On this page:
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How to find a book or book chapter not available in Cambridge
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How to recommend a book or ebook for purchase by the Chemistry Library
Printed books
Use iDiscover to search the University’s libraries print and online collections using a single search. Find journal articles, books, ebooks, ejournals, videos, theses, open access content and more. You can filter and refine your searches by location, format, date of publication etc. iDiscover also has a mobile interface. Consult this iDiscover LibGuide for help on using iDiscover. All of our printed books are catalogued on iDiscover.
The PC near the self-issue machine in the library is dedicated to catalogue searching.
Books in the Chemistry Library are organised on the shelves according to the Library of Congress system. For help finding physical books, please refer to this guide or ask a member of the library staff.
What does "Electronic legal deposit - Available on designated PCs in the UL and most Faculty and Departmental libraries" mean?
Where it says on an iDiscover record for a journal or a book "Electronic legal deposit - Available on designated PCs in the UL and most Faculty and Departmental libraries", this means that it is an electronic legal (e-legal) deposit copy. Cambridge University Library is one of six 'legal deposit' libraries in the UK & Ireland. This means it is entitled to receive a copy of every book and journal published in the UK from the publisher, for free. Recently the law was changed to include electronic books and journals and so many publishers now choose to deposit the 
online versions instead. These items are available on designated PCs in the main University Library (UL) and most Faculty and Departmental libraries, including the Chemistry Library. Please see the Electronic Legal Deposit LibGuide for more information on how to access them. Please be aware that you will not be able to save the PDF, or take screenshots or photos of the content, and will only be able to print off a paper or a book chapter if the library has a printer connected to the terminal (as the Chemistry Library does).
What does "Available at University Library. Order from Library Storage Facility (Not borrowable)" mean?
Many 'low-use' items from libraries across Cambridge are held in an off-site store, called the Library Storage Facility (LSF). Where it says on an iDiscover record "Available at University Library. Order from Library Storage Facility (Not borrowable)" this means that you need to make a request on iDiscover for it to be fetched from the LSF for you. Items fetched from the LSF are not borrowable and can only be consulted in a Reading Room at the University Library (but you can photocopy/scan a paper or a book chapter there). Visit the LSF LibGuide for more information on how to make a (free) request, and turnaround times etc.
Ebooks
You can also access e-books through iDiscover i.e. if you perform a catalogue search for a book and there is an electronic book version of it available, you will retrieve a record for it which will contain a direct link to that e-book.
The e-books provide online versions of complete texts, allowing readers to search, print and 
download sections of works (subject to the usual copyright restrictions where you may only copy up to 5% or one whole chapter, whichever is greater, from a book). Additionally, they offer features such as dictionary checking and citation export; electronic notes and bookmarks can be made by creating a personal account. Some e-books can also be downloaded to mobile devices.
Please see the ebooks@cambridge LibGuide for further information on which ebooks are available in the university, and how to make the most of them.
New ebooks purchased by the University are advertised on the Chemistry Library blog and the ebooks@cambridge blog.
Here is a list of some chemistry related ebooks that have been purchased so far.
Using and borrowing books from other libraries
You are able to access most other libraries in Cambridge (except for college libraries which generally only admit their own members). We recommend that you consult the Libraries Directory to look up the library and find out its location, admission policies, opening hours, etc. before you visit.
The Chemistry Library has reciprocal arrangements in place with some Cambridge libraries whereby library staff will scan book chapters on behalf of our readers, and vice-versa, so before you make a special visit to another library please check with us first to see if this service is possible.
The Betty & Gordon Moore Library also offers a free 'Scan & Deliver' service to get remote access to any of its material that is not currently available electronically, which includes book chapters.
How to find a book or book chapter not available in Cambridge
The Chemistry Library has a Document Supply account with the British Library. Please visit the Request items not held in Cambridge page for more information.
How to recommend a book or ebook for purchase by the Chemistry Library
Please visit the Recommend a book or other resource page.