UCL LaSS (NICeST) LIBRARY
TEST COLLECTION
UCL's Language & Speech Science Library holds a unique collection of approximately 750 tests
for the assessment of speech and language development and disorders. Most of these are held on
open access in cabinets at the rear of the Library reading room, but some psychology tests, such as the
Wechsler scales and the British Ability Scales, are held at the Issue Desk on restricted access. All tests can only be used by either qualified clinicians, or students under strict
clinical supervision, and for this reason their use is restricted
to students and staff of UCL Language Sciences, and members of the Royal College of Speech & Language
Therapists. (RCSLT members must pay an annual fee to borrow any items
from the Library - see here for
details).
Tests come in various shapes
and sizes. Some are simple checklists of words, others are kits containing
toys and games for children, or pictures and objects for word recognition.
As well as diagnostic tests, the collection contains other therapy resource
materials which are too bulky to fit on the Library's bookshelves.
Tests are usually known by their acronym, e.g. the TROG (Test for the Reception of Grammar). They can be
found by looking them up on the Library catalogue in
the same way as books, and are arranged in the cabinet by Dewey
decimal classmark followed by the acronym, e.g. 401.93 TROG.
Most of the tests are for use in the Library only, but may be used in placements, clinics
and classes, or borrowed by special arrangement. Where the Library holds more than 1 copy
of a test, the extra copies may be borrowed for up to 1 week. Tests are very
expensive and parts are difficult to replace, so if you do borrow any of them, be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that all
the parts are returned intact. Contents checklists are provided for this purpose. Before borrowing any tests, students must also sign a form agreeing to the terms and conditions for using these materials.
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UCL LaSS Library’s Historical Collection
NB: The Historical Collection has now been placed in offsite storage.
Please see the
UCL Library Services' Stores pages to find out how to request items from Stores.
Due to the uniqueness of its collections, the UCL Language & Speech Science library has also become established as the National Information
Centre for Speech-language Therapy (NICeST). Since the late 1990s, librarians
and academic staff have been collecting historical material
relating to speech and language, with a view to creating the UK’s first
historical collection in this relatively new subject area. Contacts were made
with pioneering speech therapists who were entering retirement, such as Margaret
Greene and Margaret Edwards,
who subsequently donated their personal collections of books and pamphlets
to the Library. Greene, co-author with Lesley Mathieson of the classic textbook
The Voice & its Disorders (now in its 6th edition and still a core text)
wrote a note with her donation, expressing her "unexpected bereavement
pang at the departure of my much loved and treasured books", but that
she was "very glad they have such a satisfactory and useful permanent
home" at UCL. Many more books were collected from other libraries, such
as the British Library’s Document Supply Centre and the Friends of the Children of
Great Ormond Street. The Collection was catalogued in 2002 with a grant from the British
Library and Wellcome Trust's Collections in the History of Medicine project, and continues to
expand. It now comprises over 1500 items, including books, conference proceedings,
pamphlets and offprints, and one 1963 vinyl LP of child speech. There is
a whole box file of obscure articles by Margaret Greene, and another for Fritz Grewel. Other
treasures which have been unearthed in the Collection include a 1905 edition of Helen
Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life; James Hunt’s A treatise on the Cure
of Stammering from 1857; and an 1880 edition of Gray’s Anatomy.
Items in the Historical
Collection are identified on the UCL Library catalogue by the location code
"HIST.COLL", followed by the first 3 letters of the author’s
name (or an acronym, in the case of conference proceedings), and are
for use in the Library only. Enquiries regarding these valuable resources
are welcomed by the LaSS Librarian.
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The LaSS Library's Student Project Collection
NB: From 2008, BSc Speech Science dissertations are only available online, as PDF files, accessible to UCL members only via the Psychology & Language Sciences web pages.
The UCL Language & Speech Science Library keeps final year MSc and BSc dissertations (or “projects”) by Language Sciences (formerly Human Communication Science and Phonetics & Linguistics) students. Those from the last 5 years are kept behind the Issue Desk, but the older ones (as far back as 1984) are held in offsite storage and can be requested and delivered to the library within 1-2 working days. Please see the UCL Library Services’ Stores pages for information on how to request items form Stores. A Thesis Declaration Form must be signed for every project you wish to consult, and projects must not be removed from the library.
The collection consists of projects from the following programmes:
BSc Speech Communication
BSc Speech Science (online only from 2008)
MSc Human Communication (HC) - from 2007, this has been renamed MSc Neuroscience, Language & Communication (NLC).
MSc Speech & Hearing Sciences (SHS)
MSc Speech & Language Pathology & Therapy (SLPT) In 2003, this became:
MSc Speech & Language Sciences (SLS)
There is also a small collection of doctoral theses written by Language Sciences staff and MPhil/ PhD students. Projects by intercalating medical students are located with the BSc projects.
Please note that we do not currently hold dissertations for BA or MA Linguistics, Phonology, Syntax or Pragmatics; please contact Stefanie Anyadi for information about these. A list of former Masters theses, with some abstracts, can be viewed here.
How to find a project
Projects can be found using any of the following search options on the UCL Library catalogue, eUCLid:
Searching by subject
To search for projects by subject, use the Quick Search option on eUCLid and
type in a word or two to describe your subject, followed
by the word PROJECT*, e.g.
DYSLEX* PROJECT*. In this example, your search would retrieve all student projects
with words beginning Dyslex (e.g., Dyslexia, Dyslexic, Dyslexics etc) in the
title or
subject headings. Using * after the beginning of a word ensures that you find
all the variant word endings.
Searching by student name
The student who has written the project is always listed on the catalogue as
the author, so you can search for a project by a particular student using
the List of Authors option on eUCLid. Type in the student’s surname
followed by a comma and initial or first name, e.g. Horniblow,
D.
Searching by supervisor
The project’s supervisor, where known, is also listed in the Author index,
so you can look up all the projects supervised by a member of staff in exactly
the same way you would search for an author. Select the List of Authors option
and type in the supervisor’s
surname followed by a comma and initial or first name, e.g. Chiat, Shula or
Donlan, C. Bear
in mind, however, that this will retrieve any books or other items that person
may have written, as well as projects they have supervised.
Searching by degree name
You can also browse lists of projects on eUCLid, sorted by degree. To do this,
select Browse (under Advanced Options) and set the index to Classmark.
In the "Enter Word or Phrase" box, type in the word PROJECT. This
brings up an index
in which
each
degree has a separate entry - BSc, MSc HC, MSc SPLT, MSc SLS – just
click on the required degree to see a list of projects. This list can be sorted by date, to view the most recent first, by clicking on Year.
Retrieving your projects
When you have found the details of any projects you wish to consult:
- if it is within the last 5 years, come to
the Issue Desk and fill out a Thesis Declaration form for each one. Library staff can retrieve these for you, for use in the Library only.
- for any older ones in Store, fill out an online Store Request Form on the Library Catalogue. If you select Language & Speech Science as the pickup location, it will be delivered to the library for you within 2 working days.
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Last modified 09 November 2010
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