Concise Guide to Information Sources in Textiles

How to find out

Searching for Information

How to use and cite information

Using / Citing

Lists of books and other materials

Catalogues

Background Material

Reference Sources

Lists of companies, suppliers, etc.

Directories

Finding articles, reports etc.

Online Resources

Lists of locally held ...

Periodicals/Newspapers

Finding dissertations/theses

Research

Fashion/Textile Forecasting

Fashion Intelligence

Keeping up to date

Current Awareness

Info. Files, Microforms, etc.

Special Collections

Sources of information

Statistics

Slides, Videos, Internet, etc.

Visual Resources

Companies/professional bodies etc.

Organizations

Problems/need help?

Further information

For details about accessing online resources, including information about the Heriot-Watt "Private Virtual Network" please click here.

Searching for Information

Further sources

If you would like to learn more about this topic then have a look at the following:

General Research Resources - support4learning

http://www.support4learning.org.uk/education/research_skills_.cfm

 

Internet for Art, Design & Media

http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/tutorial/media

How to do Research - Kentucky Virtual Library
http://www.kyvl.org/html/tutorial/research/infosources.shtml

On Track - Research skills training online from Southampton Solent University
http://www.solent.ac.uk/library/ontrack/

 

Visualizing Research : a guide to the research process in Art and Design - companion website of book of the same name by Carole Gray and Julian Malins

http://www.visualizingresearch.info

 

 

Using information

 

Using the work of other authors

        From The Central European University

        http://www.ceu.hu/writing/sources.htm

 

References, bibliographies and plagiarism

        From The Open University

        http://library.open.ac.uk/help/helpsheets/cite.html

 

Student Guide to Plagiarism

        From Heriot-Watt University Academic Registrar's Office

        http://www.hw.ac.uk/registry/resources/PlagiarismGuide.pdf

 

Citing References

Note all bibliographic details in full as you find them, even if you are not sure how useful they might be. Also, keep a note of where you find your references (e.g. in "World Textiles"): you may need to provide this information if you apply for an inter-library loan.  Keep your references in a database, card file or notebook.  With some online services, and on our Library Catalogue, there is a facility to generate a file with details of the item/s you have found (e.g. in format for printing, saving or emailing), and you could copy and paste the details into a file with other references you have found.

If you make a photocopy, make sure that you keep a note of the bibliographical details of the article or book pages you copied, in case you wish to cite the reference for your project or dissertation.  It can be very time-consuming or sometimes impossible to track the details down later!

Your School or Tutor may recommend a particular method for citing references, in which case you should be guided by them.  Some of the Library's books on "Study Skills" have information about citing references.  Most of these can be found at class number 371.3.  There are also standards recommended by official bodies such as the British Standards Institution (BSI).  These standards include BS 1629:1989 (Recommendations for references to published materials) and BS 5605:1990 (Recommendations for citing and referencing published material).  They can be accessed at BSI Online.  Please note that you require an "Athens" username and password to log in to this service.  Once you have your "Athens" username and password, click here to log in to BSI Online.  The quickest way to find these standards is to copy and paste the standard number and year into the "Search" box (e.g. 1629:1989 and 5605:1990 respectively).

The following web pages provide a useful introduction to the topic of citing references:

Citation Machine

        A clever online tool that will turn your bibliographic data (Title, Author, etc.) into a standard reference

        http://citationmachine.net/

 

Citing References: a guide for users (5th edition)

           compiled by David Fisher and Terry Hanstock of the Law School of Nottingham Trent University

           http://www2.ntu.ac.uk/llr/library/citingrefs.htm

 

A Guide to Harvard Referencing

        From Leeds Metropolitan University

        http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/lskills/open/sfl/content/harvard/

 

How to Cite References

        From biz/ed

        http://www.bized.co.uk/reference/studyskills/references.htm

 

Cite References

        From The Open University

        http://library.open.ac.uk/help/helpsheets/cite.html

 

Catalogues

The Catalogue should be the starting point for any "literature search".  Books provide a useful overview of a subject, and often include "references", which indicate other sources of information on the subject.  The Library purchases many of the key text books relating to textiles, so you should find a comprehensive selection available through the Catalogue.

Tip: When looking at the details of an item in the Catalogue, look at the "Subject" field.  If you click on this link, it will take you to the relevant section of the alphabetical subject index.  You can use a link from the index to view all other titles on the subject.  Please note that this only apples to titles held in the Martindale Library.

Tip:  If you find something of relevance through searching publishers', retailers' or other libraries' catalogues which the Martindale Library does not hold, you can make a suggestion for us to purchase it, or you can request it through the Inter-Library Loan Service.

Reference Sources

The following items are only a sample of what is available in the Quick Reference Collection

Fashion:

Textiles:

Directories

The following items are only a sample of what is available in the Reference sections of the Martindale Library (Quick Reference Collection on the Ground Floor and Microform Collection on the First Floor).

For details of clothing companies and suppliers, refer to:

For information about fashion designers, refer to:

The following websites contain directories or links to directories:

Online Resources

The Library subscribes to a large number of key resources which cover a wide variety of subjects, including textiles.  You will find these listed here.

In addition, there are a number of specialized resources, including indexes, online journal collections, subject gateways, and other services which will help you find literature such as articles, reports, conference proceedings and standards.  The following list is arranged by subject category, with a brief description and Internet link, if applicable.  Some resources appear in more than one category!

Once you have located relevant articles you must find out whether the Library has copies, either in paper, or online.  You can find out about what lists to check by clicking here.  Remember that if a paper or online version is unavailable, you may be able to obtain the item/s through the Inter-Library Loans service.

Subject Categories: Art/Design - Business - Chemistry - Clothing / Fashion - Companies - Marketing - Standards - Textiles

 

Art/Design

Business

Chemistry

Companies

Clothing/Fashion

Marketing

Standards

Textiles

Tips:

  1. If you are unfamiliar with the service, look at any help or search tips provided
  2. Try using synonyms of the keyword/s you are using
  3. Look at the index or key terms used in any records retrieved, and search on these
  4. Refine your search by combining key terms or reducing the dates covered by the search.

Periodicals/Newspapers

Periodicals

As many indexes and other services, including electronic ones, do not cover the more recent issues of newspapers and periodicals, it is essential to check recent issues for the latest information on your subject.  Remember that the most recent issue is shelved on the Display shelving on the First Floor of the Martindale Library.  For an overview of where periodicals are located, click here.

For an up to date listing of periodicals held in the Martindale Library, including an A-Z list and subject lists - including Art/Design, Clothing/Fashion, Fashion Intelligence Collection, and Textiles - please click here.

The Library also subscribes to many periodicals in electronic form, including some of those we hold in printed form.  For an up to date list, click here.

Newspapers

The Martindale Library subscribes to a full range of local and national newspapers, electronic versions of some of them, and some services which provide the full text of newspapers.  For a comprehensive list, please click here.

Research

Local Collections

The Library maintains a collection of recent (selected) undergraduate and post graduate student projects and dissertations.  You can search for projects in the Catalogue in a number of ways:-

  1. Course lists - we have created "series" entries to enable you to view entire sets of projects.  As a result you can search for specific projects by doing a "Basic Search" on the name of the course as a "Series" (selecting "Series" in the drop-down menu).  For example, enter "Textile Design" in the "Search for:" box and select "Series" in the right-hand "In:" box, and this will retrieve all "BA Textile Design" projects in stock.
  2. Keyword - enter "student" followed by a keyword such as "music?" ( to retrieve projects with the words music, musical, musician, etc., in the title) or the author's surname ( to retrieve projects by a particular student).

The Projects are located in an open cabinet on the wall opposite the Library entrance.

The Library holds a collection of theses written by staff and students during their time at Scottish Borders Campus and the former Scottish College of Textiles.  There are two copies of some theses, one of which is for reference only.  If you wish to borrow or consult an item from the Collection, which is not publicly accessible, please provide details at the Service Desk.  

You can search for theses in the Library Catalogue by doing a "Basic Search" as follows: enter "theses" followed by a keyword, such as "wool", or an author's surname.

National and International Research - the following databases include items of interest to textile researchers:

Fashion Intelligence

The Martindale Library subscribes to a number of general and specialized fashion and textile intelligence services in printed form.  For an up to date list, click here.

In addition, one of the electronic resources listed above, WGSN-edu (Worth Global Style Network - Educational), provides trend information.  Students and staff of Heriot-Watt studying a textile-related course are entitled to access this service.  A personal PIN must be obtained from the Martindale Library Service Desk to register for access.

Current Awareness

Some electronic services provide a "current awareness" facility, such as an email newsletter, newsfeed or "alert".  These include:

Please note

Some non subject-specific current awareness services, such as Zetoc, could be used for textile current awareness.  For a comprehensive list of all the major current awareness services which you can access - please click here.

Special Collections

The Martindale Library holds a number of special collections, some of which are relevant to textiles.  These include:

Statistics

Textile statistics may be included or referred to in the following publications or resources:

Please note: A key source of statistics is the UK Government's National Statistics website, which includes links to major publications such as the latest issues of  Social Trends, Labour Market Review and The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

For specifically Scottish statistics, refer to sites such as the Scottish Executive's Statistics homepage.

Visual Resources

There are many visual resources held in the Martindale Library.  These include:

The Web provides an unrivalled source of visual resources.  As well as looking for specific resources (e.g. by doing a Google Image Search), there are hundreds of excellent websites with images covering art, design, fashion and textiles.  A good starting point is Intute, a guide to quality Internet resources, including the Arts and Humanities.

For images of the work of fashion designers firstVIEW is an excellent resource, although the most recent images are only available on subscription.

Another outstanding resource is the Roland Collection of Films and Videos on Art, many of which may be viewed online.

The University also subscribes to SCRAN, an award-winning learning image website with access to quality images, sounds, movies and learning resources. It contains over 300,000 images from museums, galleries and archives.  It was described in the Guardian's World's Top 6 Museum Sites as "An ongoing feast of history & culture".  The service can be used on-campus at http://www.scran.ac.uk or off-campus at http://athens.scran.ac.uk through Athens.

Other useful resources include:

There is also a very useful guide, Finding Images Online, provided by TASI (Technical Advisory Service for Images).

TASI have also collected details of a wide range of digital image collections and projects and compiled an Image Sites collection, which you can search here.

 

The British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFC) provide an excellent suite of services relating to TV, radio, film, video and the moving image, including The Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT), which can be accessed through Athens.

 

Organizations

Organizations can provide useful information about the industry or interest for which they cater.  Amongst those that cater for the industry are:

Further information

Accessing the resources

The lists above includes details of how to access each resource.  Many can be accessed on-Campus by simply clicking on "Connect".  In these cases the service provider recognises that the PC you are using is on-Campus from its IP (Internet Protocol) address.  Others require the use of your personal "Athens" username and password for access.  Some require the use of a specific username and password, which you can obtain by clicking on the link given ("USERNAME AND PASSWORD REQUIRED").  If you wish to access the resources off-Campus, you can use the Heriot-Watt Private Virtual Network.

For further information, including guides on how to find information on other subjects, please refer to the Library's series, Finding information on your subject.

For further information about Library resources on textiles, for help on using these resources, or to suggest additions or amendments to this Guide, please contact:

Peter Sandison
Library
Scottish Borders Campus, Galashiels
Phone: 01896-89-2155
Email: P.E.C.Sandison@hw.ac.uk 
 

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Guide compiled by Peter Sandison.  Last updated 08/10/2009