Books and Journals
As an RGU student, you can access our vast collection of materials, both physical and online. This is curated and maintained by the Library and your lecturers. It covers all subjects taught at RGU, so you're sure to find materials relevant to your course!
The Library should always be the starting point in your academic research.
Not just paper copies!
We are always looking at ways of increasing the accessibility to our materials and a lot of our resources are available online through our subscriptions.
In fact, whenever we acquire a new resource, we aim to prioritise purchasing the electronic version over paper.
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Finding Stuff
Searching the Library Collections
The first place to go is LibrarySearch!
Remember to sign in to your Library Account, as it will allow a more complete list of results.
Using the friendly interface, you can look specifically for electronic resources. It's easy to access them instantly by following the links and signing in with your RGU username and password.
Reading Lists!
Remember, you can also access library content through your module reading lists, which contain essential and recommended reading for your modules.
You can still borrow items even if we only have it on paper! We can send them to you by post. More information can be found at books by post.
Tip!
Log in to your library account to see what you have on loan, place a hold, renew items and more!
Using Databases
Your lecturers may refer you to databases to conduct research and find suitable sources for assignments. Databases are just online tools which allow you to search and access academic journals on a variety of topics.
We subscribe to over 200 databases covering all of our courses. Here are a few of them, you will find a full list of suitable databases on our subject databases pages.
SUBJECTS COVERED | |
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Business Source Complete | Business, Management, Accounting, Finance, Communication, Tourism & Hospitality and more |
CINAHL with Full Text | Nursing, Midwifery, Nutrition, Biomedical Studies, Pharmacy, Public Health, Social Work etc. |
IEEE Xplore | Computing and Engineering |
Westlaw | Law, Construction Law, Employment Law, Forensic Science, Journalism and more |
ScienceDirect | All courses |
Web of Science | All courses |
Related Links
Books by Post
Whilst many items in the library collections are available online, there may be times when you need to borrow an actual book from the library. Your Reading List should indicate whether the item is online or a print version and the link within the Readign List will take you directly to the item page within Library Search. As an online learner, you can easily request these hardcopy books to be sent to you by recorded delivery! You can borrow up to 15 books at a time and hanks to automatic renewals, you don't normally have to worry about due dates. All library stock is loaned subject to recall though, even postal loans, so do keep an eye on your RGU email just in case a book is recalled. The recall email will tell you the date that the book must be returned by. may keep the
The process is very easy, full details can be found at our books by post help page.
The time in which the books will reach you depends on where you are, and whether the book is on our shelves ready to go, or we need to recall it from someone else.
The postal loan service sometimes experiences high demand and whilst we will deal with all requests as quickly as possible we can't guarantee a timescale.
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Keep in mind...
We can post books to you provided your address is in the UK, including the Isle of Man, Channel Islands or British Forces addresses overseas. Unfortunately we are unable to send books to other locations.
Step 3
There is a short form where you have to make a couple of decisions. The most important field to check is the Pickup Location. Make sure that you set this to 'Home Address', otherwise, the field will default to University location, which means that we will expect you to come over and pick it up from the Library.
If you want the book to be sent to an alternative address, enter it in the Comment section.
Once you are happy, just hit Place Hold.
Article & Chapter Requests
Are you interested in a book chapter or a particular article which is only available on paper? You don't need to wait for the book to be posted to you, we can scan it and send it via email!
You can quickly submit a request through LibrarySearch. Just fill in the quick form and read the terms and conditions carefully. Once your request is processed, it will be scanned and sent to you.
The Article & Chapter request service is in high demand so please submit your requests in plenty of time. Whilst we will deal with requests as quickly as possible, we can't guarantee a timescale.
Step 2
Locate the section called Find in Library and you will see there are two request options. You can either place a hold on this item (which means you will come to the Library and pick it up, or can have it posted to you), or request an article or chapter to be scanned and sent to you. Click on the latter option.
Step 3
Fill in the short form with the necessary information. This will tell us what the chapter or article is called and who the author is.
You can request a range of pages, or simply ask for the entire chapter.
If you want to tell us any more about your request, just add a brief comment.
Once you are happy with the details, hit the green Send Request button.
SCONUL Access
If you don't live in Aberdeen but would like to study in the quiet environment of a University Library, then most online learners can join the SCONUL scheme. SCONUL Access is a reciprocal scheme which allows many university library users to access study space and borrow or use books and journals at other libraries which belong to the scheme. The scheme covers most of the university libraries in the UK and Ireland.
For full information, see our SCONUL Scheme page.
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Inter-Library Loans
The Inter-Library Loan (ILL) service can try to source items for you if they are not available from our own print or electronic collections.
For more information on this service see the inter-library loans page.
We cannot guarantee a timescale for fulfilment of inter-libary loan requests as we are dependent on other libraries supplying these items. Some requests will be completed very quickly whereas others may take some time. There may also be occasions when we are unable to supply an item due to availability or copyright issues. If this happens then we'll get in touch to let you know.
Referencing at RGU
Referencing is a critical aspect of writing any assignment and you will be asked to correctly reference all the sources and materials used in your work.
RGU Library provides support and guidance for Harvard, Vancouver, APA and Oscola styles. The style you will use depends on your course requirements, but Harvard is the most used style at RGU.
We know it can be scary at first, especially if you haven't done it before, but don't worry! We are here to help with referencing and have developed detailed guides which include lots of guidance and templates for some of the most common media types. Full information can be found on the Referencing and RefWorks pages.
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How The Library Can Help You
Online Support
The main method of getting in touch with us is via email but we can also offer support via telephone or an out-of hours chat service. See below for our contact details.
QUERY TYPE | CONTACT INFORMATION |
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Referencing, RefWorks, LibrarySearch, Databases | library.support@rgu.ac.uk or 01224 263450 |
All Library queries | library@rgu.ac.uk or 01224 263450 |
Out of hours chat | Chat Widget (only available during our closed hours) |
Library Opening Hours
The Library will change to Semester 1 opening hours on Monday 16th September. The Library will be open from 9am until 10.30pm on the Public Holiday on Monday 23rd September
Semester 1 & 2 Opening Hours | ||
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Library | Service Desk | |
Monday - Thursday | 08:00 - 22:30 | 08:00 - 22:30 |
Friday | 08:00 - 20:00 | 08:00 - 20:00 |
Saturday | 10:00 - 20:00 | 10:45 - 18:00 |
Sunday | 10:00 - 20:00 | 13:00 - 20:00 |
Semester 3 Opening Hours | ||
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Library | Service Desk | |
Monday - Thursday | 09:00 - 21:00 | 09:00 - 17:00 |
Friday | 09:00 - 17:00 | 09:00 - 17:00 |
Saturday | 13:00 - 17:00 | - |
Sunday | 11:00 - 18:00 | - |
Outside of Service Desk hours there is a Security staff member present in the Library. The Security team are available to assist in an emergency or can answer simple directional enquiries but cannot assist with Library enquiries. During these times patrons can use the out of hours chat service or email the Library with their enquiry. Emails will be responded to during staffed Library hours.
Find out when the University and support buildings are open each day:
Building Opening Hours