Teaching Facilities

Teaching Facilities in the Hugh Owen Building

The Hugh Owen Building, in common with most of the other academic buildings in the University, is fully equipped, in nearly all classrooms, with data-projection facilities, allowing teaching to make use both of computer-based information and indeed Internet resources, and also of conventional video, DVD, or television material. This is of particular importance for modules concerning cinema, but increasingly the availability of such facilities is meaning that teaching in all subjects is becoming more innovative and more exciting. There are regular evening film screenings, some linked to the cinema modules, some of more general interest.

The Language Resource Centre

We have invested heavily in the continuous updating of the Language Resource Centre (LRC) which consists of two rooms which are located in the same building as the Department. Fully equipped with high-specification multimedia computers, the facilities are used both for teaching and for private study. All students have 24-hour access to the LRC. In addition to access to teaching materials, both audio and video, and to Internet resources, the LRC provides film and video and television viewing facilities. The University’s software arrangements (Microsoft Campus Agreement) provide a site licence for all Microsoft products, which are freely available to all staff and students.

As well as the computerised facilities, the LRC also offers “traditional” tape-recording facilities. These are ideal for pronunciation practice and for listening comprehension.

During office hours (9.00-5.00), the technician will be on hand to assist students with tapes, films and any general problems you may encounter in the LRC.

Honours Workroom and computer facilities

Students in the Department have access (during normal working hours) to a dedicated room containing both computer terminals (with full network access) and a range of language reference works. Conveniently situated within the Department, this is an ideal spot in which to work between classes, or simply as an alternative to the Library.

Hugh Owen Library

Modern languages have been taught in Aberystwyth since 1874, and as a result, the Library has an extensive range of books and academic periodicals in all the languages which we teach. Departmental library allocations in Aberystwyth are generous, and the Department has consciously sought to ensure that the collections within our research and teaching interests are strong and up to date. The Library also houses substantial numbers of computer work stations, with access to networked printers, scanners, and image processing software. And as its name suggests, it is part of the Hugh Owen Building, so it’s just along the corridor.

The National Library of Wales

Students at Aberystwyth are especially lucky to have literally on their doorstep The National Library of Wales. This institution is one of five copyright libraries entitled to receive a free copy of every book published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its collections, in excess of six million volumes, maps and prints, are particularly strong in the fields of literature, history, and reference. The National Library offers an exceptionally congenial setting for quiet work, and is especially used by final-year students, and by those engaged in project work where the richness of its collections is of particular value.