Cambridge University Libraries provide a blend of online, zero-contact and in-person services, designed to give you the access you need to resources and support.
We continue to increase the availability of online resources and services to complement access to the physical collections. Our vast library of electronic resources, including ebooks, ejournals, and databases are available from any location worldwide, with the exception of titles received through electronic legal deposit, for current students and staff of the University of Cambridge.
All you need to enter the libraries online are your computer or mobile device, your University Raven password and an internet connection. Simply log in with your Raven ID and password when prompted - this may be referred to as an Institutional Login. VPN access will also allow you to continue accessing our electronic resources; find instructions on setting up a VPN.
Our remote services
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find recommended resources for your subject, discipline or topic
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discover who to ask for help if you get stuck
- develop study skills to work more effectively and efficiently.
Many of our training courses are run online, and include remote library induction sessions to help you get the most out our services. These courses are available to all students, staff and other members of the University. They are free - explore the programme and book to secure your place.
Libraries staff are also on hand to answer your questions directly. Contact us via these helpdesks and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
| General enquiries | library@lib.cam.ac.uk |
| Electronic Collections support (E-journals & e-resources) | ejournals@lib.cam.ac.uk |
| E-books support | ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk |
| Ravin login assistance | raven@lib.cam.ac.uk |
| Information skills for undergraduates and taught Master's students | https://camguides.lib.cam.ac.uk/ |
| Scholarly communication and research skills | https://osc.cam.ac.uk/ |
| Open Access queries | visit https://www.openaccess.cam.ac.uk/, email info@openaccess.cam.ac.uk. |
| Research Data Management queries | visit https://www.data.cam.ac.uk/, email info@data.cam.ac.uk. |
| Subject-specific queries |
Our Faculty and Department Library teams are running virtual helpdesks, 1-2-1 video meetings and virtual chats to answer your subject and information enquiries. |
Electronic Collections: journals and databases
Over 130,000 ejournal titles and 400 databases are available off-campus. Find your essential guide to Cambridge University Libraries' services and support for online resources on our E-resources pages.
Discover the latest on ebooks & ejournals, including:
- Browzine - a new way to browse scholarly journals by title and subject area, and to create your own journal and article library.
- an iDiscover widget to help you search for articles or journals online
- highlights of new e-resources available for the academic year 2020/21.
Visit How to access e-resources to learn all you need to know about accessing and using eresources easily and safely, including:
- a Raven LibGuide for help and support on using Raven to authenticate for access to e-resources from off campus.
- the browser extension, Lean Library, that delivers an article to you regardless of where you are linking from.
- help on navigating authentication procedures on different platforms.
- full information on terms and conditions for use of e-resources.
You can also find free open access research outputs on the institutional research repositories round the world. These should appear in a Google search, but you can also search Cambridge’s institutional repository, Apollo.
ebooks
The University has access to over 1.75 million ebooks off-campus from a wide variety of publishers and most are available through links in the iDiscover catalogue. More information can be found in the Cambridge ebooks LibGuide.
We are acquiring more ebooks daily, particularly to support University students. If you need a book and it is not already available electronically to you, we can help by obtaining it as an ebook if it is available from the publisher: you can recommend an ebook for acquisition.
Electronic Legal Deposit
Electronic legal deposit books, journals and web content cannot be made available electronically beyond the physical premises of Cambridge University Libraries under the terms of current legal deposit legislation. This can only be changed by government through new legislation.
If you require access to material that is only held by the Library as an electronic legal deposit item, you can come to the UL to view it on a Library PC or request a print-out of an article or chapter.
Inter-Library Loans
Electronic inter-library delivery is dependent on the British Library Document Supply Service. For more information see the British Library On Demand service web pages.
The University Library can apply for articles and chapters from part of the BL collections, some overseas libraries and some American Ph.D. theses. Please check our available resources carefully before sending your request.
Contact the following with your inter-library loan request
| University Library | ILL@lib.cam.ac.uk |
| Medical Library - for all Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths requests | illreq@medschl.cam.ac.uk |
Please note that although this service is currently free, we reserve the right to impose a cap on the number of requests.
Physical books
Please check the Borrowing LibGuide for details of borrowing books.
Find guidance about how to return library books on our book returns page.
The University Library's physical collections can be accessed by visiting the Library or via zero-contact services.
Readers with disabilities
If you are a library user with a disability and have an enquiry or request, please get in touch using the email address disability@lib.cam.ac.uk. If you need resources in an accessible format we will continue to support you remotely wherever possible from the available electronic resources. You can use the SensusAccess tool to create an alternative format document. Click here to use SensusAccess. We prioritise requests for services to support readers with disabilities.