Finding resources for study

Here are some pointers to useful resources within Newnham College Library and across the University. Our Library Guide contains more information about Newnham College Library facilities and finding books in the library. You can find more information about study skills, resources, and databases available across the University through Cambridge Libguides. See our Study skills page for a collection of links to additional study skills resources.

Searching the catalogue

You can search for books and electronic resources available within Newnham College Library and across the University using iDiscover.

iDiscover is a catalogue which allows you to search all the Cambridge libraries’ print and electronic resources in one place.

You can limit your search to a specific library and select ‘Newnham College’ from a drop-down menu, or by using Advanced Search.

Advanced Search will improve the precision of your results, and works best if you specify a library, a title, and an author. Searches can also be refined by subject, publication date, or resource type.

iDiscover allows you to save results and create citations in a number of standard formats. Use the iDiscover Libguide for information about this search and discovery service.

There are two catalogue enquiry terminals on the ground floor of the library, which give dedicated access to iDiscover.

Reading Lists Online

Cambridge University Libraries Reading Lists Online gives easy access to your course reading lists online. Reading Lists Online shows the location and availability of print books, with links to electronic books, articles and websites, videos and digitised chapters.

The online reading list may not include print copies from all libraries available to you, including your College Library, so always double-check iDiscover to see where print copies might be held.

Finding e-resources

All e-resources and e-books are searchable on iDiscover.

There is a Cambridge e-books LibGuide for more information about finding and using e-books.

A great place to start exploring electronic resources is the Cambridge LibGuide for e-resources and e-journals. There are separate LibGuides for accessing newspapers, theses and audio-visual resources.

When searching for an ebook on iDiscover, it is important to click through to the full record of an ebook title to see exactly what choices are available. Sometimes you will find there are multiple versions and one of them may have unlimited-user access; this blog post explains in further detail the different permissions that affect online access.

You can also explore the Cambridge Digital Library to view some of the University’s rare books and other treasures of the collection online.

You may be prompted for your Raven login and password if you are accessing e-resources off-site.

New books

Members of College are encouraged to recommend books which would enhance our collection.

You can also recommend books to the UL.

From time to time we produce a list of new accessions to showcase additions to our collection.

Training

Newnham College Library staff are always ready to help you make the most of Cambridge libraries – email the Librarian for more information about the training sessions we can offer you.

You can find all the essentials for settling in to Cambridge on CamGuides.

In addition, the University of Cambridge training site has a central booking system for a variety of courses on study skills and software packages.