lives Matter and Black History Month, fiction by women and women in leadership, health and mental well-being and LGBTQ+ books for example.
The Library also supports the Big Read, an exciting shared reading project. We have all the shortlisted books from previous years, going back to the project’s origins at Kingston University, and of course all the winners, in the library available for you to borrow. You can find the Big Read books listed here.
Academic skills
Last but not least, you might be looking for help with academic skills, such as essay writing, revision skills or note taking. You can find information on these topics and many more on the Study+ page on Canvas.
You can also get one-to-one support by booking an appointment with the Academic Success Team. You need to book via the Study+ page on Canvas. Appointments can be in person or online.
We hope you find these resources will support you in your assignments, dissertations and learning. Don’t hesitate to email us at liaison@sgul.ac.uk with your questions.