Q: How can you help me make the transition from school/college to University?
As part of your course, you will need to develop some new independent learning skills. We provide lots of guides to help you do this and our team of Faculty Librarians will work with your department to arrange appropriate inductions to help you get started, as well as training sessions throughout your time at Durham on a range of subjects (e.g., finding information, referencing, dissertation research etc.)
Specialist training in other key research skills (e.g., palaeography, using archive material, handling museum objects) is also provided where it’s relevant to your course.
Q: Are all students issued with a Durham University email address?
Yes. All students are given a standard username and password, along with a DU email address.
Your username and password can be used to access most of the electronic resources provided through the library.
We will use your Durham email address to contact you about things, so it’s important that you use it regularly!
Q: Do you have 24/7 opening?
Yes – Bill Bryson Library is open 24/7 during busier periods throughout term time.
And our online resources, guides, tutorials and live chat are available online 24/7 from anywhere in the world, as long as you have access to the Internet. Plus, in Durham, you have the advantage of College accommodation, which means local study space within the Colleges.
Q: Are the libraries close together?
Durham is quite a small city, so although there are libraries and study spaces across the city, they are mostly within about 15-20 minutes’ walk of university buildings.
Bill Bryson Library is the biggest library and this is located on the Lower Mountjoy site, close to many of the academic departments and the Hill colleges (Grey, Collingwood etc.) The Bailey colleges (Hatfield, University College) are close to Palace Green Library which is near to Durham Cathedral.
Our ISC Library in Stockton is further away, and really only suggested for students living in or near Stockton.
Q: How are collections organised?
Books for your course are organised by Dewey Decimal System, but you don’t need to memorise it! You can use our library catalogue, Discover, to help you find printed items, electronic resources and items in our museums and Archives and Special Collections.
You’ll also find that you soon become familiar with where books on your main subject are kept as well – browsing the shelves is a great way to find things that aren’t on your reading list!
There’s lots of guidance to point you in the right direction and staff to help you find the sections you need.
Q: How many books can I borrow and for how long?
Undergraduates can borrow up to 30 items - these will renew automatically every three weeks for 12 months, as long as they haven’t been reserved by another user. After 12 months, you will then need to return these items to the library. (This doesn’t apply to any 3-day loans, as these items can’t be renewed!)
You can always check your online library account to see what items you have on loan and when they're due back. Visit our Borrow from us guide for more information.
Q: Are you only able to borrow material related to your course?
No! You can borrow material relating to any subject that interests you, giving you a fantastic opportunity to learn about new subjects, or develop your knowledge in existing areas. We also have a leisure reading collection and newly developed wellbeing collection to help you relax and switch off from your academic work.
Whilst you cannot borrow from our Archives and Special Collections or museums, you can make an appointment to study any material that interests you, it does not have to relate to your course. Again, this gives you an incredible opportunity to use some rare and unique objects, books and documents.
We also have a huge range of eBooks that you can access online. These don’t count towards the number of books you can borrow at once.
Q: Will I have to buy books for my studies or will they all be available through the library?
We work closely with academic departments and tutors to understand what they will be recommending that you read. We try to ensure that we have copies available for you to read – ideally as an eBook, but in print if necessary.
There may be occasions where you are recommended to buy a book (for example, if you will use it throughout the course or year), but we will still aim to provide some access to copies via the library.
You can also request a purchase to be added to our collections. You might want to request an item to support your studies and research, for general interest or leisure reading – all requests are welcome! Find out more on our Requesting a Purchase guide.
Q: Can reading lists be accessed in advance?
Our reading list system, Talis Aspire, gives you access to reading lists for all currently running modules. This will show the first few weeks of content to give you the option to look ahead before arriving. Alternatively, you can contact the module tutor and ask them for an outline of the first few weeks.
Q: How important is pre-reading?
The amount of pre-reading you need to do will vary between subjects and your new department should be in touch to tell you about this. If you’re not sure, get in touch with them and they will be happy to help you.
Although they might recommend specific books to read, it’s worth bearing in mind that if it’s a general overview of something you are after, there will be lots of alternatives to the title recommended.
Q: Can anyone study museum artefacts or Archives or Special Collections, even if they are not directly related to your course?
Yes. Although you cannot borrow from our Archives and Special Collections or museums, you can make an appointment to study any material that interests you; it does not have to relate to your course. This gives you an incredible opportunity to use some rare and unique objects, books and documents.
Q: What is the extent of your Middle Eastern collections?
We have numerous items from the Sudan and Northeast Africa that are of great interest from both a historical and anthropological perspective.
The Middle Eastern Documentation Unit (MEDU) is a rare collection of historical documents and grey literature provided by people and organisations based or working in the Middle East.
Our museum collections contain artefacts from important archaeological sites such as Jericho and Jerusalem and fantastic ceramics and metal works from across the region, as well as more contemporary art collections.
For our new Silk Road gallery, we have been working with local Muslim, Jewish and Asian Christian communities to identify gaps in our collections and how we can fill these, as well as re-interpreting our existing collection.
All these collections continue to be added to and developed, so they are of interest for both historical and current research.
Q: What resources do you have available for my subject?
We have a huge range of print and electronic resources available to support all subjects. We work in partnership with colleagues in academic departments to identify relevant new additions and purchases, based on their teaching and research interests, and have built up these collections over a number of years. Our subject guides are a great place to start for finding key resources for your specific subject.
Q: What are the printing and photocopying facilities like, and do I have to pay?
We have a range of different printers within our libraries which support different types of printing, with costs starting at 5p per black and white sheet of A4. However, we do encourage environmentally friendly alternatives such as scanning. Our printer/photocopiers also have scanners that are free to use, and we have free to use specialist book scanners in the Bill Bryson Library. Assignments are also increasingly submitted online, which will help you to decrease the amount of printing you need to do.
Q: How do college libraries fit in with the overall University Library offering?
We will provide you with access to the resources that you need for your studies, but some colleges have a College Library to supplement this. Some provide additional study spaces close to your accommodation; some also provide additional copies of key texts, usually only available to students who are members of that college.
We work with the college libraries to support them, for example, providing them with details of books that are on student reading lists, which they might buy.
College libraries are usually restricted to members of that college. However, you can contact individual colleges to see if you would be allowed to use them.
Q: What are the opening hours for college libraries?
This will vary between colleges. As study spaces, many of them will be available most of the time. Access to borrowing facilities etc. are determined by individual college libraries.
Q: What can you do as a volunteer with University Library and Collections?
We are always keen to help students who might be interested in careers in libraries, museums or archives to get some experience, or just to provide opportunities for people to get involved.
Opportunities can include helping us catalogue our museums and archives collections, supporting our work with local school groups and helping us to run our programme of cultural events and religious festivals. Email contact details are available on our website.
Some college libraries also offer opportunities for students to get involved as student librarians. Some of these are paid positions, others are voluntary posts.
Q: Are there paid positions within the library for students?
We sometimes advertise posts for casual shelvers and part-time customer services assistants which students are welcome to apply for. Posts are often for different numbers of hours per week, so you can fit your hours in around your course. There may also be paid opportunities as Front of House staff or tour guides based at Palace Green Library.
Some college libraries also offer opportunities for students to get involved as student librarians. Some of these are paid positions, others are voluntary posts.
You can get in touch through our live chat service or by email, and search our FAQs for answers to your questions.