Helping You to Help Yourself

Last Summer, the number of UCL libraries offering Self-service issue and return facilities using Radio-Frequency technology expanded to include:

• UCL Institute of Child Health Library
• Joint Library of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital & UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
• Royal Free Hospital Medical Library
• UCL School of Pharmacy Library
• UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library (SSEES)

Following the successful launch of RFID technology at libraries located near the central Bloomsbury UCL campus in 2014, Self-service facilities are now available in the majority of our libraries. This is in part owing to our ongoing commitment to support extended opening hours across many of our sites. Indeed at libraries with 24-hours access such as the Main Library, the Science Library, the SSEES Library and the Cruciform Hub, the introduction of this technology has enabled readers to borrow and return material whenever the buildings are open.

Self-service facilities also allow for a much faster and more efficient way of borrowing and returning books. Not only does it mean less queueing to be served at the desk, but it also frees up Library staff time from routine transactions so they can answer your queries and provide help elsewhere.

Following the successful launch of these services across the majority of UCL libraries over the last two years, we are now committed to making this technology universally available across our entire family of libraries by the start of the 2016/17 academic session.

Please visit our dedicated Self-service webpage for news of our latest installations.

In the coming weeks and months you will also find information here on the upcoming roll-out of self-service across our remaining sites – the UCL Ear Institute & Action on Hearing Loss Libraries; the UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square Library; and the UCL Institute of Orthopaedics Library – and also details of the changes that will be made to Self-service at the UCL Institute of Education Library to bring it in line with the rest of UCL.

Robert Pinckney, Head of Photocopying and Shelving Services