Library resources to help you relax

Exams can be stressful. It is important to balance your study time with down time. Make time to relax, connect with friends and family and rest from revision.

At UCL, we provide lots of support and help during the exam period; to learn more about effective exam revision, staying heathy during the exam season, top tips for exams and more, visit the UCL Student Assessment Success Guide.

If you’re looking for a distraction to take your mind off revision, then the following resources are all available through Library Services.

Films

Watched everything on Netflix, Prime and Disney+? We subscribe to several film databases which provide a rich selection of videos.

• Kanopy – enjoy critically-acclaimed movies, inspiring documentaries, award-winning foreign films and more.
• Artfilms is the video steaming service of Contemporary Arts Media, offering over 5,000 films for art educators and practitioners, including a section of films on 'Healing Arts'.

Magazines

There’s nothing like browsing through a magazine to unwind. The following might provide a much needed distraction:

• Rock’s Backpages – an archive from rock and pop music history which has full text of popular music magazines like NME and Melody Maker.
• Vogue – start planning for the big reveal. We have every issue of Vogue from 1892 and all available online.
• New Scientist – stay on top of what’s happening. Science and technology news from around the world.
• We also have access to Sight and Sound, London Review of Books, the New Yorker and much more…

E-books and digital collections

Escape to other worlds and discover treasures via some of our online collections, including:

• Literature online (LION) - access more than 350,000 works of poetry, prose and drama.
• UCL Press – the world’s first fully open access university press has published 189 books which have been accessed over 4.5 million times. Highlights include Treasures from UCL and the World of UCL.
• Digital Collections - many important items from our world renowned Special Collections have been digitised, including items about the history of UCL, medieval manuscript fragments and the George Orwell archive.

Books

Reading for fun is a great way to take a break.

• If you are in London, you will find all sorts of books in our libraries. The UCL Main Library in particular has a great range of fiction, art and design books.
• We also have many books related to mental health and wellbeing, including several from the Reading Agency’s ‘Books on Prescription’ list. Check our Mental Health and Wellbeing Reading List.

Take the pain out of revision

At UCL you have access to one of the world’s best digital libraries. Our library staff are on hand to provide help whether you’re revising, finding resources for your research project, or trying to locate something on your reading list. Try our subject guides - a great starting point for resources and services relevant to your subject, LibrarySkills@UCL - to help you find resources and get the best out of everything the library has to offer, and our online chat service – to answer your questions, wherever you are studying.