Acquisitions
Queen Mary libraries house over 1,000,000 print and electronic resources, and the Acquisitions Team buys, catalogues and adds approximately 5,000 new volumes each year.
We manage the collections at all Queen Mary sites (Mile End, Whitechapel and West Smithfield) and work closely with the biggest publishers and vendors to make sure you have what you need, when you need it.
Accessing Resources
The easiest way to discover and access resources is through Library Search. Use the Books, ebooks and DVDs tab to find specific books and ebooks and use the Articles and more tab for broader results.
Our A-Z list of Databases is also a great way to explore the wide array of scholarly resources and packages, acquired to support teaching and learning.
The resources you need may also be available on Reading Lists Online, an online application, created by your module tutors and listing all the scholarly resources you need.
Suggest a new acquisition
Need something for your course but can’t find it on the catalogue? Let us know and we’ll try to get hold of it as quickly as possible.
- Students – simply fill out the More books at your request form and a member of the Acquisitions Team will get back to you as soon as possible
- Academic Staff – See the Staff guide to Library Acquisitions below to find out more about placing book order requests
Staff guide to Library Acquisitions
To order scholarly resource you can either:
- Create a reading list on Reading Lists Online and request a review. A member of the team will make sure all Essential and Recommended titles are held in the collection
- Email us at library-acquisitions@qmul.ac.uk with the following details:
- Title
- Author
- ISBN
- Reading category (i.e. Essential? Recommended? Optional)
- Semester required (semester A, B or C),
- Enrolment (number of students on the module. Why do we need this? See below)
To make the process work seamlessly for you (and for us), please bear the following points in mind:
- Orders should be placed no less than 3 months before the material is needed
- Orders are processed in the order in which they are received
Ebooks explained
We have an e-first policy and only purchase print copies if electronic access is unavailable, assuming the cost is reasonable. If you feel we need to make an exception due to a specific learning need on your course, please get in touch to discuss with us.
Ebooks are quick to acquire, accessible 24/7 from any location and don’t take up shelf space.
Here is a quick guide to ebook licence types and terminology:
- Perpetual Access ebooks – once paid for these are owned by the library in perpetuity
- Single User licence/Multi-User licence/Unlimited user licence – the number of readers who can view the book at the same time. Ranges from 1 to unlimited.
- Individual purchase – as the name implies, ebooks sold directly to individual account holders, e.g. Amazon Kindle. The library cannot provide access to these.
- Etextbooks – these are titles where, rather than releasing a perpetual ebook library licence, the publisher only releases the title on a price per user x RRP, per year subscription licence. These tend to be very expensive and may not be able to be purchased from Library budget.
If you are an academic staff member planning to use a Library ebook as part as an exam, please contact us to check details of user licenses and access links.
Ordering quotas
Evidence shows that in many cases multiple copies of titles are not used. Therefore, the number of copies/licences we acquire is based on the following quotas:
| Category | ebook | Print book (if ebook not available) |
|---|---|---|
|
Essential |
Unlimited concurrent user licence if available OR if unavailable, purchase single user licences, 1 per 20 students, up to a maximum of 10 in total. |
1 copy per 20 students up to a maximum of 10 in total. |
|
Recommended |
1 licence |
1 copy |
|
Optional |
1 licence if specifically requested (via Reading List ‘note for library’ or email) |
1 copy if specifically requested (via Reading List ‘note for library’ or email) |
|
Non-reading list |
1 licence if specifically requested |
1 copy if specifically requested |
We monitor turnaways from ebooks and holds on print copies and will promptly purchase additional copies where it is shown to be necessary.
If books are requested which go over a cost threshold, the academic or library rep. will be consulted to make them aware of the cost, ensure that this is proportionate to the title’s requirement, and to investigate whether cheaper alternatives are available. They will also ask for high-cost titles to be actively promoted to users as a condition of purchase. The threshold will be (a) £500 for an individual request for student numbers which are less than 50 (to include the total value of multiple copies/licences) and (b) £800 for student numbers which are greater than 50 (to include the total value of multiple copies/licences).
Direct Book Purchase
The library has entered a partnership with John Smith & Sons to provide books/etextbooks for individual student use.
Rather than purchasing books for the library collection, schools now have the freedom to acquire books directly for their students, ensuring key texts are available for student use.
If you are interested in providing books/etextbooks directly to your students, contact Jenni Morton – John Smith’s.
Accessibility
When purchasing ebooks, we make sure the supplier platform includes an accessibility statement that has been verified as Gold (at least 75%) by ASPIRE in 2020 or later.
Accessibility statements from our main ebook suppliers are below:
VLeBooks - Accessibility Guidance
EBSCO ebook Accessibility User Guide and FAQs
ProQuest Platform Accessibility Statement
If you have any further questions about e-book accessibility, please contact us.