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Finding books and eBooks

Finding print books

You can use Library Search, available either in the Library on stand-alone PCs or online via the Library's website, to search for a variety of materials; you might find books, eBooks, journals and media sources in your results list.  The print books may be located at any of our library sites and you can reserve books to be sent to the site that's most convenient for you.

  • If you want to know what we have on a particular topic you can use the Simple Search box and type in a few key words. You can select 'Books' from the filter in the search box.
  • You will also need to select 'Held by library' in the left hand filters column so that results just show print copies

 

  • If you are looking for a specific book, it is best to use the Advanced Search to search by Author (just the surname) and just a few words from the book title. 

 

The results screens will look like this, showing you how many copies we have and which library they are located at.

 

  • Click on the green links on each record to see how many print copies we have. You can also see the button to request the item.  If there's an eBook, you will also see the links to access those online.

 

 

 

Once you have found the books you need and want to borrow, you use the Self Issue machines close to the library exit.  They have on-screen instructions and staff will help you if you are unsure. You can watch the short video at the bottom of the page for guidance too.

  • You can borrow 15 items at a time
     
  • All items are issued for ONE WEEK
     
  • All items Auto renew which means that you don't have to remember to renew them each week.  However, if someone reserves the book you have on loan, the auto-renewal system will stop.  You will receive an email reminder to return the items by their due date.
     
  • You can return books to any of our Libraries, not just to the site that you borrowed them from.
     

Books For You - tell us which books you want in the Library

If you know about a book that we don't have in the library, you can request books and eBooks for the library to purchase through our Books For You service. Complete the form and leave the rest to us.

 

If you want to borrow a book that is on loan to someone else or is held at another of our Libraries, you can place a reservation via Library Search.

  • Sign in to Library Search
  • Carry out your search (limited to books held in the library)
  • Click on the green link to the Library site (OR click on the title of the book)
  • Select the REQUEST: Reserve this item button (shown in the image below)

  • select Pick up Location from the drop-down list
  • Send Request

If the book is on the shelf, our staff will find it and send it on to your choice of collection site.

If the book is currently on loan, the auto-renewal process will end and the borrower will be reminded by email to return the book.

  • You will receive an email to your student email account (unimail.ac.uk) telling you when the book is ready for collection. We hold on to the book for 8 days to give you time to collect it.
  • If the book is also available as an eBook we will email you to let you know, in case you prefer to use this instead of waiting.

 

Note: at certain time periods or with particularly popular titles, there may be a queue of reservations. If the queue reaches five people on the waiting list we will automatically purchase an eBook (if not already available) or we will buy extra print copies.

 

If we do not have a particular book you want, (either print or electronic), we can usually obtain it for you using our inter library loans service from the British Library Document Supply Centre. 

  • Before putting in a request please check that we do not hold an electronic or print copy. 
  • Inter library loans are available to students from level 4 onwards. 

You can find the online request form and more information about how to request, receive and open your Inter library loans on the inter-library loan page.