Guidance for Researchers: Using Other Libraries

You can use our Inter-Library Loans service to request material from other libraries, including:

• Print books for loan 
• One copy of a chapter from a single book
• One copy of an article from a journal issue

Find out more and submit a request via our Library website ILL pages

SCONUL Access is a reciprocal scheme which allows many university library users to borrow or use books and journals at other libraries which belong to the scheme. The scheme covers most of the university libraries in the UK and Ireland, including Birmingham City University.

Who is eligible?

If you are:

• a member of staff (both academic and support staff) on an open or fixed term contract
• a postgraduate research student registered for a PhD, MPhil or similar qualification
• a part-time, distance learning and placement student
• or a full-time postgraduate

Joining the scheme

Simply complete the online form and you will receive a confirmation email from one of our library supervisors here at Birmingham City University.

EThOS is the UK’s national thesis service which aims to maximise the visibility and availability of the UK’s doctoral research theses.
EThOS aims to provide:

• A national aggregated record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK Higher Education institutions
• Free access to the full text of as many theses as possible for use by all researchers to further their own research.

There are approximately 500,000 records relating to theses awarded by over 120 institutions. Around 260,000 of these also provide access to the full text thesis, either via download from the EThOS database or via links to the institution’s own repository. Of the remaining 220,000 records dating back to at least 1800, three quarters are available to be ordered for scanning through the EThOS digitisation-on-demand facility.          

Library Hub Discover is a freely available online resource which provides you with details of materials held in many UK national, academic and specialist libraries.

You can search the British Library's catalogues online for millions of records for books, journals, newspapers, printed maps, scores, electronic resources, sound archive items etc. in the Library's collections.

As a researcher, you can apply to become a 'Reader' and gain access to over 170 million collection items for free with a Reader Pass. As a reader, you will also be able to carry out research in the British Library Reading Rooms and access their online collections.

Take a look at the British library's catalogues and collections.

Offers regional training events for academic researchers called "Parliament for researchers". These events explore how to use research to engage with Parliament and take place monthly across the UK.  They are open to any researcher at any stage of their career, as well as those working in policy brokerage and research impact roles. 

Training for academic researchers - UK Parliament

Public libraries are an ideal source of information and services. The Birmingham Central Library is one of the largest and most important public libraries in Europe. There are also 39 community libraries thoughout the city. Further information can be found on the Birmingham Libraries website.