International Education Institute - Postgraduate Programmes: Services
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One-to-one Library support
You can contact the Library to request a one-to-one appointment with a Librarian who can help with:
- Advice on finding the resources you need for assignments
- Recommendation and training on databases which are best for your research area
- Managing references
- Using Library services
To request an appointment, email Library@st-andrews.ac.uk with details of what you need help with, and dates and times you are available. Appointments are currently conducted via Microsoft Teams.
Online Chat
You can use our online chat facility to ask questions. It's available Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00. If staff can't answer your question via the Chat service they will pass it on, and someone will get back to you via email.
When Online Chat is not available you can search our frequently asked questions, or submit a new question, we'll get back to you via email.
Requesting things the Library doesn't have
When you request something on Inter-Library Loan the Library will find other libraries that have that item and request it from them, either as a scanned document or photocopy (in the case of journal articles or book chapters) or request that they send us the physical item, (as in a book.)
The ArticleReach service is specifically for journal articles. Requests are automatically sent to ArticleReach and if the journal isn't available, it will be passed on to Inter-Library Loans.
Please search the Library first and check if we already own the resource you need. If it is something we don't have, you can use the Inter-Library Loans service to request it.
See the Inter-Library Loans guide for more information on this service.
If you've come across a book or e-book which you need and the Library doesn't have you can recommend it for purchase through the Morebooks service.
- Search the Library to see if the book or e-book is already available.
- If the title you need isn't available email morebooks@st-andrews.ac.uk from your student email account
- Include the title, author, year and if possible, a link to where you've found the information about the book
- You can expect a response within 2 working days
- If you are a distance learning student please advise us that you will need access to an ebook, especially if you are based outside the UK, as we are unable to post books outside the UK for insurance reasons.
- For distance learning students in the UK, we can post books to you, but there are charges to cover the postage and insurance costs, so you may prefer to request an ebook. More information on postal loans is available through the Library webpage.
If you need help accessing an e-book the Library has, see our E-book Collections guide, or contact the Library.
The University of St Andrews is a part of the SCONUL access scheme. If you are resident in the UK you can register to use other SCONUL participating UK University Libraries. In some cases access is reference only, borrowing is at the discretion of the individual Libraries. More information can be found on the SCONUL website.
Library services for distance learning students
Where possible the Library tries to obtain online resources to support Distance Learning. There are still some books and journals which are only produced in print format, and where this is the case, we do our best to try to give you access to what you need, but there are copyright restictions which we need to comply with.
Use the Search box on this page and on the Library homepage to search for books, journals and other materials, See the "Searching the Library" tab for more details on how to search.
We offer a range of options for Distance Learning Students to get help and support from Library staff, please get in touch if you have any questions.
Distance Learning UK-Based students
We can post books to addresses in the United Kingdom only, for distance learning students. Please check the Library has the books you want by searching for them, and email Library@st-andrews.ac.uk with:
- book title, author, and year
- classmark
NB: The Library cannot post inter-library loan books, these must be collected from and returned to St Andrews, some Inter-Library Loan items can only be used on Library premises. If you need a book email morebooks@st-andrews.ac.uk and ask if the Library can purchase an ebook.
There is a charge of £6.70 to cover postage costs by registered mail, and insurance. You can request multiple books in your request, there will just be one postal charge for multiple books.
If you need to post books back to us, please post them to:
User Services
University of St Andrews Library
North Street
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9TR
We recommend you ask for a free proof of postage receipt when returning books by post.
Books will renew automatically, and we'll email you the new due date. If someone else recalls a book you have out on loan we'll email to let you know, recalled books cannot be renewed, and must be returned by the date given in the email. If you don't return a recalled book by the date given in the email there are fines of £2 per day, the maximum fine is £20.
The University of St Andrews is a part of the SCONUL access scheme. If you are resident in the UK you can register to use other SCONUL participating UK University Libraries. In some cases access is reference only, borrowing is at the discretion of the individual Libraries. More information can be found on the SCONUL website.