Details of Library services over the summer

Elizabeth Andrews
Wednesday 25 May 2022

Take a look at the Library’s FAQs and webpage which give details about the different Library services and study spaces you can access over summer and while the Main Library is closed. 

Click and collect

  • You can access the collections held in the Main Library, Thomson Reading Room in Martyrs Kirk and Walter Bower House Library through a Click and Collect service (Martyrs and Walter Bower House will continue to be open as usual).  
  • On Library search, request the item you want using the Click and Collect button. 
  • It will be made available for you to pick up at St Mary’s College Library on South Street (opening hours 9am – 8.30pm, 7 days).  
  • You can request 5 items each day through Click and Collect. 
  • Borrowing limits have been increased. 
  • We aim to have the items requested ready for you the next weekday, but this is dependent on demand. 
  • If you make a request on Friday, items should be ready on Monday or Tuesday the next week.
  • You will be emailed once the item is available for you at St Mary’s.
  • We will keep it for you, ready to be collected, for 5 days. 
  • Library search offers the option of virtual browse which you may find useful as an alternative to browsing the physical shelves and to help you identify items you may wish to request through Click and Collect. 
  • If you require access to a multi-volume work for your research and are unsure which volumes to request through Click and collect then please contact us at [email protected] to discuss how we can make this available to you. 

Request a scan 

  • You can also request a scan of a chapter of a book or journal article from the collections held in the Main Library, Martyrs and Walter Bower House.  
  • You will see a ‘Request a scan’ button next to available items on Library search.  
  • Scanned items are emailed directly to you. 
  • Please be aware that the amount of content we can scan for you is restricted by copyright legislation (10% of a book, typically one chapter or one article in a journal issue). 

Inter-Library Loan 

  • If you make an Inter-Library Loan request Library staff will source materials from other libraries.  
  • Most articles and chapters come electronically and will be e-mailed to you. Books will come in print format for borrowing or consultation within St Mary’s College Library.
  • If an item can be borrowed, you can collect it from St Mary’s College Library Service Desk. 

Walter Bower House Library 

  • Is open 9am until 5pm Monday to Friday. 
  • Research collections previously held in the library store are now available to browse in Walter Bower House. 
  • Items can be borrowed or alternatively requested through Click & Collect for collection at St Mary’s College Library. 
  • A reading room is available for you to work with the collections. 

Library and IT Help 

  • These service desks are now located in St Mary’s College Library. 
  • Both desks are open 9am to 5pm on weekdays and 11am to 5pm at the weekends. 
  • Please contact the Libraries and Museums by email [email protected], chat or call if you have any questions or to discuss the different ways we can support you over the summer.  

St Mary’s College Library 

  • St Mary’s College Library on South Street will be where you can access many of the above services. 
  • Upstairs in the King James Library, is one of the places you can work.  
  • Printers and self-service borrow and return machines are available at St Mary’s and there is a PC Classroom nearby in The Bute.

University Collections  

  • Our rare books, manuscripts, archives, photographs and some museum objects continue to be available for research purposes.
  • Items can be viewed in the Napier Reading Room in Martyrs Kirk, Tuesday to Thursday 10am-4pm. Please contact [email protected] at least seven days before you want to visit.

Using other libraries 

  • The SCONUL access scheme allows academic staff, postgraduates (full and part-time), distance learning, part-time undergraduates and placement students to visit and borrow from participating university libraries across the UK and Ireland.  
  • Complete the application online.  
  • Local university libraries such as Dundee and Abertay are members of this scheme. 

We are sorry for this necessary disruption, if there is anything else we can do to help support you, please email us [email protected], chat or call.

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