If you are a student of the University of Bedfordshire whether you are: full time, part time, Home & EU, International, on Campus, Distance Learner, Fresher, Post Graduate, studying at a Study Centre you are entitled to our full range of services in person at Aylesbury, Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes Campuses or on-line as described throughout LRWeb. This includes:

On Campus

• Loans, maximum of 20 items at a time
• Renewals, up to 25 renewals unless reserved by another student
• Reservations, up to 6 requests for University of Bedfordshire materials on loan or at another Campus
• Library/LRC study space during advertised opening hours
• Access to support during advertised hours from:
  
  • Customer Service desk
  • Study Hub
  • SiD
• Use of student PCs and MACs in the Library/LRC
• Use (at cost) of Library/LRC multi function printer/photocopier/scanning machines
• Use of study facilities including group, individual and social furniture, floor or room configurations
• Booking services for PCs and group study rooms

Off Campus

• online support and help from LRWeb
• remote access to digital resources via DISCOVER and the Library Catalogue
• Tell Us feedback
• SiD enquiries
• Service emails for service queries and IT support (48hours response time)
• Telephone support during staffed hours
• Loan renewals and reservations

Eduroam

If you wish to use Eduroam - a wifi service which allows you to access the internet at participating UK institutions outside the University of Bedfordshire - the quickest way is to authenticate when you are on Campus. Find out more about the Eduroam wifi service.

If you never visit a University of Bedfordshire campus please send your registration number and your usual network password to: libraryideas@beds.ac.uk putting "Eduroam" in the subject bar. Your account will be created for you to use. You will be notified when it is ready.

NICE Evidence Search

If your course includes placement in a NHS Trust (or you are employed by a Trust attending University part-time), you are entitled to a NHS Athens account (if you are eligible, this will be set up for you by the University when you start your course). This will give you access to a collection of health electronic books, electronic journals and databases through NICE Evidence Search

Visiting Other Libraries

The University of Bedfordshire is a part of several national access schemes which allow you to visit many university libraries. These include:

• SCONUL Access Join SCONUL Access: for access to over 170 higher education libraries in the UK and Ireland!

SCONUL Access is a co-operative venture between most of the higher education libraries of the UK and Ireland. It enables staff, research students, full time postgraduates and part-time, distance learning and placement students to borrow material from other libraries.

• SCONUL Vacation Scheme The SCONUL vacation scheme gives access to most university libraries during the vacations of the host institution. Your current university ID card will normally be acceptable but check as local arrangements may differ. This scheme gives you reference only access therefore you will not be able to borrow or access any electronic information.
• M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries (currently there are 60 member institutions) is a collaborative organisation that works to improve library and information services within the M25 region and more widely across the East and Southeast by providing access to services and resources for learners and researchers.

Access to the majority of M25 consortium libraries is via SCONUL Access Scheme; however some libraries (listed below) are not part of this scheme and these libraries can be accessed using the M25 scheme.

• British Library
• British Museum
• Horniman Museum
• Imperial War Museum
• Institute of Development Studies
• Natural History Museum
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Science Museum
• Victoria and Albert Museum
• The Wiener Library Institute of Contemporary History
• Wellcome Library

If you wish to join the scheme please complete the application form to receive an M25 Access and Borrowing Scheme card. The application form is only available from your home library. This guide gives more information on your membership rights

• British Library contains books journals, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, a sound archive and special collections.

Researchers taught postgraduate students or students researching their dissertation may find it necessary to use the British Library for research purposes once all other alternatives have been explored and exhausted.

The main British Library site is in London on Euston Road next to Kings Cross and St Pancras railways stations. Getting to The British Library

There are 11 specialist Reading Rooms at the St Pancras site. If you wish to use the resources available in the Reading Rooms you will need to apply for a Readers Pass

Some hints and tips before you make the journey to the British Library

• Check the university library catalogue to make sure we haven’t got what you need
• Make sure you read the guidance on applying for a Readers pass especially on the accepted forms of ID
• The British Library does not hold multiple copies of standard texts for university course work.
• Remember the British Library is a closed access (you can’t browse the shelves) research library.  You request material and it is bought to your desk in the reading room this can take from 70 minutes to 48 hours.
• Check the British Library catalogue to make sure they’ve got what you want
• If you have a Readers Pass think about requesting your material in advance to save time
• Talk to your Academic Liaison Librarian to double check that it is worth your time and effort going to the British Library, there may be quicker and easier alternatives to get what you want.