The Library holds over 450,000 print books and provides access to an ever expanding collection of electronic books (e-books) for you to use. In this section, we answer your questions about books and e-books:
- Where to find reading recommendations.
- How to find books with Library Search.
- How to browse e-book collections.
- Why use books?
- Guidance about printing and copying.
- How to get print books within the libraries.
- How to read e-books online and offline with e-readers.
Start with recommended reading
The best place to look for recommended reading material is in the reading list for your module.
There is a link within the Library Resources block on each Moodle to Resource Lists.
Also consult the library subject guides for recent books.
Search for books and ebooks with BCU Library Search
In Library Search you can find physical books on our four campus libraries shelves and their electronic versions (e-books) you can consult from anywhere.
Learn tips to configure library search and set filters to limit your search to books and e-books.
Browse e-book collections
Electronic books now make up 80% of this University’s book budget expenditure. Key advantages that students find over the print equivalent (Owens et al., 2023) include:
- Searching within the book.
- Highlighting of search terms.
- Downloading the ebook for a limited time to read offline.
- Copy and pasting into other documents.
EBSCO eBooks, ProQuest Ebook Central, VL ebooks and Sage Research methods are the main e-book distributors BCU has full-text access to. Click the icons below to access the link to these collections in the A-Z of Databases.
For video guides about using online e-book readers and help downloading e-books for reading offline, see the Read and download e-books page.
The A-Z of databases includes the main e-book providers as well as other databases that include e-books in their catalogues.
Why use books?
"The enormous breadth of electronics as a subject means that no textbook can possibly provide an adequate overview of the field. Even when the subject is identified precisely, a choice between introductory and advanced texts will have to be made…it should be noted that electronics textbooks do not reflect the current state of development for very long because rapid advances are taking place in nearly all aspects of the subject. However, some books are now established as standard texts and are widely recommended” (Dell, 1996: 422).
The same advice can be applied to many subjects:
- Do you need a book which is introductory or advanced, which covers the entire breadth of the subject or one small aspect?
- The speed of advance, especially through the use of technology, can often make textbooks obsolete because of the time taken to publish. However, this will depend on your subject. The principles may have changed little.
- There are standard textbooks on your subject, often in multiple editions. These are likely to be recommended to you.
The information landscape will vary from subject to subject. Your mission during your studies is to get to grips with that landscape.
In general, “many reviewers have concluded that the primary literature of science is in journals, whereas that of the humanities scholar is more likely to be found in books and archives” (Case and Given, 2016: 288).
The use made of books in literature (Stein, 1983 – 82.7%) or the fine arts and philosophy (Cullars 1992 - 60.6%; 1998, 84.6%) reveals the importance of books in these subjects.
Can I copy or print books and e-books?
The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Licence permits staff and students to make multiple copies of most literary material published by CLA members provided that the copying does not exceed the following limits:
- Books: up to one complete chapter or 10% of a book.
- Journal Articles: one whole article from a single issue of a serial publication or in a set of conference proceedings.
- Law Reports: the entire report of a single case in a published report of judiciary proceedings.
- Poems and Short Stories: one poem or short story of up to ten pages from an anthology
The same regulations apply to e-books where copying, saving and printing is restricted by the digital rights management software that allow you to read the content. The number of pages you can copy varies and will depend upon the publisher.