Welcome to Cambridge! This page gives an introduction to the services you might expect from the Polar Library and other libraries across Cambridge during the academic year 2023/24.
CamGuides is designed to help you prepare for studying in Cambridge, regardless of your subject or college. It focuses on some of the academic and information practices and skills that you will engage in and need for your degree. The wider LibGuides collection has subject-based resources and guidance on accessing physical and digital materials.
We are a reference library and do not operate a borrowing service. However, Institute members can take books from the Library to use in other areas of the building by filling in a white and pink 'internal loan' slip or by bringing the books into the library office to be issued to their accounts. Books should not be removed from the Institute.
Please speak to a member of Library staff if you have questions about the borrowing regime.
Polar Library print resources and online material can be searched for in iDiscover. Use the advice on finding resources to locate print material in the library and the iDiscover LibGuide for searching more generally.
Current staff and students may request scans of print material including from the Polar Library collection through the University Library's Scan and Deliver service. For Polar Library material, please fill out the scan request form for the modern collections. Printouts of chapters or articles from Electronic Legal Deposit materials are also available.
We are happy to answer your questions during normal office hours, Monday to Friday 9:00 - 17:00 via the library email: library@spri.cam.ac.uk, via Microsoft Teams or Zoom, or in person. If you have a more detailed query or would like more in-depth help with anything, email us in the first instance to request a one-to-one appointment or to chat over Teams.
Online reading lists for Geographies of the Arctic, Glaciology and Polar Studies courses provide links for accessing resources, many of which are available as ebooks and online articles. The lists may not show you print copies held at all libraries that you have access to, such as your college library. Print copies of the most popular texts are held on the reference-only high demand shelf in the Polar Library.
All members of the University of Cambridge and the wider polar research community can book a study seat in the library, Monday to Friday, 09.00 - 13.00 and 14:00 - 17:00. This enables you to browse and consult Polar Library material and undertake quiet study. Use the online calendar to book a slot.
You can book an appointment to consult Special Collections material via a separate online calendar.
Research desks for the Archive and Picture Library are available via an online booking form.
