Library and Learning Resources Policy

The College has a large reference library of over 2000 books as well as a lending, and staff library, each housed within the College building. All three libraries can be accessed by students, staff and graduates 7 days a week.

 

Reference Library

This holds over 2000 books.  There are desks for study and adjacent to the library is a student study room with five PC’s, internet access, and printer/photocopying facilities. Many students choose to come and study here on days when they are not in classes. 

The books are classified into 26 different colour coded sections with two large wall posters showing how to find all books on a particular topic, or a particular book. Many of the books are rare copies of Chinese Medicine texts providing an excellent resource for research. The reference library catalogue is available to all staff and students on the on-line learning platform Canvas. All students and new staff are given an induction session on how to use the library. In addition to the books, the reference library also holds past editions of important Chinese Medicine journals such as the Journal of Chinese Medicine, and the European Journal of Chinese Medicine. The library also subscribes to these and other journals so staff and students can access current and past editions directly with the log in details through Canvas, and via Kingston University’s iCat facility.

Helpful articles and book chapters on more than 20 topics have been compiled into In-House readers to encourage reading around topics as well as reading from set texts.

All students complete a dissertation during their studies, and copies of these are available in the reference library. In addition, the titles and abstracts of all past dissertations are stored on Canvas.

There is a smaller staff library in the staff room which holds over 100 books on teaching pedagogy and learning in higher education.

The college librarian is available half a day per week on weekdays and weekends to help students with research for assignments and referencing. She is also contactable by email and her dates and contact information are displayed on the library noticeboard.

 

Lending Library

This holds over 500 books including copies of all the core textbooks which can be borrowed by students for 2 to 3 weeks. It also holds many important Chinese Medicine clinical texts for students to take home to research patient conditions when they are working in the teaching clinic.

 

Learning Resources

The college have a wide range of resources which can be used by staff and students. To assist with learning anatomy and point location the college has laminated A1 size posters showing the location of points and anatomy. There are also several full-size acupuncture models, skeletons and other anatomical models.

In addition to books the college also ha a wide range of DVD’s which can be borrowed by students on topics such as Qigong. There are also useful teaching videos accessible through Canvas which show point location, needle techniques etc. There is also a teaching database of photos taken for tongue diagnosis, as well as a database of patient interviews for teaching 5 Element skills work.

There are teaching kits for all the practical sessions allowing all students to have access to the materials needed for learning needling, cupping, moxa and guasha skills.

 

The Aims and Objectives for the Library and Learning Resources

• To provide a library facility for staff and students that supports and stimulates the development of the educational environment at the College, and promotes a reflective attitude amongst the students in preparation for membership of a growing profession.
• To co-ordinate and develop other learning resources at the College that support the teaching staff in achieving the educational aims of the curriculum.
• To ensure that the library service is accessible to students and teaching staff, in terms of physical location, time availability, organisation of operation, and reference information.
• To ensure that the library contains an adequate number and range of books and other materials to service theeducational programme and contribute sufficiently to the achievement of the College’s objectives and the learning outcomes of the course.
• To continue the purchasing programme to build up the library so that it helps to facilitate and improve learning, foster inquiry and intellectual development amongst the students and contribute towards their development as reflective practitioners.
• To subscribe to the major professional acupuncture journals and other appropriate publications to help to prepare students for their role in the wider acupuncture community and to provide easily accessible storage for journals and publications.
• To co-ordinate other learning resources, disseminating information to teaching staff, enhancing accessibility.
• To liaise with, to advise and support other teams or individuals as necessary within the College e.g. IT, e-learning.
• To ensure that the learning resources adequately support the staff in teaching the
• To promote accessibility of as much information as possible via Canvas.
• To provide initial training for all students on plagiarism, and then on-going support with referencing and citations.