University of Sunderland in London

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

A

Advanced Search

Using filters such as author, title, subject, etc. to limit search results in the Library Search before starting a search in order to get more manageable results.

Article

A short text published in a journal or newspaper.

Authentication/Single Sign On

Entering University of Sunderland credentials (username and password) in order to log in to your Library Account or other University systems.

B

Basic Search

Carrying out a simple Google-like search in Library Search without using any filters, resulting in a list of hundreds or thousands of resources.

Bibliography

An alphabetically arranged list by author's surname of all the resources you used in preparation for your work and in your work (background reading plus sources quoted from). The Library delivers training sessions on citations and referencing.

Blog

A regularly updated informal online discussion consisting of short entries which are called posts; most recent posts appear at the top of a blog.

Books

Available in print and electronic format, which you can find on the Library shelves and online using Library Search.

Borrowing

Applicable to the majority of the books in the Library where you can borrow and take them home for a period of time; minority of the books are for reference only.

British Library

The national library of the United Kingdom located in Kings Cross St Pancras in London, especially for postgraduate students to join and use as reference.

C

Canvas

The University’s virtual learning environment where students can access programme and module information including: module guides, student guidance, class resources, Turnitin submission links, and more.

Careers Service

The department providing personalised and practical advice on researching career paths, internships, voluntary work, searching for jobs, improving CVs, and preparing for interviews. There is also a dedicated Careers and Employability website at http://careers-london.sunderland.ac.uk/.

Citations/Referencing

The author-date system that is used in-text after you quote someone else's work. The Library delivers training sessions on citations and referencing.

Cite Them Right

The online guide to Harvard style citations and referencing; you need to log in with your University ID and password.

Compass

Compass is a platform for every student to submit an enquiry. It can be anything from getting bank letter, council tax letter, to questions regarding student finance and more. 

Conference Papers

Conference papers are academic papers delivered at a particular conference; they are available via Library Search.

Core Text

Sometimes called Essential Text, Key Text, Main Text, or Primary Text, a book that you should definitely read/consult for your module.

CV

Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a summary of your education, qualifications, employment history, skills and training, including a limited amount of personal information such as contact details.

D

Database 

A large collection of up-to-date subject specific data (for example, Business, Tourism, Nursing, etc.), which is organised in a way that its contents can easily be searched and accessed by users.

Digital Learning

The team dedicated to enhancing your educational experience through the innovative use of technology and personalised coaching. They also deliver digital skills classes. They can be contacted at digital-learning.london@sunderland.ac.uk, 

Dissertations

Some sample past dissertations across subject areas may be available online in Canvas; please ask your lecturers.

Due Date

The date by which the books you borrow should be returned in order to avoid fines.

E

Eduroam

A secure, world-wide roaming WiFi service developed for the international research and education community, which is available on Campus for our users and for visiting students, researchers and staff from participating institutions.

Electronic Resources

Electronic books, electronic journals, electronic databases, and other electronic resources that are online rather than in print format, which you can access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere with your University of Sunderland credentials.

Email

The institutional e-mail account provided to each student and member of staff. 

Employability Skills

General skills, knowledge, and understanding (communication, self-management, planning, decision-making, problem-solving, etc.) that are necessary to gain employment and participate effectively in the workplace.

E-portfolio

An online tool where you can collect the work (text, electronic files, images, multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks) you developed over the course of your studies and present to your lecturer or to a prospective employer. The institutional e-portfolio is Mahara; you can log in and create your portfolio using your University ID and password. The Library delivers training sessions on Mahara e-portfolios.

F

Feedback

Comments and suggestions you make about our service, which are very valuable to us in order improve our service and to know when we are doing well.

G

H

Health and Wellbeing

Based on the fourth floor, the department providing advice and information on all aspects of physical and emotional health; offering advice on how to register with a doctor or dentist and information about the UK’s National Health Service (NHS); managing feelings of homesickness and loneliness; dealing with stress, safer sex and contraception, and what to do if you are pregnant; offering drugs and alcohol information and how to stop smoking. The can be contacted at WellbeingTeamLondon@sunderland.ac.uk. 

Help

We are there to help you whenever you need us to support you with your learning and teaching; you can contact us in many ways.

I

Institutional Login

Open Athens login where you need to use your University credentials to gain access to electronic books and subscription journals and databases through Library Search. You also log in to Canvas, your timetable, and email using your institutional login. 

Inter-Library Loans (ILL)

The Library service that allows you to request resources from external institutions provided that these resources are not available through our Library Search.

IT Support (TechGuru Service Desk)

The TechGuru Service Desk is used by the IT Support team to provide students with support and solutions to IT related issues. 

J

JISC Library Hub

A union catalogue allowing you to search the catalogues of nearly hundred major UK and Irish libraries (including the British Library) in a single search.

Journal 

A publication published at regular intervals on a specific subject area that contains articles by various authors.

K

L

Library Account

The section in Library Search  where you sign in with your University user ID and password to renew your loans, reserve titles, and pay your fines.

Library Reading Lists

Your online module reading lists that contain resources you should read or consult to succeed in your studies.

Library Search

Your gateway to all print and electronic books as well as journals and databases provided by the University Library Services (London and Sunderland).

Library Talk

Live chat is a service that enables us to provide you with instant real-time help and support no matter where you are and what time it is.

Loan Period/Loan Type

A period/type assigned to a book that determines the length of time for which you can borrow that book (e.g. 1 week or 4 weeks).

M

N

NVivo

A software that supports qualitative and mixed methods research. Contact your lecturer or IT Services for more information.

O

Open Access

Resources that do not require institutional login for access because they are freely available to everyone, for example PubMed Central. 

P

PATs (Personal Academic Tutors)

Your Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) help you to make the most of your studies. PAT services include constructive feedback and advice related to your course work, discussing your aspirations, and directing you to other sources of support within the University.  You can be contact you programme PAT on their SharePoint page.  

Periodicals

Publications published at regular intervals such as newspapers and journals that contain articles by various authors. 

Plagiarism 

The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as your own without crediting the original author.

Q

R

Reading Lists 

Lists containing titles of books, journals, and other resources recommended by your lecturer to read/consult for each module.

Reference

Some print resources you cannot borrow to take home but can consult in the building.

Reference List

An alphabetically arranged list by author's surname of all the resources you used in your work. If your list includes sources you had not quoted from, such as background reading you did in preparation for your work, then it is called a Bibliography instead of a Reference List. The Library delivers training sessions on citations and referencing.

Referencing/Citations

The author-date system that is used in-text after you quote someone else's work. The institutional referencing style is Cite them right Harvard referencing. The Library delivers training sessions on referencing and bibliographies.

Renew 

To extend the due dates of your books to avoid fines, which you can even do online from anywhere by logging in to your Library Account.

Reports

A company report is a comprehensive report on a company's profile and activities throughout a given year and a market report is a comprehensive report on an industry/sector; company and market reports are available via Library Search.

Repository

A repository is where a university's own publications by their academics and researchers are stored online. The University of Sunderland repository is called SURE. There is also the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) that gives you access to open access publications of other universities around the world.

Resources

Books, journals, databases, and all other material that the Library provides to support you with your studies.

S

SCONUL

A scheme which allows the University of Sunderland Library users to borrow, or use for reference purposes, books and journals in other libraries which belong to the scheme.

SharePoint

A series of numbers and letters (the subject number and the last three letters of the author's surname) on the spine label of a book that will help you to find a particular book on the shelves together with other books on the same subject.

Shelfmark/Call Number

A series of numbers and letters (the subject number and the last three letters of the author's surname) on the spine label of a book that will help you to find a particular book on the shelves together with other books on the same subject.

Single Sign On/Authentication

Entering University of Sunderland credentials (username and password) in order to log in to computers and your Library Account or Library Search and other University systems.

SPSS

A software package used for logical statistical analysis. Contact your lecturer or IT Services for more information.

Student Administration

The department providing information on the academic calendar, timetables, assessments, and academic regulations. They are not student facing but can be contacted at studentadmin-london@sunderland.ac.uk.

Student Support (formerly Gateway)

Based on the ground floor, Student Support is your first point of contact for all your student needs, offering advice and support for any general queries you may have during your studies. They can be contacted at student.support-london@sunderland.ac.uk and/or via Compass.

Study Skills

Training and resources to develop the academic and research skills you will need throughout your education and beyond.

Subscription Resources

Online resources that are available only to University of Sunderland students and staff via your institutional (Open Athens) login, for example Euromonitor Passport and IBISWorld.

SURE

The University of Sunderland Repository for research papers and data produced by the University of Sunderland members of staff and doctoral students.

T

TechGuru (IT Support)

The TechGuru team provides IT Support to students across Campus and can be identified by the TechGuru logo on their uniforms.

Timetable

Where you find out about the schedule for your lectures by logging in with your student registration number as the username and timetable (all lower case) as your password.

Turnitin

Students must submit their assignments to Turnitin for the detection of similarity. Turnitin submission links are found in module spaces in Canvas. Contact Student Administration on the third floor or at studentadmin-london@sunderland.ac.uk for help with Turnitin.

U

University Credentials

Your University of Sunderland username and password that you use to access computers, University and Library systems and subscription electronic resources.

University Email

The institutional e-mail account provided to each student and member of staff.

V

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) - Canvas

The University’s virtual learning environment where students can access programme and module information including: module guides, student guidance, class resources, Turnitin submission links, the University of Sunderland in London Information and more.

Visiting Other Libraries

Join SCONUL to visit other university libraries to make use of their resources or, if you are a post-graduate student, join the British Library to use it for reference purposes.    

W

WiFi

Wireless networking technology that allows you to connect your mobile devices (laptops, tablets, phones) to the University network; you can even print from your own device.

X

Y

Z

Zotero

A free online reference manager for collecting, organising, and referencing your resources.