Access & Participation with Cambridge University Libraries
School students working on an independent project who are able to travel to Cambridge may be able to access the University Library as a private researcher. Most visitors to the library are 18+ but 16 or 17 year olds can register with a signed permission form from a parent or guardian.
For more information on using the University Library this way, please see the Who Can Use The Library webpage.
Cambridge University Libraries have an Alternative Formats Service who work with students who need resources in different formats to the ones held by the libraries. This could be, for example, providing a student with a screen-readable ebook rather than a physical book.
School students visiting Cambridge libraries will often be welcome to browse the shelves, but to find particular books and other resources, you can use iDiscover, which is the combined catalogue of most of the libraries in the University. iDiscover has records of most of the books, articles, newspapers, films and other resources in Cambridge libraries, including information about which library an item is in, whether it's available online, and how to access it.
While most of the resources on iDiscover are restricted to members of the University of Cambridge, learning how to use a university library catalogue is a useful skill for anyone thinking of studying at university.
If you're an SLO or teacher thinking about bringing a school group to a Cambridge library, it would be useful to take a look at iDiscover beforehand, especially if you want to use library resources for working on a particular project.
See below for a video of Cambridge students talking about how to use iDiscover to search for items from their reading lists:
Transcript: Searching iDiscover for items on your reading list
A short how-to video on searching iDiscover can be seen below, or for more information you can visit the iDiscover LibGuide. College, Department and University librarians will also be happy to talk school groups through the process on an in-person visit.
Transcript: Searching iDiscover
You can find more information on accessing resources from Cambridge University Libraries at the Accessing Resources series of LibGuides, or the CamGuides page on Searching for Resources from a Reading List.