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- About our libraries
- Contact Us
- Using the libraries
- Subject Guides
- Borrowing
- Library Equipment
- Supporting Research
- Services for International Students
- School and college visits to our libraries
- Services for Staff
- Services for New Students
- FAQs for Prospective Students
- FAQs for Prospective Medical School Students
- Walk In Access
- Copyright
- Our Video Wall
- Library rules and regulations
- Opening hours
- Access to resources
- Library projects and developments
- Staff Central (Staff Only)
FAQs for Prospective Exeter Medical School Students
We hope that the following FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) will be useful to you in giving you some of the key information about our libraries in a quick and easy format.
- How many libraries do you have?
- Can Exeter Medical School students access any other libraries?
- What are the opening hours?
- Do you have WiFi in the Library?
- How many study spaces do you have?
- Do you have multimedia facilities?
- Do you have spaces in the libraries to take a break from working?
- How safe are the 24-hour buildings?
- How many items do you have in your libraries?
- Can I get easy access to the materials on my reading list?
- Can I obtain items that are not held by the Library?
- What electronic resources are available to me?
- Do I need lots of different passwords to use electronic resources?
- Can I access electronic resources from off campus?
- Are there computers I can use in the Library?
- What help can library staff give me?
- Can someone show me how to research a topic?
- Do you have facilities for accessibility needs?
- How does the Library keep in touch with me?
- How involved are students in influencing and enhancing the Library?
1. How many libraries do you have?
Exeter
Forum Library: the main undergraduate collection for all subjects.
Research Commons: older research materials, Special Collections, the Bill Douglas Centre film museum.
St. Luke’s Library: specialist Education and Sports Sciences collections.
Cornwall
Tremough Library: subjects include Biosciences, Cornish Studies, Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, History, Journalism, Law, Literature, Mining, Politics.
Woodlane Library: subjects include Advertising, Architecture, Art, Graphic Design.
2. Can Exeter Medical School students access any other libraries?
Exeter Medical School students also have access to the Exeter Health Library, the NHS library at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. It is located on the first floor of the PMS building on the Wonford hospital site on Barrack Road. Students can borrow up to 6 books for up to 3 weeks at a time in addition to their university allowance (15 items).
When students are on placement they are also entitled to access the library facilities at their placement hospital. These include:
- Health Library, Knowledge Spa, Truro, Cornwall (Royal Cornwall Hospital).
- Northern Devon Healthcare Library Service (North Devon District Hospital, Barnstaple).
- Plymouth Health Community Library Service, Discovery Library (Derriford Hospital, Plymouth).
- South Devon Healthcare Library Service (Torbay Hospital, Torquay).
3. What are the opening hours?
The Forum Library and the Study Area at St. Luke’s Library are open 24/7 throughout most of the year, including the Christmas vacation.
Research Commons and St. Luke’s Library are open 08:30 – 21:00 throughout most of the year.
See our full opening hours details.
Exeter Health Library is staffed from 08:30 to 17:30 on weekdays. However, medical students have out of hours' access in the evenings and at weekends.
4. Do you have WiFi in the Library?
Yes, we have WiFi throughout all our libraries, including Exeter Health Library.
5. How many study spaces do you have?
Peak seating capacity in the Forum Library is over 1000 study seats, Research Commons has 120 seats and St. Luke’s Library has 180 seats, in a mix of individual, group and silent study spaces. The Amory Study Centre offers 240 seats including bookable group rooms and The Sanctuary offers 180 quiet study spaces. There are additional study spaces (computer rooms, group and individual spaces) in other buildings close to departments.
Quiet study areas are also available at Exeter Health Library.
6. Do you have multimedia facilities?
There is a multimedia suite in the Forum Library; its equipment includes 3 Apple Macintosh workstations, which offer various software packages including Adobe Premier Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Apple iMovie.
The Life Sciences Resource Centre (LSRC) is located within the PMS building on St Luke's campus. It offers a rich variety of technology-enhanced resources to support students' learning, including anatomica models, multimedia and IT resources.
7. Do you have spaces in the libraries to take a break from working?
The Forum Library has social break-out spaces, including an open-air courtyard.
Research Commons has a terrace and social break-out area.
St. Luke’s Library has a garden to relax in, and an eating area in the library building itself.
There is a coffee bar on the ground floor of the building housing Exeter Health Library.
8. How safe are the 24-hour buildings?
Overnight, only registered members of the University using a valid UniCard can gain access to the St. Luke’s Library Study Area. There is a porter in the Forum Library building all night, and Estate Patrol staff are available 24/7 to ensure the security of our users.
Out of hours, only registered members can access Exeter Health Library using a valid card.
9. How many items do you have in your libraries?
University of Exeter libraries have over 1.2 million books and journals in print.
Exeter Health Library holds over 12,000 items, including print and electronic resources.
10. Can I get easy access to the materials on my reading list?
We liaise closely with departments to ensure that items on reading lists are purchased for the library. In the Forum Library, the textbooks you need are collected together in an Express Collections room at the front of the building, for quick and easy access.
11. Can I obtain items that are not held by the Library?
If an item is not available in our Libraries, you can request an inter-library loan (ILL). We make the request on your behalf and borrow books and journals from other libraries in the UK and abroad. Each request costs £8.50 or one ILL token (available from departments).
12. What electronic resources are available to me?
Over 100 research databases, more than 30,000 electronic journals and thousands of e-books, plus many other types of e-resource are available across all subject areas via the Electronic Library. Our electronic resources for medical students include EMBASE (indexes the biomedical literature), PubMed (a database of more than 21 million citations for the biomedical literature), Cochrane Library (a collection of databases containing various types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making), ISI Web of Science (a multidisciplinary research database), PsycINFO (indexes the psychological literature) and TRIP Database (a medical search engine with an emphasis on evidence-based medicine).
Medical students are also entitled to an NHS Athens account. This provides access to additional NHS resources including NHS Evidence (a web-based portal to authoritative clinical and non-clinical evidence and best practice).
13. Do I need lots of different passwords to use electronic resources?
Virtually all University of Exeter electronic resources can be accessed using your standard University login. A few resources require a separate username and password; this information is readily available to members of the University from the Electronic Library web pages.
An additional username and password is required to access NHS resources. Medical students will be given full details and shown how to access these resources.
14. Can I access electronic resources from off campus?
Yes, all University of Exeter electronic resources are available off campus, although some require a separate login for off-campus access.
15. Are there computers I can use in the Library?
Forum Library: 105 PCs, plus 55 laptops available for loan via the IT Help Desk and in dedicated laptop lockers in the Forum building.
Research Commons: 15 PCs plus 2 laptops available for loan.
St. Luke’s Library: 10 PCs within the library and 28 PCs in the 24/7 computer room, plus 8 laptops available for loan.
There are also other computer rooms outside the libraries which are available to all members of the University.
Exeter Health Library: 17 NHS computers connected to the hospital network for private study (NHS username required).
16. What help can library staff give me?
There are always Information Assistants available, either at enquiry points or floor-walking around the Library. They are always more than happy to answer your queries, so feel free to approach them at any time and ask for help and advice. Library staff can also be contacted via telephone or email and we always aim to reply as quickly as possible.
Our team of Subject Librarians are the specialists in finding information in your subject area. Each department is supported by a particular subject librarian. Natasha Bayliss is the Subject Librarian for Exeter Medical School.
17. Can someone show me how to research a topic?
Subject Librarians are the experts on subject-specific resources, and are available to provide tailored research skills support, advice and training to individuals and groups. They can be contacted by phone or email, or you can just pop into the office for a chat.
Exeter Health Library has its own dedicated Library and Information Skills Trainer, who supports medical students in accessing NHS resources.
18. Does the Library have facilities for accessibility needs?
The Forum Library has four rooms dedicated for use by those with accessibility needs, and provided with specialist equipment such as speech recognition software (Dragon Naturally Speaking, Freespeech and Texthelp), mind mapping software (Inspiration Pro) and screen reading software (Jaws 4).
Additionally, all library staff have accessibility awareness training.
19. How does the Library keep in touch with me?
We send messages to you via your University email address. These messages include courtesy notices, which we send 48 hours in advance to notify you when your items are due. We also let you know when items that you have reserved have been returned and are waiting for you to collect.
We keep you updated with library news, events and new services etc. via Twitter and our web pages. You can also follow us on Facebook.
20. How involved are students in influencing and enhancing the Library?
The I Want One of These scheme allows for student-led acquisition of resources, by requesting items that are not available in the library. For instance, during 2011/12, we have spent £5,000 on materials that students have requested through this scheme; since September 2011 we have spent £2,500 and bought 110 titles.
We encourage and respond to suggestions and feedback through our comments cards system.
From 2011/12 we have an additional £250K to spend annually to boost access to core materials; we liaise closely with staff and students over the best use of this money.
Library Champions represent their subject and fellow students to the library. Students can discuss any library issues with them and they will feed this back to the library. Each Champion has £1,000 to spend on library materials requested by their fellow students.
