All current University of Chichester staff and students have full free access to the Library Service. You are automatically a member of the library when you join the University. Your campus ID card is also your library card and you will find your library account number on your campus ID card. Students can also borrow items using the barcode on their ChiView account on their mobile phone.
University of Chichester students who are intermitting or preparing to study with us are welcome to use the Library (please note there is a £10 administration charge for pre-entry and intermitting students). Students who are continuing to study with us as PGCEs or MAs are entitled to Associate membership free of charge, until the start of their course.
Please see the Visitor access to our Library Services page for more information and costs on: Associate membership; SCONUL access for academic visitors; Alumni; Corporate membership; retired members of staff; Chichester Academy trust staff; Chichester diocese; Partnership Schools; Dome Enterprise Centre members.
- Borrowing
- How many books can I borrow?
- Automatic Renewals
- Renewing
- Reserving items
- Loan Categories
- Lost items
Borrowing
Self-service machines are available to issue, renew and return books, using your campus ID card. Follow the on-screen instructions at the machine. You can also use the machines to check your library account.
Books can be returned at either campus library. There are also out-of-hours book returns boxes positioned outside the entrances to the LRCs.
How many books can I borrow?
| Main collection | Classroom resources | |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate students | 25 | 25 |
| MA/ MSc students | 20 | 20 |
| Research students MPhil / PhD | 25 | 20 |
| University Staff | 25 | 20 |
| Alumni and other Associate Members | total of 10 books or resources from either category |
Automatic Renewals
Automatic renewals mean that the Library Service takes care of the routine renewal of your library loans.
Items will renew automatically 40 times unless reserved by another person, in which case they will not renew and will need to be returned.
If a book becomes overdue, either because it has already been renewed the maximum amount of times or has been requested by another person, there are no overdue fines but your account is blocked until the item is returned. This is to ensure that all the people who have requested the item get a chance to borrow it.
Please note fines will still be applied for overdue equipment loans. These items will not be automatically renewed.
Please make sure that you regularly check your university email account and your ‘My Account’ record on the library catalogue to see which loans have been automatically renewed for you and which have been requested by someone else, and need to be returned to the library.
Renewing
If you do need to renew any items this can be done by:
- logging in to My Account on the library catalogue
- using a self-service machine within the library
- emailing library enquiries: help@chi.ac.uk
- telephoning the SIZ (01243 81) 6222
- consulting a member of staff within the library
If you have a query, please contact the library on 01243 816222 or help@chi.ac.uk
Reserving items
You can only reserve items that are unavailable due to all copies being out on loan.
If a book that you want is out on loan, you can reserve it on the library catalogue:
- Log in to your My Account.
- Search for the item you want to reserve
- Choose campus for collection
- Click Reserve
If the book that you want is not on loan and is on the other campus, you can make cross-campus requests from either campus using the online cross-campus request form on the Library Moodle page.
You will receive an email once the book is available for collection. Please collect from the self-service reservation shelves at the appropriate campus and borrow in the normal way.
If the item is not available in the library you can request an Inter-Library Loan. If you would like the library to purchase the book to support your course then please contact your Subject Librarian.
Loan categories
Depending on demand, items in the LRC are given different loan categories. These are indicated in the library catalogue.
7-day loans
These loans are marked with a green 7-day sticker on the spine. They are issued for one week.
Standard loans
Books with no coloured sticker on the spine are issued for 28 days.
Reference items
Reference items are marked with a red Library Use Only sticker on the spine. These items are for use in the library only and may not be borrowed.
Journals
Journals cannot be borrowed.
Lost items
For any items that have been lost, please do one of the following:
- Purchase a replacement copy. We can accept good second-hand copies of the same edition or later.
- Pay for a replacement copy. The replacement charge is £25 per book. You can pay this either:
- At the SIZ desk in person
- By phoning SIZ on 01243-816222 and paying with a debit or credit card.
If you have any queries, please contact the library office by emailing: leo@chi.ac.uk.