How do I reserve and collect a book?

Books are reserved through NELSON. Make sure you are logged in before you start searching. We have a guide available to help you log in.  

Searching and reserving in NELSON 

You should search NELSON for the book you want. When you find the entry click on the title and a new screen will open. If all the books are on loan, you will be able to reserve a copy by click 'Reserve'.

If there is a copy on the shelf, you will not be able to reserve it and must collect it from the shelf yourself.

It will also show you if there is an ebook version, which you can access immediately. You can see this under the heading 'Full text availability' if one is available.

You can see below that there is an ebook, one physical book and, and two requests currently. 

Click the Reserve button a new screen will appear 

If you enter a date in ‘Not needed after’, your reservation will cancel after this date if a copy hasn’t been returned. Unless there is a date you wouldn’t need it after, leave this blank. Click ‘Send Request’. 

How do I check progress of my request? 

Navigate to your account in the top right-hand of NELSON. You will be able to see the reservation in the requests tab. 

How will I know my book is ready for collection, and where should I go?

You will have put the request on in NELSON and you will see it in the requests tab of your account:

There will be a green alert bell on the tab and the reservation when it is ready for you to collect:

We will also contact you when the item is ready. You can collect if from the Reservation Shelf, on the 2nd floor of the Learning Hub. This is near the laptop cabinets and printers, at the back of the School Experience collection. There will be a box with your student / staff ID, and the book will be inside. The book needs issuing to your library account using the self-service machines.

I can't find a record of the book I want, or we don't have a copy

If you have searched NELSON and have not found what you are looking for, or we don't have a copy of what you need, you can request an Inter-Library Loan. We have a guide that gives you full details of how to access this free service. You can also use our 'Request a Book' service and we will consider purchasing it for the collection, and for you to borrow.

I need some help finding useful resources

The Academic Librarian team are happy to help you with your search skills. You can contact them by email or book a tutorial.