It's official - students who visit the library get better grades! If you're studying for a Cardiff Met degree in Cardiff or the surrounding area, there is a wealth of resources and services available for you at the University's two top-notch Learning Centres.

Subject Advice

If you don't feel entirely confident about using our resources, you can make an appointment with an Academic Librarian. The Librarian for your area will be able to help you get the most out of the library's resources for your subject by recommending key texts, helping you conduct literature searches or by providing tips and tricks for using one of our subject-specific databases.

Document Delivery

Cardiff Met libraries can give you access to almost 300,000 print and electronic books and journals, but if you need to read something we don't have in stock, you can submit an Inter-Library Loan request. Once we've received your request, we'll borrow the book or article from another library on your behalf and either hand it to you in person or email you a digital copy.

Collections

There is a number of great collections available to you at Cardiff Met. As well as books, journals and DVDs our students have access to the Repository, the Special Collections and a dazzling array of electronic texts and image resources.

Training

Our Academic Librarians run regular training sessions designed to help you get the most out of the library's resources and services.

MetSearch (Electronic Library)

You can access our electronic resources via MetSearch.

We also offer a Journal Search and a Database A-Z.

Academic Skills

The Academic Skills Team specializes in teaching students the skills needed to learn independently and thrive academically, whatever the subject. Visit the Academic Skills site to brush up on key skill sets including critical thinking, presenting, referencing and independent learning.

Using other libraries

Cardiff Met undergraduate students can join Cardiff University and Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama libraries.  

The membership allows you to borrow 2 items.  

To apply, please fill in an application form and bring it to the library.  Successful applicants will receive a letter of recommendation which they will need to present when joining the Cardiff University or RWCMD libraries.  The membership lasts to the end of the current academic year and can be renewed.

All students can also join the Sconul Access Scheme and access other academic libraries in the UK.  Please submit your application on the Sconul website.

All Cardiff Met staff can borrow books.  If you are new, just visit your campus library and we'll set you up with an account.

Franchise tutors, Associate tutors, all hourly paid staff, Art Academy and Cardiff Open tutors can join the library as 'Community Plus Borrowers' and are allowed to borrow 5 items at a time.  Their membership can be renewed annually.

All other Cardiff Met staff can borrow up to 30 items at any one time.

Please see our Borrowing page for more info.

MetSearch (Electronic Library)

You can access our electronic resources via MetSearch.

We also offer a Journal Search and a Database A-Z.

Using Other Libraries

Sconul Access allows you to join and access other academic libraries within the UK.  Please submit your application on the Sconul website.

Requesting Resources

If you want the library to purchase books, journals or other resources for your students then please get in touch with your Academic Librarian for your subject area.

We can provide library training to fit the needs of your course and students.

We can make key book chapters and journal articles available for your students by digitising them.

We can order inter-library loans for you if you need a book or article we don't stock.

We have a wealth of image resources for use in your teaching.

We can make your research available by including it on Cardiff Met's research repository - figshare.

We have a dedicated team who provide a range of academic skills training.

We can provide IT training to help you or your students.

We can help with your email, telephones, computer software and more.

If you're working towards a Cardiff Met degree as a Distance Learner, you might not be able to visit us in person very often. We don't want a little thing like distance to stop you from using the library, so we offer a wide range of services and resources designed specifically to support Distance Learning students.

(Please note - book postal loans can only be accessed by those students registered as a distance learner with Cardiff Met - unfortunately, part-time students who live at a distance away from their campus cannot currently access this service)

Borrowing

We can post books and journal articles to your home address at no cost to you. You only pay for the postage when you send books back to us. Take a look at our borrowing page for more information.

Document Delivery

Looking for something we don't subscribe to or need to get hold of a journal article you've found online? Look no further than our Document Delivery service. Sign-up for Direct to your Desktop and receive requested articles quicker via email.

Please note: Regretfully, at this time, we are unable to offer our Interlibrary loan service to students based at Partner institutions. Therefore, any requests of this nature should be directed to your local institutional library.

Subject Advice

If you don't feel confident in using the Library's resources for your studies, you can email one of the Academic Librarians. The  Librarian for your subject area will be able to help you get the most out of the library's resources for your subject by recommending key texts, directing you towards useful e-journals and giving you tips on using our subject-specific databases.

MetSearch (Electronic Library)

You can access our electronic resources via MetSearch.

We also offer a Journal Search and a Database A-Z.

As a Cardiff Met student studying at one of our Partner Institutions, your access to our services is almost identical wherever you are studying around the world. The main way we support your course is electronically, online. We have everything you need to complete your course, such as eBooks, eJournals and databases.

MetSearch - Your Electronic Library

MetSearch contains premium, valuable, high quality academic sources that we have paid for to support your course. MetSearch is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of location. Please use MetSearch in preference to other websites, such as Google Scholar.

Please note: you will not be able to access any premium resources on MetSearch after your course has finished.

eBooks

Our range of academic eBooks are a good starting point for your research. As per this example, select Online Resources with a keyword.

eJournals

eJournals are academic magazines, and a great way of keeping up to date on your topic. They are found online on MetSearch, or through an app called BrowZine which is listed in our alphabetical list of Databases under ‘B’.

Databases

Cardiff Met subscribes to 100+ Databases containing a wide variety of information, such as market reports, images, video lectures, etc. There’s a database called Cite Them Right which is a comprehensive ‘how to’ guide to acknowledging the work of others that you’ve read, also known as referencing or citing.

Academic Skills

From our Library and Academic Skills workshops to web guides, such as the Academic Skills hub and Subject Guides, we have a range of resources to enhance the skills needed for success at Cardiff Met.

Document Delivery

Please note: we regret that, due to UK Copyright Law, we are unable to offer a document supply service outside of the UK. Please contact your local college or local library for help.

Sources of Support

Jamie Finch (email) is responsible for library partner support, and Mark Philpott (email) for IT. Owing to global time differences, email is probably your best option for support or feedback.

For IT support during UK office hours, you can call IT on +44 2920 417000. Remember you can log an IT helpdesk support call online anytime of the day or night.

For library support during UK office hours, you can call the Library on +44 2920 416244, or you use WebChat on MetSearch.

As a teacher on a Cardiff Met course at one of our Partner Institutions, you can access almost half of the databases that we provide for your students. Unlike your students who can access everything on MetSearch, for licensing reasons, you will not be able to access every eBook or eJournal article that you find. MetSearch contains premium, valuable, high quality academic sources that we have paid for to support student learning and your teaching. However, licences are determined by our external information suppliers and beyond our control.

Databases

You have access to an interesting range of material, from eBooks on ProQuest Central, eJournals from respected publishers such as Taylor & Francis, to one of the largest research databases called SCOPUS.

We recommend that partner teaching staff access our e-resources through the tailor-made lists below.

Non-UK Global Partner Teaching Staff

Follow this link

UK-based Partner Teaching Staff

Follow this link

Academic Skills

To help your students achieve the highest grades possible, please encourage them to look at our Library and Academic Skills workshops, Academic Skills hub and Subject Guides.

Document Delivery

Please note: we regret that, due to UK Copyright Law, we are unable to offer a document supply service to any partner staff, both within and outside of the UK, that teach our courses. Please contact your local college or local library for help.

Sources of Support

Jamie Finch (email) is responsible for library partner support, and Mark Philpott (email) for IT. Owing to global time differences, email is probably your best option for support or feedback. For reasons of data protection, please encourage your students to contact us directly with any library or IT issues.

For IT support during UK office hours, you can call IT on +44 2920 417000. Remember you can log an IT helpdesk support call online anytime of the day or night.

For library support during UK office hours, you can call the Library on +44 2920 416244, or you use WebChat on MetSearch.