Whether you visit us on Site or online you can be sure that our exciting, flexible and welcoming library services are being designed with you in mind, helping you to make the most of your experience and fulfill your true potential at SOUL.

We want you to be able to benefit from the Library services which are most meaningful to you and which can make the biggest difference to your study or work experience.  We therefore develop our services to meet your specific needs and ensure that you can make the most of the library in the way that suits you best. Which services you need and how you use them will depend upon who you are, what your particular purpose or role is at the University and what stage you are at in your study or career journey. Every user can access SOUL collections and searching in its holdings using OPAC.

To make it as easy as possible for you to find out about the services that will help you most we have created personalized service packages to meet the needs of our most common customer groups.

All that you need to do is select the option that best describes you best.

We know that you have a lot to take in just at the moment, but don’t worry – we are here to help you find your feet. The librarian has information about how to get started using the library.

If you have any questions or need help please ask a member of library staff. You can contact us in a number of ways including in person, by email and by telephone.

As a research student or a member of staff undertaking research at the University of Sunderland, you have access to a wide range of excellent information resources, and the expert support of library staff to help you make the most of them.

Through this web page we have drawn together many of the resources and services that we think you will find most useful.

If you need any further help or would like to comment on these WebPages please do not hesitate to contact us.

The University Library offers numerous services to support faculty, staff and the colleagues research and teaching efforts. Key tools such as the catalog and article databases can be accessed from the SOUL web page.

We understand your varied needs and have a dedicated support team of subject librarians who will work with you to support your teaching and research. We offer support and advice on the selection of resources, creation of online reading lists and digitization of content. We provide a range of induction and information skills for yourselves and students, and where possible we will work with you to embed these into core modules. We can also support you in validation and review processes by providing up to date information about Library resources and services.

We also aim to help with your research activity to ensure that you make the most of the wide range of services we provide.

The links on these pages will provide you with further information, which includes how to join, acquiring an Athens Username and Password and how to request materials for adding to stock. There is also information on Reading List Management, Information Skills Delivery, Copyright and Assignment Management and supporting your research.

Our colleagues

Welcome to all our colleagues to University Library Services

Everyone needs something different from his library. For this reason our library has services/ spaces designed with you in mind.

We offer many services that may make your life easier.

You may appreciate a quiet place to think away from your office environment or meet colleagues in our comfortable lounges or take a break, meet and relax in our cafes.

 You can also use our PCs or use your laptops to check your emails between meetings use our photocopiers or read / borrow our books. Look at our current journals or newspapers

We very much welcome guests to our library – whatever your reason. It may be that you would appreciate a quite space to think, read or study or a welcoming social learning space to study with colleagues, you may be tempted by our cafes, would like to read our books, journals or newspapers, have a query we can help you with or maybe you are just curious to know what is inside the building you pass each day.

During staffed opening hours our doors are wide open to you – no need to join or to sign in (if you are under the age of sixteen you please make sure you are accompanied by an adult.)  Just come in and see what we can offer you. You will find bright, comfortable, welcoming library and knowledgeable staff who will help you make the most of them.

Visitors from other Universities may also be able to borrow from our collections and enjoy guest access to our computers while members of the public who are members of the City can enjoy computer access.

We look forward to meeting you in our library.

SOUL welcomes visits to campus from our national and international visitors, requests for tours, demonstrations, and discussion sessions should be made four to six weeks in advance.

Requests for visits should be sent to the Library’s Ask a Librarian service. Requests should include such information as:

1.     Name, title, and institutional affiliation of each visitor

2.     Potential dates for visit

3.     Purpose and goals of the visit

4.     Level of comfort with the English language (We welcome all visitors regardless of their facility with English. We have a number of staff available who may be helpful with translation during tours and sessions, and knowing language needs ahead of time may help us provide this type of assistance.)

The University Library welcomes any comments or feedback from our students, staff and users. You will find useful links within the Library WebPages to the different ways you can contact us and give us your comments about our services and resources. This includes our online form, telephone and email details.

We work closely with other departments within the University to find out about opinions related to the Library so that we may respond accordingly and develop our service.

Find out what the library provides to help and support students and staff  in our University Library Services area to keep you posted.

As a member of staff at the University, you are entitled to join the library.

You may join the library by bringing some documentation regarding your employment by the University to SOUL. We will ask you to complete a short registration form. After issued your library card, you may begin borrowing immediately.

You will be entitled to:

All library notifications (i.e. pre-overdue, overdue and reservation reminders) will be sent to your Email Account. Fines are charged if items are returned late.

Members of University staff will have an Account automatically created for them on joining the library providing that they provide library staff with you University User ID.