Cambridge University Library

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Contact details

Website: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/ E-mail: library@lib.cam.ac.uk Tel: 01223 333 000

Library

Photo of Cambridge University Library by Yakinodi,
made available under a Creative Commons licence

About the library

Cambridge University Library is the largest library in the University. It is a legal deposit library which means it is entitled to claim a copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland. It holds over 7 million items which are housed in the University Library and its four dependent libraries:

  • Betty and Gordon Moore Library for the Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Technology
  • Central Science Library for the Biological, Chemical, Earth and Environmental sciences
  • Medical Library
  • Squire Law Library

Records for special collection materials held by three College and departmental libraries are also available on Copac:

  • The Haddon Library - the library of the Faculty of Archaelogy and Anthropology
  • The Whipple Library - the library of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. It is the largest specialist library in the history and philsophy of science and medicine in the UK.
  • Selwyn College Library - the primary purpose of the library is to support teaching of subjects covered by the University tripos system

Copac also contains Russian and East European Studies records from the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI).

The local library catalogue is available online.

Accessing materials

Can I see live document availability on Copac? Yes. The Copac local holdings display will tell you if a document is currently on-loan, reference only etc. as well giving you local location details.

Can I obtain items via Inter Library Loan? Yes, subject to the library's local lending policy. You have to request an inter-library loan via a library of which you are a member. Talk to your own library staff about whether they think the document you need is likely to be available for loan and for advice on making an inter-library loan request.

Can I visit the library to view materials? Yes - visit the library's web site for access details. If you wish to visit it is advisable to contact the library in advance to ensure the material you need will be available.

How do I find primary source material held at this institution? Visit the University of Cambridge's contributor page at the Archives Hub for information.

Location