Occupational Therapy, Psychology and Social Work

Search for books and ebooks in the library catalogue. If you only want to look for ebooks, tick the 'Search only electronic books' box.

Use our single search system to search our books, eBooks, journal content and selected other resources. Don't use Internet Explorer with Discover, it does not display full text journal articles properly. Use Firefox or Google Chrome.

To run a detailed search for a subject, you need to use a database. You need your Athens username and password to log in. You can  find your Athens username and password by logging into My Caledonian and selecting the Athens tab.

Top five databases for your subject:

• Proquest Central -  a large database covering the sciences, social sciences and health. Databases formerly in Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, sucha s PsycInfo, are now included in this service.
• EBSCO databases - a collection of health-related databases including Cinahl, Medline and AMED
• Idox  - local public policy and governance, including social work (formerly known as Planex). Choose Glasgow Caledonian University then login with your Athens password
• Social Care Online - good for social work (formerly known as CareData). Access on campus access. No password needed
• Discover - our  single search system to search all of our books and ebooks, all of our journal content and selected other resources. Find it on the Library home page

Other useful databases:

• Alcohol Studies Database - from Rutgers University
• Annual review of psychology  Access is on campus only
• Autism data  Database from the National Autistic Society.
• Cochrane Library - systematic reviews for health care decision-making
• ETOH - from National Institute of Health
• Global Childnet databases
• UK PubMed Central - a free information resource for biomedical and health researchers, based on the US version but with more full-text
• Web of Knowledge - a large database covering both sciences and social sciences and including citation indexing for finding out who has cited each article

You can search serials solutions to check if we have a journal in stock and which years we have. Search by the journal title. Don't use Internet Explorer, use Firefox or Google Chrome - Explorer does not work well with serials solutions when displaying the full text of journal articles.

If you need an item for your coursework, teaching or research, and we don't have it in stock, you can request it through our new inter-library loan (ILL) service, Clio.
For requests for UK theses, please search the Ethos database at http://ethos.bl.uk/ (more information is on their frequently asked questions, FAQs page)

Requesting an inter-library loan

Please remember :

• Before you make a request, check our catalogue (for books) or our serials system (for journals), the Mitchell Library and other local university catalogues. You might be able to consult the item in a library nearby.
• Students need authorisation from their lecturer. (Some Schools need staff requests to be authorised too - check with your library representative.)
• You can normally borrow an item for 3 weeks with an automatic extension for a further 3 weeks. However if the British Library asks us to return it immediately we must do so or risk losing our right to borrow.
• If you are a Midwifery student on a distance learning course, enter Midwifery Department Office, GCU as your address.

Inter-Library Loans has now moved to a new online requesting system, Clio. Here's how to use it.

If you are a GCU student on a NHS GG&C placement and go to a GG&C library with your matric card (and can prove it if challenged eg give ward details), read the terms and conditions and sign in, you will be logged onto a computer by a member of library staff. You won’t be able to print or download (even onto a USB stick) but you can access email and so email documents and use GCULearn. When you've finished you will have to tell a member of staff who will note the time, so that staff can monitor access. You still won’t be able to borrow books and this is a temporary measure, but the idea is eventually that all students on NHS placements will be issued with temporary logins by IT.

Yes! They can join under the GCU mentor scheme. This scheme gives free one-year GCU library membership with borrowing rights to student mentors (clinical supervisors) who are directly involved in assessed parts of our programmes.

Yes! You can use the NHS Knowledge Network. It used to be called the NHS e-library. For access to NHS information, databases and journals. You need to register for your own NHS Athens username and password.

Getting your citations right is an important part of academic research. It helps you to avoid plagiarism and a good bibliography will help boost your final marks. Your librarians can help you use RefWorks to store your references and create a bibliography. 
Your academic development tutors will help you with manual referencing. The referencing guideleines are on Blackboard. You will also find Turnitin there.

• Harvard referencing - this is part of SMILE, so you will need to log in to GCULearn
• NLM journal title translator - enter abbreviations to find the full journal titles
• What is plagiarism? - this is part of SMILE, so you will need to log in to GCULearn
• RefWorks - store and organise your references and produce bibliographies.
• RefWorks FAQ - for all those tricky RefWorks questions!
• RefWorks handy hints - how to add data from all the main databases into RefWorks
• Short videos from RefWorks. They use sound, so use your headphones!
• Workthrough guides to RefWorks  - these are part of SMILE, so you will need to log in to GCULearn.

 Law

GCU uses the most recent edition (2010) of OSCLOA - the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities.  This is a very comprehensive guide which takes you through the format for citing many types of information sources that you may use in your legal writing - including case reports, journal articles, books, updating services, government reports, web sites and more. 

• OSCOLA guide  (quick version)
• Full OSCOLA guide
• American Psychological Association Referencing Tutorial created by Cardiff University Information Services.

Gateways are collections of quality assessed web sites. You can use them in your research - a great time saver.

• BUBL - selected internet resources covering all academic subject areas
• Glasgow Health Information - a gateway to quality online health information and learning resources
• Health Professions Council - body whose aim is to protect the public and regulate health professionals
• Intute - recommended service which helps you find the best websites for study and research
• The Knowledge Network - Scotland's source of knowledge for health and care
• MedNar - medical search engine
• PsycBITE - PsycBITE is a database that catalogues studies of cognitive, behavioural and other treatments for psychological problems and issues occurring as a consequence of acquired brain impairment (ABI). These studies are rated for their methodological quality, evaluating various aspects of scientific rigour
• SciCentral - gateway to science news sources

Other gateways:

• Centre for reviews and dissemination
• Health on the Net Foundation based in Switzerland, and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. You can choose HONtools, HONsearch, HONtopics, or HONcode.
• Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre
• Irish Health Repository
• Open  J-Gate free full text of over 3000 journals
• Zanran search engine for data and statistics

Use these tutorials......

• Internat Detective Tutorial - Learn how to evaluate the quality of websites
• Virtual Training Suite - Tutorials in a range of subjects to help you develop your Internet research skills.

• BAOT/COT - British Association of OTs and College of OTs website
• CAOT - Canadian Association of OTs
• CSHHH - Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (GCU and Strathclyde University)
• ENOTHE - European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education
• Health Professions Council
• HealthScotland.com - an NHS Scotland service providing information and resources to support health improvement practitioners and organisations
• IOSH - the chartered body for health and safety professionals
• Internet for Allied Health - a free online tutorial to help university students develop their Internet research skills
• MedlinePlus: Rehabilitation -  from the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health
• Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
• OT Direct - an independent site for Occupational Therapists, OT Assistants and OT students, produced by OTs

• British Association of Social Workers
• Care Inspectorate - the independent scrutiny and improvement body for care and children’s services across Scotland
• Child Poverty Action Group - Scotland
• Common Knowledge
• Glasgow's Health Hub
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Mental Health Commission for Scotland
• National Children's Bureau
• Scottish Poverty Information Unit
• Scottish Social Services Council
• Social and Welfare Statistics - from the Scottish Government
• Social Care Institute for Excellence
• Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP) - from the Higher Education Academy
• Social Services Knowledge Scotland - from NHS Scotland

GCU archives

• Aberlour Child care Trust
• Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW)
• Children First
• One Parent Families Scotland
• Papers of David Affleck

• American Psychological Association (APA)
• The British Psychological Society
• Classics in the History of Psychology
• Cogprints  cognitive sciences eprint archive
• Mental Health, Depression, Anxiety, Wellness, Family & Relationship Issues, Sexual Disorders & ADHD Medications
• Mental health web Scotland
• Psych Web by Russ Dewey
• PsycPORT: Psychology Newswire
• Test reviews online  Buros Center for Testing - for locating psychology tests produced or published after 1989

Your librarians are here to help you with questions about finding information. We are happy to help, but before you call us, have a look at some of the helpsheets and tutorials on this page! You may find what you need to know here.
You can also contact your Academic Development Tutor.

and using general databases like Proquest Central.

Short guides to all the main databases in your subject. 

  All of our workthrough guides and online tutorials are now in the finding information section of SMILE. You will need to log in to GCULearn to use them.

• A journal, sometimes called a periodical or serial, is published regularly – for example, weekly, monthly or twice a year. So it's a good way of getting up-to-date news and research on a subject. Each new issue has a number of articles written by different people.
• So far, this could also apply to magazines. However, journals are aimed at readers with a more serious interest in the subject.
• Trade journals are written for professionals in that area, for example, Management today or Industrial engineer.
• Scholarly journal articles are written by academics for an audience that is mainly academic. These journals are not usually glossy magazines, and there is usually a list of references at the end of each article. The editors will usually include staff at universities, other academic institutions, hospitals, or learned societies.
• Peer-reviewed journals (also called refereed journals) give all articles sent to them to a panel of academic reviewers. The members of this panel will be peers of the author, that is, recognised experts in the same field. The panel usually review the papers blind, which means that they do not know who the authors are. Panel members may recommend changes to the articles to make them fit for publication. For example, they might say that the author should provide more evidence of an argument or read other material.
• So, peer-reviewed or refereed journals provide quality control for academic publishing. You can look inside the front or back cover of a journal, or its home page on the web, to check whether it is peer-reviewed.
• Some library databases, for example ProQuest, make it easy to select scholarly journals only.
• An electronic journal (or e-journal) is one which is available on the web. Sometimes there is both a printed (paper or a hard copy) and an electronic version of a journal.

We have a step by step checklist for you.

The research web pages have more useful tips for more advanced researchers, as well as useful links to help you develop advanced information skills. We are here to help you all the way through your research project, so keep in touch!

 We have written a new online information literacy tutorial called PILOT which is aimed at postgraduate and post-doctoral researchers. It has in depth information on various topics, including a section called MyRI which tells you everything you need to know for the REF. You'll find it in GCULearn, so you'll need to log in.

• ARCOM - Association of Researchers for Construction Management
• How to assess a research article
• Calculate your H-index with the Web of Knowledge (quick guide, more information on PILOT)
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• CORDIS: The gateway to European research and development
• Innovol - research database
• Journal Citation Reports Find journal impact fators and citation information for the REF
• Library research pages 
• NIHR CRN CC - Welcome to the NIHR Clinical Research Network Coordinating Centre
• RDInfo - support services for researchers
• Research@GCU GCU Research repository
• Welcome to Research Councils UK - RCUK
• Research Excellence Framework (REF), replaces the RAE
• Sconul Access will allow you access to, and limited borrowing from, other UK libraries
• Search tips for researchers
• Systematic reviewing
• Trip Database
• UK Clinical Trials Gateway (UKCTG)
• The Web 2 rights project

Scottish government web sites:

• NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
• Healthcare improvment Scotland (NHS QIS)
• ISD Scotland - Statistics and health information
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
• Scottish Patient Safety Alliance
• SHOW Scotland's health on the web

UK government web sites:

• Defra - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Department of health
• Disabled people - DirectGov
• Food standards agency
• Government health reports title translator
• Health Protection Agency Homepage - Protecting people, Preventing harm, Preparing for threats
• Keeping track - guide to longitudinal data. Data provided by the Office for National Statistics and The Institute for Social and Economic Research
• National audit office
• NHS confederation NHS management web site, for password check the A-Z database list
• NICE - National institute for clinical excellence
• MHRA – Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
• National Patient Safety Agency
• UK data archive. You need to register via Athens before use Instructions on how to use the data archive.
• UK national statistics publication hub

Other sites:

• Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen
• WHO World health organization