Hello and a massive welcome to all new students starting courses this January, we look forward to meeting you and getting to know you all. We are the Student Engagement team and we are here to provide support with all aspects of academic skills. Although this year may feel a little different please be reassured that we are here to support you!
Learning and Support Services Induction
Head over to the Learning and Support Services Induction pages to find out more information about who lives in Catalyst, what they do and how they can support you. There’s an interactive Induction Toolkit that you can work through at your own pace, which will introduce you to Library and Learning Services, Student Services and Careers, or you can even watch an induction video, if you prefer.
Academic Skills Support with UniSkills
The best place to find out more about how we can support you is to head over to the UniSkills web pages where there’s a vast wealth of information around academic writing and research skills. Here you’ll find our interactive online UniSkills Toolkits which contain loads of tips and tricks to help you with assignment planning, critical thinking, punctuation, proofreading and much more. There’s also some handy guides and videos too!
You can also book your place on a wide range of Uniskills Webinars. The UniSkills Spring 2021 Webinar programme starts on Monday 25th January and covers a wide range of topics including academic reading, writing and referencing, effective exam preparation, finding academic resources, conducting a literature review, presentation skills and much more!
We will also be delivering a series of ‘Getting Started With Uniskills’ webinars all week, 1st-5th February, specifically aimed at new students. These sessions will help you log in, explore the Blackboard Institution homepage, show you how to find academic information for your university assignments and give you an overview of the UniSkills support available – all the essentials to ensure you’re ready for the start of your course. These introductory webinars will be followed by a further week, 15th-19th March, to guide you through the next stage of ‘Moving Forward With UniSkills’. These sessions will help you take the next steps in relation to finding high quality academic information for your university assignments and developing your referencing and proofreading skills. Both series of webinars are co-delivered and co-designed by our team of knowledgeable UniSkills Student Advisors, who know everything there is to know about loving the library and smashing your assignments so come along to find out more!
If at any stage during your studies you feel you would benefit from more specific support with your academic writing, referencing or information skills you can always book a 1-2-1 virtual appointment with an Academic Skills Advisor. Find out more about how UniSkills can support you and even (virtually) meet the team!
Finding Your Resources
Once you start your tutor will provide you with your reading list and I’m sure many of you will be keen to get going! To find your resources the Library Catalogue is a great place to begin. From here you can access your Reading List Online, and you can jump straight into eBooks and eJournals for access at a click of a mouse! The Subject Resource web pages contain all the relevant journals and databases for your subject area and you can also browse the e-resource collections using the Discover More search tool which has access to thousands of high quality, up to date journal articles.
You can also collect items directly from the shelves and check them out on the self-issue machines located around the building or reserve items straight from the shelves using our temporary ‘Click and Collect’ service. And, if there is ever a book or journal article that we don’t have in our collection you can ask us add a copy by using the You Want It, We Get it service. Just fill in the details on the form and we’ll do our best to get it in for you – how cool is that?
Further Help & Support
If you have any general enquiries about resources for your study, IT related enquiries or academic skills support you can contact the Catalyst Helpdesk Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm and Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 6pm.
We wish you all the best for this coming academic year and look forward to supporting you soon!