Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

This is a service that provides access to materials not available within our own stock or within Edinburgh, enabling the Library to borrow items and obtain articles from the British Library and other libraries within the UK on your behalf. It is sometimes known as document supply.

You can request academic books, journals, journal articles, conference proceedings, theses, and reports. Books and other physical items usually take a few days to arrive, so please plan accordingly. If requesting an article, it will usually be sent to straight to your Edinburgh Napier student email account.

This service is free to Edinburgh Napier University students and staff. To make an interlibrary loan request, follow the instructions on our Interlibrary Loan page. 

You can search the collections of UK national, academic and specialist libraries using Jisc’s Library Hub Discover.

Can't find what you want in our libraries? Edinburgh Napier staff and students can use a number of other libraries. If you are not sure, contact us to confirm if you are eligible before visiting another library. 

SCONUL Access scheme

This scheme allows students and staff from UK universities to use other university libraries. The level of access Edinburgh Napier members can have depends on your status here: 

• Full-time undergraduate students - consultation access only (unless you choose to pay external member fees).
• Part-time students, distance learners, students on placements of more than 10 weeks, postgraduate students – limited borrowing permitted. 
• Academic staff and researchers – limited borrowing permitted.

You can apply for SCONUL Access by visiting their website at SCONUL Access. Follow the instructions on screen and wait till you receive an email confirming your application has been approved.

Public Libraries in Edinburgh

There are 28 public libraries across Edinburgh offering free membership and access to large collection of print books, e-books, magazines, and audio books, local and family history resources, and a broad range of e-resources including Access to Research, PressReader, the British Newspaper Archive, the Scotsman Digital Archive and much more.

For more information, see Edinburgh Libraries.

National Library of Scotland 

The National Library of Scotland is a reference library with world-class collections. It is also Scotland's largest library and one of the major research libraries in Europe. 

Its range from rare historical documents to online journals, covering a wide range of subjects. It specialise in Scotland's knowledge, history and culture.

Anyone can join the National Library of Scotland. For information about personal and online visits, membership, collections, e-resources, and much more, see Using the Library.