Library
The Library is at the heart of the campus and offers a wealth of resources and services to support you in your study at Brunel. In addition to our recently refurbished building which houses study space and print resources, we also offer an extensive e-Library which provides electronic access to a huge range of online material, including journal articles and e-books. With 24 hour access across the week, and a range of support available, you can use the Library at a time which is convenient for you.
The Library holds a collection of approximately 400,000 books and an increasing collection of e-resources to support your studies here. To see what books we have, try searching the library catalogue, or to see what e-resources we have, try our Summon search from the Library homepage, (access to the full text will become available once you have enrolled).
Most Reading Lists will be made available online before you start university. This is a great opportunity to see what reading is expected of you before you start. Readling lists are arranged by module rather than by course. You can view the typical modules available for your course from the 'Course Content' tab on the relevant course page. Then you can search using the relevant module name. Be aware that some modules will still have reading lists from 2011/12 listed, so be sure that you are looking at the books for 2012/13 . Reading lists are updated regularly, so please visit the site later if your modules are not available yet.
Undergraduates
Each School or subject area at Brunel has a dedicated Subject Liaison Librarian, who can help you access appropriate resources and reference them accurately. The Academic Skills Team (ASK) are also based in the Library, and offer support with developing the essential skills for university study, from note-making and critical thinking to writing academically and using statistics. As an undergraduate student, a Library induction and tour will be offered to you when you join the University and you are also able to attend information and academic skills sessions, run by your Subject Liaison Librarian and ASK, as part of your degree programme.
Postgraduates
Each School or subject area at Brunel has a dedicated Subject Liaison Librarian, who can help you access appropriate resources and reference them accurately. The Academic Skills Team (ASK) are also based in the Library, and offer support with developing the essential skills for university study, from note-making and critical thinking to writing academically and using statistics. As a new Brunel student, a Library induction and tour will be offered to you when you join the University and you are also able to attend information and academic skills sessions, run by your Subject Liaison Librarian and ASK, as part of your Master’s programme.
In addition, Library and ASK support sessions are offered as part of the Graduate School skills programme and Master’s Dissertation Week.
Research Students
The Library is an important hub at the centre of the campus, bringing together key services, facilities and of course, information resources that you will need during your time at Brunel. The Library is committed to helping you make the most of our resources, and is continually working towards developing services and providing facilities that support and enhance all your study and research activities.
We are proud of our collections and facilities, designed to underpin the activities of a research-intensive University. The Library manages Brunel University’s Research Archive (BURA), a repository of Brunel’s research outputs from journal articles to PhD theses. Once you have successfully completed your research, you will, in most instances, be able to see your final thesis archived permanently online in BURA. For researchers, our newly launched Research Commons, with study space, meeting rooms and special collections, is an ideal research environment.
In the unlikely event that you cannot find the research material that you need right here at Brunel, we offer a rapid inter library loan service, which can supply materials on request from other libraries, such as the British Library. We also have reciprocal agreements with other university and national libraries to provide our postgraduate researchers with reference access to collections, and even borrowing rights in some cases.
Each School or subject area at Brunel has a dedicated Subject Liaison Librarian, who can offer guidance on appropriate resources for your research area. The Academic Skills Team (ASK) are also based in the Library, and offer support with developing the essential skills for university study, from note-making and critical thinking to writing academically and using statistics. Library and ASK support sessions may be offered within your school or department, or as part of the Graduate School skills programme.
Distance Learning
Each School or subject area at Brunel has a dedicated Subject Liaison Librarian, who can help you access appropriate resources and reference them accurately. The Academic Skills Team (ASK) are also based in the Library, and offer support with developing the essential skills for university study, from note-making and critical thinking to writing academically and using statistics. As a new Brunel student, a Library induction and tour will be offered to you when you join the University. Materials related to Library induction, information skills and academic skills are made available online on the Library website or Blackboard, for you to access at your convenience.
Find out more about Library services for distance students.
