Drama: For academics

"The Library aims to provide a study environment, resources and services that significantly enhance scholarly activity and independent learning and research" (from Library Charter). 

The purpose of this guide is to set out key contacts and services to ensure you can make the best use of UEA Library.

This video (around 9.5 minutes) provides an overview of how the Library works with and supports academics and research staff. You can view the slides and script as a handout if preferred or if needed for accessibility. 

Make sure you familiarise yourself with the content on this page - and the main page of this subject guide. There is also a lot of further information on the UEA Library website (requires UEA login). See especially Using the Library and Research and Teaching Support. As your academic Librarian, I am also happy to schedule a Teams call or face-to-face meeting to talk about your research and teaching need - please contact me to arrange this.

Grant Young - Academic Librarian for AMA, HIS, IIH and LDC

Karen Smyth - Library Rep for LDC 

Filipa Antunes - Library Rep for IIH

Library helpdesk - for general issues or if Grant is unavailable

Electronic Services helpdesk - for problems accessing electronic resources

Reading List help - for support with Talis reading lists

Subject-specific resources will be promoted on the first tab of this guide, but these new general resources are likely to be of interest

Times Higher Education (THE) - we now have full access to THE content.

Need help with Talis?

There is a lot of help available on using the Talis Reading List system. I would especially recommend this 9 minute video provides detailed information on updating a reading list. This is best viewed full screen or on Youtube.

Collection Development

In developing its collections, UEA Library uses these principles (for full details see our Collection Development Policy and Reading List Policy)

• Digital first. To provide good access and help in managing space, UEA Library prioritises ebooks and ejournals over print wherever possible. In most cases we will not purchase print where there is an ebook available.
• On-demand. In order to make the best use of budgets and space, most books are now bought (or borrowed via interlending) as they are needed for teaching or research rather than bought on publication "just in case". So it is important that you request any items you need.
• No donations. Unless something is extremely rare it is usually cheaper and easier to buy it in pre-processed from our suppliers.

Practicalities - if you need...

• Books for your research and are unlikely to use it within teaching, please use the Interlending Service.
• Books for your research and are likely to use it in teaching or recommend it to students, please use the Book Suggestion service to obtain it.
• Books for your teaching. If you are preparing for teaching, you can add any books we don't yet have to your module's Talis Reading List (just bookmark them from Amazon) and we will buy them in with sufficient copies/electronic licences.
• Book Extracts for your teaching. Where we can't obtain ebooks it is often possible to provide scanned extracts for use in teaching under the Copyright Licensing Agency's (CLA) licence. These can be requested via the Talis Reading List system (here's how)
• Textbooks for your teaching. While the distinction between regular ebooks and textbooks is not always clear, if a book is branded as a textbook or targeted as a key undergraduate text then it may be provided on a different - much more expensive - licensing model to normal ebooks. If you think the book you want to use may be a textbook, check with Grant.
• Popular fiction/non-fiction or literary fiction for teaching. These may be sold to individuals as ebooks (e.g. Kindle books) but are not generally available for institutions to buy. In this case the best we can often do is provide a few print copies and you may need to request extracts or ask students to purchase copies.

Other resources

• Journals. While we have a lot of journals (see journal A-Z) we are unlikely to have everything you need. It is usually easy and quick for us to get articles from journals we don't hold via the Interlending Service. We can also often obtain articles for use within teaching - please alert us if you are adding articles we don't hold to a reading list. New subscriptions are harder and may require the cancellation of other titles, which is often brokered by your School's Library Rep. And where new subscriptions are activated these don't always come with archives - if older issues are essential it is important to let us know this. Please contact Grant to discuss any new subscriptions.
• Databases. We have a range of databases, primary source collections and other specialist resources available (see database A-Z). We add to these when there is demonstrable demand and available budget (they are often very expensive). Please contact Grant if there is a non-book non-journal resource you are interested in trialling or obtaining.
• Films in teaching. There are ways of obtaining films for use in teaching and we have procedures in place to manage this. Firstly check the Box of Broadcast service to see if there is a copy of the film, documentary or programme you would like to show. If it's not there please contact Grant to find out about other options.

I can provide sessions for your students - from short simple general introductions to key library services to more advanced lectures and workshops dealing with subject-specific resources, advanced search strategies and particular tools. These can be face-to-face or online. I still have capacity to schedule sessions for Semester 1 2023-24, so do please contact me if you would like to arrange something.

Live inductions

• Academic Librarians are sometimes able to do short pop-ups during school or course inductions or to record a welcome video. Please contact Grant if you would like these.

Online inductions

• The Library's general induction/orientation for 2023-24 are online self-access resources called "Start your Journey." Please could you help us to promote these to your students. They can be accessed from the New to the Library box on the UEA Library homepage (or directly here). Or via the Online learning tab on each of my subject guides.

Library tours

• We don't usually conduct library tours, but do have a useful virtual tour of the main floor of the library
  
• We can also provide self-guided tour sheets and editable maps of each library floor to highlight parts of the physical library and collections. These can be tailored to particular schools, cohorts and courses. Please contact Grant if you would like to arrange these.

The Library and the Learning Enhancement Team (LET) have jointly produced a resource to assist those tackling first/early assignments. This covers key digital information skills and academic writing.

It can be directly accessed via a Google site and there are pointers to it from within the Library website and subject guides.

We can also help you embed elements from this resource within your own web- and blackboard sites or presentations. Please contact Grant to discuss this.

Subject Guides

• The Library's subject guides have being revamped ahead of 2023-24 to provide more support for students, including video content. More will be added throughout the Semester. Please highlight these guides to students.

Lean Library Pop-ups

• We are able to configure our version of the Lean Library browser tool* to provide targeted information and support when particular resources or sites are accessed. This offers the potential to provide help with databases or direct students to relevant subject guides. If there are particular resources in your subject area that would benefit from this, please let Grant know. 
  *If you don't have Lean Library, download and install it and tell it you're at UEA.

Drop in sessions and 1:1s

• Drop-ins and 1:1s are available and will be advertised via the Subject Guides. Please encourage students to take advantage of these if they want help with library tools/resources. 

Separate Library sessions (online or sometimes in person)

• Academic Librarians can provide more advanced or specialised sessions for schools, cohorts or courses. These might cover more advanced search tips (e.g. for dissertation research) or the use of specific databases. Please contact Grant as soon as possible to arrange these.

Embedded or pop-up content in scheduled lectures or seminars

• It is also possible to provide tailored content that can be used within normal lecture or seminar sessions and to provide a brief pop-up or a recording for multiple seminars or asynchronous access via Blackboard. Please contact Grant to arrange these.

New HUM PGRs should be encouraged to look at some of the induction/orientation resources above, but the main support is provided via Subject Guides, courses in the HUM PPD Programme, and twice-weekly Data Drop-ins.

Note that academic colleagues can also take advantage of these sessions and the Data Drop-ins.

HUM PPD Programme

PGRs can sign-up for courses on the PPD programme via the Student Portal.

The Library runs or contributes to two core courses for PGRs, which all should be encouraged to attend - even if they are not new to UEA:

• HUMPR021 - UEA Library Research Support: making the most of the Library's arts and humanities resources. This runs twice each semester and is entirely online. It highlights library services and offers advice and tips on advanced searching using a range of library search tools.
• HUMPR101 and HUMPR102 - Open Research Skills. Focuses on digital skills, methods and tools, presented in the context of the research lifecycle..

The Library also contributes to three other courses on the HUM PPD Programme:

• HUMPR027 - Referencing Without Tears. Likely to run twice in 2023-24. Provides an overview of referencing practices and tools, including a look at Zotero, Endnote and Mendeley.
• HUMPR047 - Surveying the Literature for your Thesis. Likely to run twice in 2023-24. Looks at the process of undertaking a literature review and the different ways it might be presented.
• HUMPR043 - Making Citations Count. Likely to run twice in 2023-24. Demystifies and critically evaluates Bibliometrics and altmetrics, looking at how these can assist in resource discovery and developing ones own research profile.

For details of any of these courses please contact Grant.

Drop-ins

• While PGRs are welcome to attend any drop-ins advertised on the Subject Guides, they could be encouraged to attend the twice-weekly PGR Data Drop-ins being run during term time which Grant attends. These are run on Mondays and Tuesdays, 12-1 in Teams, via this link.