Borrow a book

• Items on the open stacks or those fetched to the Reading Room can be borrowed
• Take them to the circulation desk in the library Entrance Hall for issue

how many books can I borrow?

Ask for help

• Staff in any Reading Room, the Entrance Hall or the enquiry desk in the main corridor will be happy to assist you
• Other staff can be identified by a blue badge holder displaying a library staff card

Find a book on the shelves

• Newton and LibrarySearch catalogues display floors (e.g. South Wing, Floor 5) and alpha-numerical classmarks for material on open shelves
• Some material is not on open shelves and has to be fetched to one of the reading rooms
• UL classmarks are composed of four elements. The first element, the stem number, can sometimes be decimalised. In this instance, 664.13 will be shelved before 664.2 in the sequence. Here are some examples:
  
  

  440.d.97.4 (Non-decimalised stem number)

  1. 440 indicates a work on agriculture
  2. d indicates size (17-21cm)
  3. 97 indicates date of publication (1970-79)
  4. 4 indicates the fourth volume in 440.d.97

  664:4.b.95.25 (Decimalised stem number)

  1. 664:4 indicates a work on United States foreign relations
  2. b indicates size (26-31cm)
  3. 95 indicates date of publication (1950-99)
  4. 25 indicates the twenty-fifth volume in 664:4.b.95

  220:01.c.12.2(2) (Series class)

  1. 220:01 indicates a series on economics
  2. c indicates size (22-25cm)
  3. 12 indicates the twelfth series in 220:01.c
  4. 2 indicates the second physical volume in the series
  5. (2) indicates the second separate item bound in that volume

More information on the classification system

Order a book from the Reading Room or West Room

• Material not on open shelves can be fetched to a reading room
• Requests can be placed online through the Newton and LibrarySearch catalogues
• They can also be placed manually via fetching slips available at the desk in each room

More information on West Room and Reading Room services

Use a PC workstation

• The Digital Resources Area (DRA) provides over 50 workstations for use by all readers
• All DRA machines provide walk-in access to subscribed ejournals and other eresources
• Installed software includes Microsoft Office 2003

More information on DRA services

Use wireless networks

• Lapwing and EduRoam wireless internet access is available to current staff, students and faculty through a Raven login
• Those without Raven logins can request guest access to Lapwing in the main Reading Room

More information on Wireless access

View maps, rare books, manuscripts, music, or offical publications

Visit one of the specialist reading rooms:

• The Map Room
• The Rare Books Reading Room
• Manuscripts and Archives
• The Anderson Room for music
• The Commonwealth Reading Room for official publications and government statistics

See all University Library departments and services