Practical information about using the library
See the library links page of this blog to find out how to renew your books, where to find library news, how to find out about interlibrary loans and other useful information on using our libraries.
These are a good starting point for information relevant to your subject area. These blogs are maintained by our subject teams and specifically aimed at staff and students in the relevant department/subject area.
- Maths and physics library info
- Business library info (for Maths Finance students)
Find books and more and Find articles and more options.
Our library website gives you information about and links to all of the electronic resources we provide access to. These include the library catalogue, e-journals, databases, e-books, subject guides and weblinks.
For more information on relevant database and other e-resources and e-journal information – see the information resources page of this blog.
- Library catalogue
If you are searching for books, journals, reports, theses and other library materials – the online library catalogue is the place to start.
Online tutorial on how to search the library catalogue
- Electronic journals
- Find our e-journals via our Find electronic journals search
- See our Electronic Journals Frequently Asked Questions list for everything you need to know about accessing journals
- Metalib
- Use our library portal to cross search resources. You can also create a list of your favourite journals
- SFX
- direct link to the e-journal
- can find links in the library catalogue, in Google Scholar
Passwords & Access
Most of our electronic resources work with IP recognition – so if you are on campus you will usually get seamless access. However, if you are off-campus you may either need to set up the Virtual Private Network (VPN) or log in using the UK Federation. See the Off-site access and passwords page of the library website for further details.
Finding/using the library while you are on the web
In addition to using the library website and the subject blogs, you can also find resources via the My Imperial portal and by installing our version of the LibX toolbar.
LibX is a plug-in/add-on that you install in your browser (Firefox and Internet Explorer) that allows you to search library resources from within your web browser
Please remember this is in beta testing at the moment – so let us know if you have any feedback about how we could make it more useful.
Install the Imperial LibX toolbar for Firefox
Install the Imperial LibX toolbar for Internet Explorer
We will soon be adding a tutorial on how to install it to your browser.
If you use the College student portal MyImperial – you can view your library account and access library information here
Go to My Imperial and when you have logged in, click on the library tab.
