Alumni Online Library Resources

Services and Facilities

Alumni Access to Online Library Resources

In addition to our standard alumni membership, which allows you to borrow up to 5 books at a time in person, RGU alumni can also access full-text online journal articles and e-books from a limited number of online databases, for non-commercial study and research.

How it Works

As a graduate of Robert Gordon University, it is free to enrol with the library. Membership information can be found at https://library.rgu.ac.uk/community-and-alumni-members. Standard alumni membership of RGU library permits you to borrow 5 hard copy books, but does not give you access to our online resources. For most databases, our strict licensing agreements limit access to currently enrolled RGU students (and staff).

However, there are a limited number of online databases that we subscribe to which RGU alumni can use to access full-text online journal articles and e-books for non-commercial study and research. This is a free service and you do not require a library card or an alumni library membership to access these. The selection of available resources can be seen in the Databases section below.

After you have applied and we have provided you with login details, your alumni online account will only work with the custom links in the Databases section on this page. You will not be able to use this account to access links from our library catalogue, or any other links that the library provides elsewhere.

How to Apply

To be eligible to apply for this service, you must be an RGU alumni student. Due to our strict licence agreements with our online resource suppliers, for the purposes of this service, an RGU alumni student is defined as someone who has successfully completed an accredited qualification at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

To apply for this service, please complete the online resources for alumni application form. Terms and conditions are stated on the form and must be agreed to before you can apply for and use this service.

Use of this service does not permit you access to any online resource that the library subscribes to, other than the ones listed in the Databases section below.

After you submit your form, please allow at least 2-3 working days for us to set up your account and get back to you with confirmation and login details. We will contact you via the email address that you provide in your application form.

Accounts are only valid for 5 years, after which you will need to submit a new application to continue access.

Databases

Due to our licence agreements with the database providers, the databases available through this service may be withdrawn or changed at any time, without prior notice.

By using the databases provided by this service, you agree to abide by the following terms and conditions:

You can copy this URL to share a direct link to this referencing template:

By using this service, you are agreeing to comply with the terms and acceptable use conditions set out below. If you have further questions about copyright, or the terms and conditions in place for specific electronic resources, please contact the library.

The online resources and their contents are subject to strict terms and conditions, licencing permissions and copyright law, which must be complied with by all users of this service.

Use of this service does not permit you access to any online resource that the library subscribes to, other than the ones listed at https://library.rgu.ac.uk/alumni-online-resources#databases.

This service is for RGU alumni users only and you must not share login information with anyone.

Accounts are only valid for 5 years, after which you will need to submit a new application to continue access.

Please note that due to our licence agreements with the database providers, this service, and the resources available through it, may be be changed or withdrawn at any time, with no prior notice.

Acceptable Use Conditions

Pre-requisites to access

This service is intended for alumni of Robert Gordon University only, no other persons are permitted access. Users must agree to the terms and conditions set out in this document and the terms and conditions and privacy policies specified on each website accessed via this service.

What RGU alumni can do
  • Access a limited range of the University's electronic resources using the access information provided to the user by RGU library
  • Use these electronic resources for personal, non-commercial and educational use (e.g. personal study or research). Any use of these resources for commercial purposes is strictly forbidden
What RGU alumni cannot do
  • Use any of the content retrieved from the University's electronic resources for commercial activities
  • Share any University-issued usernames or passwords with any other party
  • Share any materials retrieved from the Univeristy's electronic resources with any other party, whether in print or electronic format
  • Download, store or transmit an excessive amount of content retrieved from the Univerity's electronic resources
  • a-n - Research and information for and about contemporary visual arts practice.
  • Berg Fashion Library - Integrated text and image content on world dress and fashion throughout history. Includes the Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, an extensive E-Book collection and a vast image bank.
  • Brill Journals Collection - Full-text journal collection covering humanities, social sciences, international law and some sciences. Over 300 titles available from 2000 onwards.
  • Edinburgh University Press - Full-text humanities and social science journals from EUP.
  • Karger Journals Collection - Over 100 full-text journals covering a wide range of health topics. Coverage dates vary.
  • Sage Journals - Full-text journals in a wide range of subjects including business, humanities, social sciences and science.
  • Sage Research Methods - Resources about research methods and statistics. The core module includes the books and reference material, a small number of videos, and tools such as the project planner. Please note, other modules such as cases, datasets, and most videos are not included.
  • Taylor and Francis - Full text journals in business, humanities, social sciences, science, technology and medicine. Also includes free archives in geography, planning, urban and environment.
  • Wiley - Full-text journals and eBooks covering a large range of subject areas.

Open Access Resources

In addition to these resources, there are also increasing numbers of online resources available as Open Access resources, which are free of charge for anyone to use. We have a list of free/open access resources which you can browse. You can also search the Directory of Open Access Journals and the Directory of Open Access Books. Alumni may also find Google Scholar useful as a search tool since it pulls information and links from multiple open sources. The CORE database of open access research papers could also prove to be a useful resource.

Walk-in Service

As well as our alumni service described above, RGU Library also provides a walk-in user service for anyone who can come in person to the Library. The walk-in service provides access to a much greater range of online resources than those that are listed here, and therefore may be of interest to alumni who can come in person into the Library.