The main collection of books and current journals for Psychology is located on the first floor of the Science Library (DMS Watson Building). Relevant material may also be found in other Science
Library collections such as Anthropology, Management, Medical Sciences (all on the 2nd Floor) and Computer
Science (4th Floor). See also the UCL medical libraries and the Language & Speech Science Library, for related materials. Maps, opening hours and other details are available for all site
libraries
Book collections
Library Services has its own classification scheme for arranging books
on the shelves (except the medical libraries which normally use the National
Library of Medicine scheme); a typical classmark will consist of the name of a subject (e.g. Psychology) followed by letters
and numbers denoting its position on the shelves in that section;
e.g. PSYCHOLOGY B 55 for books by and about Freud [Note that the spine labels on
books belonging to the Psychology collection will be prefixed with the letters
PSYCH.]
Within the Psychology collection in the Science Library, books are organised in the following sections:
A: General
B: Systems (theories including psychoanalysis)
C: Methodology (research methods, tests, statistics)
D: Physiological Psychology (genetics and evolution, neuropsychology)
G: Psychological Processes (cognition, intelligence, memory,
emotion)
K: Developmental Psychology (child development, ageing)
M: Educational Psychology (schools, truancy)
P: Personality (gender, ego, self)
Q: Abnormal Psychology (psychosis, behavioural disorders, therapies)
S: Social Psychology (groups, beliefs, conflict, communication)
V: Applied Psychology (occupational psychology, clinical psychology)
W: Comparative Psychology (animal behaviour)
Copies of certain books, and course readings in the Teaching Collection, may be held in the Short Loan Collection room (3-hour and 2-day loans) on the ground floor and can be borrowed and returned using the dedicated self-service machines there. Books may also be held in our off-site Store and can be requested (see Library Catalogue below).
Periodical Collections
Where titles are held in print, volumes from 1991 onwards are arranged alphabetically adjacent to
the book collection on the first floor but note that where electronic access is available, certain years may be held in Store. Volumes for years before 1991 are also held in Store.
To request volumes from Store
use the electronic
form.
For more information about electronic journals, see below.
Library Catalogue
Book locations may be checked by searching Explore and limiting searches to Library Catalogue. Explore access points are available in the libraries and Explore may also be accessed from any web browser.
By signing into Explore, books held in Store may be requested (next day delivery, Monday-Friday), and reservations can be made if all copies of a book are on loan.
Details of UCL's periodical holdings may also be found on Explore -
follow links to 'Online' for electronic access and choose 'Locations' to see print holdings.
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Electronic resources
Materials held in electronic form, including periodicals and books, are normally available to registered members of UCL from anywhere with an internet connection. You will usually need your UCL userid and password in order to gain
access to them unless you are already logged in to WTS.
Indexing and abstracting databases
Among the online bibliographic indexes accessible through the MetaLib gateway are:
- PsycINFO, which indexes the contents
of journals, books and dissertations
- PEP-Web (Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing), for full text journals and books
- British Education Index and ERIC, for information in the field of education
- PILOTS, for articles on post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health consequences of traumatic events.
- HAPI, to find information about tests and other measurement tools
- Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index (through the Web of Science)
which index journals
- IBSS (International Bibliography of the Social
Sciences) which indexes the contents of books and journals
- Medline, the major biomedical database which indexes
journals
- Embase, the European equivalent of Medline which
indexes journals
- CINAHL, for nursing and allied health literature
- The Cochrane Library, a key resource for evidence-based
clinical practice including full-text, commissioned Cochrane Systematic Reviews (the Campbell Collaboration has a similar role in producing systematic reviews of the effects of social interventions)
For a complete list of databases available at UCL, see the list here
Electronic journals
Information about journals available electronically to UCL staff and students can be found by searching Explore, and also through the 'Find e-journal' tab in MetaLib. Follow the SFX links to read the full text of journal articles online.
Electronic books
To find out if the Library has access to a particular book online search Explore, limit your search to Library catalogue and follow links to 'Online access'. Library Services also subscribes to the PsycBOOKS service, providing access to the full text of over 2,000 titles, and to PEP-Web which includes the complete works of Freud; follow links to these resources from the A-Z lists here.
Exam papers
Copies of UCL examination papers are available through the Electronic Exam Papers Service and can also be searched for in Explore.
Archives of printed copies are also held by the Library - for the most recent year these are held in the Main Library (Photocopying Room); previous years are held in Store and may be requested by completing an online form.
WISE for Biomedical and Life Sciences
WISE is an online course for finding, using and managing information effectively with the resources described above, and more. Go to Moodle and log in with your UCL userid and password. Click on All Courses and select WISE for Biomedical and Life Sciences, which includes information relevant for research in Psychology.
Individual and group training can also be arranged, please contact the subject librarian (see below).
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The Senate House Library in
Malet Street has extensive holdings in psychology, including the book and journal collections of the British Psychological
Society. UCL staff and students can join and borrow books from the
library.
Access to other University of London libraries including Birkbeck and the
Institute of Education is normally permitted upon presentation of a valid UCL
I.D. card, however borrowing may only be permitted for academic staff and research
postgraduates. Additional forms of identification may be required, and this also applies to anyone joining the British Library's reading rooms at St Pancras.
Please check here before travelling to any other Library for information about what you will need to take with you and local arrangements and conditions.
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If you have any queries about using the Library, please ask at
the
Science Library Enquiry Desk, or contact the subject librarian for Psychology:
Kate Cheney (based in the Cruciform
Library)
E-mail k.cheney@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: internal: 4 6141; external: 020 7679 6141
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