School of Health and Life Sciences

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.

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.

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.

Top databases for health

• CINAHL, Medline and other EBSCO databases
• The Cochrane Library
• MIDIRS midwifery and child health
• Planex (good for Social Work)
• Proquest (includes PsycInfo)
• Social care online (was Caredata)
• UK PubMed Central (useful full text articles)
• Web of Knowledge from ISI (good for wider scientific searches too)

When should I use the Cochrane Library?

Use this database for answering very specific types of questions about the effectiveness of a treatment. It is not useful for general healthcare information such as "Are there any new drugs for asthma?" or for questions about the cause, prognosis, epidemiology or risk factors for an illness. Use other databases such as CINAHL or Medline to find this information. Don't use this databse to find journal articles as it only indexes reviews!.

Medical images and anatomy

• Anatomy TV
• Human anatomy
• SpringerImages (was Images MD)

Gateway searches.  These are useful for finding "grey literature"

Other databases

• Alcohol studies database
• Arthritis and muscoluskeletal alliance
• Global ChildNet
• HerbMed
• Hom-Inform - produced by the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital
• Index to chiropractic literature
• PEDro - the physiotherapy evidence database
• Physiotherapy outcomes measures database

EBSCO have produced a short flash video on this topic.

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.

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

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

We have a step by step checklist for you.

  Don't forget to check the government and official web sites section for NHS sites!

General web sites:

• HPC-Health professions council
• Learnpro - Register using your Glasgow Caledonian University student e-mail and then you can undertake the modules
• NewsFilm Online
• LexisLibrary Newspapers
• ProQuest Newspaper collection
• Scotsman Digital Archive(1817 - 1950
• Times Digital Archive (1715 - 1985)

Nursing web sites:

Midwifery web sites:

• National childbirth trust
• AIMS-Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services
• Midwifery matters-Association of radical midwives
• Sandyford initiative
• CEMACH - confidential enquiry into maternal and child health
• Nursing and midwifery council

Physiotherapy web sites:

Podiatry web sites:

Radiography and radiotherapy web sites:

General web sites:

• HPC - Health Professions Council
• National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence (NICE)
• Public Library of Science (PLoS) - a nonprofit organisation committed to free access to scientific and medical information. They publish several peer-reviewed free online journals. 
• World Health Organization

Biological and biomedical sciences:

• Biochemical Society - promotes the advancement of the molecular biosciences
• European Bioinformatics Institute - source for many biological databases such as the EMBL nucleotide database
• European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) - aims to promote excellence in molecular life sciences
• Genetics Society
• Human Genome Organisation
• Physiological Society
• Public Library of Science (PLoS) - a nonprofit organisation committed to free access to scientific and medical information, they publish several peer-reviewed free online journals including PLoS Biology
• Society for General Microbiology - aims to promote the science and significance of microbiology
• Society of Biology -  a  unified voice for biology: advising Government and influencing policy; advancing education and professional development and engaging and encouraging public interest in the life sciences
• UK Centre for Bioscience - supports high quality learning and teaching in UK higher education
• Visible Human Project (National Library of Medicine) - project creating anatomically detailed, 3D representations of the human body

Chemistry:

• American Chemical Society
• ChemSpider -  a rich source of structure-based chemistry information
• Royal Society of Chemistry - UK learned society for chemistry and the professional body for chemist
• The Royal Society is a fellowship of the world's most eminent scientists

Forensic investigation:

• American Academy of Forensic Sciences
• British Academy of Forensic Sciences
• British Journal of Forensic Practice
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Forensic Science Society - UK professional body
• Forensic Services: Scottish Police Services Authority

Human nutrition and dietetics:

• American Dietetic Association
• British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN)
• British Dietetic Association (BDA) - professional association for dietitians 
• British Nutrition Foundation
• DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Diabetes UK - charity for people with diabetes
• Federation of European Nutrition Societies
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - has statistical database allowing international comparisons
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - US Department of Health and Human Services
• Food Commission- independent watchdog on food issues in the UK
• Food Standards Agency
• Institute of Food Research - UK Centre for Research
• Institute of Food Science and Technology
• Institute of Food Technologists
• International Union of Nutritional Sciences - international body for the promotion of cooperation in the scientific study of nutrition
• Nutrition and Diet Resources UK - Based at GCU, they produce over 200 diet-sheets providing nutrition and diet resources throughout the UK.
• Nutrition Society - the largest learned society for nutrition in Europe, with a Scottish section
• Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutition (SACN) - an advisory committee of independent experts providing advice to the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health
• SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) - develops evidence based clinical practice guidelines for the NHS in Scotland
• Vegan Society
• Vegetarian Society

Vision sciences:

• American Academy of Optometry
• Association of Optometrists
• College of Optometrists
• General Optical Council
• Neurological eye simulator
• NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries - Eyes 
• RNIB
• Visual Impairment Centre for Teaching and Research (VICTAR) - based at the University of Birmingham

Try these web sites:

• anatomy.tv - Interactive Anatomy 3D anatomical pictures. They can be rotated and layers can be removed to expose underlying structures. A password is needed off campus - see the Help tab above.
• Centre for Bioscience ImageBank Freely available images contributed by academics, researchers, Learned Societies, industry and individuals with rights cleared for educational purposes.
• Education Image Gallery Thousands of copyright-cleared images from selected major image archives, for UK educational use.
• E-Anatomy database Human anatomy: medical imaging and illustrations. You can only use this on campus.
• JISC Digital Media JISC Digital Media - Still images, moving images and sound advice. Exists to help the UK’s FE and HE communities embrace and maximise the use of digital media.
• Moving Image Gateway Websites relating to moving images and sound materials. Provided by the British Universities Film Video Council.
• SpringerImages A database of scientific images, including photos, graphs, figures and tables. On-campus access only.