Whichever aspect of computing you're studying, the library has books, journals, and databases to suit your needs.
Welcome to our guide to resources for Computing courses. As the Learning and Research Librarian for Computing, I am here to support you in your learning and assignments.
Ruth Collingwood - Learning & Research Librarian for Computing
LibrarySearch is CCCU’s library discovery tool and a key resource for you. It allows you to easily search across library resources, including books, e-books and journal articles. Many of the resources available via Library Search are not freely available on the web, and rather than worrying about paywalls, it automatically limits your search to full-text. Remember to sign in to access all the resources.
Google Scholar is also an excellent resource. It can be used to search for scholarly information on the internet, including ebooks, journal articles and conference papers. It can also be linked to library holdings, showing you where CCCU has paid for access to a resource and allowing you to link through.
Searching LibrarySearch alongside Google Scholar for your assignment topics is a good place to start.
You can also access databases individually for more in-depth searching or for specific types of resources such as statistics, reports or documentaries (please see under Databases below for some recommendations)
You can use LibrarySearch to search for the books you need. Just type in a few words from the title plus the surname of the author(s) into the search box. If you get stuck – please ask!
We use the Dewey Decimal System to classify the books so it’s easier to find them. Each number refers to a different subject area. In Augustine House, the lowest numbers are on the first floor and the highest numbers are on the third floor.
You will find the majority of the computing book collection on the first floor at Augustine House:
Remember to check the different areas housing the 7-day loan (open shelves) and 4-week loans (moving shelves).
The library also has hundreds of e-books for computing. To search for e-books in LibrarySearch, limit your results in the left-hand pane of the search screen to e-books and click on the link to CCCU e-book to download or read online.
You can browse printed copies of journals on the second floor of Augustine House in the Silent Zone – they are shelved in alphabetical order of the title of the journal. These are for use in the library only. However, most journals are also available online. Online journals relevant to computing include:
You can see which journals are available online by using LibrarySearch. Make sure you log in first! (You will need your university username and password). Try entering the title of a journal into the search box or using the “Find e-journals by title” link. You can also browse e-journals by subject, using Browzine. This software allows you to read a journal like an e-book, so you can look through the whole journal rather than just individual articles. There is an app so you can use it easily on your phone or other mobile device.
You can find individual journal articles to read online by doing a quick search in LibrarySearch. Try searching for a key word or phrase connected with your research topic, e.g. “heat transfer”. See our quick guide for more information.
Open access journals
The Directory of Open Access Journals includes journals such as International Journal of Industrial Chemistry. MDPI supports open scientific exchange, providing access to in the sciences. Open access journals are usually scholarly, but the difference is, the publishers of these journals believe in making their research freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This means that you (or your institution) don’t have to have a subscription to the journal to be able to read the articles they publish.
There are lots of databases that contain articles about computing, and they are all available via LibrarySearch – just click on the “Find databases” link in the left-hand menu and you will see an alphabetical list. Browse the list until you find the one you want.
The most useful databases for your subject include:
ACM Digital Library A comprehensive collection of full-text articles and bibliographic records covering the fields of computing and information technology. Access is provided to the full-text of all ACM journals, magazines, newsletters and conference proceedings. [Access is limited on on-campus only]
Business Source Premier Contains the full-text for several thousand journals. Primarily a source for business information, it includes articles on e-commerce and marketing, management information systems (MIS), cloud computing, and data processing.
IEL: IEEE Xplore The collection includes content from IEEE, as well as the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) covering approximately one-third of the world’s current literature in electrical engineering, communications, and computer science. Access is provided to more than four million full-text documents, 188 IEEE journal, magazine, and transaction titles, 30+ IET journal and magazine titles, 1,700+ IEEE conference titles, 25+ IET conference and seminar digests and more than 3,800 approved and published IEEE standards. [Access is limited on on-campus only]
MiNTEL Contains market research reports, news items and analyst data. Gain an overview of categories such as mobile or e-commerce including statistics, consumer data, market data and brand research. Investigate the Technology sector to read reports on consumer attitudes towards online security or smart homes.
ScienceDirect Searches across 2,500 peer-reviewed titles – or over 9.5 million articles. Useful for articles about mathematics, software, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence (AI), signal processing and forensic computing.
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database containing both peer-reviewed research literature and quality web sources. With over 22,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers, Scopus offers researchers a quick, easy and comprehensive resource to support research, including in the fields of computer science and technology.
Web of Science (WoS) Search for journal articles on the theory and methods of computer science, AI, cybernetics, hardware and architecture. Patents and conference proceedings are key sources of information for computing and a full search of WoS will include the Derwent Innovations Index which covers over 14 million basic inventions from 40 patent-issuing authorities and two Conference Proceedings Citation Indexes.
You will find guides next to the database title (for most databases) on the “Find databases” pages, and you can also access these guides on the Library and Learning Resources web pages.
The following websites are a good starting point:
Cogprints an archive for papers related to cognition such as AI, robotics and neural networks.
CoRR Computing Research Repository locate research on cryptography and security, software engineering, computational engineering, finance and science.
dblp a bibliography for major computing science journals and proceedings.
Odysci Academic search for and rank technical papers by key publishers in computer science areas.
TechRepublic includes free technical white papers, webcasts and case studies covering data and IT management, networking, security, storage, e-commerce and visualisation.
Archival Sound Recordings: Listen to a selection from the British Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings, which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound. Includes oral histories.
BFI Player: Explore and view short films and features, showing the best from the BFI, national and regional archives, including 120 years of Britain on film, offering a unique window on Britain’s changing political, economic and social landscape in the age of film and television.
Box of Broadcasts: On-demand TV and radio service for education. Allows staff and students to record programmes and create clips from over 60 free-to-air channels, both TV and radio, and search an archive of over 2 million broadcasts. If you’ve seen or heard something on TV or radio that you think would be useful to your learning or teaching, there’s a good chance you can access it via B.o.B. Access within the UK only (Guide to B.o.B)
EU Screen Portal: Offers free access to thousands of archival audio-visual items from across Europe, bringing together clips that provide an insight into the social, cultural, political, and economic events that have shaped the 20th and 21st centuries.
Kanopy: Access to a large, curated catalogue of over 30,000 educational documentaries and classic films. A wide range of subject coverage (e.g. Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Education, Health and Sciences). Watch anytime, anywhere and on any device including via media streaming apps.