Using your e-shelf

Our new video shows you how to make the most out of StarPlus by using your e-shelf. You can view it here

Welcome to all new and returning students!

Welcome to the University of Sheffield!  We hope you will enjoy your time here and hope to meet some of you at induction sessions arranged by your department. 

To get you started on finding resources for your studies, check out our Introduction to library and computing services web pages. Our web pages also contain links to our subject guides and a suite of information skills tutorials, together with one-minute videos on a range of topics. Check out our one-minute video on how to borrow a book.

You’ll need your UCard and PIN to borrow books using our self-service machines. If you forget your PIN or want to change it go to https://www.shef.ac.uk/cics/password sign in, and choose one of the top 2 options.

When you borrow a book we’ll renew it for you automatically unless someone else wants it. We’ll send you a weekly borrowing statement by email, so check this carefully to make sure your books aren’t wanted back. Please think of others and return books if they're requested by someone else. You will find yourself blocked from further borrowing if you keep books needed by others.

If the book you want is out on loan, you need to request it online through theStarPlus Library catalogue and we’ll email you when it’s ready to collect. Select the Information Commons as your collection site for 24/7 self-service collection. Remember to sign in to StarPlus by clicking the University members link at the top right of the page (if accessing StarPlus via MUSE you will be signed in automatically)

Remember we’re here to help you, so come and speak to us. Our Library HelpDesk can answer your email or telephone enquiries. Just email library@sheffield.ac.uk or telephone 0114 222 7200. You can also get specific subject help from your subject librarian.

Follow this blog to keep up to date with Library news and updates for the Social Sciences. We also have a Twitter account: @LibrarianArts

Finding music resources & scores for performance

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online

The new update to Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy has gone live. 

New for users

• All articles begin with an accessible summary in bold, free to view for all users and significantly improving discoverability
• Articles can be saved into labelled shortlists for easy reference
• Articles can be easily shared
• Search has been improved to enable results  to be filtered on a greater number of facets

Access through the above link or search on Starplus. You may be required to sign in

Russian Newspapers Online

The library now has on-line access to Izvestiia (1917-) and Pravda (1912-) provided by East View.
Search for them on Starplus (and remember to sign in)

Finding journals

Journals are available in print and electronic format - some titles are only available electronically, some titles are only available in print, and some are a combination of the two. To check our full access to a journal, follow these steps:

·       Log into MUSE

·       Click on StarPlus - Library Catalogue

·       Make sure you are signed on to StarPlus by clicking Log In – University members (when you access StarPlus from MUSE, you will be automatically signed on to the catalogue)

·       Search for the journal title under the University Collections tab

A ‘View It’ tab under your chosen title record will show electronic access. This will display the years of subscription that the library has – please note that we may have subscriptions from more than one publisher and for different dates. Clicking on the name of a publisher will open the journal’s webpage in a new window. A ‘Get It’ tab will list print holdings available in the Library. Please be aware that some journal titles are reference only and cannot be borrowed from the library.

StarPlus user experience questionnaire

 

The Library team responsible for StarPlus are always trying to improve users’ searching experience.  Therefore, they have developed a questionnaire to collect valuable feedback from registered staff and students.

 

By filling out the questionnaire you will be entered into a draw for a £25 Amazon voucher!

StarPlus user experience questionnaire

The deadline to complete the questionnaire is 17 April, please submit your results before the deadline.

StarPlus for all: basics and more

StarPlus, the Library catalogue, can be accessed from your MUSE account (under My services) or from the Library webpages at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/library.

Remember to click on the University members link at the top of StarPlus if you are accessing it from the Library webpages (when you access StarPlus from MUSE, you will be automatically signed on to the catalogue). Signing on to StarPlus will give you full access to resources and features including the e-Shelf and your online Library account.

Search under the University Collections tab to find: books, ebooks, journals, databases, theses and multimedia.  Enter keywords into the search box then refine your results later.

Use the Articles and More tab to search for journal articles from databases.  All results shown will be available for you to access. However, you can also choose to include results without full text online access.

 

 

Top tips

• Use quotation marks when searching for a phrase, e.g. “global warming”.
• Use an asterisk at the end of a word to represent alternative endings. For example, educat* will search for: education, educating, educational etc.
• Use the e-Shelf to organise, print, email and push your search results into reference management software. Add search results to your e-Shelf by clicking on the star icon (located on the left of each search result).
• To request a book that is out on loan, click on the Get It tab and then the Request link (requested items are now being issued until after the Easter Vacation: Easter Vacation Loan Periods).
• Look at the Subject Guides to identify the key databases and online resources for your subject area. Link to the Subject Guides from the home page of StarPlus.
• Search for and connect to databases from the University Collections tab.

 

Take a look at our StarPlus tutorial to learn more.

Finding and searching databases

Databases index information about published journal articles, conference papers and other academic documents. Find databases that are useful for your subject on our Subject Guides.

If you know the database you want to use, search for the name of the database on the University Collections tab in StarPlus, click ‘View Online’, ‘Open source in a new window’ and then ‘Connect to...’  under the Quick links on the right-hand side.

It is worth spending time thinking about your search before you start- list relevant keywords and search terms and any alternatives. For example, if you are searching for global warming, you will also want to search for climate change and greenhouse effect. Consider different spellings such as colour/color, and any technical terms or abbreviations.

If you are searching for a phrase, use quotation marks to keep the words together, e.g. “global warming”, “old testament”.

An asterisk can be used to end a word in a variety of ways, for example, ethic* will find results that include ethic, ethics, ethically, ethical.

Our Successful Database Searching tutorial will help you plan your search further.

Nexis UK - news and business information database

Nexis provides full text access to UK national and regional newspapers as well as international newspapers, newswires and foreign language news sources. Coverage is from the 1980s onwards and is updated daily. Nexis also provides access to business information such as company profiles and industry reports from a variety of sources.

Nexis has a range of search screens for the different types of information sources that it indexes e.g. News, Company Profiles, Industry News etc. Navigate between these search screens by clicking on the Search tab and corresponding subtabs at the top of the screen. Alternatively, click on the Sources tab to browse or search for specific information sources.

The University Library has developed a Nexis worksheet to guide you through conducting a news search. The worksheet can be accessed from this webpage by clicking the link on the right, under Quick links. A range of tutorials are also available from the Help link on the Nexis UK website (located in the top right corner of the screen). There are also help links on each page with information about that particular page.

Nexis can be accessed via StarPlus (search under the University Collections tab) or from the following link: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/cdfiles/nexis . You will be prompted to sign into MUSE if you have not already done so. 

StarPlus Library catalogue update

In response to your feedback, we have now enabled single sign on to StarPlus when already logged onto MUSE. This means that when you access StarPlus from MUSE via the My services menu, you will be automatically signed on to the catalogue. This removes the need for you to click on the University members link on StarPlus. We hope that this will improve the overall usability of StarPlus.

New! Open Book Publishers

Open Book Publishers (OBP) is a non-profit organisation established by academics to publish peer-reviewed open access monographs in all disciplines of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

The University of Sheffield is a member of the Open Book Publishers' Library Membership Scheme which offers staff and students full access to the various formatted digital editions, as well as a discounted price for any printed edition of an OBP title purchased from the OBP website.

Access is available from here. You’ll need to connect to the OBP website via the link on the right-hand side (under Quick links). You'll be prompted to log in to MUSE as necessary. You can also search for individual ebook titles on StarPlus under University Collections.

International Historical Statistics

International Historical Statistics, 1750-2010, is the current online edition of this authoritative reference source, providing key economic and social indicators for the last 260 years. This 3-volume set is the latest edition of the most authoritative collection of statistics available. 

You can access the resource through StarPlus or by clicking the above link

Remember to Request Books

Books that are out on loan are automatically renewed unless requested by another customer. Use the following instructions to place a request:

• Sign-in to StarPlus by clicking on the University members link at the top of the page.

• Enter keywords and/or the author name into the University Collections tab to locate the record of the book that you would like to request.

• Click on the Get It tab.  From here you will see information about the item’s location and availability.

• If the book that you require is out on loan, click on the blue Request link.  On the following screen you will need to select the Pickup Location – this is the Library that you will collect the book from.

• Click the orange Request button. You will then receive an email when the book is ready for collection.

 

To view your active requests click on the myLibrary Account link at the top of the screen. Select Requests from the box on the left.  You can also cancel your requests from here.  

myResource Lists

The Library provides an online reading list service, myResource Lists, with links to electronic resources such as journal articles, ebooks and websites in addition to items physically held in the library. You can search for your reading lists by course, lecturer and department. For more information, please see our short introductory video on the myResource Lists homepage.


How do I access myResource Lists on & off campus?

You can access these in the following ways:

 

• Via the Reading List link in your MOLE course menu
• Via the My services menu in MUSE
• From the Library web pages, under the A to Z link
• From the StarPlus homepage

What do I do if I have any problems, or can’t find a myResource list for my course? Email: readlist@sheffield.ac.uk 

StarPlus for all: basics and more

StarPlus, the Library catalogue, can be accessed from your MUSE account (under My services) or from the Library webpages at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/library.

Remember to sign in by clicking on the University members link at the top of the page. This will give you full access to resources and features including the e-Shelf and your online Library account.

Search under the University Collections tab to find: books, ebooks, journals, theses and multimedia.  Enter keywords into the search box then refine your results later.

Use the Articles and More tab to search for journal articles from databases.  All results shown will be available for you to access. However, you can also choose to include results without full text online access.

Top tips

• Use quotation marks when searching for a phrase, e.g. “global warming”.
• Use an asterisk at the end of a word to represent alternative endings.  For example, educat* will search for: education, educating, educational etc.
• Use the e-Shelf to organise, print, email and push your search results into reference management software. Add search results to your e-Shelf by clicking on the star icon (located on the left of each search result).
• To request a book that is out on loan, click on the Get It tab and then click Request (top left of window).
• Look at the Subject Guides to identify the key databases and online resources for your subject area. Link to the Subject Guides from the home page of StarPlus.
• Search for and connect to databases from the University Collections tab.
• Take a look at our StarPlus tutorial to learn more.

Searching for your research project

Need to search for literature for a research project?

Start with a search for books on the StarPlus University Collections tab.

Then move onto searching for journal articles. The Articles and More tab in StarPlus defaults to search Primo Central- a general, multidisciplinary database. This will give you quick, quality results. Make sure you have signed into StarPlus by clicking University members at the top of the page.

For a more specific search, use databases. Find the databases useful to you on your Subject Guide: http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/subjects/subjects. Subject Guides also give links to other relevant information sources.

Search tips: Make sure you think about your keywords and any alternative words or spellings that could be used. Learn more about constructing your search here: https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/shef-only/info_skills/successful_db.html

Use the Find It buttons in databases to check access (Print and electronic) to articles of interest.

The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration

The Library now has online access to this resource through Starplus. The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration provides a complete exploration of the prominent themes, events, and theoretical underpinnings of the movements of human populations from prehistory to the present day. Access to the resource can be found here. You may be prompted to log into Starplus if you have not already done so.

Further investment in our ebook collection

As we are committed to enriching our eresource collection for staff and students, we are spending a further £40,000 on ebooks.

For the next 12 months, we will have full-text access to 'Cambridge Books Online Evidence-based Monographs' collection.  This includes over 17,000 ebooks spanning all subjects on the Cambridge platform.

We will continually monitor usage, and at the end of the 12 months, we will obtain perpetual access to the ebooks that you have decided are the most relevant.

To access these and other ebooks, please go to StarPlus; sign in, and search for your chosen field.

Alternatively you can go to the Cambridge platform

 What do you think of our ebooks?

We are running a survey to see what our students think of ebooks.  Please complete the survey here

Searching for your research project

Need to search for literature for a research project?

Start with a search for books on the StarPlus University Collections tab. 
Then move onto searching for journal articles. The Articles and Databases tab in StarPlus defaults to search Primo Central- a general, multidisciplinary database. This will give you quick, quality results. Make sure you have signed into StarPlus by clicking ‘University members’ at the top of the page. 

For a more specific search, use databases. Find the databases useful to you on your Subject Guide: http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/subjects/subjects. Subject Guides also give links to other relevant information sources. 

Search tips: Make sure you think about your keywords and any alternative words or spellings that could be used. Learn more about constructing your search here:https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/shef-only/info_skills/successful_db.html

Use the ‘Find it’ buttons in databases to check access (Print and electronic) to articles of interest.