All posts by Kirsty Thomson

Skills Hub webinars and classes

The new Skills Hub classes are now open for booking.

This semester we’re offering webinars (open to students from any campus including Orkney and Independent Distance Learners) and face-to-face classes at Dubai, Edinburgh, Malaysia and Scottish Borders Campus.

You can learn how to find quality information for assignments, brush up on your citing and referencing skills, or improve your academic writing. There’s also advice on topics like coping with your reading list, avoiding procrastination, and designing academic posters.

Microsoft Office webinars include Excel pivot tables, Word page layouts and numbering, introduction to OneNote and many more.

These are just a few of the topics – the full calendar is online at https://go.hw.ac.uk/SkillsHubClasses

If you prefer to learn in your own time, you can find videos and written help on the Skills Hub website, and one-to-one advice is available from Liaison Librarians and Effective Learning Advisors. Training for staff is listed on the IS Training calendar.

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by Kirsty Thomson on 17 January 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in HWU at SBC, HWU Dubai, HWU Edinburgh, HWU Malaysia, HWU Orkney, IT Training, Skills Development, Student, Workshops

Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 17 January 2023

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2023/01/17/skills-hub-webinars-and-classes/

December Break Opening Hours

Most of the Heriot-Watt University libraries will reduce their opening hours during the December break.

Please check the opening hours before you visit: https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/is/library-essentials/library-opening-hours.htm

A photograph of a pine cone and pine needles, each tipped with white frost.
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by Kirsty Thomson on 13 December 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in HWU at SBC, HWU Dubai, HWU Edinburgh, HWU Malaysia, HWU Orkney, Library Building
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Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 13 December 2022

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2022/12/13/december-break-opening-hours/

Semester one opening hours: Edinburgh campus library and study spaces

Information Services are implementing some changes to improve access to our Edinburgh campus library and study spaces. Up-to-date opening hours for all our libraries globally can be found on the IS website.

Cameron Smail Library

The Cameron Smail Library at the Edinburgh campus library will be open:

Monday 5th Sept – Friday 2nd Sept – 0830 to 2030

Semester one (starting Monday 12th Sept) – open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Learning Commons

LC1 will be staffed Monday to Friday 1100 to 1500 from 12th September onwards.

GRID

GRID IC1 will be staffed from Monday to Friday 1100 to 1500 from 12th September onwards.

EGIS Resource Centre

The EGIS Resource Centre will be staffed Monday to Friday 1000 to 1600 from 12th September onwards.

Building opening times

All study spaces will be open longer than they are staffed. These longer hours are subject to building opening and SafeGuarding.

Help outwith staffed hours

Support services are available through the student portal and askHWU.

Study spaces

The library will be the focal point for 24/7 study on the Edinburgh campus, with IS customer services Monday to Friday 0830 to 2030 and Saturday and Sunday 0945 to 2015. There will be a reception/security presence at all other times

Bookable spaces include group study rooms, individual study rooms & study spaces. All of these will be on ResourceBooker.

Information Services will regularly review occupancy & enquiries across all managed study spaces and make any adjustments to the service based on the data collected.

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by Kirsty Thomson on 30 August 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in General

Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 30 August 2022

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2022/08/30/semester-one-opening-hours-edinburgh-campus-library-and-study-spaces/

Update: Error messages when accessing journals and databases

Some students and staff members are reporting error messages when they try to access library resources, including journal articles, eBooks and databases. These errors may mention that the connection is not secure or not private, or say that the site cannot be reached.

Update Mon 8th Feb: This problem was caused by a change to the security certificates and should now be resolved. If you are still seeing an error message when you try to access eBooks, journals or databases you may need to clear your browser’s cache.

To clear your cache:

  • Windows – press Ctrl + shift + delete
  • Mac – Chrome – press Shift + Cmd + delete
  • Mac – Safari – press Option + Cmd + E

Please contact ishelp@hw.ac.uk if you continue to have problems accessing resources.

We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and thank you for your understanding.

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by Kirsty Thomson on 04 February 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in General

Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 04 February 2021

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2021/02/04/error-messages-when-accessing-journals-and-databases/

Skills Hub Webinars

If you’re aiming to improve your study skills or want to get better marks this semester, the Skills Hub webinars are designed for you. These free webinars, delivered by experienced librarians and effective learning advisers, are packed with useful tips and techniques to help with your degrees.

You can view the webinar schedule and register for sessions at https://hw.ac.libcal.com/calendar/skillshub

For assignments, we have webinars on writing literature reviews, essays, and reports, along with guidance on what your tutors are looking for in your work. We’ll also help you understand the feedback you’re given, and how to use this to improve your next assignment. If you’re in the early years of your degree, Getting Started with Research for Assignments will help you with finding information; if already know the basics and want to improve your skills you can attend Finding Quality Sources for Course Work.

The webinars on the Harvard and IEEE styles will help you understand citing and referencing, and you can learn how to use EndNote X9, powerful software that makes citing and referencing much easier.

Looking ahead to the end of semester, we have sessions on How to Succeed in Take-Home Exams.

These are just a selection of our upcoming webinars: you can view the full timetable at https://hw.ac.libcal.com/calendar/skillshub There are also lots of pre-recorded videos and online help on the skills hub website at https://isguides.hw.ac.uk/skillshub

A young woman sits working at a wooden desk. She is typing on a macbook, and has a can of juice next to her.

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by Kirsty Thomson on 15 January 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in HWU at SBC, HWU Dubai, HWU Edinburgh, HWU Malaysia, HWU Orkney, Skills Development, Student, Workshops

Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 15 January 2021

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2021/01/15/skills-hub-webinars/

Webinars on Finding Research, Citing and Referencing, EndNote and more …

Skills Hub webinars will help you improve the skills you need to succeed in your courses and assignments at Heriot-Watt.


Topics for this semester include:

  • Finding Research – an introductory webinar on how to find academic research, suitable for students who are new to university research, or who would like a refresher.
  • Literature Searching – more advanced webinars aimed at students who are familiar with the basics of how to search, but want to learn more. These are aimed at students in the final years of their undergraduate degree or taught postgraduates.
  • EndNote X9 reference management software. EndNote X9 is very useful if you are working on a literature review or a project with a lot of references.
  • Citing and Referencing, with sessions on Harvard and IEEE (check your assignment guidelines to find out which style you should use)
  • And many more …

Many of our September webinars were fully booked, but there are spaces available in October and November. Book your place at https://hw.ac.libcal.com/calendar/skillshub/

We’re also putting content online so that you can develop these skills independently, via the Skills Hub website at https://isguides.hw.ac.uk/skillshub . Topics already online include Harvard Citing and Referencing, IEEE Citing and Referencing and Finding Research for Assignments. We’ll be adding more to these pages throughout the semester.

Details of Information Services webinars for staff can be found at https://hw.ac.libcal.com/calendar/istraining/

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by Kirsty Thomson on 09 October 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in General, HWU at SBC, HWU Dubai, HWU Edinburgh, HWU Malaysia, HWU Orkney, News and Information, Skills Development, Staff, Student, Workshops
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Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 09 October 2020

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2020/10/09/webinars-on-finding-research-citing-and-referencing-endnote-and-more/

Trial of automotive engineering resource

SAE Technical Papers will give you access to journal articles about vehicle transport, including cars, aerospace, and autonomous and unmanned vehicles.  As well as automotive papers, this resource also has information useful to Cover of "Connected and Automated Vehicles" journal, showing a car dashboard with futuristic graphicsstudents studying other areas of science, engineering or business management, such as robotics, manufacturing, and energy.

You can access SAE Technical Papers with your normal Heriot-Watt username and password.  There’s around 58,000 full-text journal articles in this database, and it also gives information about another 150,000+ articles, which may be available through Interlibrary Loan if you are in third year or higher.

Our trial of this database will end on 30th April 2019.  Please send any feedback to Kirsty Thomson k.s.thomson@hw.ac.uk

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by Kirsty Thomson on 13 March 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in General

Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 13 March 2019

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2019/03/13/trial-of-automotive-engineering-resource/

New year, new you …

Want to learn new skills this year? Perhaps you want to become a Photoshop Pro, an awesome photographer or even learn how to play an instrument? Remember LinkedIn Learning isn’t just for IT skills:

  • collection of paint brushesIf you’ve got a new camera or phone for Christmas you’ll find lots of videos and courses to help improve your photography skills.
  • If you want to take up a creative hobby, LinkedIn Learning can help with painting, drawing, and animation.
  • Or if your new year’s resolution is to better understand social media, you can find short courses on twitter and Instagram.

It’s quick and easy to access LinkedIn Learning courses from any device — anytime and anywhere.

If you have problems accessing LinkedIn Learning please contact IT helpdesk on +44 (0) 131 451 4045 or email ithelp@hw.ac.uk

lil1

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by Kirsty Thomson on 15 January 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in HWU at SBC, HWU Dubai, HWU Edinburgh, HWU Malaysia, HWU Orkney, Staff, Student
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Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 15 January 2019

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2019/01/15/new-year-new-you/

Top ten courses on LinkedIn Learning

Screenshot of a PowerPoint Quick Tips course on LinkedIn Learning.All staff and students at Heriot-Watt now have access to LinkedIn Learning, a collection of 12,000+ digital courses on business, creative and management topics.  LinkedIn Learning provides personalised course recommendations based on your interests, skillset, experience and goals, delivered by industry experts with real-world experience.

The current top ten courses at Heriot-Watt are:

  1. Learning C#
  2. How to use LinkedIn Learning
  3. Learning Java
  4. Learning Python
  5. Python for Data Science Essential Training
  6. Communication within Teams
  7. Developing Your Emotional Intelligence
  8. Project Management Foundations
  9. Strategic Thinking
  10. Python Essential Training

LinkedIn Learning covers a huge range of topics, such as app development; Microsoft Office; entrepreneurship; social media marketing; photography and many more.  You can access LinkedIn Learning online or via the Heriot-Watt portal.

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by Kirsty Thomson on 09 November 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in HWU at SBC, HWU Dubai, HWU Edinburgh, HWU Malaysia, HWU Orkney, IT Training, Staff, Student

Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 09 November 2018

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2018/11/09/top-ten-courses-on-linkedin-learning/

New students prize quiz

New students at Dubai, Edinburgh, Malaysia and Orkney campuses are invited to enter our quiz in Vision, with the opportunity of winning a prize.

All you need do is explore the services we offer both globally and locally (on our website and on campus) and then answer 10 easy questions.

Answer all questions correctly and you will be entered into a prize draw.  Winners will be drawn from the all correct entries for each campus.

The quiz is in Vision (our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)) in the Skills for Success organization.

  • Once you are fully enrolled you can log into Vision
    See the Student Guide to Vision for a quick overview of the VLE
  • All new students are automatically enrolled on Skills for Success.

To enter

  1. Log into Vision using your HWU UserID and password
  2. Click on Skills for Success
  3. Select New Students Quiz from the top of the menu on the left
  4. Choose the quiz for your campus

Closing dates are 30th September for Dubai, Edinburgh and Orkney, and 13th October for Malaysia.

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by Kirsty Thomson on 07 September 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in General

Posted by Kirsty Thomson on 07 September 2018

https://informs.hw.ac.uk/2018/09/07/new-students-prize-quiz/

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