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Academic Support - Library and Learning Support
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Ordering books & journals

Contents:

Our Library Collection and Access Development Plan 2007-2012 (PDF 48kb) gives the background to requesting new materials.

Budgets

Each School allocates a budget to the Library on an annual cycle. The Subject Librarian manages the school library budget and makes the decision in consultation with academic staff about which resources to buy.

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Formats

The Library is seeking where possible to deliver resources electronically. Our emphasis is on enabling access to resources. The advantages are:

  • 24 by 7 availability
  • access off campus
  • in most cases, more than one student can use a resource simultaneously.

For books, there are a number of e-book title lists that you may wish to check availability first before submitting a request for paper copies.

However, where print remains the only alternative, for example with textbooks, the Library will, resource permitting, purchase multiple copies. This would normally mean multiple copies of key texts with no electronic alternative in a ratio of between 1 book to every 10 to 15 students. The Library has a number of mechanisms to maximize availability, shorter loan periods or providing reference only copies.

Your Subject Librarian will discuss the options with you when you recommend books for purchase.

We also operate an eReserve collection. If the key chapter of published texts can be identified, Library staff will scan this under the auspices of the CLA scanning licence. The chapter can then be made available to students in your unit through myBU.

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New staff

Please visit our New Staff webpage.

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Supporting research

As a researcher you have unique insights into the literature of your research topic.

We welcome suggestions for resources that will enhance our collections in your research area.

  • Consider recommending books that you will use over the period of your research that are not in the Library. This may be less expensive than making multiple Inter Library Loan requests for the same item.
  • You may also teach Units, contribute to Units or supervise dissertations and share your research expertise with students. Before you direct students to specific resources please ensure they are available to students in the Library (you may have requested them in Inter Library Loan for example) or ask your Subject Librarian to consider buying them.
  • Some aspects for the research process, for example the methodology will have a wider relevance for research colleagues. Recommendations for texts and resources in the area of methodology and research practice can be sent to Anne Davey.

Your Subject Librarian can also advise on how best to access resources held in other major collections.

If you would like to share the best sources you recommend for accessing pre print, open source and institutional repositories the library will document these for other researchers in the future.

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New units & new programmes

The development of new units and new programmes should normally include a discussion about the resources that will be required to support the programme. However, once these procedures are complete it is helpful for those who are delivering units for the first time to discuss resource availability as soon as possible with your Subject Librarian.

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Making your requests

For books, journals or other resources, a request should be made to your Subject Librarian by

  • email
  • using a New Item Request available from the Library.

Apart from bibliographic information it is helpful to know the:

  • programme / course and unit the item is for;
  • level or year;
  • number of students;
  • number of copies
  • whether there is a key chapter that could be scanned for myBU (so that the entire group can access it easily)

If you have not done so already, the Library will check for e availability and your Subject Librarian may clarify the request before placing an order. Books are normally available to students within 4-6 weeks of an order being placed by the Subject Librarian. Journals are normally reviewed on an annual basis and new requests are often subject to discussion by academic groups to establish the annual funding required. Please discuss suggestions for new titles with your Subject Librarian as far in advance as possible.

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Information about new resources

Your Subject Librarian will work closely with you to ensure that collections are up to date. This may include:

  • changes requested because of revised and updated reading lists;
  • information from publishers, which may come direct to you if you register an interest with a publisher or be sent to you to consider by your Subject Librarian.
  • trials of new resources arranged by the Library to gain feedback on eventual purchase;
  • information from scholarly activity, books reviews, from subject organisations, mailing lists etc.

Your Subject Librarian will also regularly ask you about withdrawing items from stock, in particular older texts and areas of stock which are no longer relevant to the current curricula of the University.

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