Information for new students
During your time at Cambridge you will undoubtedly need to library resources for independent study to complement what you are taught during lectures and practical classes. This page is intended to help you understand what library services are available within the University.
Libraries available to you
As a new student you should, in general, be able to access at least three libraries:
- Your college library
- College libraries usually aim to stock popular books from the undergraduate reading lists. Coverage does vary, and you may find that smaller colleges with only a few computer science students are not able to all books on the reading list. Because college libraries usually cover all subjects, they are unlikely to hold any more specialised resources.
- Your department library
- Most departments contain a library too, and this is where you will find subject specific resources. The library staff are often able to offer more specific advice about appropriate resources too. For the Computer Laboratory library services are available from the West Hub Library. An enquiry service for computer scientists is provided by Nicholas Cutler, from the Technology libraries team. Most of the physical collections for computer science, including all titles from the reading lists are available to borrow from the West Hub Library.
- The University library
- The main Universitry Library is holds in excess of 7 million volumes, and is also one of the six national legal deposit libraries. It is most useful for the more difficult to find items, or if you ever need to consult special collections.
Technology libraries team
The Technology libraries team will be happy to help with any queries which you may have about library services. We will also be your first point of contact for any subject specific enquiries. To find out more about the team, and the services which we provide please see the brief induction.
Understanding Cambridge libraries
The broader library system in cambridge, with the three level structure outlined above will be unfamiliar to some. Although it does not work like, for example, a large network of public libraries, we believe the strength is that individual libraries are able to concentrate on their own specialism, hopefully resulting in a better service. New students will find the libraries gateway useful. There is also an induction video available:
Electronic resources
Many resources, both books and journals, are also available electronically, which may save you a physical visit to the library. Electronic books are listed in iDiscover, and a database of other electronic resources such as journals is also available.
If you need some assistance in using these resources, particularly any electronic books, then the ebooks@cambridge team have made this guide available. They have also produced the following video induction: