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Mental Health Awareness Week 9th-15th May 2022

09/05/2022 / jemmalidgard / 1 Comment

Mental Health Awareness Week 2022

Mental Health Awareness week is an annual campaign to focus on achieving good mental health. It is part of the Mental Health Foundation that was established 21 years ago.

This year the campaign explores loneliness, the effect it has on our mental health and how we can reduce loneliness. Loneliness is a subjective feeling experienced when the need for social contact and relationships are not met. Although, loneliness doesn’t necessarily always mean it is the same as ‘being alone’.

Throughout the pandemic, many of us have faced isolation under the lockdown rules creating separation from friends and family.

Libraries and Mental Health

Libraries can play an important role in bringing people together, fostering connections and communities. The Shelf Help collection at Edinburgh Napier University Library has been created to help students cope with different aspects of life such as starting university, managing finances, and eating healthily on a student budget. There are a wide range of books in Shelf Help aimed to help students understand and manage their health and wellbeing. These include books on topics such as dealing with stress and anxiety, specific learning difficulties including dyslexia and dyspraxia, and sexuality and relationships. Within Shelf Help there is also a loneliness section where you can find links to books on Library Search which can be borrowed or browsed in the library including:

Navigating Loneliness by Cheryl Rickman

The Cure for Loneliness by Bill Howatt

There is also a link to the ‘The Lonely Hour’ podcast where Julia Bainbridge aims to de-stigmatize loneliness by discussing the importance of finding joy in solitude and connecting with yourself. https://libguides.napier.ac.uk/c.php?g=653422&p=4968443

During Mental Health Awareness Week there will be displays in each ENU Library promoting the Shelf Help collection where you will be able to find books related to loneliness and other mental health topics. Please feel free to borrow the books from the displays!

Picture of books on a library shelf

Here are other ways that can help to tackle loneliness:

· There are group study rooms available for collaborative study at resourcebooker.napier.ac.uk. Studying together can help gain fresh insights into sharing knowledge!

· Join a club, class or even a society! This provides a sense of belonging and awakens that creative spirit. Edinburgh Napier’s Student Association holds societies to meet new people with similar interests. Find more information about the different societies at https://www.napierstudents.com/teamnapiersocieties/atozsocieties/

· Self-care, such as exercise, meeting friends and family, sleep and eating nutritiously have physical and emotional benefits to improving your well-being. You can check out resources

on the library blog for further support and building resistance https://blogs.napier.ac.uk/library/virtual-relaxation-space/

Group Study

See the My Napier webpages for more information on Counselling and Wellbeing Support provided by the University.

Edinburgh Napier University support:

Counsellors and Mental Health Advisers

9am-5pm, Monday-Friday

0131 455 2459 counselling@napier.ac.uk

Emergency and Out of Hours Contacts

http://breathingspace.scot/

https://edinburghcrisiscentre.org.uk/

https://www.samaritans.org/?nation=scotland

https://ednightline.com/

See the My Napier webpages for a full list of useful emergency & out of hours contacts.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week/event-map

By Jemma Lidgard and Sarah Jeffcott

Graduating this year? This article is for you!

02/05/2022 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

Congratulations!

You’ve reached the end of your course, you’ve passed all your exams and so onto Graduation!

It’s that time of year when we say Love Your Library, please clear your library record before you leave! Unsure whether your record is clear? Sign into LibrarySearch and select Library Card, you’ll find any loans and fines detailed here.

It’s very easy to return items, just scan them through our self-service kiosks and pop them into the returns box. Laptops can be returned to a Lapsafe or Library Help Desk. If you’ve fines to clear these can be paid through LibrarySearch or appealed if there’s been extenuating circumstances. You can also post books back to us if that’s easier for you. Here’s our contact details if you need to get in touch library@napier.ac.uk or 0131 455 3500. Don’t forget we’re also open as normal over the Summer!

Anyway, we’d just like to say we’re sorry to see you go and would like to wish you all the very best with your future career or studies!

May Day The Beginning of Spring

01/05/2022 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

Springtime

Is there anything that gladdens the heart of the city-dweller more than the glorious pink of cherry- and the wondrous white of apple blossom lining the grimy streets? Personally, I feel my spirits soar every time I wander along an avenue of blossom and turn up my face to the delicate petals raining down like confetti. Laburnum, too, delights with its brief but brilliant burst of yellow. (Okay, so it’s poisonous, but nobody was planning to eat it!) May really must be the most beautiful and optimistic month, as the light stretches and the air starts to warm up after those nippy April mornings.

The History of May Day

Maybe it’s this abundance of light, colour and new growth that inspired our pagan ancestors to celebrate the beginning of the month. They’d elect a May Queen and a Jack-in-the-Green to lead the festivities which included dancing around the maypole (every village had one), painting faces green and dressing up a local person in a caricature of a horse. The fun continued after the Christian church was established until those killjoy C16th Puritans banned maypole dancing as a heathen activity of drunken wickedness (which to be fair, it probably was).

Recent Times

In recent times, May 1^st has become synonymous with something much less frivolous and decidedly more serious: work. Labour movements across the world have inspired action since the earliest days of industrialisation, but official commemoration of May 1^st as International Workers’ Day began in Chicago when, in 1886, the American Federation of Labor implemented an 8-hour working day as a new standard of fair practice. In 1904 it was adopted around the world, and now May 1^st is recognised by many as a workers’ holiday.

Scotland

Closer to home, Beltane is a Gaelic festival of fire that is traditionally celebrated on May 1^st to mark the beginning of, um, summer. In Edinburgh, revellers usually make their way up Calton Hill before celebrating en masse. If you want to take part in the organised event, you’ll have to set off the night before. See https://beltane.org/

You may be familiar with the old proverb “ne’er cast a cloot til the May be oot.” You’d be forgiven for believing that the May in this case refers to the month, but in fact, it specifically refers to the May tree, an old name for hawthorn, that beloved staple of hedgerows across the land that produces a gorgeous white blossom in May. Hawthorn is the only plant in UK vernacular to be named after the month in which it blooms.

We hope you enjoy this Mayday, whether you’re working, strolling through a garden of cherry blossom, dancing around a maypole or warming yourself against a roaring communal fire. Bring on the summer!

By Lesley McRobb

Read more articles on celebrations here on our blog:

St Patricks Day

Chinese New Year

Scottish traditions

Wild Animals of Scotland Update. Image of an Osprey

Osprey update for 2022

25/04/2022 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

If you followed the ospreys at Loch of the Lowes last year, you may be interested to know that LM12 has already returned! You can watch his return to the nest here.

More Information

Staff and volunteers at the reserve, as well as a global audience of webcam watchers, are now eagerly watching for the return of LM12’s mate, the female osprey NC0. The pair successfully fledged three chicks in their first two seasons together (in 2020 and 2021).

Loch Arkaig osprey webcam will go live soon.

By Vivienne Hamilton

Read our earlier article on the Ospreys here.

A Quick Guide to Finding a Book with LibrarySearch

18/04/2022 / julietkinsey / 3 Comments

Finding a book with LibrarySearch

Are deadlines coming up? Assignments due? And Google just won’t do. Our quick guide to finding a book with LibrarySearch that will save the day!

There are books, journals, peer-reviewed articles and much more. We have over 225 databases, 33 000 journals, 100 000 books and well over 300 000 e-books all available at your fingertips at LibrarySearch. We can’t sing the praises of LibrarySearch enough!!

That’s all great and everything but the question now is how does it work?

Simply go to librarysearch.napier.ac.uk, access it through our web pages or click the shortcut here.

Don’t forget to sign in the right-hand corner to give you full access.

In the search bar, type the book title. If you don’t have any books in mind, you can type the keywords for your subject area and let LibrarySearch do its magic. There are filters on the side to narrow down your search for example if you only want books and books for a certain decade and books from a certain campus.

Once you’ve spotted a book that looks useful click on the link. You will be able to see if it’s available online or in one of our Campus Libraries. If it’s available online just click on the links to take you right on through to your book. If the book is on one of our shelves note down the Dewey Decimal number. It will tell you where your book is positioned. Afterwards, If you get stuck check out our guide or ask one of our lovely Librarians who will be happy to help!

All there to make life easier. Like we said LibrarySearch is there to save the day

By Maya Green

Discovered your book on LibrarySearch, but need help spotting it on the shelf? Try our Guide to the Dewey Decimal System here!

Still stuck finding something useful then why not check out our LibGuides

What the Librarians are reading: Books we recommend!

11/04/2022 / julietkinsey / 1 Comment

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What the librarians are reading: Books we recommend! Part 1

Stumped for your next read? Curious what the book professionals are reading? Look no further! Here’s a peek into what the staff here at Edinburgh Napier University Library (ENULibrary) have been reading over the last year.

Check out recommended books from all genres and Interests (we are a diverse lot!) Some are available right here at the Library, but for the books we don’t have, why not try your local library? Edinburgh City Libraries have a huge selection of books and we love supporting them.

The Book Reviews

Malcolm

“Tiny Habits” by B.J. Fogg.

“Recommended at a financial health webinar, and I read it over Xmas. A great way to self-change behaviour is by breaking down desired changes in multiple areas into very tiny habits, which are much more easily achieved than big changes. Prompt such habits by linking them to existing parts of your life, and celebrate when you successfully do them…it all helps to rewire them effectively into your brain. Easy to read and to get started with. Recommended!”

“The Story of Tea: a cultural history and drinking guide” by M.L. Heiss and R.J. Heiss.

“All you need to know about teas of the world…production, history, and how to brew them. Lots of pictures. Say goodbye to teabags. Perfect for the Tea-head in your life!”

Emi

“Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy” by Serhii Plokhy

“A very interesting and detailed insight about the 1986 disaster and its aftermath. The events are recreated by Ukrainian Professor Serhii Plokhy with detail and accuracy. At the same time, it’s quite interesting to read because the author tells the stories of the firefighters, scientists, engineers, workers, soldiers, politicians, and policemen who found themselves caught there and shows a lot about the nature of the Soviet political system and the flaws of its nuclear industry. As some reviews say, you can read it ” like a good thriller” and I found its less upsetting and disturbing than the recent TV show.”

You can borrow this one from us! Check out LibrarySearch

“Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths“ by Natalie Haynes.

“It’s a must for those who, like me, love Greek myths. An enlightening essay about how women have been hidden, belittled or directly condemned in those myths retold many times. The women’s narrative and its complexity have been misinterpreted through History and also Art, so I

enjoyed a lot reading about characters like Pandora, Medusa, and Medea and how they were not as virtuous or monstrous as they have been pictured (normally by men!).”

Maria

“Study with me: effective bullet journaling techniques, habits, and hacks to be successful, productive, and organized” Shao, Jasmin andJagan, Alyssa

“I enjoyed it because I have only recently started bullet journaling and this book gives a good overview of the practical/organisational aspects of how to do it, and also guidance on how to make your journal more creative and interesting.

For anyone who hasn’t heard of bullet journaling before it is a customisable diary/planner that be as simple or complex as you choose to make it!”

You can read this book here, through the Library.

We will have another instalment soon of “What the Librarians are reading” so check back to the blog regularly.

Want some more suggestions right now? Check out our earlier post of book recommendations here!

Stress Awareness Month: Exams

04/04/2022 / jemmalidgard / 0 Comments

Stress awareness month raises awareness of the causes, dangers and learning how to cope with stress. We want to highlight that exams can also be a challenging part of your time at university, but there are ways to help ease the stress and think positively!

Studying

Relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, listening to music or perhaps drawing are ways of demonstrating creative revision and studying. Stretching is also a great way of relieving any tension and refocusing the brain!

You can find resources via the library Shelf-Help with books chosen to cope with exam stress and overcome uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

If you are a visual learner and trying to tackle complex topics, post-it notes are a colourful and creative way to organise your thoughts!

Post-it-notes

You could study with a friend or even talk to a family member! This can boost your mood, motivation, and confidence.

Try a new environment to study in; take your books and laptop to a coffee shop or head on down to the library! Libraries offer quiet, comfortable, safe spaces to support you with your studies and revision. For example, Edinburgh Napier University Libraries have study spaces and group study rooms equipped with plasma screens and a whiteboard to accommodate your study needs. You can book these at resourcebooker.napier.ac.uk

Each campus library has a relaxation zone for you to take time out and explore your creative side. If you are studying from home there is also a virtual relaxation space on our library blog!

Have plenty of breaks and refreshments in between your studies!

Relax and study at home

Remember that your best is good enough and think about how far you have come with your goals and achievements.

For additional support visit

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/your-stories/14-ways-to-beat-exam-stress/

https://www.stress.org.uk/national-stress-awareness-month/#:~:text=April%20marks%20the%20start%20of%20Stress%20Awareness%20Month!

Unusual Libraries from the UK

29/03/2022 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

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University libraries tend to be large spaces with shelves with thousands of books, computers and study spaces. Students are used to and expect to have these facilities. You may also use public libraries which may not be as big, but still house a huge variety of books and other resources, but not all libraries are the same……

Here are two Unusual Libraries from the UK

Bethnal Green tube station library

Source

When war broke out in 1939 Bethnal Green Underground station was partly completed, and work was halted. In late 1940 it was decided that as the works were far enough ahead it could be used as a safe shelter for the public during air raids. Over a period of months, the station was transformed to house enough bunks to sleep up to 5000 people, a café, theatre and a nursery. This community 78 feet underground also gained a library in 1941-Britain’s only tube station library.

In September 1940 a bomb had fallen on the roof of Bethnal Green Public Library causing vast destruction to the adult learning library. Librarian George F. Vale and his deputy Stanley Snaith pulled a tarpaulin over the shattered glass dome roof and vowed to bring a library to the underground community. The council approved a grant of £50 and a library was created over the boarded-up tracks of the westbound tunnel. Stanley Snaith wrote “All last summer the caverns echoed to the din of hammers and saws. The result was a triumph.” Later in the Library Review 1942, he wrote “Libraries in converted shops, in village halls, in mobile vans are common enough. But libraries in tube shelters are something new under the sun.”

The tiny library measured 15 feet square and opened from 5.30-8pm every evening. It housed 4000 titles that had survived the bombing of the main library. Romances, classics, poetry and children’s books could be borrowed and help the residents to escape from the horrors happening above ground. Snaith wrote of his patrons, “Each dusk sees the first contingent making its way down to the bowels of the earth. The well and the ill, the old and the young, they come trooping down… In the library the youngsters are vocally busy with their book selection, but why should they not chatter to their heart’s content.” Now the “youngsters” are in their 90’s, but they still have fond memories of the tube station library. Pat Spicer, now 92 said, “You can’t imagine what that library represented to me as a place of safety. It sparked a lifelong love of reading.”

As the war dragged on many would have been anxious about what the future held, but in October Bethnal Green Library celebrates its centenary and tube trains still come and go from Bethnal Green station.

Phone box libraries

Source

Across the UK many redundant old red phone boxes have found a new use as micro libraries. This is often in rural areas which have been affected by cuts to spending on public libraries due to cuts in local council funding. The idea is simple-anyone can take a book home, but they are expected to bring it back or bring a replacement.

The first phone box library was set up in 2009 in Westbury-Sub-Mendip following cuts to the mobile library funding. The parish council purchased the box for £1 and locals put up wooden shelves and donated books.

These micro libraries operate on a system of trust and house a large range of titles from cookery books to classics and children’s books. In villages where everyone knows everyone, the system works well, but in some cities, micro libraries have been vandalised and the local community has had to fund and carry out repairs.

These are just 2 examples of libraries in unusual places. If you would like to find out about some other unusual libraries click on the links below:

The Worlds Oddest Libraries

Donkey Libraries of Columbia

ReadingClub2000

Also, check out our amazing article on

Wilderness Libraries of edamalakudi

By Vivienne Hamilton

AM Explorer Database: Millions of pages of primary sources spanning the 15th – 21st centuries

21/03/2022 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

Trial Access to AM Explorer Database

We have trial access to AM Explorer from Adam Matthew Digital until 5 May 2022.

This fascinating resource will be of interest to staff and students in the School of Arts & Creative Industries and the School of Applied Science, but it is very wide-ranging and potentially useful to all.

AM Explorer brings together a range of the most popular database products from Adam Matthew Digital. These award-winning digital resources which cover the social sciences and humanities were developed in collaboration with leading libraries and archives. They comprise of digitised versions of documents of historical interest collected from public and private sources of the past, but may also include photographs and video content, depending on the topic.

Features include:

Millions of pages of primary sources spanning the 15th – 21st centuries, including a wealth of new content added every year.
Powerful digital collections that transform teaching and research on important themes such as: Borders and Migrations, Gender and Sexuality, Global History, and War and Conflict
Range of additional features to enhance student engagement including Handwritten Text Recognition, Data Visualisation, Video and Oral Histories

You can access AM Explorer from the A-Z Databases list by clicking on the Databases tab in LibrarySearch, or via the URL https://libguides.napier.ac.uk/AMExplorer

Feedback

If you have any questions or comments on this database, please contact Marian Kirton, Subject Librarian for the School of Arts & Creative Industries m.kirton@napier.ac.uk. We are grateful for your thoughts as they will influence future decisions to purchase this resource.

By Sarah Jeffcot

Learn more about our other databases, Nexis and IBISWorld.

World Sleep Day Friday 18th March

14/03/2022 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

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Wakey, wakey!

I trust you had a good night’s sleep and are feeling bright and perky. No? Well, maybe you’re one of the 16 million UK adults who suffer from insomnia. 36% of us struggle to get to sleep at least once a week, and 55% of people aged 18-24 at least once a month. These statistics are concerning. Why? Well, I’m a big advocate of laughter, but I suggest it is, in fact, sleep that is the best medicine. The Dalai Lama puts it slightly differently: “sleep is the best meditation”.

Sleep is the most effective, cheapest and portable therapeutic treatment. It repairs your immune system, helps you think clearly, regulates weight and blood pressure, helps to stave off a whole range of diseases from heart issues to diabetes. It’s vital for mental health too. It manages emotional well-being, keeps worry, anxiety and depression at bay. Sleep is so important, we need lashings of it every night to keep us fit and healthy.

To sleep or not to sleep?

It’s had its critics, sleep. Novelist Virginia Woolf described it as “that deplorable curtailment of the joy of life.” Rapper Tupac Shakur declared that “the only time I have problems is when I sleep”. And Shakespeare’s Scottish king lamented that “good things of the day begin to droop and drowse, whiles night’s black agent to their preys do rouse.” (Macbeth, III, II, 45). Well, no disrespect to big Mac, but maybe if he’d enjoyed a good kip, he’d have woken up in a better mood and not felt so, well, murderous.

I am a champion sleeper. I’ll be the first to admit that I take refuge in sleep when life gets hard or I’m feeling low. It’s always my drug of choice. But too much sleep is just as bad as too little. As with all things in life, balance is needed.

Source

World Sleep Day

This Friday, the 18^th, is World Sleep Day, and if you are struggling from too little, too much, interrupted or troubled sleep, help is available. https://worldsleepday.org

https://sleepscotland.org cater particularly for families, but if you’re sleep-deprived and want to chat to someone about it, you’ll find the national sleep helpline number here: https://thesleepcharity.org.uk And the NHS Inform has compiled a self-help guide: Sleep problems and insomnia self-help guide | NHS inform

Here at Edinburgh Napier, we have a range of resources to support you. Sign in to LibrarySearch to find the Sleep Well Kit, Sleep, and Sleep: a very short introduction among many others.

Let’s leave the last word to peace activist Mahatma Gandhi: “Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”

Read more on how to take care of yourself by reading our article on self-care books in 2022

Or why not check out our Virtual Relaxation Space!

By Lesley McRobb

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Springtime

The History of May Day

Recent Times

Scotland

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More Information

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Finding a book with LibrarySearch

That’s all great and everything but the question now is how does it work?

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What the librarians are reading: Books we recommend! Part 1

The Book Reviews

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Bethnal Green tube station library

Phone box libraries

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Wakey, wakey!

To sleep or not to sleep?

World Sleep Day

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