Books

A few key tips when searching for books:

• if the book title is quite general, eg Sociology, add the author's surname to the search, eg sociology beedie
• use the 'Content Type' filter down the right hand side to narrow your search to Books
• books tend to be about the bigger topic, so keep your keywords quite general eg sport psychology. Save the detailed searching for journal articles where you can drill down to specific topics.

Before choosing which book you want to read, check the edition.

Some subjects will require that you use the most up-to-date edition, eg Law. Other subjects, there can often be very little difference between editions. Use your judgement as to what's appropriate, but, in general, always use the most up-to-date edition available.

If a book is available as an ebook, it is clearly marked by a link to 'check for online access'.

Sometimes, from this link, you'll click straight through to the ebook. Other times, follow the secondary link to full text availability. If you're not already logged in to the Intranet, you will be prompted to do so at this point.

All print books will display a shelfmark, eg 378.17COT. Use this to locate the book on the shelves.

Books are located on Floors 3 and 4 ordered according to shelfmark from 000-999. Law books with shelfmarks starting 342 are separate from this sequence and located in the Law Library section at the end of Floor 4. Find out more about borrowing.

That's a big question!

Reading list items are prioritised for ebooks, and we try wherever possible to purchase an ebook where it's available. However, not all titles are available to purchase as institutional ebooks - these are different from Kindle edition ebooks which are designed for personal purchase. And some titles are only available, costing sometimes, £thousands each. 

If you're struggling to access reading list items, let us know at library@abertay.ac.uk and we'll check availability.

Ebooks are available under conditions of different licence models which dictate how they work.  For example, some ebooks allow for an unlimited number of users to access them at any given time, whilst others are limited to a set number, or sometimes only a single user. When more than the allowed number of users access a title, you will be denied access with a message that reflects this. Simply try again later. 

If however, you meet a broken link, please report this to us and we'll reply as soon as possible.

We always try to buy the best access model based on how essential the item is to module reading lists, and depending on what's available to purchase.

There's not a single answer to this one, it depends on the licence model that was available to purchase. 

Sometimes you can download the whole book, but it will only be available to you for a set period of time, just like borrowing a print title. Other titles may only allow you to print/download a chapter, or sometimes content can only be read online.

We don't always have a choice, but we do try to get the best access model available depending on what's on offer, demand, and cost.