From February 8th the library will offer a limited number of study seats for final year and postgraduate students and 30 minute Browse & Borrow visits for students who need access to essential print material, between the hours of 9-5 Monday-Friday.
All students should only attend the library if it is absolutely necessary and advance booking is essential.
The Virtual library is available 24/7 to UL students and staff and is accessible from the library website. To access library resources remotely log in to the remote access service using your UL network ID and password.
Study Seats
- Seats can be booked up to 2 days in advance
- You can book 4 consecutive or non-consecutive hours in a day. If you book 4 consecutive hours in the same seat, using one booking, you only need to scan your ID card at the gates once to activate your booking.
However, If you select 4 non-consecutive hours in one day (i.e. 10am, 12pm, & 2pm etc.) or 4 different seats in the library, these will count as a multiple booking and you must scan your ID card at the gates, at the start of each individual booking.
Failure to activate each booking will result in No Shows on your account and two No Shows will result in a suspension of your booking privileges for 7 days
- Please ensure you cancel your booking if you cannot make it, this will release the seat for a fellow student to use.
- No shows - Failure to turn up for a booking/visit twice without cancelling will result in your booking privileges being suspended for 7 days.
- We will release a non-attended/not cancelled booking after 60 minutes and this will count as a No Show
- Always sit in your assigned seat, cleaning your desk down before and after use - do not overstay your booking.
- Group/collaborative study is not permitted at this time, all study rooms are closed.
Browse & Borrow
- With access to over 450,000+ ebooks we encourage you to use ebooks and online articles for your assignments.
- If you require access to essential print material, we have a limited number of 30-minute Browse and Borrow visits, these are open to all students and must be booked in advance.
Masks
- Masks are mandatory and must be worn properly at all times. Failure to adhere will result in you being asked to leave the library building with your access to the library building revoked for 7 days.
Scan & Deliver
- Request a digital scan of physical articles or chapters, subject to copyright restrictions. Click here to find out more and to avail of this service
Laptop Lending
- Students that received a new ID card from August 2020 are currently unable to use the laptop lending service. If you require online access please bring your own laptop with you or book a PC workstation in the library
To contact a member of staff while onsite we recommend you use the CHAT service. Other methods to contact staff and links to our FAQs can be found in the HELP & FAQ section below.
Help & FAQs
Library staff are available to answer online queries All user queries should be channelled through Chat or Ask Us or emailed to libinfo@ul.ie. 95% of all queries are answered within 24 hours.
The Library’s Ask Us Knowledge Base contains helpful Covid-19 Library FAQs.
Follow library updates on Twitter (@ULLibrary) or Instagram (ullibrary).
To keep up to date with news, check this page regularly, follow us via social media and consult UL’s official advisory site on Covid-19.
Login to access library resources from home
Online collections are available 24 hours a day to UL students and staff and are accessible from the library website - to access library resources remotely log in to the remote access service using your UL network ID and password. Opening hours for the building will be updated regularly.
Ebooks & reading lists
Faculty members can keep reading lists up to date themselves or work with the library to do this.
- Existing lists can be updated online www.ul.ie/library/readinglists
- Teaching staff can recommend ebooks for modules to the library via the online Ask Us service, send the module code, book title and approximate number of students taking the module and the library will try to source an ebook for you. New ebooks recommended by faculty have been added to the collections. To access the 450,000+ ebooks in our collections, search the library catalogue and refine by Full Text Online. For a reminder on how to access eBooks, watch this short video - remember to always go through the library to access the ebooks you need, going directly to a publisher like Bloomsbury won’t get you access to the ebook.
- To publish your reading list on Sulis, go to Manage Tools/Plugin Tools/Reading List and your students will be able to view the list.
Students:
Reading Lists Online link you through to your reading list items whether they are books in the Library, e-books, journal articles or websites. Students can access reading lists via VLEs such as Sulis or Moodle, view all the readings for their courses in one place, create their own collections of useful material and comment and collaborate with other students. If your tutor is using this system, you can access your reading lists through the VLE. Reading Lists Online is integrated with Sulis and Moodle.
Library resources for assignments and projects
- eBooks - search the library catalogue and refine by Full Text Online
- eJournals – search the library catalogue and refine by Peer Reviewed Journals
- Find an ethesis in UL Library https://ul.ie/library/explore-collections/theses
- Select your subject area to find academic resources for assignments on UL’s Subject LibGuides
- Download workshop slides from the library’s Guide to Finding and Using Information
- Access Cite it Right Guide to Harvard Referencing
- Research Services guide
Open Access and additional resources available during Covid-19
Open Access (OA) is an international movement to make research publications freely available in order to stimulate further research. Any person who can connect to the internet can access OA material freely.
Explore the Library’s guide to Open Access resources
Additional scholarly material has been made freely available for a limited period of time, from publishers in response to an international call for scholarly material to be made openly available during the global pandemic.
Library books and inter library loans
Fines and book returns
There will be no fines on overdue books while we are closed. Please hold on to library books until normal service resumes.
If you are visiting campus, then you may return library material into the book returns bin inside the library entrance, during library opening hours.
Interlibrary Loans
In line with a number of other institutions, University of Limerick’s Interlibrary Loan’s service has suspended lending physical items.
We will continue to process requests for electronic copies of e.g. journal articles, book chapters etc., although this service may also be subject to disruption.
All items currently out on loan to other institutions will be renewed until further notice. Please ignore any overdue notices from the library that may be auto-generated in the meantime.
Software available for remote download
- SPSS for students is available to download remotely by emailing the Library at libinfo@ul.ie or via our Ask Us online query service.
- SPSS for staff is available by logging a call with ITD via Topdesk or emailing service.deskitd@ul.ie.
- NVIVO and EndNote for both staff and students are available to download remotely by emailing the Library at libinfo@ul.ie or via our Ask Us online query service.
- Refer to the Information Technology Division website for other software, i.e. Microsoft 365, Kapersky, etc.
Online Workshops, virtual library sessions and subject guides
Librarians are delivering workshops online for students.
There are also dedicated workshops being delivered online for reseachers, examples include "Choosing a journal in which to publish – an introduction to bibliometrics and open access", "Research data management" and "ORCID and Researchers profiles"
You need to register for any that you want to attend, details are included with each workshop on the library’s Events calendar https://www.ul.ie/library/events
- Self-directed learning is available using the library’s online tutorials, covering Referencing, Searching and Systematic Reviewing https://www.ul.ie/library/online-resources
- Cite it Right Referencing Guide is available online
- The library also offers subject guides that will direct you to academic resources
Research services
The library has dedicated research support pages
There are also workshops being delivered online regularly for reseachers, examples include "Choosing a journal in which to publish – an introduction to bibliometrics and open access", "Research data management" and "ORCID and sesearchers profiles"
You need to register for any that you want to attend, details are included with each workshop on the library’s Events calendar https://www.ul.ie/library/events