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Library Guides

An orientation: Library Service and Learning Development: CMP, FAMM, Fashion Design, Film, Photography: Using other libraries

Introducing other libraries

London is home to some fantastic libraries, most of which you can access.  This is particularly useful for students embarking on their final year, or postgraduate students.

Find more libraries on the Using other libraries guide

Academic libraries

Apply for a SCONUL Access card to get access to UK university libraries (e.g. UAL, RCA, UCL).  Your Eduroam account will also work in most libraries

Public libraries

Westminster City Council Library Service is well worth joining, as they have some good electronic resources you can access remotely, including some which are useful for courses in the school of arts.  For example, Screen Studies (from Bloomsbury) is a useful ebook collection for film, and Fashion Monitor (contacts, news and events) is available at Westminster Business Library. 

Online libraries

Can't find what you need?

Use the 'Can't find what you need?' to obtain sources not available at Westminster

  • It is free
  • We aim to provide the source within ten days

NB: The first part of the process initiates a search on Library Search to make sure the item is not in stock. After, this you can request the item by filling in the request form.

Searching beyond Library Search

Library Search is a useful start and is sufficient for research for most assignments.  However, you could also try the following, especially when tackling more in-depth research.  This is particularly important for final-year students writing dissertations.
 

  • Library Hub Discover - a union catalogue of most academic libraries in the UK and Ireland, including the University of Westminster
     
  • Worldcat - a worldwide version of Library Hub Discover
     
  • Google Scholar / Google Books - an easy way to search for academic sources
    (link Google Scholar to University of Westminster library in Settings>Library Links)
     
  • CORE - a collection of open-access research papers

Hidden sources

In some cases, using alternative search tools might be a way of identifying sources available at Westminster but which are otherwise hidden.  For example, a library Hub Discover search for photography autism shows Polly Braden's book 'Great Interactions' is available at Westminster.  However, it does not appear on Library Search using the same search!

Google Scholar 'cited by'

Google Scholar has a 'cited by' feature that links to sources that cite the source you are looking at. Library Search also has this on some titles.