Category Archives: Borrowing and viewing material

Keep borrowing over the Christmas holidays!

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University Library in snow with fir tree in foreground

The end of the Autumn term is rapidly approaching! Have you checked what our opening hours are over the Christmas vacation? Or do you know when your items have to be returned by over the University closure period?

Opening hours

Autumn term will end on Friday 14 December as the Christmas vacation begins the following day, Saturday 15 December. This means that the opening hours of both University Library buildings will change.

Please note that both Library buildings will be open on the weekends of 15/16 December, 22/23 December and 5/6 January but as self-service only.

The Library buildings will also be closed over the University Christmas closure between Monday 24 December and Tuesday 1 January.

Please see our opening hours page on our website for more information.

Borrowing

With textbooks in increasingly high demand even after the end of term, we’ve made sure our policy ensures fair access to all. It will be ‘business as usual’ with all loan periods remaining the same in vacation as all term. This means that items will not be issued to cover the whole Christmas vacation.

Just keep renewing your loans unless or until someone else recalls them … so keep checking your University account! You can even return loans by post if you prefer. If your account is blocked please contact the Library and we will discuss the situation with you.

This means you can place holds on books on loan in vacations. The threat of fines on non-returned books should help Library users return them for you!

What about Christmas holidays and Uni Closure?

We know the short Christmas break also spans public holidays and the Christmas University Closure period, so we’ve made special allowances. Any journals, 7-day loans or Course Collection items borrowed from Friday 14 December until the Christmas University Closure will be due back on Wednesday 2 January (by 11:00 for Course Collection items).  No items will be due back between Friday 21 December and Monday 1 January.

Happy holidays!

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services

Library gates activated. Remember your Campus Card!

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Security barrier with sign saying 'tap here' on it

Tap your Campus Card to access security gates to enter or exit study and stock areas.

Library gates are to increase your security and prioritise study space for University members. Remember to carry your Campus Card with you when visiting the Library building! The new access gates were installed as part of the University’s major Library Refurbishment Project. (We initially kept them open so you had time to get used to new Ground Floor areas.)

Library members: you can enter and exit just by tapping your Campus Card (the same one you use to borrow) at the gates …. so there’s nothing you need to do other than carry it with you. You already need your Campus Card to enter the Library@URS building overnight, at weekends and in the revision period when we restrict access to Library study space. If you experience any problems gaining entry with your card, please see staff on duty at the Help Point (to the left of the gates) who will be happy to help!

Members of the public over 18: You are welcome to use and copy Library materials beyond our security gates weekdays (Monday to Friday, 09:00-17:00). Please talk to staff at the Help Point (to the left of the gates) who may ask you to provide identification, information about yourself and ask you to abide by Library rules. However, you now need to book ahead to gain access evenings and weekends (17:00-22:00 weekdays or 09:00-22;00 Saturday or Sunday). Please email library@reading.ac.uk telling us when you want to visit and we will arrange for Security staff to give you entrance between these times: if you have not contacted the Library beforehand you will not be admitted.

Everyone can still use the Library Café and Ground Floor toilets, which you will find before you reach the barriers.

Rachel Redrup, Library Marketing Co-ordinator
for Sue Egleton, Associate Director (Systems & User Services) and Nick Hollis, Library User Services Manager

Longer borrowing on loans from Course Collection

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man in foreground. Course Collection sign in background.

Since the start of the Autumn term in October 2018, our Course Collection loans have changed following your feedback! By simplifying and streamlining our borrowing arrangements we aim to get students borrowing more items for longer to give students more access to the books they need!

What has changed:

  • Now you can take out Course Collection items OVERNIGHT. So every day of the week, including weekends, any item taken out before midnight is due back by 11:00 the next day. (This is simpler and provides a longer loan period than previously when items could only be borrowed for up to six hours during the day.)
  • Now you can take out three items at once (instead of two, as previously).
  • To encourage borrowers to return loans for fellow students to use, we still charge for late returns, but have one simple fine: £3 per day, up to a maximum of £25.

More information

For more information please see Course Collection webpage.

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services.

Bring Campus Cards to open Library gates from 22 Oct

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Security barrier with sign saying 'tap here' on it

Tap your Campus Card at Library building security gates to enter or exit study and stock areas.

Get ready to carry your Campus Card with you when visiting the Library building to open the new access gates, installed as part of the University’s major Library Refurbishment Project. We initially kept them open so you had time to get used to new Ground Floor areas. Gates become operational from Monday 22 October to increase your security and prioritise study space for University members.

Library members: you will be able to enter and exit, just by tapping your Campus Card (the same one you use to borrow) at the gates …. so there’s nothing you need to do other than carry it with you. You already need your Campus Card to enter the Library@URS building overnight, at weekends and in the revision period when we restrict access to Library study space.

Visitors needing access to print material, and anyone experiencing any problems gaining entry with your card, please see staff on duty at the Help Point (to the left of the gates) who will be happy to help!

You do not need your cards to use the Library Café and Ground Floor toilets which you will find before you reach the barriers.

Rachel Redrup, Library Marketing Co-ordinator
for Sue Egleton, Associate Director (Systems & User Services)

The hold shelf has changed

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The Hold Shelf has changed to make it easier for you to find your items. Holds are now organised by Call Number. To find your hold, go to the Hold Shelf in the Course Collection area in Library@URS and look for the Call Number. You can disregard any prefix to the Call Number as all sizes of books will be shelved together.

For information on how to place a hold, watch our short video.

Tips for finding your hold!

  • Not sure of the Call Number? It will be included at the bottom of the email you will receive when an item is ready for collection.
  • If there are multiple copies of the same book on the shelf, you will need to locate the copy with your User ID (on the bottom right of your campus card).
  • All items must be borrowed using the self-service machine before leaving the Course Collection area.
  • Remember you have 5 days to collect your available holds

Requested an item from Store or Closed Access?

Loanable items requested from Store or Closed Access will also be easier to locate, these items will be shelved in Call Number order in the new ‘Requests’ section of the Hold Shelf.

Call Numbers of all Store and Closed Access requests are included in the notification email which is sent when an item is available.

If you have any questions or need help finding your hold please come and ask us for assistance at the Information Desk in Library@URS.

Katie Moore, Trainee Liaison Librarian

Easier borrowing at new Self-Service Points!

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Following the re-opening of the Ground Floor and 1st Floors of the University Library Building, you can now borrow and return loans at new, updated Self-Service Points which make the process much easier!

Two of the new self-service machines in the LibraryNew features include:

  • Checkout a stack of books at once. No need to scan each individual item!
  • Email a receipt of checked out items to yourself, no need for printed paper receipts.
  • As soon as you log in, you can check what you have out on loan and any holds available for you.

If you need help, please ask a member of day-time staff to give you a quick demonstration of how the new machines operate.

Please note that our older Self-Service machines are still in operation in Course Collection at Library@URS.

Further refurb information

To keep up to date with the latest study space and Library refurbishment news, please visit the Library refurbishment webpage and this Library blog.

Matthew Pearson, Library User Services 

 

 

Borrow more Course Collection loans for longer

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Girl sitting infront of entrance to Course CollectionIn response to students’ requests, we have changed and simplified Course Collection arrangements so Library borrowers can now take out more loans for longer. We hope students find this easier to understand, more convenient and will borrow more of these short loan items so that, in turn, they might study more effectively and achieve more.

What is the Course Collection?

Whilst most printed material is available for a week or more’s loan in the Library building, we can designate a copy or two of essential UoR reading list items for shorter loan borrowing to the Course Collection in the Library@URS. We hope this will share resources more effectively. However, we felt we could amend rules to suit current students’ needs.

What has changed?

  1. Now you can take out Course Collection items OVERNIGHT. So every day of the week, including weekends, any item taken out before midnight is due back by 11:00 the next day. (This is simpler and provides a longer loan period than previously when items could only be borrowed for up to six hours during the day.)
  2. Now you can take out three items at once (instead of two, as previously).
  3. To encourage borrowers to return loans for fellow students to use, we still charge for late returns, but have one simple fine: £3 per day, up to a maximum of £25.

More information

For further information, see our Course Collection webpage.

Rachel Redrup, Marketing Co-ordinator

 

 

 

‘Bye, bye’ Folio and ‘Hello’ Large

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Plan of the 3rd Floor showing the new, bright coloursOn Monday we will be updating the Library catalogue Enterprise to reflect the new clearer terminology we are adopting to help make the Library easier to use. Call Numbers will be changed to have new, more understandable prefixes:

  • Folio– will become Large–F
  • Periodical– will become Journals–PER or Journals–PER F
  • Middle Folio– will become Oversize–MF

These prefixes match the new colourful floor plans and labels we introduced earlier in the summer. We hope that the new, brighter colours for each section are more noticeable so that you are less likely to end up in the wrong place:

  • Books –  bright blue
  • Large – bright pink
  • Journals – orange
  • Teaching Practice – bright green
  • Oversize – dark grey

For more detail on all the changes we are making see our previous post.

Tell us what you think

During the coming term we will evaluating how well the new words and colours work for you. We’ll be employing various User Experience (UX) techniques to test them, but we would also like your feedback. If you have any comments about these changes please email signage co-ordinator Jackie Skinner, jackie.skinner@reading.ac.uk.

Jackie Skinner
for Paul Johnson (Associate Director, Collections, Research & Space)

Enterprise upgrade 16-17 July: some services disrupted

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Computer keyboardThis summer we are upgrading Enterprise, our Library Catalogue, to give us a more robust, reliable system and take advantage of some new features. During the upgrade, on Monday 16 July, between 16:00 and midnight, some services will unavailable.

You will still be able to …

  • Search the old Library catalogue, Unicorn to access book locations and some e-resources.  Or use Summon for online access to journal articles, book chapters, and much more!
  • Pop into the Library to get books, or ask at the URS Information Desk about your account, paying fines etc. until 17:00.

But you won’t be able to …

  • Access your online Library account to renew your loans or pay fines.

The upgrade is planned to have finished by Tuesday 17 July, but we will still designate the system as ‘at risk’ on that day as the Systems Team test the upgrade. We will let you know if Enterprise will be unavailable for longer than initially planned.

Jackie Skinner, Web Manager for
Sam Tyler, Library Systems Manager

Library refurbishment: latest news and progress

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Image of refurbished University Library surrounded by seating, trees and hedges.Work on the University’s major refurbishment of our University Library is progressing well, with the project currently on track to meet its target completion date in late 2019.

Much of the work over recent months has focused on the Library’s exterior, in addition to the basement, Ground, 1st and 3rd Floors. Work will continue in these areas and other floors over the coming months, which will inevitably include periods of noisy work. Over the next few weeks, noisy works are expected around the Ground Floor and the exterior of the Library, with a cherry picker on site to carry out important works.

Books on shelves, purple pillar, grey carpet

You’ll find your books on the 3rd and 2nd Floors now, allowing contractors to refurbish the 4th Floor.

One of the biggest phases of work recently has been the move of books from the 2nd and 4th Floors to the 3rd Floor (which was reopened in early May). The moves were completed ahead of schedule on Wednesday 6 June, with the Library catalogue updated daily to show the correct locations for moved books. The 3rd Floor is not currently furnished with study space while refurbishment work continues but Library staff are available on this floor to help with any enquiries about finding books, using the catalogue, or subject queries. With the books now removed from the 4th Floor, it is now closed for refurbishment.

Much of the work taking place over the summer vacation has been designed to meet our goal of reopening the refurbished Ground and 1st Floors in September 2018, including some study space. This will be a key milestone for the project ­– however, please note that work will continue on these and other floors, and will include periods of noisy work. The URS building will therefore continue to be used in its current capacity for the remainder of the project. (See the University’s ‘Study space across campus‘ page regarding overall space strategy.)

For the latest information and updates, please visit the Library refurbishment webpage and Library blog.

Rachel Redrup, Library Marketing Co-ordinator
for University Communications

Latest round of book moves complete

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As of 6 June the latest round of book moves are complete. All the books and other materials have been moved to the 2nd and 3rd Floors so that work can start on refurbishing the 4th Floor, which is due to close on 11 June.

Where are items now located?

2nd Floor

  • 000s – computer science
  • 300s – social sciences, law
  • 800s – literature
  • 900s – history, geography, archaeology
  • Journals in all subjects

3rd Floor

  • 100s – philosophy, psychology
  • 200s – religion
  • 400s – languages, linguistics
  • 500s – science
  • 600s – technology, business, typography
  • 700s – arts
  • European Documentation Centre (EDC)
  • Music CDs
  • Teaching Practice Collection

Need help finding something?

If you need help locating an item or subject in the new arrangement please ask at the Information Desks.

More information

There are a few works to be completed on the 3rd Floor, but these won’t restrict access to the books and are due for completion on 1 September 2018.

Keep up to date with the latest study space and Library refurbishment news on our Library refurbishment webpage.

Katie Moore, Trainee Liaison Librarian

Summer Vacation Loans

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Summer Vacation Loans

From Thursday 31 May the standard loan period for undergraduate and taught postgraduate students is extended until Tuesday 2 October or until the end of your course, whichever is earlier. Standard loan periods for other Library borrowers remain unchanged.

All other loan periods and fines for late return remain the same! So please take care when borrowing 7-day loans, Course Collection items and journals. Make sure you check your University account regularly for due dates.

Remember

  • Standard loans – yours all summer if you are an undergraduate or Masters student!
  • 7-day loans – remain the same so keep renewing! If an item cannot be renewed or is recalled, be prepared to post it back to us.
  • Course Collection items and journals – remain the same so keep checking your account!
  • Fines – pay online via the Campus Card Portal or call us.

Summer Vacation Opening Hours

From Saturday 9 June until Sunday 23 September, the Library Building and URS Building will be operating summer vacation opening hours. But wherever you are this summer, there are still a number of Library services and resources available for you. Check out our tips for searching and accessing a wide variety of e-resources from off-campus. You may even be able to study at and borrow from a university library nearer to you by registering with the SCONUL Access Scheme.

 

Holly Thomas, Library User Services