Our Learning and Teaching Librarian can help you to get the best out of your studies. This could include:
Using search tools effectively to find relevant academic sources for your assignments
Support with referencing and plagiarism
The Academic Achievement Team can assist with:
Have a look at our How To... page for our three part tutorial on getting started with your research. The Starting Your Research tutorial is tailored to your School/Department.
You will also find guidance on searching Library databases, provided by some of our database providers.
Reference, Handbooks & Companions
Profiles of nearly 20,000 Americans from all eras who have influenced and shaped the USA's history and culture. From missionaries to musicians, social workers to statisticians, cowboys to chemists, and Vikings to astronauts. Includes people from pre-colonial times to those who have died in the last 5 years.
50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2000.
A fully searchable online version of the Second print edition of the OED.
Specialist databases
Databases are large, searchable collections of academic materials. Some provide access to full-text journal articles, whilst others provide abstract or citation information about journal articles which we may or may not have full-text access to. The content of most databases are linked to 'Search Everything' on UR Library Search, or for more precise and relevant searche you can choose to search the individual databases.
Provides access to full text journals, dissertations, ebooks, primary works, video and reference works. It offers an international and interdisciplinary perspective on literary topics with sources from all over the world. Also included are the ProQuest Black Writing Collection, and the World Literature Collection.
Subjects: humanities and related social sciences.
A collection of arts and humanities eBooks, with a strong focus on Philosophy.
Hundreds of full text journals and eBooks in the arts, humanities, social sciences and life sciences.
This database contains the full-text letters of Charles Dickens and is fully searchable.
Literature Criticism Online is the largest, most extensive compilation of literary commentary available. It includes scholarly and popular commentary from broadsheets, pamphlets, encyclopedias, books and periodicals.
Provides access to over 60,000 free eBooks; also discoverable through UR Library Search.
Provides access to journal articles, eBooks and reviews in the humanities and social sciences. Spotlight on Project Muse blog post.
Full text of the Times Literary Supplement from 1902-2013.
Special Collections & Archives at University of Roehampton Library
The Library also holds a School Experience Collection on the first floor containing a large collection of picture books, young adult titles as well as teaching materials.
The Foyle Special Collections and Archives has a selection of digital content from its collections. This includes historical photographs, images of archival material as well as publication fragments (in addition to the Roehampton Digital Collections). The content can be made available to individuals upon request.
Provides access to curated high quality images from reliable sources that have been rights-cleared for use in education and research. It contains 300 collections composed of over 2 million images.
The BBC's archive of their entire output relating to Shakespeare: plays, poems and sonnets, documentaries, interviews, photographs and stills. Licensed only for streamed playback. To use this platform you will need to register using your Roehampton email address. Click here to register.
Access thousands of the British Library's global recordings, including music, drama and literature, oral history, languages and dialects, wildlife, and birdsong.
Plays and play criticisms from a range of publishers including Aurora Metro Books, Faber & Faber and Bloomsbury Publishing. Also includes Globe on Screen and Early Modern video Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum's archives. Note: To access this resource please select “University of Roehampton”.
Streams thousands of films, documentaries and training videos across a wide range of subjects. Note: Click 'Log in to Roehampton' on the left side of the screen to gain access. Please note: BBC programmes may be available via Roehampton Online Broadcasts (ROB).
High-definition streaming video of world-class productions, plus unique archival material, from London’s National Theatre.
Record and stream freeview TV and radio programmes for educational use, create clips and playlists, and access the archive of recorded programmes including BBC and Shakespeare Archives. ROB is managed by AVR, for assistance contact: avr@roehampton.ac.uk.
A comprehensive collection of performance videos, audio recordings, and production designs (from sound and lights to sets and costumes).
The Library has several databases that offer digital access to early printed books, pamphlets and newspapers. You can use these to see how the firrst edition looked, or read contemporary accounts or reviews of that book or play you are studying.
The Times newspaper in facsimile from 1785 - 2019.
A cross-searchable platform of eight databases containing digital reproductions of newspapers, periodicals, books and ephemera from the 17th to 20th centuries, including archives of the Illustrated London News, the Listener, Times & Times Literary Supplement (TLS).
The British Library’s archives of searchable facsimiles of regional and national newspapers from the 19th century.
Periodicals from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century.
Full text searching of millions of pages of history, literature, religion, law, fine arts, science and more.
Local, regional and national UK news archive from 1791 - 2003. Note: to access current issues, see Pressreader.
A digital archive of the world's first weekly illustrated newspaper from 1842 to 2003, providing contemporary accounts and images of significant British and world events.
Archive of printed ephemera covering everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Primary sources covering British politics, society, and culture, including theatre, music and literature.
Access to close to 100 periodicals for the study of British life in the 19th century - from women to sports and leisure, and from children to humour.
An archive of hundreds of digitized journals in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Library Subject Resources Guides for
Children's Literature Library Subject Resources Guide - Roehampton has strong collections of materials to support the study of children's literature, both in print and online. These include primary sources, historical and contemporary children's book collections, critical works and commentary, biography and autobiography of children's authors and illustrators and children's literature journals.
The Inter Library Loan Service gives students and staff the option of requesting books, book chapters and journals articles when we do not have them in the Library collection. The items are borrowed from the British Library and U.K. and Ireland institutions and are supplied for free.
Inter Library Loans are not available for Alumni or our partner institutions.
You can also check the availability for the item in academic libraries near you on Jisc Library Hub Discover; it may be faster to visit another London academic library through the SCONUL scheme.
UR Library Search should be checked as only requests for items not held in our collection will be processed. Before you request a journal article we suggest that you check our A-Z Journal List. If the item is already available in the Library, your request will be cancelled, and you will be notified by email. To comply with copyright requirements, a single article only from any one issue of a journal can be copied for the same user at any time. Similarly, no more than one chapter or 10% of a book can be copied.
Articles will be sent to your Roehampton email with a link and password. Please note once a document has been uploaded, it is available for 30 days or 5 views, whichever comes first.
We aim for a 2 week turn-around time provided the request has all the necessary information, the item is available and your Library account is not currently blocked for any reason.
We cannot guarantee the fulfilment of Inter Library Loans due to restrictions of lending institutions.
Articles will be sent to your Roehampton email with a link and password. Please note once a document has been uploaded, it is available for 30 days or 5 views, whichever comes first.
The Inter Library Loan will be issued to your Library account. It can be collected via the Nest team in the Library Foyer and returned via the Book Returns machine. Inter Library Loans cannot be posted.
Please note that occasionally lending institutions have items that can only be used within our Library premises. These are Reference items that you will be able to borrow for periods of 3 hours. For more information, please see the orange label on the item.
Inter Library Loans requested as books are not renewable. In very exceptional circumstances we will attempt to renew the item once on request. To request a renewal please contact us 3-5 working days before the due date. If you do not return your Inter Library Loan by the due date or request a renewal, your account will be blocked.
Please note that the lending institution may recall the item before the due date, in which case we will contact you with an updated due date.
If an item cannot be supplied, an automated notification will be sent to your Roehampton email account. This could be the case for rare items or items recently published.
We use the British Library service EThOS to provide access to UK theses - you will need to register an account with them to download theses. Contact us on interlib@roehampton.ac.uk if you have a query.
If you are looking for a book which is not currently in our Collection but which you think would be useful to have in our Library, you can recommend it for purchase via the form below.
If it is an item for your own personal research, please use our Inter Library loan service.
SCONUL Access is a scheme which allows many university library users to borrow or use books and journals at other UK academic libraries which belong to the scheme, or just the convenience of studying in a library closer to your home. It's completely free to join, so sign up online today.
The scheme works on a banding system:
Band A access is for academic staff and research students. Almost all member libraries admit band A users.
Band B access is for part-time and distance learning students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and those on placement (eg PGCE in schools). You can borrow books from libraries in this band.
Band C covers full-time taught course postgraduate students, who can borrow books from libraries in this band.
Band R full time undergraduate students can have reference access to some libraries.
Not all member libraries allow access to all bands in the scheme. Always check before you visit a library that they allow access to your band. Each Library in the scheme is listed on the SCONUL Access website. To find out which libraries are part of the scheme check the SCONUL website.
To use the scheme you will need to apply for access through the SCONUL website. The application process is simple and after you submit your application it will be authorised by a member of Library staff. You will receive an email on your University account which you can print off and take with you to visit other libraries. Users must be in ‘good standing’ with the Library i.e. have no large outstanding fines, before they can join the scheme.
When visiting other libraries please note:
The British Library at St Pancras, London is a national research library. It does not lend books nor does it aim to stock multiple copies of basic text books. If your research needs are not fulfilled by other libraries, see the British Library catalogue and Reader Registration. For more information about getting a Reader Pass, please see the British Library website.
There are many specialist libraries in London that may be of use to your studies. General advice for access:
Jisc Library Hub Discover is a national Library catalogue that accesses the catalogues of many of the largest UK and Ireland university libraries.
London Libraries allows searches and provides information on special collections.
ULRLS is the catalogue of the University of London Research Library Services.
eduroam is a free WiFi network that allows students, researchers and staff to securely access the internet when visiting other participating institutions. See here for further details on setting up eduroam access for your visits to other institutions.