EBSCO Academic Search Complete...

…is an excellent source of journal articles, complementing the two main databases for psychology, counselling and coaching (EBSCO PsycINFO and ScienceDirect). Available through EBSCO, the functionality will be very familiar to you if you are an EBSCO PsycINFO user.

The content currently consists of more than 11,500 journals, with 7,400 of them available in full-text. It covers the whole field of academic topics, including a significant number of psychology, counselling and coaching titles. It is particularly worth searching if your area of research is cross-disciplinary. It is also very useful in supplementing PsycINFO and ScienceDirect searches.

Scanned photocopies of journal articles...

…are sometimes added to the library catalogue when the article is on a reading list but we do not stock the journal it was published in. In such cases, the library purchases a ‘copyright-cleared’ photocopy of the article, then scans and uploads it to the library catalogue. You are required to sign in to the library catalogue to view these articles because they are only ‘copyright-cleared’ for UEL students and staff to view.

To see if the library holds a scanned photocopy of an article on your reading list:

1. First check on ‘Find an e-Journal’ (from the ‘e-journals and databases’ page on the library website) to make sure the library does not subscribe to that journal.
2. If the library does not subscribe to the journal, then check for a scanned photocopy by searching for the name of the article on the library catalogue. Tip: search using the standard ‘books and more’ tab, not the articles tab (which is something completely different!).
3. If the article appears, make sure you are signed in to the catalogue (the sign in option is in the top right corner), then click on ‘Details’ below the article. If it says ‘Electronic text: PDF’, then we have a scanned photocopy.
4. Next, click on ‘more details for this item’ and in the window that pops up you should see a link to the PDF copy of the article. Click on this link to open the article.

The invisible web...

…is the part of the Internet that conventional search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing, simply can’t reach. Also known as the ‘Deep Web’, it can be an excellent source of research. Of course, as with the rest of the web, there can also be some rather dubious information, so it is vitally important that you carefully evaluate how reliable the information may be!

There have recently been some attempts to produce guides to this ‘unsearchable’ part of the web, including: www.completeplanet.com and www.deepwebresearch.info. There has even been an attempt to create a search engine for it: www.incywincy.com.

New look library catalogue...

…now available online and in all UEL libraries. Following various comments about the old look library catalogue – most notably all those annoying pop-up windows! – the software makers have taken notice and redesigned the interface. Over the summer we have upgraded our catalogue to the new interface, which you will hopefully agree is much easier to use.

Among the improvements is an easier to use library account feature where you can check the status of books you have on loan or have requested. You can also change your library PIN and set yourself up for text alerts from the library. To do all of this, click on ‘Sign In’ in the top-right hand corner of the catalogue screen, enter your UEL computer ID and password and then click on ‘My Account’.

New books in the library...

...added to stock during the month of September 2010 can be viewed from this link: September 2010 new books list. Please note that it only lists items purchased for stock from the library's 'psychology' book funds.

Lots of e-books this month, including "Cognitive psychology" by Quinlan, "Putting psychology in its place" by Richards and "Practical counselling and helping skills" by Nelson-Jones. New books on the library shelves include the 10th edition of "Physiology of behavior" by Carlson, 7th edition of "Health psychology" by Taylor and 15th edition of "Atkinson and Hilgard's introduction to psychology".

All books, including e-books, can be found using the library catalogue.