Student Handbook 2023/24

Library Services at Queen Mary is your source for knowledgeable, helpful staff, study environments supporting a range of modes of learning and research, and access to your core and wider reading needs, as well as specialist support for managing and sharing your research.

Academic Skills

The Library Learning Support and Engagement team works in a number of ways with taught students at any level, undergraduate or postgraduate, from any subject discipline, to develop the skills and practices needed to become more effective in their academic work and excel at university.

Areas covered include: writing for academic purposes, finding and evaluating relevant literature and sources of information, adapting to university, effective reading and note-making, maths and statistics support, presentation skills, time management, critical thinking, understanding marking criteria, using feedback, writing in different disciplines, revision and exam preparation and avoiding plagiarism. 

Faculty Liaison Librarians, Senior Academic Skills Advisers and Information Skills Assistants offer support and developmental opportunities in the form of one-to-one tutorials, workshops, drop-ins, and online resources. In addition, we host Royal Literary Fund (RLF) Fellows who offer writing advice to both taught and research students.

For more information on the services and resources available, and how to access them, visit https://www.qmul.ac.uk/library/academic-skills/

Where do I study?

We manage a range of study environments that support different modes of study, including our three London campus libraries at Mile End, Whitechapel, and West Smithfield; each has a character and ambience of its own.  From individual silent study, to small group study, to hybrid working, our spaces are open seven days a week for long hours to meet your needs. On our Mile End campus, we provide a number of reserved and bookable study spaces for postgraduate use only.    

Find out more about Libraries and library-managed study and research spaces

Queen Mary Library Services also provides you with access to other libraries, such as those at Senate House or the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

How do I find the reading materials I need for my course?

Our collections cover core reading texts and media set via reading lists, wider reading for context and deeper understanding, as well as research texts and other material to support broader exploration. Our collections are a mixture of physical and electronic editions. Where we do not hold an item that you would like to access, we may be able to purchase it, borrow it via Inter-library loan from elsewhere, or provide you with access via membership to another university or research library. 

Start searching the collections using Library Search

Find out how to get access to materials which Library Services do not currently own.

Your reading list is a good place to start, or see the guide for your subject on our website for a wider overview of the types of resources supporting your area of study. 

How do I find help?

All the up-to-date information on our services is available on our website. If you need help getting answers to questions, you can contact us remotely via webchat or email, and in person at the Welcome Desks in each of our libraries.

Contacts for Library Services

Website: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/library/

Email: library@qmul.ac.uk 

Webchat: https://qmul.libanswers.com/

Telephone: 020 7882 8800