User Guide
Welcome to the Learning Hubs
There is a Learning Hub with library facilities at both Gardyne and Kingsway campuses. In addition, each
campus has Hub Decks which you may be timetabled to attend with classes. You can use the PCs there on
a drop-in basis once classes with bookings are accommodated.
Kingsway Learning Hub is to your left when you enter the doors at Main Reception. The Learning Hub
Deck is at the back of the main Learning Hub, up the stairs you can see directly ahead as you enter.
Gardyne Learning Hub is through the door on your right after you pass Main Reception. The Learning Hub
Decks are on Level 2 and Level 3, across the far side of the atrium. They are the large areas of computers.
Arbroath Campus has library facilities and PCs available. You can use all facilities at all three campuses.
Contact details
If you have any queries about anything contained in this guide, or need to know about something that is
not covered then please get in touch. You can:
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Speak to a member of staff in any Learning Hub / library
Email [email protected]
Phone 01382 834813 or 01241 432717
Follow us on Twitter – Search for @DACLearningHub
Your feedback counts
Every year the Learning Hub holds a student survey regarding services and resources – make sure your
opinion is heard by looking out for the survey signs and online link.
Remember we will always be happy to hear your suggestions for improvement, so use the suggestions
forms and boxes in each Learning Hub, or email us on
[email protected]
What you will find in the libraries
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A wide range of books
Daily newspapers
A selection of magazines
DVDs and BoB Online TV
Study spaces
Online resources
Audio books
ebooks
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Self-issue (Dundee campuses)
Bookable PCs
Wifi
Printing and scanning facilities
Photocopying (chargeable)
Stationery for sale
Assistive technologies
Helpful staff
Booking a PC at Dundee campuses
Students can book a PC up to a week in advance using MyPC for either Kingsway or Gardyne campuses.
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Scan the QR code with your smartphone
Click the link on the Learning Hub Help Moodle page
Ask at a Learning Hub desk
Give us a call on 01382 834813
For more information on MyPC please visit the Learning Hub Help Moodle page and select Booking a
Computer.
Conduct
Please consider others by:
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Keeping noise levels to a minimum
Switching mobile phones to silent and answering calls outside
No food
Put your rubbish in the bins provided
Students who fail to return resources they have borrowed are banned from using PCs until these resources
are returned.
Stationery
A range of stationery is available for sale, including:
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Folders and project files
Plastic pockets
Disks and USB pens
Pens and pencils
A4 pads
Glue sticks
Sharpeners
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Correction fluid
Erasers
Envelopes
Reading rulers
Rulers
Stamps
Laminate sheets
Photocopying and printing
Your Student Card gives you access to printing facilities at Dundee campuses. Speak to staff in the library
at Arbroath Campus for support with printing and copying.
At Dundee campuses, you will need to use either your card or username and password for College
computers to access and print your work. Once you have used your free copies the College allocates for you,
you must pay to print. Top ups to your print account can be made using your Student Card.
The Reprographics Department, located on the Lower Ground Floor at Gardyne Campus, can be used by
students for colour and black and white copying, along with a variety of finishing at competitive prices.
Staff are available to help and offer advice on your printing needs.
Students at Kingsway or Arbroath who are not able to visit the Gardyne facility can arrange via the Registry
Office to send items to Gardyne for printing. At Kingsway, call at the office, make payment and you will be
able to collect your copies in 24 hours.
MyDC
MyDC is your personalised online dashboard which will automatically appear when you login to a College
PC at Dundee campuses. It will provide easy access to a variety of information including your timetable,
attendance and library items, along with College announcements and forthcoming events.
Moodle
Moodle is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and is viewed using a web browser. It is designed to help
you with your learning and can be accessed anywhere, on both computers and smart devices, providing
there is an internet connection.
Your tutor may ask you to use Moodle to access resources, complete activities and keep up to date with
College news.
You can access the online resources the College subscribes to via Moodle, along with the Learning Hub
Help page which contains a wide range of information including:
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Learning Hub guides
Referencing, study skills and internet guides
Podcast
Online induction
Latest information and announcements from the Learning Hubs
Link to the library catalogue
Learning Hub contact details
Moodle can be accessed via the link on MyDC or at the following web address:
https://moodle.dundeecollege.ac.uk/
Login using your College username and College password.
If you would like further help on using Moodle please ask your tutor or a Learning Hub Assistant. Help is
also available within Moodle itself.
Library Resources
The libraries at each campus stock a wide range of books, ebooks, book media, journals, DVDs and online
resources.
Using the College’s library catalogue will help you locate information about books, ebooks, audio books,
fiction and online resources that can help you with your studies. You can search it to find out if we have
specific items you are looking for, or browse for resources on the topics of your choice.
Borrowing resources
Most students are automatically enrolled to use the library at the start of term. During your enrolment you
will create and receive a username, password and Student Card that will allow you access to both the
library catalogue and College PCs.
The library catalogue is available 24/7 via Moodle. It can be accessed anywhere, on both computers and
smart devices, providing there is an internet connection.
You can use your student card to self issue books from the libraries at Kingsway and Gardyne. Students
can borrow a maximum of six items at any one time.
There are two main student loan periods, 4 weeks or 7 days.
7 Day Loan books have a sticker on the spine:
Reference items can only be viewed in the libraries.
Extending loan periods
You can renew your items:
At a library desk in person with your card
Over the phone on 01382 834813 or 01241 432717
Online through the library catalogue
Using the self-issue machines at Dundee campuses using your card
Items can be renewed as many times as you wish, unless someone else has requested the item and is
waiting for it.
Renew items online
Go to: http://liberty0.dundeecollege.ac.uk/liberty/libraryHome.do
Select the Login icon at the top right of the screen and enter your College username and password.
Clicking on Current Loans will direct you to the My Loans section of My Portal.
You will see a list of all items you have borrowed. There are two renew options:
The single arrow (grey) will renew items selected using the tick boxes and the double arrow
(green) will renew all items.
Once you click one of the options, you will receive confirmation:
If you have any overdue items they will appear in the Overdue Loans tab and in the Current Loans tab.
Overdue loans cannot be renewed online, you need to bring the items to a campus library or contact us.
Overdue loans
We charge fines at £0.05 per item per day up to a maximum of £1.00. We don’t charge fines on days we
are closed, like weekends or holidays.
If you keep an item four weeks or longer past the date it was due back, we will send you an
invoice for replacement costs. If you have the item/s, please bring them back as soon as
possible and you will only have to pay the fines.
Organisation of materials in the main Learning Hubs
Resources are arranged in subject order by the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme, the most common
library system in the world.
When you search for an item through the library catalogue, you will notice a number under Classification –
this helps you find the item on the shelves.
The Dewey system organises books by dividing them into 10 main groups each represented by a number beginning at 000 and going up to 999.
The books are in continuous numerical order, but the arrangement of the shelves will vary between the
libraries. To find books on the shelf:
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Note down the number of the book you are looking for, e.g. 331.2153 CUS
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Follow the numbers on the spines of the books until you get to the ones starting with 3
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Follow the numbers on to the ones starting 33, onto 331, onto 331.2 etc.
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Once you get to 331.2153, follow the letters alphabetically until you reach 331.2153 CUS
Staff will be happy to help you find material within the library.
DVDs and BoB (Box Of Broadcasts)
Under the terms of the College’s licence, students are unable to borrow DVDs, although viewing facilities
are available throughout the campuses.
BoB allows you to record TV and radio programmes that are scheduled to be broadcast over the next
seven days, as well as retrieve programmes from the last seven days from a selected list of recorded
channels. You can create clips and search the archive for previously recorded shows that were aired more
than seven days previously.
To access BoB, go to: http://bobnational.net/ and sign in using your College username and password.
Online resources
The Learning Hub subscribes to a wide range of online resources that you can access via Moodle. These
include:
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ebrary ebooks
BoB National online TV and radio
JISC Media photographs, films and sound clips
Gale Databases newspapers and journals
Issues Online social issues reference source
Encyclopaedia Britannica thousands of articles, videos and images
KnowUK online library of UK information
JSTOR collection of academic journals and books
When using these resources outside College, you need to login using your College username and password
through the Shibboleth page.
For more information on our online resources please visit the Learning Hub Help Moodle page and select
Overview of Online Resources.
Assistive technology equipment
Assistive technology equipment is the term used to describe any physical aid that can help your learning.
In each of the Learning Hubs / libraries you will find:
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Footrests
Ergonomic mouse mats and wrist rests
Headphones (for College work)
Portable Loop Induction
Coloured paper and reading rulers
Speak to staff in Supported Learning for more information: [email protected] or
01382 834908
Closed Capture Television System
Merlin is a full colour, autofocus, desktop video magnifier. Designed with the low vision user in mind,
Merlin enables you to view images in a variety of ways. The high quality screen outputs a magnified
version of the text.
Contrast Keyboard
We have black or white keyboards with large contrasting letters. The letters are up to 400% bigger than a
standard keyboard.
IntelliKeys Keyboard
Suited to those with motor-skills, low vision, learning, or cognitive difficulties, IntelliKeys can be operated
with a finger, foot or even nose or chin.
Height Adjustable Desk
Height adjustable desks are available at all Learning Hubs. Press the up or down arrow buttons to operate the
electric desk or wind the handle on manual desks to benefit from a height range of 61-128cm.
Ergonomically Designed Adjustable Chair
Chairs are available that offer greater support for posture, especially the lower back. They are fully height
adjustable.
Track Ball Mouse
A track ball only needs a light touch to move the cursor and works for both left and right handed users.
The mouse can also be personalised using specialist software.
Online assistive technology
Online assistive technology is the term used to describe a computer program or online aid that can help
your learning.
The AccessApps available on all computers within the Learning Hubs are a type of online assistive
technology. Go to Start, select All Programs, then AccessApps to open any of the following programmes:
Spr-Ot
Spr-Ot blanks out sections on screens containing a lot of information. It can help track information in
spreadsheets and be flipped vertically or horizontally and resized.
Vubar
Vubar helps isolate text on-screen so users can read a few lines at a time. The height and width of Vubar
can be customised.
T-Bar
T-Bar shades out parts of the text onscreen and can be customised.
RapidSet
RapidSet is an easy to use program which allows you to change font and background colours.
ssOverlay
ssOverlay allows digital information to be displayed with a colour overlay or screen masking. It also helps
reduce screen glare on older monitors.
NVDA (Non-Visual Display Access)
NVDA reads information on screen automatically. It can also be set up for Braille display.
Virtual Magnifying Glass
The Virtual Magnifying Glass will magnify information on a computer screen up to
16 times. You can increase the height and width of the magnification.
TypeFaster Accessible
TypeFaster Accessible can help individuals who want to learn how to touch type. The Accessible version
has been designed for the visually impaired or blind.
TheSage
TheSage is an advanced English dictionary and thesaurus.
Audacity
Audacity is an open source software for recording and editing sound.
GIMP
GIMP can resize, edit and crop photos and combine multiple images.
Additional Support Policy
I am unable to access the Learning Hub / library due to mobility problems. How can I view/obtain the
resources?
There are a broad range of online resources that you can access from any PC with an internet connection.
Physical resources such as books and journals can be sent to you at home free of charge. A freepost
envelope will be included for you to return items or you can hand them in to any College campus. Please
contact a member of the staff for further information.
I require additional assistance to use the services on campus. How can you help me?
We have a full range of assistive technologies available for all students to use.
I find loan periods too short. Can I borrow items for longer?
Yes, if you require additional time to borrow resources due to a recognised disability. Speak to staff in
Supported Learning and your account will be automatically amended. Loan periods will be as follows:
7 Day loan = 2 weeks
4 week loan = 6 weeks
For further information and or assistance please contact Supported Learning.