eResources
Learning gateways are free national gateways to Internet resources for the learning, teaching and research community. These services currently link to resources via a series of subject-based information gateways (or hubs). These gateways are primarily aimed at Internet users in UK further and higher education but are freely available to all.
In contrast to search engines, the gateways gather resources which are carefully selected by subject specialists other institutions. You can search and browse through the resources, and be confident that your results will connect you to Web sites relevant to learning, teaching and research in your subject area.
Intute
Intute is a free online service providing you with access to the very best Web resources for education and research. The service is created by a network of UK universities and partners. Subject specialists select and evaluate the websites in our database and write high quality descriptions of the resources. The database contains 113550 records.
Click Here to Access Intute
Improve your Internet search skills ...
... with the Virtual Training Suite - a wide range of free online tutorials designed to help students, lecturers and researchers improve their Internet information literacy and IT skills. Learn more about the Virtual Training Suite.
The Excellence Gateway
The Excellence Gateway offers you an unrivalled breadth of resources, support and advice, and opportunities to participate and share good practice.
Learndirect Scotland
The Thistle resource Centre is an authorised Learn Direct Centre, therefore you can access all the courses available via LearnDirect on-line, available to staff & students when it suits you.
The courses are delivered using Skillnet which is a software product from learndirect scotland that lets you take courses through a web interface. You only have to register once- to get your login & password- but you will need a security keyword, available from George Howie on 0141 565 2643
Click Here to Access the Materials
Thomson Gale Collections (subscription services)
Please note: This resource can only be accessed from PC's within the College. If you are a member of staff or a student at the College and you wish to use these resources from home, please contact staff in the Thistle Resource Centre on 0141 565 2687
Infotrac Full Text Newspaper Database
A selection of UK and International newspapers. Three searching options - search across all titles or 'browse & submit' selections to search individual titles. For best print results use the print/email/download option within the database itself
Click Here to Access Infotrac Newspaper Database
InfoTrac OneFile 1980 - Oct 2004
Please note: This resource can only be accessed from PC's within the College. If you are a member of staff or a student at the College and you wish to use these resources from home, please contact staff in the Thistle Resource Centre on 0141 565 2687
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images. Updated daily.
Click Here to Access Infotrac OneFile
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).
Education Image Gallery (subscription service)
Please note: This resource can only be accessed from PC's within the College. If you are a member of staff or a student at the College and you wish to use these resources from home, please contact staff in the Thistle Resource Centre on 0141 565 2687
Specifically designed for educational purposes at FE and HE institutions, the Education Image Gallery provides instant access to a unique and exciting collection of 50,000 images (40,000 images initially available at the time of launch in early 2004; the remaining 10,000 images selected subsequently in response to user feedback).
A large variety of images are included, covering key events and multiple subject areas including history, entertainment, sport, science, fashion, politics, music, conflict, film, art, leisure and women's studies. With the curriculum-related images selected by leading academics you can illustrate key times, places, people and events.
Click Here to Access the Education Image Gallery
eBrary (e-books subscription service)
Please note: This resource can only be accessed from PC's within the College. If you are a member of staff or a student at the College and you wish to use these resources from home, please contact staff in the Thistle Resource Centre on 0141 565 2687
The eBrary e-books for FE Project provides Further Education colleges in the UK with access to a Core Collection of e-books on a platform which provides functionality suitable for the needs of the community.
Click Here to Access the eBrary e-books collection
KnowUK (subscription service)
Please note: This resource can only be accessed from PC's within the College. If you are a member of staff or a student at the College and you wish to use these resources from home, please contact staff in the Thistle Resource Centre on 0141 565 2687
Education KnowUK is a unique online service developed to provide libraries with a complete collection of current, useful and UK-specific reference information from over 100 of the most widely used reference publications in the UK.
Click Here to Access KnowUK
Virtual Learning Space
The Virtual Learning Space (VLS) is an on-line communication environment for subject teachers, learning support staff and researchers across the educational sectors. The VLS is hosted by Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, with a cross-institutional steering group from Further and Higher Education. It is accessible on the internet at
Click Here to Access The Virtual Learning Space
as an on-line space where people can come together to share good practice, exchange ideas and establish self-help groups (through 'real-time virtual chat' or postings to discussion rooms). It also has links to resources and expertise relating to all aspects of ICT for education.
A popular aspect of the VLS is its 'Topic of the Month' programme with discussions on particular on-line learning issues, led by one or more experts in the field.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
Click Here to Access Google Scholar
BBC Learning
Online interactive courses from the BBC
S.F.E.U Subject Networks
With the addition of 19 electronic curriculum networks, SFEU has subdivided this area into three broad strands - which you can see on the navigation panel on the left.
The Subject Networks Gateway takes you to the new existing networks which are focused on the curriculum.
The Support Networks area provides access to the existing networks which were established for college staff who were not directly involved in teaching and learning, for example, Finance Managers, Information Systems Managers, Human Resource Managers.
The Research section contains, among other items, a database of all those who are currently undertaking research on further education in Scotland.
Click Here to Access S.F.E.U Subject Networks
Please note: This resource can only be accessed from PC's within the College. If you are a member of staff or a student at the College and you wish to use this resource from home, please contact George Howie on 0141 565 2643
Education Media Online (subscription service)
Please note: This resource can only be accessed from PC's within the College. If you are a member of staff or a student at the College and you wish to use these resources from home, please contact staff in the Thistle Resource Centre on 0141 565 2687
Education Media OnLine is a JISC-funded set of collections of film and video, hosted by EDINA and cleared and digitised through the JISC's Managing Agent and Advisory Service (MAAS), who are also producing associated metadata. That work is ongoing, and will result in hundreds of hours of material becoming available. The films are of high quality, and are fully downloadable, either in full or as segments, and can be used freely in learning, teaching and research.
Click Here to Access Media Online
