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Category: Databases

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Healthcare Sciences Week: Healthcare Resources in the Library

10/03/2025 / / 0 Comments

Healthcare Sciences Week: Healthcare Resources in the Library

 

It is Healthcare Sciences Week, we thought it would be fitting to look at the healthcare resources available in the library. It comes not long after National Careers Week. This to annually commend the work of those in healthcare science professions. And also to promote and raise awareness of career opportunities that exist within the healthcare industry and within healthcare sciences. This annual week-long campaign occurs every year to remind us of the significance of science and modern technologies in healthcare today. And how it can help to vastly change patients’ lives for the better. This is primarily through the fundamental role healthcare science plays. A role means that disease and illness are accurately diagnosed, effectively treated and prevented within the overall population.

We have a fundamental and vast range of healthcare resources in our libraries. This includes a variety of nursing and healthcare books and textbooks, eBooks and E-resources, databases and websites with a wide range of healthcare science resources to choose from. These can all be found on our LibGuide and on LibrarySearch.

Books and eBooks Resources…

If you are a student at Edinburgh Napier University, you will have access to a wide variety of print books and textbooks tailored to your specific course and school. School of Health and Social Care students will most often find relevant resources in our Sighthill campus library as this is where your school is primarily based. All our available resources can be found through LibrarySearch, as mentioned above. Or do pop in to our Sighthill campus library and have a browse through our shelves – you might even find a book or two that you did not even realise you needed! Our library staff at the LRC 2 helpdesk are more than happy to help you with finding any resources you are looking for as well. There is more information about how to find and borrow books in our Finding and Borrowing Books webpage on My Napier.

Can’t find a physical copy of the book you are looking for? Or is every copy of that book on loan? Not to worry – some of the books and textbooks we have available in our campus libraries, there are print and electronic copies of certain texts available. Digitised versions of certain textbooks and books can be found and accessed through LibrarySearch, so do keep an eye out for any text under a book search result which reads ‘Available Online.’

Resource Recommendation

Some popular recommendations with print copies and online access can be found below.

Foundations of Nursing Practice: Fundamentals of Holistic Care, Brooker, Christine, editor.; Waugh, Anne, editor. 2nd edition.; 2013. Available at Sighthill Campus and Online.

 

The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures, Lister, Sara E., editor.; Hofland, Justine, editor.; Grafton, Hayley, editor.; Wilson, Catherine, editor.; Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, associated with work. Tenth edition, Student edition. Available at Sighthill Campus.

 

An introduction to medicinal chemistry, Patrick, Graham L., author. Sixth edition.; 2017. Available at Sighthill Campus.

 

Nursing Research: Principles, Process and Issues. Parahoo, Kader, author. Third edition.; 2014. Available at Sighthill Campus and Online.

Healthcare Reading Lists…

For every Health and Social Care module, there is a set reading list.

All texts listed on reading lists will be relevant to the specific module you are taking. And often have a range of both print and electronic resources. Reading lists will be extremely helpful to you when you start to conduct research for your assignments and prepare for exams. Each module has its own page on Moodle. It is there where the set reading list can be found. As well as the code and name of the module so you can search for reading lists. Although reading lists will give you a variety of relevant resources to consult for your course, you will often still be expected to conduct some independent research.

If you have any questions relating to reading lists or are having any trouble accessing print and electronic resources, feel free to drop our library team an email by contacting library@napier.ac.uk.

 

Journals and Databases…

 

As with our books, we also have a range of print and electronic journals which have content relevant to aspects health and social care and applied sciences. The majority of these journals that we have subscriptions to, however, are now online and fully digitised. Journals are usually very plausible sources to consult when conducting research for a report or essay, as they are usually of a very high quality with lots of relevant, up-to-date and evidence-based information. There is a specific tab for searching for journal articles in LibrarySearch, but journals can also be found and accessed through other platforms and search engines such as Google Scholar, specific publisher websites and of course, a range of high-quality databases which Napier subscribes to, which are tailored towards those studying healthcare sciences.

 

Databases are search engines which are often brimming with a variety of digital and e-resources. They are extremely efficient when it comes to searching for journal articles. Because it allows you to do so in a less time-consuming way. Our Libguide provides an A-Z list of Databases</strong>. If you are a School of Health and Social Care student, please see below the top five databases to consult for your specific course and subject area.

  • CINAHL – This is actually noted as one of our most frequently used databases and has a vast range of full-text nursing and allied health j

ournals.

  • MEDLINE
  • PubMed
  • Web of Science
  • MA Healthcare Complete

 

Further Support and Assistance…

 

Still feeling stuck? Our library services at Napier offer online and in-person training sessions on literature and database searching as well as help with referencing and guidance on how to utilise reference management software. You can find recordings and upcoming tutorials in our LibGuide and Library Calendar.

By Rachel Downie

We have a wide range of databases at the Library, read about them here 

Sighthill campus home of social sciences

Social Sciences Library Resources

17/02/2025 / / 0 Comments

Social Sciences Library Resources

Our university libraries provide many academic resources to help you through your studies. The most prominent of these will of course be the books.  Whether it be physically in the libraries or e-books available through library search. Alongside these, we also provide you with access to hundreds of online academic databases and journal collections. Through these, you can study academic articles and essays stretching back decades and covering a wide range of subject areas. Today, we will briefly introduce you to some of the resources available for studying Social Sciences.

Social Sciences Resources

Social Sciences at Napier falls under our School of Applied Sciences. As such the primary collection of Social Sciences books can be found in LRC 3 of the library in our Sighthill Campus,. But there are smaller collections found in the libraries of our Craiglockhart and Merchiston campuses. This collection is overseen by Catriona Robertson, the Subject Librarian for the School of Applied Sciences. And Cat is happy to provide you with any study support or advice when you’re carrying out social science research.

Through our library libguides portal, you can locate over thirty academic social science databases. These consist of access to academic journals and articles. Once you access any of these databases, you can login using your Napier student account via the Institutional Login option. Included in these databases is JSTOR, one of the internet’s most popular academic databases.  You can access thousands of journal articles, research reports, and even full e-books. JSTOR is not a specialised service, providing countless articles across all topics. So it can be a great way to begin research into whichever topic it is that you’re studying.

Similar to JSTOR is ProQuest, which has the added benefit of being able to search via specialised collections of subject matter. ProQuest includes its own premium Social Sciences collection.  This goes for an in-depth search into more specialised and niche topics in Social Sciences. The ProQuest Social Sciences Collection consists of a range of specialised collections such as the Criminology collection, Politics collection, and Sociology collection. But there is much more. This ensures that any searches you make will return results from relevant academic journals and e-books, instead of having to wade through irrelevant results that only lightly touch on the subject you are interested in.

An example of one of the more specialised resources we have available is Digimap, an online collection of digital maps. These include historical ordnance maps, demographic maps, or geological maps, with the format of the maps including traditional maps as well as aerial photography or 3d renderings. This could be a great resource for historical or sociological research, such as looking at how demographics have shifted over time or using older ordnance maps to track changes in city layouts. This can be useful for in-depth and niche study into specialised areas of social sciences. These are just a brief look into only a few of the social sciences resources available through the university library. Remember that if you’re interested in checking out more you can always have a read through what’s available on the university LibGuides page or contact Cat, the subject librarian for the School of Applied Sciences.

By Matthew Ferrie

Our databases cover a wide range of subjects, read our previous posts.

Sighthill facilities. Imacs in the library. Eresources and accessibility

CAB Abstracts Database

27/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

CAB Abstracts Databases

Introducing CAB Abstracts…

CAB Abstracts is one of the many databases we are subscribed to. It offers academic literature and publications on subject areas such as forestry, agriculture, human health and nutrition, animal health, veterinary sciences and conservation and management of natural resources. It was established by the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, originally the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux. The number of documents within its repository is ever-growing and currently reaches a total of over 770,000. These featured publications are from approximately 120 countries worldwide and can be accessed in 50 different languages. This means global representation is particularly prevalent within this database, including for developing nations. The database itself is produced by CABI and is the leading English-language information service.  It provides easy access to hard-to-find academic and research material on subjects such as agriculture, health, and life sciences.

Conducting Searches with CAB…

 

One of the many beneficial features of CAB is its comprehensive subject indexing within the CAB Thesaurus. This is the database’s controlled vocabulary tool. Conducting searches through CAB is therefore easier than in most databases. It allows for more precision when trying to gain access to all relevant research on a particular subject area or topic.

 

For example, imagine yourself being assigned a research project on cardiovascular health, focusing specifically onNext risk factors for cardiovascular disease and how cardiovascular health can also be improved overall. Now imagine you intend to focus on how nutrition can improve cardiovascular health. The first step in the search process may be to input “cardiovascular health” as shown below. This search query does of course bring up a significant and wide variety of results. However, the thesaurus tool can be used to greatly narrow down this overwhelming list of results.

 

CAB database

As you can see here, this search has generated 71,224 results in total! Now let’s narrow down the results by going to the  ‘Subject: Thesaurus Term’ section, then ticking one of the terms listed. Here, we will go with ‘risk factors.’

cab subject

As you can now see below, the search results have narrowed down to 20,436 – a much less overwhelming and more relevant base of results overall!

CAB refine results

We will now see if we can narrow these results down even further by going back to the ‘Subject: Thesaurus Term’ section and clicking on ‘Show more.’ This brings up even more terms, one of which is ‘nutrition.’ This will facilitate the generation of journal articles which cover all areas we intend to focus on regarding cardiovascular health and the research project at hand. As you can see below, we have now managed to narrow down the search results from a total of 71,224 results to 1,723 – a very significant drop!

 

CAB

Under the ‘limit to’ section, you can also narrow down the search results to journal articles published only within a specific period to  reduce the  results even further, or ensure that they are more recent publications with more current research conducted on a specific subject area or issue.

 

Benefits of using the CAB Abstracts database…

 

There are many advantages when using CAB abstracts for research.

  • It fulfils user expectations by allowing them access to the full text of material they are searching for in the CAB abstracts index.
  • Materials which are otherwise difficult to find and had prior been lost to the scientific community are archived and preserved within the CAB abstracts database, making them easily findable within this database.
  • The ease and efficiency of searching for texts and documents within the CAB abstracts database saves users a great deal of time and expense when trying to locate otherwise hard-to-find texts.
  • Invaluable texts which are otherwise hard to find are placed among main-stream literature to allow guaranteed access to all relevant documentation and texts so that search results are not just limited to those which are more readily available. Also ensures that researchers can access the most current research, studies and literature on specific subjects and subject areas
  • Any information and knowledge presented at within reports and at conferences is shared widely within the scientific community as well.
  • Full-volume sets are included, along with archival material from an ever-evolving number of journals. Whilst some material covered is free to access on the internet, CABI’s full-text database ensures that the article is never lost or access to a text is disrupted by broken links.CAB abstracts can be accessed through our A-Z Databases in our Libguide. Along with various other advanced databases and searching tools.

     

    By Rachel Downie

Read about other databases on the library blog here.

Grove music online blue banner

Grove Music Online

11/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

Grove Music Online: Unlocking the World of Music Research

In today’s world, reliable resources for music research can be hard to find. That’s where Grove Music Online comes in. This essential database serves musicians, scholars, and enthusiasts alike. It offers a wealth of information across all musical knowledge, making it a must-have tool for anyone eager to explore music more deeply.

What is Grove Music Online?

Grove Music Online is a digital platform housing the Oxford Music Online database, which includes the esteemed Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. It provides access to thousands of articles covering everything from historical composers to specific works and theoretical concepts. Experts regularly update the content, ensuring it remains a reliable reference for both casual readers and serious researchers. With over 52,000 articles, it boasts a publication history spanning more than a century!

Why Use Grove Music Online?

  1. Comprehensive Content: Find entries on a wide range of topics. Explore well-known figures like Bach and Beethoven, as well as lesser-known composers and global musical traditions.
  2. User-Friendly Interface: The platform’s intuitive layout makes searching easy. Browse categories or use the search bar for specific queries—accessibility is a priority for users at any experience level.
  3. Multimedia Resources: Grove Music Online includes not just text-based articles but also audio samples and visuals. This multimedia approach enriches the research experience and deepens user engagement.
  4. Regular Updates: The database continually reflects the latest research and developments in music. Users can rely on it for the most current information available.
  5. Cross-Referencing and Bibliographies: Each article includes hyperlinks to related topics, encouraging further exploration. Bibliographies offer curated lists for deeper dives into specific subjects.

Grove Music Online is a vital resource for anyone passionate about music. Whether you’re a student researching a paper, a musician expanding your repertoire, or a curious listener exploring a new style, this platform provides a treasure trove of knowledge. Dive into the world of music research with Grove Music Online and unlock new dimensions in your musical journey!

Access Grove Music online through our LibrarySearch Database List: Grove Music  Don’t forget to sign in!

Read more on finding Music with the Library using our LibGuides

Find more music related Articles on the blog with our posts on World Music Day and Music festivals

By Juliet Kinsey

Make the most of our newspaper e-resources: Times Digital Archive and NexisUni

Our newspaper e-resources: Times Digital Archive and NexisUni

04/11/2024 / / 0 Comments

 Our newspaper e-resources: Times Digital Archive and NexisUni

You might have already used one of many databases to search through academic journals. But did you know that the library also offers some amazing resources that give you access to historical and contemporary news? Let’s dive into what Times Digital Archive and NexisUni offer.

 

Times Digital Archive

 

Ever needed to check what was happening in the world a century ago? Times Digital Archive offers full access to The Times pass issues, covering over 200 years of news from 1785 to 2019. Whether you’re studying English, media, or any field that benefits from historical context, this is your go-to.

With this resource, you can search for original articles, opinion pieces, obituaries, and even advertisements that paint a picture of what life was like in different eras. The high-quality scans ensure you’re reading the exact newspaper layout as it appeared back then. It’s like holding history in your hands—digitally, of course. Need to compare media portrayals of major events, like World War I or the moon landing? It’s all there, easily searchable by date or keyword.

Go to LibCal to sign up to an online session on 13th November (14:30-15:45) to learn how to make the most of this fantastic resource and how it can help you with your next assignment or a project.

 

NexisUni

 

While Times Digital Archive takes you back in time, NexisUni is all about the present. This resource offers access to thousands of newspapers from across the globe. It’s perfect for students in fields like journalism, marketing, business, or anyone needing up-to-date information.

With NexisUni, you can search news from today or the last few decades—everything from breaking news to in-depth investigative journalism. And it’s not just limited to newspapers. You can find transcripts from news broadcasts, legal cases, and even industry reports. This means whether you need global perspectives or niche insights, you’ll find it all in one place.

 

Why You Should Use These Resources

 

Both resources are easy to use and accessible right from the Databases tab in the LibrarySearch. They can help you refine your assignments by providing primary and credible sources that go beyond a basic web search. Plus, diving into past and present news can be surprisingly fascinating!

You can find guidance and tips on using both NexisUni and Times Digital Archive on LibGuides.

Read our previous post on how to use NexisUni

By Patrycja Respondek

We have an upcoming training session.

Library Books

Introducing CINAHL (With Full Text)

23/10/2024 / / 0 Comments

Introducing CINAHL (With Full Text)

 

CINAHL, standing for Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature, is one of our most popular databases used widely among school of health and social care students within our student community at Napier. It covers literature on various areas of healthcare including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, nutrition and many more health-related professions. The research database itself is very comprehensive and offers the full texts of various nursing and allied health journals. Some additional online resources which CINAHL also contains ranges from a variety of quick lessons, ongoing education modules and full-text evidence-based care sheets.

 

Who uses, and would benefit from using CINAHL?…

 

CINAHL is one of the key databases utilised by SHSC (School of Health and Social Care) students and academics at Edinburgh Napier University. The most frequent users of this specific database are nurses (including nursing students), allied health professionals, nurse educators and researchers. CINAHL Ultimate is also used widely by nursing students to learn about specific healthcare techniques and practices through the instructional videos it offers, as well as to improve their knowledge of best practices and procedures when caring for patients. So not only does CINAHL offer a range of helpful resources that can be used for written assignments – it’s wide variety of instructional videos and tutorials, guides and lessons can also offer our SHSC students a range of useful advice and information that can be applied when on placements and further on into their careers in healthcare.

 

Pros of using CINAHL…

 

One of the ways in which CINAHL surpasses other databases is by offering full-text access to a considerable amount of the most consistently cited journals, along with thorough curation and indexing of these open-access journals. In total, CINAHL contains just over 1,300 journals featuring searchable citations and references. Because it is a targeted resource which specialises in healthcare, you can find a range of very specific scholarly material about Nursing and Allied Health as well, meaning search results have a significantly higher change of being diverse and relevant. Some other benefits of using CINAHL include:

  • The user-friendly and accessible interface of CINAHL makes it easy for uses to make effective searches to retrieve relevant information about specific healthcare topics and subjects.
  • The structure of the Medical Subject headings (MeSH) which the National Library of Medicine uses is also implemented by CINAHL Subject Headings, which enables researchers to come across newer subjects such as social distancing, vaping and COVID-19.
  • Search results are usually of a very high quality as they are indexed with great care and with accuracy and sophistication in mind once put through a thorough validation and certification process.
  • With its comprehensive indexing and the precision and directness of CINAHL’s full text linking, users can quickly and efficiently build up a relevant search criterion and find a wide variety of related search results with ease.
  • Qualitative as well as quantitative studies are covered and included in the CINAHL database, as well as a variety of nursing and healthcare subjects such as occupational therapy. Materials are extremely diverse and varied.
  • Since it is primarily focused on academic sources and literature on nursing and allied health, this eliminates the possibility of generating any search results which are completely irrelevant to these subject areas and topics.

 

More information…

 

Not only does our Libguide feature a direct link to the CINAHL database – it comes with both written guidance and recorded, visual tutorials on how to effectively utilise nursing and allied health databases such as CINAHL and their different search features and functions. This includes both a virtual, recorded tutorial on conducting basic and advanced searches within these databases. Find out more in our LibGuide.

 

By Rachel Downie

 

Read about other databases

 

banner image for post Introducing Digimap

Introducing Digimap

09/10/2023 / / 0 Comments

Introducing Digimap

Digimap is an online mapping and data delivery service available to UK academic subscribers. The Digimap platform provides access to online maps and spatial data from the Ordnance Survey, as well as the British Geological Survey, OpenStreetMap, and other sources.

At Edinburgh Napier University, we subscribe to OS Maps in various scales, as well as selected collections which focus on specific map types. Our collections are Environment, Historic, and Society.

Figure 1 [EDINA Digimap Society Collection. https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/society]

Environment

The Environment collection includes coverage of Land Cover data. It classifies sea and inland waters, urban areas, farmland, and more. It is particularly useful for students and researchers interested in conservation, environmental studies, and urban planning.

Historic

The Historic collection includes OS maps and County Series maps going back to 1846. Explore how urban and rural spaces have changed over the centuries and discover the history of town planning in the UK.

Society

The Society collection is an important resource for anyone interested in studying contemporary society in the UK. The maps include data from the 2011 Census. The data is available in over 40 map layers and provides an innovative way of visualising demographic information.

How to use

Digimap is a great tool to experiment with analysing information and creating new projects. Why not have a go at viewing habitat information, downloading data for 3D designing using GIS, or comparing urban development across historical maps.

  • Use the ‘Roam’ feature to view, customise, and download maps.
  • Download map data to use with software such as GIS or CAD.
  • Import your own research data to add to maps.

For more guidance, take a look at the tutorial videos on the Digimap YouTube channel.

How to access

Digimap and selected collections are free to use through the University subscription.

To access Digimap, log in with your ENU username and password. You will need to register your details with Digimap and accept the license agreements for each collection. You will then be prompted to verify your email.

By Catriona Robertson

Why not check out our post on the AM Explorer Database

Contact Us

Email: library@napier.ac.uk

Telephone: 0131 455 3500

Twitter: @EdNapLib

Instagram: @ENU_Library​

 

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