Periodicals at the James
Cameron-Gifford Library
This guide introduces you to periodicals
at the James Cameron-Gifford Library.
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/is
A periodical is a publication issued at
regular intervals, such as: once a week,
once a month, or once a year. Periodicals
may also be referred to as journals or
serials.
1. Location in the Library
Current periodicals are situated to the right
of the Library’s entrance. They are arranged
alphabetically by title. The most recent
issues are always placed on the front of the
display shelves enabling you to easily
identify them, whilst previous issues are
stored on the shelves behind them.
Once all the individual parts of a volume
have been received, they are transferred to
the Periodicals Rooms. Arrangement here is
also alphabetical by title, with A-I shelved
downstairs and J-Z shelved upstairs.
Please be aware that titles beginning with
an acronym are shelved at the beginning of
the appropriate sequence. For example:
EMBO journal (European Molecular Biology
Organization) is shelved at the beginning of
the E sequence.
2. Locating a Periodical
 the volume and year from which the
title is held
 the volume and year from which a title
ceases to be held (if applicable)
 details of missing parts
 whether an electronic version is
available to University of Nottingham
staff and students
For further information on locating a
periodical title consult the leaflet – UNLOC
(Guide to the University of Nottingham
Library Online Catalogue IS2009) –
available from the information leaflet stand.
3. Borrowing a Periodical
Undergraduates, MSc students, and
Non-Academic staff may borrow
periodicals overnight, Monday to Friday
from 5pm until 9.30am the following
morning (using the book return if
necessary). The weekend borrowing period
is from 3pm on Saturday until 9.30am on
Monday morning. The latest issue of a
periodical may not be borrowed. Fill in a
yellow slip when you borrow a periodical
and hand this in at the Lending Desk
together with the item.
To find out if Information Services holds a
particular periodical title you need to use
UNLOC (University of Nottingham
Online Catalogue). The easiest way to
search is to use the Journals option. You
can either browse a list of journal titles or
you can enter keywords from the title.
Academic staff and Research
postgraduates can borrow periodicals over
6 months old for 14 days using a blue slip.
Periodicals less than 6 months old can only
be borrowed for 3 days using a yellow slip.
The latest issue of a periodical may be
borrowed for 1 hour for photocopying, also
using a yellow slip.
If the title is in stock, the catalogue will tell
you:
If the Periodical you need is not in
Stock
 which of the University libraries holds it
If the periodical you require is in one of the
libraries on the Nottingham campus, you
may request either a specific article or a
 the shelf location
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complete issue through the Inter-library
Loans facility on UNLOC. If the periodical
you need is not in stock at all, you can use
the Inter-library Loan facility to request
either a specific article or a complete issue
from outside Information Services.
You will be charged for any Inter-library
Loans you order, including photocopies of
periodical articles requested from
Nottingham campus libraries.
For further details consult the leaflet UNLOC
(Guide to University of Nottingham Library
Online Catalogue) and leaflets on
requesting Inter-library loans – available
from the information leaflet stand.
4. Electronic journals
The emergence of electronic sources of
information such as these have enabled
literature searching to become a much
quicker and easier process. Consequently,
the majority of printed abstracts and
indexes are becoming obsolete, and you will
most likely find that you are only referring
to them if you need to obtain older
information that is not available
electronically.
To find out more about using electronic
information sources, please ask a member
of Library staff for help.
This leaflet is one of a series which aims to
help you use the Library more effectively.
All titles in this series can be found on the
information leaflet stand.
Increasingly journals are becoming
available in electronic format. You can
check whether we have access to the title
electronically using either UNLOC or the
eLibrary Gateway accessible from either the
Information Gateway tab in the portal or
from the Information Services website at:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/is
If the title you want is available you can
click on the links to the full text of articles.
5. Abstracting and Indexing
Services
These enable you to locate details of
research papers and reports from
periodicals in a wide range of subject areas.
Older editions are located behind the
current periodicals in the main part of the
Library and are arranged alphabetically by
title. Abstracts and indexes are for
reference use only and may not be
borrowed from the Library.
The majority of abstracting and indexing
services are now available in electronic
format as web-based services such as Web
of Knowledge, CAB, EDINA BIOSIS Previews
or FSTA. These services are available
through the eLibrary Gateway - accessible
via the Information Gateway tab in the
portal or from the Information Services
website at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/is
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