In Library Search results, configure the search box and apply the Books filter to obtain only books or e-books.
If you cannot find a book, extend your search beyond the library collection, see how the Library can help when an item is not in stock and verify if a book was ever published.
Apply the "Books" filter in Library Search
On the left side of the search results page, under Resource Type, click or select the Books filter.
- For e-books, apply the "Available online" filter.
- For printed books, apply the "Held by library" filter.
Searching for books not held by the Library
By default, Library Search displays resources that are either held by the library or available online.
You can also search a global index that includes records from primary and secondary publishers and aggregators:
Switch on the Add items beyond library collections option under the refine your search panel.
When possible, request options are displayed within the item record. Click the Check for available services link under the item's description to see if the book can be requested via the Inter-Library Loans service.
If the Library does not have the book you want
If you come across a book that would be helpful to you, we can try to request this from another library for you via the Inter-Library Loans service.
If you have any suggestions for stock that does not appear on the Library Search results but you think may benefit you and other students on your course, please submit your suggestion.
How do you know what books have been published?
The principle of legal deposit is a legal requirement that works in print are supplied to a repository, usually a library. This has been included in UK law since the 1709 Copyright Act (8 Ann. c. 21), currently the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, with additional regulations in 2013 extending the principle to content published in a medium other than print.
Publishers should deposit a copy of every work they publish in the UK with the British Library, and as requested by the five other legal deposit Libraries (see the British Library's About legal deposit for more details). The word 'work' applies to a book (including a pamphlet, magazine or newspaper), a sheet of letterpress or music, a map, plan, chart or table, and a part of any such work.
Library Hub Discover provides you with a single search of the holdings of the British Library and the five other legal deposit libraries. It also searches many university libraries, including BCU library and specialist research collections such as the V&A Museum Libraries and the Wellcome Library.