Making the most of your Library off-campus

The Library has a range of resources that can be accessed online and off campus:

• over 450,000 eBooks.
• over 98,000 e-journals.
• 376 databases and specialist resources.
• SHUPlayer and BoB (Box of Broadcasts) for your audio visual resources.

How do I login to library resources?

Many of the Library online resources are only accessible to Sheffield Hallam University students and staff. You can access the resources by using your SHU network username and password. If the resource does not work with your SHU network, there will be details on how to login on the Library Search record or the listing of the database in the A-Z list of databases.

If you have difficulties accessing Library resources off-campus then get in contact with the Library for support.

Here is a short video on how to access Library resources off campus.

Why should I sign in?

• To get access to licensed electronic resources.
• To get better search results. Some sources will not return results to Library Search if you are not signed in.
• To request books and other resources.
• To add items from your search results to your favourites and save searches to look at again later.
• To set up alerts so that you receive an email automatically if there is a new item that matches your search criteria.

Remember to sign out, though, so your searches remain private and your personal settings cannot be adjusted by anyone else.

How do I sign in?

Login to MyHallam first and then click on the Library link at the top of the page. You should now be at the Library homepage. You can click on the My Library Account link at the top of the Library homepage before you start searching. Click on the option for Hallam Staff and Students and enter your normal login details.

Once logged in you can then click on New Search to run your searches.

Alternatively, if you have run a search already, click on the appropriate Sign in link on the green bar above the search results.

There are many online resources available within Library Search. Here are three steps to help you find the information you need.

• Step 1: Type into Library Search your keywords e.g. building information modelling.

A search on the 27th November 2020, found 872,434 results for building information modelling.

• Step 2: Select the option for Online under the Availability filter.

After you have clicked on the Online filter, you will have over 873,000 online search results.

• Step 3: You can then filter by the Content type for the information you need.

If you were looking for online books related to building information modelling, you can apply the Book / eBook filter and you will then over find 3,000 eBooks.

You can reset the search by removing the Active filters at the top left hand side of the screen and apply new filters to find online journal articles.

For example, if you were looking for online journal articles, you should remove the Book / eBook filter and then apply the Articles filter. You will then find over 609,000 results. You can also apply the Peer-reviewed journals filter to limit your search to peer-reviewed journals.

The quickest way to find a specific eJournal in Library Search is to search using the Advanced Search option.

You can find the Advanced search option next to the the Library Search Simple Search box. You can search for a specific journal by typing the journal name into the Any field search box and limiting to the material type to Journal/eJournal. 

For example:

Using Browse eJournals

You can browse the Library collection of online journals using Browse eJournals. The journals are arranged into subject areas e.g. Biomedical and Health Sciences. You can browse within the sections to find out more about journals within these subject areas.

Browse eJournals is a very visual way of displaying journal titles for example, you will be able to see the Journal covers and then click on the image to browse the journal by volume or issue.

You will then see the table of contents for each issue and you can go direct to the article by clicking on the article title and following the on screen instructions. 

 If you are using a specialist resource e.g. a journal database and you want to access the full text of the journal article, you may need to click on the SHULinks button to access the full text article. 

What is SHULinks?

SHULinks is a software product which automatically links together online databases. It takes information from one resource and uses it to build links to other services that have related content. For example, we can link results of searches in indexing databases to the electronic journals which contain the full text of the articles found. Whenever you see the button simply click on it to see a menu of options. These options may include links to the full text of an article. 

You can find database and specialist resources on the Library subject guides. We recommend using the resources via the subject guides as the guide will provide context to why the resource has been selected and the benefits of using the resources.

You can find details of all the databases and specialist resources that the Library subscribes to on the A - Z of databases page.

You can use the free Document Supply Services to obtain books, journal articles or other resources not available in the Libraries.

If you need to access a resource that the library doesn't already have in our collections then please use our Document Supply Service:

Use document supply services to request a book or journal article. Document Supply Services have resumed supplying physical copies of books. However, there may be delays in supply times as this is a reciprocal service and is dependent on other libraries resuming their services to supply books.

If we supply access to a book using this service, this is a loan and the book needs to be returned to its home library at the end of the loan period.

Recommend a resource for learning, teaching or research to the Library

We are always looking for new publications to support your learning, teaching or research, and to keep the library collections up to date with high-quality materials.  If you think we're missing something crucial though, we'd like to hear about it.  

The resources purchased using this form will become part of the library collection and will be available for other library users to borrow.

You can do this using the form below.

• If we are unable to purchase a recommendation then we would explain why we made this decision.
• Currently, we are prioritising the purchase of digital resources that are on module reading lists or needed to support research.
• If you request an item that is only available in print we will contact you to discuss whether we are able to purchase it.

We look forward to your recommendations.

The advice here about access to the Distance Learner Support Service may be subject to change during the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Distance Learner Support Service provides support for the following students:

• Students on designated distance learning courses.
• Students referred to the service by their faculty.
• Students referred to the service by Disabled Student Support .
• Students referred to the service by the Inclusive Support Team.

This is an opt-in service. To be eligible for this service you must be one of the following:

• a student on a designated distance learning course.
• a student referred to the service by their college.
• a student referred to the service by Disabled Student Support.
• a student referred to the service by the Inclusive Support Team.