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Edinburgh Napier University

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Library Welcome Week

10/01/2022 / / 1 Comment

welcome sign outside library

Welcome to the Library!

Hello and a very warm welcome to all students joining us this trimester from all of us in the Library. We wish you all the best with your studies and look forward to meeting many of you soon.

Whether you are on campus or studying online, if you are looking for information on how to use the Library services the Introduction to Computing and Library Services module on Moodle is an excellent starting point.

Introductory Sessions

We will be holding quick and friendly online introductory sessions to both the Physical Library and the Online Library during the first few weeks of the trimester. You can sign up for these and many other library skills sessions using the Training and Events Calendar.

Information on Library opening times, how to access or borrow the resources you need for your studies, accessing reading lists, and many more library services can be found on the Library webpages. If you need any further support, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 0131 455 3500 or email us at library@napier.ac.uk . We are here to help you!

Keep up to date on all the latest news from the Library on Instagram and Twitter.

New Year Resolutions: study and social

07/01/2022 / / 0 Comments

We hope all our Edinburgh Napier University students and staff had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s with some time to relax and catch up with friends and family.

With the festivities now over, you might be thinking that it’s time to make some resolutions and get back into that ‘serious study mode’.

It’s also a time to reflect on past events and your studies to see what you might want to freshen up and change for the new year. Just keep in mind that progress is always ongoing, and you should focus on one step at a time!

 

 

New Year Resolutions

New Year Resolutions

 

 

Here are some suggestions that you might want to consider below:

 

  1. Change your learning style or study skills

If you want to change your study habits or try a new way of learning, Box of Broadcasts (BOB) and listening to Podcasts are productive ways of gathering information and evidence for your assignments. You can find more information about it on our Libguides.

The library also has a study skills reading list and many books available like Improving Your Study Skills by Shelley O’Hara for improving the way you learn.

 

Study planning

Study planning

 

  1. Balancing education and work or your social life

This could be the year where you decide to prioritise your time wisely and manage your schedule to avoid burnout. You might want to break up the week by scheduling tasks into your calendar or stick colourful post-it notes around your room as visual reminders. Your education should be your priority and then you can consider what to do in your spare time such as music, sports or travelling!

 

  1. Try new activities

Whatever the weather, if you have a burning desire for adventures in the outdoors, like kayaking, hikes and walks in the hills, then the Hiking and Outdoor Activities society at Edinburgh Napier may be the one for you this year!

You can join more of Napier’s societies in the link below:

https://www.napierstudents.com/teamnapiersocieties/atozsocieties/

 

 

Hiking

Hiking

Spanish New Year

30/12/2021 / / 1 Comment

New Year in Spain

Not for Spaniards the heavy stodge of black bun or shortbread. They prefer something altogether lighter to bring in the New Year. To navigate the transition between the old year and the year to come – año nuevo – Spaniards stay at home, and, at midnight, it’s customary to eat las doce uvas (the twelve lucky grapes), one on each stroke of the clock.

It doesn’t matter if they’re red or white, seedless or not, eating 12 grapes is supposed to bring good luck, prosperity, and happiness for the year ahead because they represent each month of the year.

The truth is that the practice became established in 1909, when some of Alicante’s vine growers popularized this custom in order to sell huge numbers of grapes from an excellent harvest.

Before COVID arrived (and ideally again in the future), families or friends usually got together for a delicious dinner and then meet in the central square or any iconic local place to welcome the new year on this special and magic night.

The chiming of the clock is broadcast on TV all over Spain. After eating the grapes, the atmosphere is an explosion of joy, fireworks, confetti, music and dance until the early hours.

This year

This year like the previous one, the excitement will need to be much more contained and restricted in order to protect one another. However, I still encourage you to make the most of it with a physical or virtual toast, good wishes and resolutions.

Let’s be hopeful about 2022 and the good things to come. And above all, don’t forget to prepare your lucky grapes: the race to swallow all twelve before the clock stops chiming is lots of fun and your 5 a day fruit intake will be more than accomplished!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!\

by Emi Pastor

Read about Spanish Christmas traditions in our earlier post here

 

Staying on Campus over Christmas?

15/12/2021 / / 0 Comments

Christmas is a period of relaxation and spending time with family and friends. However, some students may be staying on campus over Christmas due to living far away and this can be an opportunity to explore festive activities or take some time to relax.

There are advantages to staying on campus over Christmas like having more space, peace, and quiet! The library even has Ebooks to get you in the mood for Christmas for example the classic, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Activities include the Christmas Market, Edinburgh Napier University’s Carol Service, and Hogmanay 2022. There is even a Christmas Tree Maze you can get lost in and the Santa Fun Run & Walk at Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh is open to registration to help fundraise for Children in Scotland who live with threatening illnesses:

Edinburgh Christmas Market

Edinburgh Christmas Market

https://www.whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk/events/2021-12-05-edinburgh-santa-fun-run-walk-2021

https://www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/term-dates/christmas-arrangements/whats-on-in-edinburgh

https://you-well.co.uk/edinburgh-christmas-market/

https://www.edinburghshogmanay.com/

Perhaps you may want to visit and check-in with your friends, which also opens opportunities to explore more of the United Kingdom. Or even hike the wonderful mountains and hills of the Scottish Highlands, where you may even find patches of Snow- the Cairngorm Mountain near Aviemore is best known for Skiing and Snowboarding in Scotland!

 

Snowy mountain Highlands

Snowy mountain Highlands

 

The University is here if you need a little extra support over the holidays:

https://www.napier.ac.uk/study-with-us/undergraduate/student-support

Studying over the Christmas Holidays?

13/12/2021 / / 0 Comments

The Christmas holidays have finally arrived, and you might be thinking it is time to get those feet up, relax, enjoy a hot drink and binge-watch all your favourite Christmas movies!

 

A cosy Christmas

A cosy Christmas

 

But wait a moment… as there is still studying to be done. Here are some tips on how to motivate yourself whilst studying over the festive season:

 

Break it up:

Spend a few hours each day or every other day to break up your study period- you can set some time during the morning or evening then you have the rest of the day to enjoy your break and catch up on those movies!

 

Read and Research:

Set time in your schedule for reading and researching in your comfiest chair, you can do this along with your cup of coffee or tea for extra comfort. You can check out some of our books to help you with your studies via our Library Search

 

Christmas Treats:

 

Treat yourself in between breaks (by this we mean opening the celebrations tubs, eating mince pies, gingerbread men, and anything festive to motivate you throughout the Christmas period).

 

Christmas Star Biscuits

Christmas Star Biscuits

 

Family and Friends: 

Ask a friend or family member to proofread your essay, project, or dissertation. You could engage in a conversation about your current topic and share your opinions which you never know…may end up being the main outcome of your work!

 

Organising and Planning:

 

Use your home space to organise your work, create study note tips, and plan your schedule throughout the week using a calendar, a table, or a ‘to-do list’.

 

Christmas Planning

Christmas Planning

 

 

Edinburgh Napier Information Services sends their best wishes to everyone studying!

Support and Wellbeing Over The Exam Period

06/12/2021 / / 0 Comments

During exam time, it’s important to look after yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. The library is here to support you and your wellbeing over the exam period.

Relaxation Spaces

Each campus library has a relaxation space where you can take a break and relax on comfy furniture or try a mindful activity like colouring or doing a jigsaw puzzle. Check out our virtual relaxation space here on the Library Blog for some excellent wellbeing resources.

Shelf Help

We also have Shelf Help which is a collection of resources aimed at supporting your wellbeing. There are print and ebooks, tv shows, podcasts and more which we’ve organised into themes. You can find resources to help tackle stress, insomnia, anxiety and low self-esteem as well as cookery books to help you eat well on a budget and ways to deal with procrastination and increase your productivity.

Spotify

If you are looking for some relaxing music to listen to while you study, the Library has some Spotify playlists for you here.

Get Outside

One of the best things you can do is to get outside and have a walk in the fresh air. Although don’t forget to wrap up warm in the cold Scottish winter. Nature is proven to help us feel better. Read more on this with our article on “thriving in nature”

Contact

Library opening hours can be found here You can also contact the library 24/7 by phone and email on 0131 455 3500 and library@napier.ac.uk

The university is here to support your wellbeing and you can find out more about the services they offer here

By Julie McGregor

Nexis Database: A quick Introduction to using Nexis

29/11/2021 / / 1 Comment

Nexis Logo Image

Welcome to Nexis

We know that Nexis is nobody’s favourite database.  We know it can be tricky to navigate it. Saying that, we still like it because it contains more than 40,000 online news and business sources with access to newspapers, trade journals and company market information from around the world. Many of these publications are normally restricted by paywalls. It is, in fact, an academic treasure trove.

When you search with LibrarySearch, articles available on Nexis will appear and you can follow the links through to the database. Alternatively you can also access it through LibrarySearch using the databases tab and searching for “Nexis”

Searching

So far, so good. But maybe you want to do some browsing within Nexis and aren’t sure where to start. You can use the database’s own search form tips, which you can find here – it’s full of advice on setting up folders, search histories and alerts.

In addition to this, we’ve compiled our own set of helpful hints for finding newspaper articles. You can find them here

Happy searching and don’t forget to login into Librarysearch before you start searching!

By Lesley McRobb

Interested in other databases? Try learning more about IBISworld here

International Games Week 2021-coming to a campus library near you!

22/11/2021 / / 0 Comments

International Games Week logo

International Games Week 2021-coming to a campus library near you!

22nd November – 28th November

Do you like playing games?  Would you like the chance to win an Amazon voucher?

Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that for the 3rd year running the Library is participating in International Games Week, this time with fantastic prizes!  Furthermore we’re sure you are going to have some fun with the games we’ve created

You’ll find links to the activities where prizes are on offer below.

Crossword puzzle

https://puzzel.org/en/crossword/play?p=-MLNhjbHtSqbRO5e_V7F

Jigsaw puzzle

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=28a27c52ebad

Wordsearch

https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/1601428/edinburgh-napier-library

How to enter

Just take a screenshot of your completed activity and email it to library@napier.ac.uk from your Edinburgh Napier email address.  Alternatively, pick up a paper entry for the Crossword and the Wordsearch at any of our campus libraries.  All entries will be entered into a prize draw to win an Amazon voucher!  The closing date for entries is 30th November 2021.

Good Luck everyone!

Find out more by following us on Twitter @EdNapLib and Instagram @enu_library

Get more ideas for relaxing here

by Cathryn Buckham

Book Week Scotland (15th- 21st November 2021)

15/11/2021 / / 0 Comments

book week scotland poster

As the nights draw in and winter approaches you might be thinking about the pleasure of cosying up on the sofa with a good book and, if you’re wondering what to read next, look no further!

Book Week Scotland is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and between 15th and 21st of November, there are events taking place across the country to celebrate books and the joy of reading. This annual celebration is organised by the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) working in partnership with libraries and organisations throughout Scotland. They organise digital or in-person events including workshops, author readings, film showings or the spoken word, to reach a wide range of audiences across all age groups. Check the website for events taking place online or near you.

Every year, the SBT hosts Your Stories, a writing project which aims to encourage members of the public to reflect upon and share aspects of their lives inspired by a theme. The theme this year was Celebration. Anyone can submit a piece of writing and each story submitted is published on the website. A selection of these stories has been published in a book, Celebration, which is freely available in venues up and down the country during Book Week Scotland. The book is also available as a PDF or to download from the SBT website. If you’ve ever considered writing but haven’t known where to begin, the SBT website provides a range of resources to help you get started.

We are pleased to let you know there will be copies of Celebration available (for free!) to collect in all three Edinburgh Napier University Libraries and in the three student residences during Book Week Scotland (while stocks last). Pick up your copy before it’s too late!

Enjoy Book Week Scotland; whether you go to an event, pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read for so long, or simply take a moment to reflect on a celebration meaningful to you.

You can join Book Week Scotland on Facebook at facebook.com/BookWeekScotland

You can follow Book Week Scotland’s Twitter updates at twitter.com/BookWeekScot, and using the hashtag #BookWeekScotland

scottishbooktrust.com

 

By Sarah Jeffcott

What is COP-26? The Climate change Conference of Parties

10/11/2021 / / 0 Comments

COP26 Image

All eyes will be on Scotland this month as leaders from across the globe meet in Glasgow to attend COP-26: the climate change Conference of Parties. You may be wondering what the 26 stands for? Well, it’s the 26th annual summit since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty was signed in 1994. So, that’s 27 years that we’ve been arguing about change while the world’s environment has been steadily deteriorating.

There is another significance to the number 26 – the Conference has 26 goals that it intends to achieve. The first is to secure global net-zero emissions by 2030 and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. We are currently not on target, and 2030 is only nine years away.

If you’re keen to find out what the other 25 goals are, you can read the official document here.

Of course, we’re conscious of the fact that we are the host nation for this crucial summit, and we wish our Glasgow friends and neighbours well. We know they’ll be fantastic hosts. We’re hopeful that harmony will prevail and that the leaders come to a unanimous agreement about how to save our (only) planet.  First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is certainly determined that this will happen and pledged in a speech on October 25th that “Scotland is seeking to lead by example”. Read what she has to say here.

A bit closer to home, the COP26 Edinburgh Summit takes place on 3rd and 4th at the Dovecot Studios in Infirmary Street, with a range of speakers and business leaders discussing their climate visions for our own city.

And here at Edinburgh Napier, we are committed to achieving our own net-zero in carbon emissions. Read about our commitments here and be sure to hold our feet to the fire!

Read more on Climate Change using Librarysearch.napier.ac.uk and you can read more about Sustainability in Academic Libraries here.

By Lesley McRobb

 

 

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