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York Online Programmes: library quick-start guide

Welcome to the library, York Online students!

The library is much more than a building, and will play a key role in your experience while you're at York as we provide resources to help you study. There's a lot to take in when you're new, so let us take you through some ways to get started on this page. If you want a little more detail on the library basics, check out our Library Essentials Guide.

Follow our links to get access to online resources

Your key readings will be provided online in Canvas. A lot of them are via a service called Kortext, which you can find guidance on here.

When you follow the links from your Reading Lists within your modules, the resource identifies you as a student at the University of York and gives you the full access you're entitled to. If you go straight to the resource in your browser, or via a search engine, you may be asked to pay for content when you don't need to.

So always follow our links - whether that's from the Reading Lists, from YorSearch, or from the eResources Guide. Talking of which…

There are different ways to find what you need online

If you're doing your own research on a topic and want to go beyond your Reading List, where do you start? It depends on what you need.

One thing we recommend you do is Download LibKey Nomad. This is a University-approved browser extension that links to academic articles and research materials available open access or through our library subscriptions. The tool is very easy to use, working in the background and automatically detecting when you're on a page with open access materials or with a library-subscribed journal article, and flagging available links to full-text PDFs.

More on LibKey Nomad

Use keywords to search millions of resources on the library catalogue. After you've run a search, use the Availability menu on the right of your search results to select the 'Full Text Online' option: this will limit your results to resources you can access right away.
A massive A-Z list of all the databases we provide access to, providing high quality information Google can't find. You can sort by subject, or you can sort by category - for example, listing all our datasets and statistics in one place.
Particularly useful for online students, as it allows you to browse our eJournals in a more visual way, somewhat recreating the experience of browsing physical bookshelves. Flick through issues of journals, and see tables of contents easily.

We'll help you develop next level study skills

Upgrade your skills in key areas of academic life. Study well, save time and get better marks. 

On the Skills Guides link below you'll find our Training schedule of regular workshops - limit to Online sessions to see what you can attend on Zoom. 

Online resources available at any time to develop your academic writing, digital skills and more
Personal academic writing advice, study coaching and online writing guidance
Workshops and 1:1 support to develop your maths, statistics and numerical reasoning skills
Help with resources, tools and skills specific to your subject

Stay in touch with the library

Our contact page provides all sorts of ways you can ask us questions, including via email and chat. We’d also recommend following us on social media to keep up to date.

Finally, if you want that library building atmosphere without visiting campus, put on some headphones and press play on the video. Our #StudyWithMe video is one of our most popular ever...

 

We’ve had lots of feedback from students who tell us the ‘sounds of the Morrell’ genuinely help them study better! See if it works for you.