Library & IT for Kent students at Brussels

Claim your Kent IT account online for access to:

• your Kent email account - you can set up mail forwarding to a personal account if you want (see the FAQs on the email page).
• Kent e-resources such as e-books and journals

You can use LibrarySearch Europe to find and access e-books, or cross-search individual e-books collections the University subscribes to.

Access additional e-books

If you can't find the e-book you need on LibrarySearch Europe you can also access around 180,000 e-books directly via the EBL platform:

1. log into EBL with your University of Kent username and password
2. search for the book
3. if you access an e-book the University doesn't already own, this will trigger a 1 day electronic loan of the title
4. if another Brussels student accesses the same e-book later on, it will be automatically added to the Library's permanent digital collections

This is only available to students at our European Centres and there is no cost to you - so please make the most of this opportunity to develop your digital library collection.

If you have any problems accessing the service, click Help/Feedback (top right on the EBL platform page) or email BSISlibraryhelp@kent.ac.uk.

Find a specific article

For example: Jackson, D. B. (2003). Between-lake differences in the diet and provisioning behaviour of Black-throated Divers Gavia Arctica breeding in Scotland. Ibis, 145(1), 30-44.

1. Go to LibrarySearch Europe
2. Enter the article title - for example ‘Between-lake differences in the diet and provisioning behaviour of Black-throated Divers Gavia Arctica breeding in Scotland’ - in the search box
3. Click View Online to access the databases that have holdings for the article

If you've searched LibrarySearch for the specific article, but can’t find it

1. Enter the journal title - for example ‘Ibis' - in LibrarySearch Europe.
2. Click View Online to see databases that have holdings for the journal. If you get too many results:
1. use Advanced Search
2. set the Material Type to 'Journals'
3. search for the title again
3. Select a database that covers the publication year of your article, for example 2003.
4. Now navigate to the article using the publication year (2003), volume (145), issue (1) and number of first page (30).

If you can't access the article using these steps, check on Moodle to see if a scan of the item has been uploaded.

Find articles on a particular subject

For in-depth journal research you should:

1. search LibrarySearch Europe with your subject key words, eg ‘responsibility to protect Libya’.
2. refine your results use the filters on the right
3. you should also search directly in relevant databases in your Subject Guide.

Subject guides are subject specific introduction to library resources and useful websites, selected by the academic liaison librarians at Kent. Most relevant for Brussels subjects:

• Economics
• Politics and International Relations
• Lawlinks - designed to help you find your way around legal resources on the internet
• Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR)

• Eagle-i (Electronic Access to Global Legal Information): portal to high quality legal information sources on the web, developed by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
• Armed Conflict Database (from the International Institute for Strategic Studies): information on armed conflicts worldwide
• Nexis - news database, especially useful for current and business news (alternative access via Federation)

If the item you need isn't available from the University of Kent's e-resources or in print in your local libraries, we'll try to get it for you via the document delivery service.

Before you make a request

1. Check LibrarySearch Europe to see if the item is available as an e-resource
2. Check with your supervisor if the item is available from another source or there is an acceptable alternative.
3. Check the catalogues of relevant local libraries (see recommended libraries in Brussels, below) to see if they have the item, or a suitable alternative.

You must have approval from your supervisor before you make the request.

To make your request

1. Go to LibrarySearch Europe
2. Click Document delivery (top right)
3. Follow the instructions for your European Centre

Once your item has arrived

Books: once your email has arrived we'll email you to let you know it's available.

Articles and chapters available from the British Library will be supplied in digital format). Once the document is available, you'll receive an email with the link to the document. To access it you need to:

• be online; if your default browser is Google Chrome, you either need to disable the Chrome PDF viewer plugin, or use Internet Explorer or Firefox on this occasion
• register for BLDSS (British Library Document Supply Service); we recommend you register before you receive your document (you only have to do this once)
• log into the document with your BLDSS username and password; don't tick "Remember me on this computer" if you're using a shared computer
• use Adobe Reader 10 (or above) to open the pdf (available on student PCs and Staff Managed Desktops)
• download and save the document within 30 days of the original email or it will expire; click File, then Save As and save to a networked folder, memory stick, or your own PC or laptop

There are some restrictions to your use of the document, due to copyright legislation:

• you can only print one copy and may not make further copies
• you may not make further electronic copies, convert the file to any other format, or copy and paste from it
• once downloaded/saved, the document will "self-destruct" after 3 years

Reference management software enables you to build up a personal database of references to books, articles, and other sources useful for your coursework or research. RefWorks is suitable for the needs of most students.

Referencing styles used at Kent

We recommend that you make full use of the physical resources (books, hard copy journals, etc) available to you locally at libraries in Brussels:

• Library of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), and its catalogue VUBIS
• Library of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), and its catalogue CIBLE
• The Royal Library (KBR), and its catalogues; this includes the Centre for American Studies with its extensive collection of English language books.
• Library of the Foreign Ministry of Belgium
• Common catalogue of the federal libraries (until July 2016)
• Library of the European Commission

Other libraries in Belgium

• Library of the Colege of Europe at Bruges
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Library
• Library of the University of Antwerp
• Library of the University of Ghent
• Library of the University of Liège
• Library of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School

Belgian union catalogues

• UniCat: union catalogue of Belgian research libraries, includes the catalogues of all Belgian state institutions
• Antilope: union catalogue of the journal holdings of academic, research and special libraries in Belgium
• ULB external catalogues