UCL SSEES Library

• Introduction
• How to find a book
• How to find a periodical
• Stores items
• Area specialists
• Borrowing
• Electronic resources
• Other library facilities

The Library occupies the four lowest floors of the SSEES building in Taviton Street. The entrance to the Library and the Library Issue Desk are located on the Ground Floor, while the main reading areas are on the Lower Ground, First and Second Floors. The only exit from the Library is on the Ground Floor; there is no access to the rest of the School from the Library premises on the First and Second Floors.

You are welcome to bring bottled water into the Library, but please do not bring in any other food or drink. Be very careful of your own property while you are in the Library and do not leave valuables unattended. If you see anybody acting suspiciously or damaging library property, please report the incident to a member of library staff immediately.

You may work in whichever part of the Library you find most comfortable. You may take books and periodicals from one floor to another, but please leave them on one of the shelving trolleys when you have finished with them, not on a desk or back on the shelves. There is a 24 Hour Reservation Shelf on the Lower Ground Floor where you may reserve books for further use. Photocopying facilities are located on the Lower Ground Floor and the First Floor. The student computer clusters and the multimedia room close and the photocopiers are switched off 15 minutes before the Library closes. Please be ready to leave by then.

Mobile phones may be used on the Ground Floor and the main staircase, but should be switched to silent when you are on any of the other floors. Please keep noisy conversations to the Ground Floor and help us keep the other floors as quiet areas where students can study in peace.

There are computer catalogue terminals located on all four floors of the Library. The UCL online library catalogue lists books held in all the main UCL library sites. Records for all books and periodicals acquired by UCL SSEES Library since 1988 are included, as is a substantial proportion of earlier material. Always check the catalogue first for the most up-to-date information on items held by the library and their locations.

Records for books written in languages which use the Cyrillic alphabet are transliterated into the Latin alphabet. Further guidance on using the catalogue is available online, or in leaflets at the Library issue desk. There is also a guide to SSEES Library's classification scheme.

UCL SSEES Library also has a card catalogue with references to older books not yet transferred to the online catalogue. If the book you want was published before 1988 and is not on the computer catalogue, check in the card catalogue under the author's name, or under the title or editor's name if the book does not have a clear single author. The classmark will be on the top right-hand corner of the catalogue card.

UCL SSEES Library holds an extensive collection of periodicals covering all areas of the School's interests. The current intake numbers some 1,100 journal titles and over 100 newspapers. A large number of journals and newspapers are now available electronically - see our page on Electronic Resources for information on how to access these.

All periodicals and newspapers currently received by the Library and many lapsed titles are listed on the online library catalogue. You will find current newspapers and current issues of most printed periodicals in the Current Periodicals Reading Area on the Lower Ground Floor. Back issues of many periodicals are kept on the mobile shelving on the Lower Ground Floor. They are shelved alphabetically by title, transliterated according to the Library of Congress scheme. If you cannot find what you want, please ask a member of staff in the Enquiries Office for assistance.

If a title is not held by UCL Library Services, check the Union List of Serials for other locations in the constituent libraries of the University of London and the University of Westminster. Enquiries relating to newspapers and periodicals should be directed to the Library Office on the Second Floor.

Certain lesser-used books and periodicals are stored in closed-access locations, either within the Library or at the UCL Stores in Wickford. Pamphlets, microfilms and other Local Store materials may be requested at the Issue Desk and are fetched at regular intervals. Items from the UCL Stores may be ordered online using the online store request form and usually arrive around 3pm on the following working day. Stores items are held at the Issue Desk for seven days.

UCL SSEES Library has a team of Area Specialists who can help you to locate resources for your subject.

• Wojciech Janik, Ph.D. w.janik@ssees.ucl.ac.uk, Room 114
  Area specialist - Former Soviet Union and Poland
  
  
• Philippa Robins, B.A. p.robins@ssees.ucl.ac.uk, Room 206
  Area specialist - South-Eastern Europe
  
  
• Zuzana Pinčíková, M.A. z.pincikova@ssees.ucl.ac.uk, Room 206
  Area specialist - Central Europe
  
  

Most of the books in the Library are available for loan. The standard loan period is three weeks, but books on reading lists may only be issued for shorter periods: 7 days, 3 days, or overnight only. These short-loan items are in heavy demand by UCL students and may not be borrowed by external borrowers.

Books that are 7-day loans are indicated by a red sticker on the spine; 3-day loans are marked with a blue sticker. Books for overnight loan are denoted by a green sticker and may be used in the Library only during the day. They may be taken out of the Library after five o'clock, but they must be returned by 10.15 the next morning, or 10.15 on Monday morning if borrowed on Friday after 5pm or on Saturday. Dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference works are not available for loan.

The maximum number of books UCL undergraduates and Masters students may borrow at one time is ten. UCL research postgraduates may borrow up to twenty books at a time. Within these limits, students may borrow a maximum of three 7-day loan books, two 3-day loan books and two overnight loan books.

All books must be returned on time. If you have an overdue book you will find that you are not allowed to borrow any more books until you return it. All overdue books will be subject to fines. You may be asked to return a book earlier than the original due date if somebody else has requested it. Please do so before the new due date on the notice you are sent or you will be charged fines based on the new due date.

This page last modified Monday 1 November 2012.