Literary Resources
Researchers interact with the academic literature nearly everyday. When we say "literature", we're not just talking about books; we're talking about every form of written communication that you will draw on in conducting your research. This will include monographs, textbooks, journal articles, essay collections, reviews, and journalistic reporting, as well as the vast array of grey literature sources you may draw on, such as blogs, wikis, unpublished theses, white papers, earnings reports, policy documents, clinical trials, patents and tweets - to name just a few!
As even this brief sample indicates, there's a lot of information out there for you to sift through between now and when you complete your thesis. For this reason, it is important that you get familiar with the different resources and services available to you through the university libraries, as well as some of the techniques that you can use to help you start sifting through the wealth of information that is now at your fingertips.
Want to get Started?
If you're looking for a place to start your exploration of university resources, you can head to the Research Skills Guide prepared by the university's LibGuides team. The Research Skills Guide is a ten-module online course specifically designed to help university researchers familiarise themselves with searching for information and managing data.
Borrowing
There are over one hundred libraries within the University of Cambridge. As a University of Cambridge student, you will be automatically enrolled as a member of the University Library upon beginning of your degree. As a graduate student member of the University Library, you can borrow up to 20 books and, unless one of your items is recalled by another user, your loans will automatically renew themselves.
As part of induction, you will also usually be registered at your college and subject libraries during induction. Different libraries have different rules regarding borrowing limits and fines so it's good to familiarise yourself with the rules of the different libraries that you intend to make use of during your time here at Cambridge.
If you ever need to borrow material from a University library with which you are not registered, you can use the Cambridge Libraries directory to find the contact details of the relevant library and find out possibilities for accessing material.
There is more information about borrowing and using the University Library on the Using the Library webpage.
Legal Deposit
The University Library is one of six libraries in the UK that is entitled under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act of 2003 to receive material published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Not all copies claimed under this act, however, will be accessible as a physical copy. Occasionally you will encounter material that will be labelled as “Available on designated PCs in the UL and most Faculty and Departmental libraries”. This means the desired source has been acquired as an electronic Legal Deposit (eLD) and that special conditions are attached to its use, included that they can only be viewed at designated terminals within specific libraries. There are also older, secondary hard copy legal deposit (e.g. from c. 1925 to 1977) that can only be found in the card catalogues, located near the reading room with the UL, and have not made it onto iDiscover.
If you require access to such material, either print or electronic, then you can enquire with library staff, or use the electronic legal deposit guide, and to find your nearest library with an eLD terminal, consult the full list of libraries.