Our Subject Guides are designed to help you find the resources you need to help you succeed in your studies!
Within your assignments, you are expected to use information as evidence from various reliable sources. Academic writing is all about choosing appropriate sources and identifying further reading, not just what is on a reading list.
Marks are awarded for using the best resources, and the Library’s resources have already been chosen as reliable.
The Subject Guides will help you to select the best information sources for each assignment. They also contain information about specialist resources unique to each area.
To get started, simply select your chosen guide from the list opposite.
Remember that research is often interdisciplinary and you may want to view more than one guide! We recommend visiting the Business Subject Guide - irrespective of whichever course you study - as it will contain generic resources which are useful for all areas of study.
Our Resources Explained
E-Textbooks
Core e-textbooks ('required reading') are accessed via BibliU and are listed in your module reading lists in Aula. Your Module Leaders will expect you to have read these texts in order to develop understanding of the subject.
Books
Books can be accessed in either print or e-formats. This includes core texts and wider reading around your subject.
Journals, Magazines & Periodicals
Peer-reviewed academic journal articles, professional magazines and periodicals are highly recommended sources for your subject area.
Economic, Market & Company Information
Business databases give access to economic, market and company information, statistics and trends.
Newspapers
Business newspapers provide daily insights and reports.
The key to achieving academic success is to use a range of resources in your assessments. This will help you to:
Academic and professional resources are generally more trustworthy and reliable sources of information so you should prioritise these over non-academic resources in your assignments.
Google can be great. It’s quick, easy and there is a vast amount of free and current information, including governments, organisations, businesses websites and specialist blogs.
The downside is that it does not discriminate and the crawler cannot find everything - especially information stored in the deep web in databases or subscription services!
Google also uses an algorithm called PageRank which may not give best results for academic information.