Library Induction: Finding your readings

A reading list is provided for most units and it features books and journal articles recommended by your lecturers. Sometimes the lists are called 'Library Lists' and these are found via unit Moodle pages: search Moodle for a unit title/code.

It's important to prioritise any readings labelled as essential, core or key, but to demonstrate a broader or deeper understanding of a topic, it's advisable to also read some of the other readings listed. Some lists include links to any readings that we provide online, but if not, search for these using the Library Catalogue. 

Transcripts of the videos are available to read. 

Transcripts of the videos are available to read.

You can borrow up to 30 books at a time. The vast majority of journals are available to read online via the Library Catalogue and our print journals are for reference-use in the Library only. To find an item in our library, you need to know its shelf location: guide to understanding Library shelf numbers.

If you'd like a copy of a journal article or book chapter from our print collection, please request this using our Bath Copies service. A scanned copy is then sent to your University of Bath email account but we can't scan books that are out on loan. 

• You're likely to get higher grades if you also use relevant academic literature to inform your writing rather than relying solely on your lecturers' reading lists. Through timetabled training sessions and online support, the Library can help you develop strong literature searching skills. These are transferable skills sought by many employers in today's information-rich world.
   
• To search for further books, journal articles and other items, you can search the Library Catalogue. However, it's best to also search at least one or two library databases as these cover wide ranges of quality literature and enable you to search more precisely. To access our databases (and corresponding help guides), refer to the 'Search the Literature' pages within resources for your subject.
   
• Guide: how to do a literature search: searching beyond a reading list.

When researching a topic, you may find out about items that are not held in our Library collection. You may be able to obtain these from another library by using our Inter-Library Loans service.