IDS students and researchers

Contents

BLDS new counter

BLDS is located on the first floor of the IDS building – ask at the Reception Desk by the main entrance for directions.

BLDS Services

Opening times and service hours

Mon – Fri, from 9.15am – 9.15pm, with the Service Counter open from 10.00am – 6pm (Fri 5.30pm) for lending and enquiries. We are open throughout the year, except on Bank Holidays and for short periods over Christmas and Easter .

Borrowing rights and procedures

Borrowing
Up to 30 items can be borrowed at a time.

Journals, Quick Reference materials, IDS theses, and items marked 'use in library only' cannot be borrowed.

Teaching Collection & Research Methods materials have variable loan lengths; 1 week, overnight or use in library only. Other materials are issued for 6 weeks

During vacations
Usually a longer loan period is automatically assigned, with materials being due back at the start of term. However, items can still be recalled during these times so borrowers must be able to return anything on loan if necessary.

Fines
Fines will be charged on all borrowed items that become overdue. 

Loan type

When due back

Fines charged for late return

Overnight

11.00am the next (working) day after  the issue date

£1 per item per day up to a maximum of £10 per item; incurred at 11:01am daily.

7 day

5.30pm, 7 days after the issue date

50p per item per day up to a maximum of £10  per item; fines incur from 5:31pm on the day due (e.g. if item is due back on 1 August, fines will incur from 5.31pm on 1 August).

42 day

5.30pm, 42 days after the issue date (unless recalled
– see above)

25p per item per day up to a maximum of £10 per item; fines incur from 5:31pm on the day due (e.g. if item is due back on 1 August, fines will incur from 5.31pm on 1 August).

 42 day - recalled

5.30pm, 2 weeks after date of recall (or original due date if earlier)

50p per item per day; fines incur from 5.31pm
on the new due date.
  • Fines will not incur at weekends or on closure days. 
  • When 7 day & overnight loans are issued for extended periods during vacations, the fine charged for late returns will be according to original ‘loan type’ as above.

Note that all materials apart from overnight loans, become due at 5.30pm on the due date.

Renewals  
You can renew books online via My account, or at the service counter.  Please note: overnight loans and recalled items may not be renewed. Seven-day loans may only be renewed once. If you are unable to renew online, you can call the library service counter on 01273 915659.

Reserving books on loan
If all the copies of the item you want to borrow are on loan, you can reserve a copy directly from the library catalogue.  (From the detailed record display of the individual item, go to the Availability window and click on the Place a reservation button. You will need your PIN. See section on accessing your library record online if necessary).

 

Accessing your library record online (My account)

Go to www.blds.ids.ac.uk and click on My account (top right corner).You will need to use your IDS number plus your PIN - 4 digit number that we e-mailed you when you joined BLDS.  If you do not know your BLDS PIN, please email blds@ids.ac.uk or ask at the service counter. My account can be used to: check items on loan, renew and reserve items, and to request materials from the basement.

 

Course readings (Masters students)

Each IDS course has a Study Direct page on the University of Sussex website, where the course readings are listed: https://studydirect.sussex.ac.uk/login/index.php
The full text of selected essential readings (normally two per lesson) can be accessed online via the course information in Study Direct.
Additional essential readings are held in the BLDS Teaching collection, or Research Methods collection – check the location and availability of items using the catalogue search.  One copy of each text will usually be marked Library Use Only and can not be borrowed.  Any further copies will either be available for overnight loan (due back by 11am the next working day) or 7-day loan, and will be marked as such.

MA dissertation titles

To see titles from previous years please click here

 

Searching for materials held in BLDS


Catalogue - electronic database of BLDS print material
Subject guides - pre-designed searches of the catalogue
Country profiles - pre-designed searches of the catalogue
Card catalogues ( holding records of pre-1987materials which are not on the online catalogue)

Electronic resources

If you would like to search and use our electronic resources (e-journals, e-books, databases subscribed to by BLDS) you will need to go to the E-library

Purchase requests for books and journals that BLDS doesn't hold

We welcome suggestions for new purchases. Requests for new books or journal titles can be emailed to Library Acquisitions BLDSAcquisitions@ids.ac.uk or can be made at the service counter.  We will let you know the outcome of any suggestion made.

Accessing e-resources when off-campus

You can access BLDS subscription-based electronic resources off-campus using an Athens account password.   Please email Rachel Playforth r.playforth@ids.ac.uk or ask at the service counter for details of how to create your password.  You will need your University network password details to access E-resources provided through the University of Sussex off campus. Further explanation of locally available e-resources and how to access them is available in the Searching E-journals flyer which you can pick up in BLDS.

Disabled access

Please contact Jenny Brookes , Tel: +44 (0)1273 915650 or R.Playforth@ids.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1273 915648.

The Library is committed to making its services and facilities accessible for all users.

Physical access to the Library
The entrance to the Library is on the first floor.
Enter the IDS building by the disabled side entrance, to the left of the main steps.
Take the lift to level 1A.
Turn right into the Library entrance.

Library facilities and services

Please contact the Library’s Disability Representative to make an appointment to discuss any special requirements that you may have. For more information please click here.

 

Access to resources in other libraries

Interlibrary Loans
We can obtain books or articles neither we nor University of Sussex library hold, from another library for you.  You are permitted up to six interlibrary loan requests at a time.  The costs of obtaining material through interlibrary loan are covered by BLDS, so the only payment you need to make is the £1 copyright clearance fee charged for supply of any article.  Please ask for a form at the BLDS service counter, or email docdel@ids.ac.uk with the item details. You should check both the BLDS and University of Sussex Library catalogues before submitting a request.

University of Sussex and University of Brighton Libraries
You can borrow from the University of Sussex Library using your University ID cards.  A link to the University of Sussex Library catalogue can be found on the PCs within BLDS, or go to www.sussex.ac.uk/library.  You may also apply for limited borrowing from the University of Brighton Library (University of Sussex ID will be required).

Borrowing from other academic libraries
Doctoral students may borrow materials from most of the libraries in the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, covering London and the surrounding area.  To register for the necessary membership card or for further details, please ask at the service counter. For full details visit: www.inform25.ac.uk/VAL/m25scheme.html
Postgraduate students and staff registered at Sussex University can also access / borrow from the majority of UK academic libraries via the SCONUL access scheme:   Please ask at the University of Sussex Library enquiries desk for details of this scheme.

Using  the British Library
The reading rooms in the British Library (London) can be accessed for reference use with a reader pass:

Alumni students of IDS

We have a reduced membership rate for ex-students of IDS. We cannot currently grant access to our subscription electronic journals due to the licensing agreements that we have with the publishers and distributors which do not allow for this. We do however have a document delivery service for both Northern and Southern users. If you are working for an organization in the Global South you may be entitled to gain access via our partner GDNet. This document delivery service will allow us to send journal articles and book chapters selected from our catalogue to you via e-mail. 

There are also a number of free online journals, and other resources which are available to you. Please take a look at the following page that we have created predominantly for researchers in developng countries. 

We welcome enquiries from you to help find information resources even when you have left IDS. Please just e-mail blds@ids.ac.uk.

 

Specific information to help with undertaking a doctorate

In our Research Methods collection on the 1st floor, you will find a number of books specifically concerned with the practicalities of undertaking research towards a D-Phil.  There is a printed list of all titles available by the collection.

The website of Vitae, an organisation set up by the Research Councils to support researcher development, includes a host of useful resources for all stages of your doctorate: http://www.vitae.ac.uk/

The University of Sussex has a Doctoral Researcher resources page.

The Sussex Research Hive  is a physical space in University of Sussex Library for doctoral students and research staff,  providing private study areas, bookable meeting rooms and space for informal discussion and collaborative work. 

Ways of keeping up to date in your topic area

BLDS has its own email update service providing details of the latest published material added to our collection, including books, articles, research reports and working papers.  There are 24 subject updates, covering a wide range of topics plus five regional updates. Sign up at here.

There are also a number of article alerting services you can use. For example,
ticTOCs – Journal Tables of Contents Service : http://www.tictocs.ac.uk/.
This includes over 12,600 scholarly journal tables of contents, from 450+ publishers. You can register (freely) in order to save your journal choices for future.  As well as viewing the tables of contents from individual journal titles, you can link to the full text of articles where an institutional subscription allows, and can export TOC feeds to popular feedreaders.

Via the University of Sussex library, you can sign up to Zetoc RSS and ZETOC alert : http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk/
Zetoc RSS enables you to set up RSS feeds for over 27,000 journals. Citation details and description are provided for each article.
Zetoc Alert allows you to set up your own search (for example for particular authors or keywords from article titles).  Whenever new data is loaded into the database you will be sent email alerts matching your search criteria.  To access Zetoc RSS from off campus, or Zetoc Altert, you will need to log-in using University of Sussex library authentication.

Useful statistical and referencing software and advice

Reference management software
The Institute has a site licence for Endnote for managing bibliographies and references. This can be installed on any IDS computer: Install from Start, Control Panel, Run advertised programs, run ‘Endnote v11’.   
The University IT Services runs training courses - see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/training/courses#list and offers FAQs and other advice: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/helpdesk/
Tutorials can be found online from the Endnote site: http://www.endnote.com/training/

IDS student handbook on referencing

Statistical packages
The Institute has licences for SPSSv16 and Stata.
SPSSv16 ­– site licence for use on any IDS computer. Install from Start, Control Panel, Run advertised programs, run ‘SPSS v16 – SPSS v16’
Stata – licence for 20 concurrent users which can be run on any IDS pc or an IDS laptop connected via the vpn. To install: Run "Y:\stata SE v9\wsestata.exe".
Printed guides and manuals can be found in the library Research Methods collection on the 1st floor.
The University IT Services has SPSS guides online - http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/help/guides/spss/  and offers FAQs and other advice for these packages: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/helpdesk/

Finding out more

Further details of our services are included in our library guides, and we have a number of leaflets available on using local electronic resources, all of which you can pick up from the display stands inside the library.   BLDS staff are happy to provide detailed tours of the physical library and information about the electronic resources on offer.  Please ask at the service counter or email: blds@ids.ac.uk with any requirements.

Keeping up to date with BLDS news

Keep up to date with BLDS news, acquisitions and services through the BLDS Newsletter and BLDS on Twitter. And you can use Twitter to tell us what you think abour what we're doing!