Services for staff

Whether you are an academic or member of professional services, the Library offers a wealth of resources and services to support you with teaching activities, research support and personal development.

Supporting your students

You may find that first and second level students come to you with questions about where to start with their studies and assignments. That’s why we’ve put together a list of Selected resources for your study, as well as advice on Finding information for your assignment and Finding information on your research topic.

We have also developed support for integrating digital and information literacy into the curriculum, to help students achieve personal, study and work-related goals. Find out more on our pages about digital and information literacy.

The Library provides support for making research materials accessible for all our users, including those with disabilities. We provide guidance on searching databases, as well as access to SensusAccess, which converts inaccessible files into different formats. For specific requirements, you can get in touch with the Library Helpdesk, or you can read more about our disabled user support.

Supporting module production and presentation

If you are working in the production and presentation of modules, you can find out about how the Library can support you by visiting the Supporting Learning and Teaching section on the intranet (internal).

Accessing resources

The Library provides access to a world class collection of high quality and trusted online resources. You can search across many of the Library’s collections at the same time with Library Search.

If the Library does not provide access to a resource that you need, there are two options. You can request new electronic titles for the library stock. If the title will be used by students, please make sure you contact your Academic Liaison Librarian team (internal) or the Library Helpdesk. Staff involved in module production or OU research can use the Document Delivery and Inter-library loans service, which provides access to items not held by The Open University Library. Find out more and make use of the document delivery and inter-library loans service.

There may be times when it would be beneficial to visit another academic library that is nearby to you. We are a member of the SCONUL access scheme, which allows staff to use the collections of other academic libraries. Most UK university libraries participate in the scheme and you are welcome to apply to become a SCONUL member to use this resource. More informatoin can be found on the Using other libraries and SCONUL Access page.

We have also developed tools to assist with locating research material that can be installed or used on your device. The Library Access Browser Extension allows you to access library resources directly from external websites. You can save URLs to easily locate these resources again by using the EZproxy URL generator or EZproxy DOI resolver. Find out more about the Library tools available to you.

Using the Library at Walton Hall

To find out how to borrow, renew and return items to the Library, see Borrowing at the Walton Hall Library.

Meeting rooms in the Library

Most meeting rooms have large screens, ceiling mounted data projectors and whiteboards. The Digilab, located on the ground floor, is designed for more informal meetings. It is equipped with glass boards, a projector and a PC, and an additional PC which can be used on the OU staff network. Meeting rooms in the Library can be booked by OU staff using the Estates resource scheduler on the intranet (internal).

Research

The Library provides support for your research by providing advice, services and resources. We can help you make sure University and funder requirements are met, as well as enabling you to adhere to wider research best practice.