Graphic Design
Whether you're a new student starting your first assignment, further on in your studies, or starting a research project, this page will help you find and use the best information for your subject. You will also find resources to help develop your academic, study and digital skills.
If you can’t find what you need here, please contact your Academic Support Team: library-SAM@salford.ac.uk
Key resources for Graphic Design students
Books & Journals
The first place you should look is your reading list – you will find a link to this in your Blackboard modules. It lists all the core texts for your subject as recommended by your lecturers. All our other books and journals can be found in Library Search
Databases
Whilst Library Search is your starting point when researching a topic, sometimes it’s helpful to restrict your search to one of our specialist sources.
- Taylor & Francis Journals - Provides articles on all sorts of subjects including material on graphic design.
- ABI Inform Collection - Provides business information on all sorts of areas including the design.
- LS:N Global - A resource for information about market and consumer trends – excellent for information on design trends.
- JSTOR - An archive of scholarly journal articles and book chapters covering the arts and sciences – a valuable source worth checking for almost any topic.
- Mintel - A market research source, so sometimes useful for information about lifestyle and consumer trends
- Detail: Inspiration - Images from the architectural journal Detail. Provides interesting examples of images of buildings and urban settings.
- Kanopy - Videos on a wide range of topics. Search for design int eh subject headings and explore what’s there!
- Google Scholar - Always worth checking for academic books and journals. To get the most from it, make sure you’ve added Library Access to your browser.
Useful links
There are many great websites provided by museums, galleries and artists themselves that it’s not possible to provide a list. However, here is one to get you started.
Visual Arts Data Service (VADS) - A fantastic resource for visual arts students. It provides access to 140, ooo images from a huge number of museums, galleries and archives.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers thousands of professionally produced online courses covering technical, creative and professional skills and including lots on film making.
Always use our institutional login to log in – you will need your University email address and password.
The first time you log in, you will be taken through a setup process to discover courses tailored to your interests.
Find out more in our video: Using LinkedIn Learning at Salford.
Newspapers
Sources to try include Gale OneFile News, Newsstream and LexisLibrary. Check our Newspapers web page to see which papers we have access to.
Browse your Reading Lists
Your tutors select books, articles, videos and other resources for your reading lists and the Library buys them so you don't have to.
Find the lists for your modules in Blackboard, or in Library Search.
Referencing
APA 7th Edition is the main referencing style in use at the University. We've compiled an easy to follow list of guidebooks and examples to help you get to grips with complexities of referencing.
Newspapers
Newspapers are a valuable source of information. They provide insight into what interests and concerns people both now and in the past.
The Library provides some excellent newspaper sources that allow you to search simply and easily across many newspapers at once.
Dissertations and Theses
During the course of your studies, you may find that you need to search for dissertations or theses.
You can use Library Search to help you find them and there are a number of different ways to search, depending on what you want to find.
New Graphic Design Students
Book a one to one
If you’ve tried our eLearning and classroom sessions and need more help, you can request a one to one appointment for information finding, academic and writing or digital skills. Select your chosen time slot and book on through Advantage.
FACE-TO-FACE - Academic and Writing Skills 60 minute Appointment (SCHOOL: Arts & Media at MCUK) 28 Nov 2023, 3:05 pm
ONLINE - Academic and Writing Skills 60 minute Appointment (Arts & Media) 29 Nov 2023, 10:30 am
ONLINE - Academic and Writing Skills 60 minute Appointment (Arts & Media) 30 Nov 2023, 10:00 am
Book on a workshop
We offer a wide range of face-to-face skills training. If you need to improve your IT skills, learn how to find information for your assignments or improve your study skills this is a great place to start.
All workshops are bookable through Advantage by clicking on the workshop title. Where a session has no remaining spaces you can add yourself to the waiting list.
Constructing and Deconstructing Arguments [ONLINE]
Starts: 4 Dec 2023, 12:00 pmFinishes: 4 Dec 2023, 1:00 pmRemaining places: 36This workshop explores the content of academic arguments, examples of good and bad argumentation, and some common logical fallacies.Develop your Digital Notemaking skills [online]
Starts: 6 Dec 2023, 1:00 pmFinishes: 6 Dec 2023, 2:15 pmRemaining places: 38This workshop introduces some free digital tools for improving your notemaking and explores some little known features of software we all have access to. It is aimed at anyone who wants to get more organised for studying.
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 29 Nov 2023, 4:30 pmFinishes: 29 Nov 2023, 5:30 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 12This is a one-hour online EXAM SESSION for MOS certification. At the time of booking, you must have scored over 70% in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode for your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criterion will be cancelled.Get IT qualifications with Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) [Online]
Starts: 6 Dec 2023, 12:00 pmFinishes: 6 Dec 2023, 1:00 pmRemaining places: 46This one-hour webinar will introduce you to our free Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) programme which allows you prove your Microsoft Office IT skills to potential employers, by studying for and sitting Microsoft certified exams in a range of Microsoft Office applications. This webinar is online.Develop your Digital Notemaking skills [online]
Starts: 6 Dec 2023, 1:00 pmFinishes: 6 Dec 2023, 2:15 pmRemaining places: 38This workshop introduces some free digital tools for improving your notemaking and explores some little known features of software we all have access to. It is aimed at anyone who wants to get more organised for studying.
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 29 Nov 2023, 4:30 pmFinishes: 29 Nov 2023, 5:30 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 12This is a one-hour online EXAM SESSION for MOS certification. At the time of booking, you must have scored over 70% in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode for your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criterion will be cancelled.Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 20 Dec 2023, 4:00 pmFinishes: 20 Dec 2023, 5:00 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 15This is a one-hour online EXAM SESSION for MOS certification. At the time of booking, you must have scored over 70% in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode for your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criterion will be cancelled.Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 10 Jan 2024, 4:00 pmFinishes: 10 Jan 2024, 5:00 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 15This is a one-hour online EXAM SESSION for MOS certification. At the time of booking, you must have scored over 70% in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode for your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criterion will be cancelled.