BrowZine is new way to browse and search thousands of electronic journals available to you as a member of Aberystwyth University.
BrowZine homepage
Using BrowZine you can:
Browse or search by subject area to find ejournals of interest
Search for a specific title
Create your own bookshelf of favourite ejournals and organise them how you want
Follow your favourite titles and receive alerts when a new issue is published
Save articles in your personal library which will sync across your devices
BrowZine can be used on your computer, or you can download the app for use on an Android or Apple device. The BrowZine app will sync across multiple devices so you can keep up with your ejournal reading on the move.
Find it on Primo, the library catalogue, by clicking on the eJournal Search button on the top of the homepage or download the app from your app store.
How to get to BrowZine from Primo, the library catalogue
To celebrate Shwmae Su’mae Day this year, we are sharing a guest blog from our Student Digital Champion, Laurie Stevenson and taking a quick look at some library resources to help you practise and develop your Welsh-language reading and speaking skills.
Laurie Stevenson
Dw i’n dysgu Cymraeg!
The 15th of October is Diwrnod Shwmae Su’mae, a day marked to celebrate and promote the Welsh language and I wanted to take this opportunity as one of the Student Digital Champions to use this blog to share my own experiences as a Welsh language learner.
What made me decide to take up Welsh?
I fell in love with Wales straight away after moving here and knew from the very start of my degree that I wanted to learn more about Welsh culture and learn the language as a way of respecting the culture and gaining a sense of belonging. I enjoy intellectual pursuits but never saw the point in learning languages like French or Spanish if I was never going to be able to use them in real life and I always struggled to feel any passion for this kind of language learning at school. However, when the opportunity arose to learn Welsh I was very keen, I love having the ability to make basic conversation on the bus, in a shop or café and I really enjoy the smile it can bring to peoples faces to see someone learning the language.
How did I go about learning Welsh?
I enquired about Welsh lessons in my first year but due to Covid these were not running however when I went to the Freshers Fair in my second year I spoke to someone at the UMCA Welsh student’s union stall and put my name down. The lessons are provided by learnwelsh.cymru and I started off with their taster course which was one hour weekly sessions, this year I have moved onto the accredited entry level course which is two hours a week. I also use Duolingo alongside my lessons and I have found this to help with retaining information in between lessons.
What resources have I found at Aberystwyth University to help me?
The Welsh student’s union UMCA are people I found the courses through but they also host Welsh language and culture events as well as opportunities for Welsh learners to meet up and practice their Welsh with Welsh speakers. There are also links to the courses on the University website as well as links for online resources to help your learning. The library also has great resources including books, dictionaries and phrasebooks for learning the language.
Laurie Stevenson
Find out more about Laurie and the work of the Student Digital Champions over on the Digital Capabilities Blog
Library Resources
If you are on your journey to learning Welsh, thinking about starting it, or you’re a Welsh speaker looking to polish your skills, the library has a wide-range of helpful resources.
Head to theCeltic Collection on Level F of the Hugh Owen Library where you’ll find books to help you practise and develop your reading and speaking skills – from graded novels with vocabulary to grammar books to complete language courses.
The theme of this year’s Libraries Week is the central role that libraries play in supporting life-long learning.
Today our focus is on our Lifelong Learning students and external users.
Lifelong Learning
LibGuides Our Lifelong Learning LibGuide is your complete guide to library and learning resources for your subjects. Here you’ll find details on key resources and guidance on how to use the library and who to contact for help.
The Lifelong Learning LibGuide homepage
Effective Study Collection The Effective Study Collection is designed to help you develop your study skills. It covers topics including how to research, writing skills, academic writing, time management, communications skills and some general guides to help you research and study in the arts. If you are returning to education after a break, have a look.
Study spaces and IT facilities at the library Don’t forget that Lifelong Learning students can also make use of the library’s facilities, such as quiet study spaces, computers, excellent WIFI and printing and copying facilities. Browse our A to Z of library services here.
The Celtic Collection The Celtic Collection contains approximately 25,000 books relating to Brittany, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The collection contains material on all subjects relating to Celtic countries, and is a wonderful resource for all researchers and enthusiasts.
Learning Welsh or looking to improve your skills? You’ll find everything you need to help you practise and develop your reading and speaking skills – from graded novels with vocabulary to grammar books.
Find the Celtic Collection of Level F of the Hugh Owen library:
Some of the Welsh-language resources in the Celtic Collection
Digimap Digimapoffers full and comprehensive Ordnance Survey map data and historic maps as well as geological data. It is a fascinating resource and very useful for local history researchers as well as Earth Sciences. You just need to have an Aberystwyth University email account to register to access it.
Linkedin Learning All AU students and staff have free and unlimited access to the wealth of expert-led courses available online 24/7 through Linkedin Learning.
Here’s a small selection of courses chosen by our Student Digital Champion, Urvashi Verma, that may be of interest to Lifelong Learning students.
Lifelong Learning CollectionA collection of courses and short videos to help you develop your study skills and improve your time management skills.
Urvashi Verma
External Users
Our libraries welcome different categories of external users, from Aber Alumni and retired staff members who are keen to maintain their access to library resources, students at other institutions who are visiting Aber and need a place to study or local residents.
Special Collections External users can apply to use the library’s IT facilities and study spaces, and can also arrange to view items in our beautiful special collections.
Colourful books from the Children’s Literature Collection on a table on Level F of the Hugh Owen Library
If you go down to the Hugh Owen Library today… you’re sure to find our latest display on Level F of some wonderful titles from our Children’s Literature Collection!
Our collection has a good range of children’s fiction in both English and Welsh, including picture books, contemporary children’s literature to young adult fiction – from pirates to princesses, dragons to aliens and all that’s in-between.
You’ll find it particularly useful if you’re studying PGCE or Childhood Studies/Education. You can browse the collected on Level F of the Hugh Owen Library at classmark PZ or have a look online on Primo, the Library catalogue here.
