Research

The Library & Learning Centre provides a range of services and information products to support all stages of the research process. This page provides brief descriptions and links to further information. If you have questions or suggestions about how the LLC supports the University’s research activity, please get in touch with your School’s LLC Liaison Contact, or email Philippa Sterlini of the LLC research support team.

Discovery: Dundee University's research output online

Discovery is the University’s institutional repository of academic publications. It gathers together the intellectual output of the University in the form of research theses, articles, books, conference papers and more, and makes them available online to all. Discovery is managed by the Library & Learning Centre; academic staff and research students can add publications to the repository via a web-based form.

Information about the benefits and the process of submitting are available on the Discovery page.

To deposit items in Discovery follow the on-screen instructions in the Discovery help page.

Early Career Academics' Cross-Institutional Mentoring Scheme

Universities of Dundee and St Andrews

We have launched the fifth cycle of this successful scheme which supports early career academics in managing their careers and more experienced research staff interested in continuing professional development. We are currently looking to recruit mentors and mentees who match our criteria. For more information go to the cross mentoring page. You can also email Susan Reid of the Educational Development Division for more information.

EndNote

If you use EndNote to manage your bibliographical references, you may be interested in the EndNote support pages offered by the Library & Learning Centre to help you get the most out of this application.

Training courses are offered regularly through the inspirED programme.

Liaison

The Library & Learning Centre Liaison Service involves each academic school having a named contact in the LLC who is responsible for ensuring the school gets the most out of the services available.

Details on services for academic and research staff are available on our Information for academic staff page.

Liaison staff are skilled in finding and using information resources in the different subject areas. Researchers can contact Liaison staff directly for help and tuition on aspects of Library & Learning Centre provision including:

Access to books and journals
Finding information and employing systematic literature review techniques
Using electronic resources, including e-journals, e-books and online abstracting and indexing serices

A full list of LLC Liaison staff is available from the LLC Liaison Contacts page.

Research Data Management

It is vital that best practice is followed for the management of research data, a process that should be implemented at the outset of any project. Researchers and libraries are increasingly aware of a trend for public funders of research to insist that data should be, as far as possible, openly available to the research community. More and more journal publishers require the data on which publications are based be shared or deposited within an accessible database or repository. Collaborative research equally benefits from the shared storage of and access to data.

The following links will guide you on how to look after research data now and the preserve it for the future; they will help you to guard against loss with strategies for securely storing, backing-up, transmitting, and disposing of data. For a free guide on managing data visit the UK Data archive website. Also try taking the online tutorial title MANTRA available on the Edina website.

Resources for your subject

The Library & Learning Centre provides multiple routes to search for and access information and resources. For information on resouces specific to your area of study please visit the Resources for your subject pages.

Special Collections

The University of Dundee holds collections of specialist materials in various subjects which are stored in secure conditions, separate from the rest of the stock, because of their rarity, age or delicate state. See Special Collections for more information.

Survey Service

The Library & Learning Centre Survey Service support the use of surveys throughout the University. The Survey Service coordinates the use of easy-to-use online software (Bristol Online Surveys) for the professional delivery of surveys, and enables individuals and sectors within the University to conduct surveys in a legal, efficient and effective manner. For more information email LLC Surveys.

Teaching Skills

The University values highly the teaching role which is undertaken by postgraduate tutors and a number of educational development opportunities are available to support your teaching activities. Two workshops - An Introduction to Learning & Teaching in HE and an Introduction to Large Group Teaching & Technology Enhanced Learning are provided in semesters 1 & 2 by LLC Educational Development via the Organisational and Professional Development programme.

Thomson Research Room

Situated on Level 1B of the Main Library, the Thomson Research Room is equipped with facilities for consultation of material from the Special Collections and for using microform material. A small collection of specialist reference material is shelved there - including bibliographies and short title catalogues. Materials can be housed in the room for longer periods on request.

Virtual Research Environment - MyDundee

Researcher communities can be set up on the Virtual Learning Environment, My Dundee where information can be securely stored and shared between named members. External collaborators can participate, if requested by the community. The obvious advantages over facebook and twitter are that information is secure and backed up. My Dundee should be considered as a possible location for the storage of information specifically for collaborative partnerships. For more information email eLearning.