Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the LRC

Just a reminder to all users that the LRC Open Access area will be fully available over the Christmas and New Year holidays, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  However, we do advise to ring the University on 0131 474 0000 just to check that the building is accessible before travelling.

The LRC will operate as normal up to and including Wednesday 21st December.  On Thursday 22nd December we will be staffed until 19:00 (7pm) and on Friday 23^rd until 17:00 (5pm).  We will resume normal staffed hours on Thursday 5^th January 2012.

Please remember that off-campus access to all electronic resources is available through the Remote Desktop service. Check the Library Services website for details.

And finally, please remember to renew your loans! If you renew 21-day loans now they will be issued until January; 7-day loans can be renewed into January from Saturday 17^th December provided they are not required by other readers.

Best wishes to all for the festive season.

MyRI at QMU

The fantastic Irish-based MyRI (My Research Impact) project tutorials on bibliometrics have been adapted for Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. The QMU version is available here.

November book swap

The next LRC Book Swap is today at 11am to 2pm at Food for Thought.

It's another chance to exchange those books that you don’t need or want for some new titles.

A big thank you to those who have been contributing to the book swap already. If you cannot make it on the day, please feel free to drop off books for the swap at the LRC Service Desk.

See you all there.

Library Anywhere app

Want to see what is available on the LRC catalogue?  Need to renew your books?  Our mobile-enabled catalogue is now even better, with the introduction of apps for iPhone/iPad/iTouch or Android phones/tablets. 

Visit iTunes or the Android app store and search for “Library Anywhere”.  Then choose Queen Margaret University from the list of available catalogues.  You will also see a new feature on the app – in the top right corner, click on the 3 dots.  You can then scan the barcode on the back of any book, and the app will link to our catalogue, so you can see if we have that book – or any other edition, which you can then reserve. 

Any queries, email lrchelp@qmu.ac.uk.

Research Support lunch-time drop-in session

The LRC will be hosting a drop-in lunchtime session from 12-2pm on Tuesday 15th November for QMU research staff. Please come along to find out more about our research support services including eResearch and its MePrints personal webpages, how eResearch is being used for the REF, open access publishing advice and our eData service. As lunch is being provided, it would be appreciated if you could let Helen Muir know if you are able to attend for catering numbers.

Check out the library catalogue on your smartphone

On the move and want to search the QMU library catalogue or see what you have on loan via your smartphone? Point your browser to www.libanywhere.com/m/463 where you can also renew your books, using your QMU log in.


For more information, ask a member of Library Services staff or email lrchelp@qmu.ac.uk.

September book swap at Fresher's Fair

The LRC Book Swap is back!

We will be at the Fresher’s Fair on the 19th of September, in the Sports Hall between 12pm to 4pm.

We have new titles, both fiction and non-fiction, available to be swapped, so do bring in those books that might be of use to others.

See you there.

Opening hours

Now that the semester is upon us, the LRC is staffed from 09:00 to 21:00 Monday to Friday and 09:00 to 17:00 on Saturday and Sunday.

We're open 24 hours a day, seven days a week so don't forget your smartcard to show to Security Staff when entering the Academic Building outside staffed hours.

Bargain buys

Come along to the LRC and pick up a bargain.

Have a look through our book sale trolley for withdrawn library stock. The books may be older and well used but with prices starting at 50p you might find something really useful.

HD 201 headphones, RRP £22.37 and available online for £15.00 are on sale at the LRC Service Desk for £5.00. Stock are limited so grab this fantastic bargain while you can.

New database - ProQuest Central

Library Services now have a subscription to ProQuest Central (PCQ) - the largest multidisciplinary database on the market today comprising 26 individual databases, worldwide newspapers, dissertations and theses, various journal collections including Nursing and Allied Health, Psychology, Social Science, Education, Family Health and Business. Access PCQ via our Databases A-Z page and is seamless when logged in on campus or off campus via Remote Access.

The decision to subscribe to PQC was taken after a full consultation exercise, as we will no longer be subscribing to Emerald or BSP. However, PQC contains the majority of material in these two databases and as mentioned much more besides.

New year...new look for the home page

We're starting off the new academic year with a new look to our home page. As you can see, it's a lot more colourful and - we're hoping - a lot more user-friendly.

The Library Services toolbar has been updated with a quick search box for the library catalogue and a 'Links to...' box which means the full library catalogue - where you can log in to renew your books, databases A-Z page, eJournals A-Z page and Subject Resources pages are still only a click away.

Information for Staff, Students, Distance Learners and Researchers pages can be accessed via the 'Information for...' box. We've been busy over the summer creating a new Referencing page and updating Reading lists that can be found by clicking on the 'Students' link.

Our workshop timetable can be found in the 'Contact us/Help' box along with links to the campus-wide Frequently Asked Questions site, FAQMu and the growing 'You said, We said' comments and feedback feature.

Our online Room Bookings system, Open Access Repositories and LRC induction information can be found in the 'Information about...' box.

What do you think? Do you like the new look?

Resits and resubmissions - opening hours

We've been seeing lots of folk today in the LRC at the start of resits and resubmissions. During the vacation, we're still open 24/7 but have reduced staffed hours of monday to friday from 09:00 to 19:00. If you find that your smartcard is not working at the speedgates, please see Security Staff at the Reception Desk.

LRC Survey 2011

It's been a while since we posted but we're turning over a new leaf with news of the LRC Survey 2011.

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to complete our survey. We had just under 100 responses and here are some headline figures:

91% are students; 92% are full time.
58% are from the School of Health Sciences.

The majority of respondents come in to the LRC to either borrow or renew books or to use an MFD. 26 respondents came in to ask a question at the Service Desk. 36 came in to use a Thin Client terminal.

Please keep reading the blog and we'll post further analysis over the coming months