Then: The library in the Computer Laboratory (2001–2020)
And now: library collections in the West Hub (2022)
Library facilities for all staff and students at the Computer Laboratory are now managed by the Technology Libraries Team, and the physical collection can be found in the West Hub on the opposite side of J.J. Thomson Avenue. Current library users are welcome between 8am and 9pm, with staff being available to answer any enquiries between 9am and 5pm. Current staff and students should be able to borrow items from the collection in the West Hub. Resources for computer scientists are also available from the Betty and Gordon Moore Library.
New students may find the induction page useful, while the library guide explains the services on offer. You can access many of the available resources by using the links on these pages. If you need any assistance then please contact the Technology Libraries Team. Alternatively the librarian, Nicholas Cutler will be pleased to help.
The Department's library was started soon after the Laboratory's foundation in 1937, and was housed within the Laboratory up until the Summer of 2019. At this time the collection included material from the earliest computers up to the present day, including about 4,500 books (including conference proceedings and theses), 100 periodical titles, and 14,000 technical reports. There was also a reference section and course books from the current undergraduate reading lists. The main collection was moved to the West Hub in Spring 2022, while extensive collections of journals and other resources are available electronically.
- Library guides
- Library catalogues
- Electronic resources
- Local services
- Lab. technical reports
- External institutions’ technical reports
- Resource lists
- Reading lists
Recent news
The North room at the West Hub has now reopened and the physical collection is, once more, avaiable. As a further option for accessing physical items from the West Hub collection, a click-and-collect service is also available. If you wish to use this service then items can be requested using the form.
Like the undergraduate reading list, a new version of the reading list for the M.Phil ACS course is now available for the academic year 2024-25. Please contact the librarian for for more information.
The new version of the undergraduate reading list, covering parts 1A, 1B and 2, for the academic year 2024-25 is now available. All recommended texts are available in the West Hub Library and may be found by searching the catalogue. Please contact the librarian for more information.
The University now has access to the Compendex database, hosted on the Engineering Village platform. Compendex is a database which currently indexes over 30 million articles mainly from journals and conference proceedings. The subject coverage is focussed on engineering and computer science. The content is from the major publishers and as such includes the ACM and IEEE journals as well as many others.
Following a recent review conducted by the Technology Libraries Team, we are now able of offer a revised and expanded guide to standards with information on several sources of standards information available to staff and students. There is a particular focus on access and coverage.
As part of the above review the guide to patents has also been reviewed and updated.
The Cambridge Libraries Survey has now closed. We take this opportunity to thank all those who contributed their views on the library service. The results will be used to inform future decisions in providing services to meet out users’ needs.
The Portfolio review survey has now closed. We take this opportunity to thank all those staff who contribued responses. The results will be helpful in prioritising needs for new resources over the next three to five years. Anyone who missed the opportunity to respond, but who has constructive suggestions, may still contact the computer science librarian.
The new version of the M.Phil. reading list for the academic year 2022-23 is now available. A copy in PDF format is available.
The University Library has announced the official launch of the Rapid Inter-library Loans service. This is a useful way of accessing material not held in Cambridge, and is much faster than traditional ILL services. The service is free and promises to deliver an electronic copy of the requested material within 24 hours in most cases. However, it relies on a copy being held in another participating UK institution, so it will not be possible to deliver all requests in this way. For more information, please see the Document Delivery Services libguide.
The Technology Libraries Team now has a new website. If you are interested in the range of library services and resources available across the School of Technology, including for the Computer Laboratory, then this is well worth a look. Resources specific to computer science will continue to be listed on the present pages.
A subscription to the O'Reilly for Higher Education package is now available. This provides access to a significant number of e-book titles, including many titles on the undergraduate reading list, and the famous O'Reilly computing books. The subscription is for a year in the first instance, and continuation beyond that will be dependant on usage and the availability of funding.
All users of British Standards Online should note that from February 2021 a browser plug-in will be required to view documents from British Standards Online. Please see these instructions to find out how to install this.
An induction page has been created to help new students better understand the library system within Cambridge.