About Stores

The UCL Library off-site store is a closed access collection which houses important research material not currently in high demand. Here we provide details on the material held and how to request it.

About the service

Material is held in the off-site store for capacity reasons. This releases space for new acquisitions on the open shelves in our other libraries. Many larger format items, such as folios and quartos are also held here. Theses are in a special category because they are subject to strict copyright regulations. UCL holds a physical and electronic copy of new theses. The primary library store is located in Wickford, Essex. We do not allow users to visit for safety reasons. 

Readers can request store material for delivery to various libraries (see below). Material requested can be picked up at various library locations across UCL. We aim to deliver items within one working day.

Before Sending a Request

Please consult Explore for locations prior to submitting a store request. If you are not sure about a location, please ask at an Enquiry Desk at any of our libraries. When requesting an item from stores, it is very important to provide as much information as possible in order to help the retrieval team locate the item. If you cannot find the item on Explore, do not send a Store Request – consider obtaining the item via another library, an Interlibrary loan (either via UCL or your home institution) or by suggesting that UCL buys a copy (UCL students only).

• Explore
• Other libraries available to UCL users
• Interlibrary loans
• Suggest a purchase to UCL (UCL students only)

Requesting an item via your Library Account

We encourage all those with a UCL Library Account to request store items by logging in to Explore, searching for the item and clicking ‘request’ next to the item record. Users will receive an email when their item arrives at the chosen pick-up location. In the case of journals, it is easier to fill in the Store Request Form because most journals do not have an individual item record. This is not linked to your library account, so you will NOT receive an email when your journal arrives.

When will my item arrive?

Store items are currently delivered every working day (Mon-Fri), excluding UCL closure days.

Books

Books are catalogued as individual items and most are classed as a Standard Loan (8 weeks). It is much easier to request an item via your library account, if you have one (see above). If you are requesting via the online request form, it is important to provide the book shelfmark which is available from Explore. The shelfmark will tell you if the book is in Stores by beginning with ‘Stores’.

Books that have locations other than ‘Stores’ will be on the open shelves. If you cannot find the item on the open shelves, please do NOT request this from stores. Report the item to the Library Issue Desk/Help Point.

Store does not hold rare, fragile or any other material requiring special handling. This material is held by Special Collections. Such material cannot be borrowed and an appointment must be made prior to material being made available for consultation. Please contact them directly at spec.coll@ucl.ac.uk.

If you cannot find the item on the catalogue, it is most likely not held by UCL and you should consider trying to obtain the item via another library, through an inter-library loan, or by suggesting UCL purchase a copy.

• Other libraries available to UCL users.
• Interlibrary loans.
• Suggest a purchase to UCL (UCL students only).

If you have any problems whilst searching for an item, please contact an Enquiry Desk directly, email library@ucl.ac.uk or phone 020 7679 7789.

Journals 

Many journals (or periodicals) are also available electronically with paper copies now held at Stores. UCL students and staff are encouraged to use material in electronic format. Please see our e-resources pages.

Journals generally have Explore records that cover a run of volumes rather than individual issues, unlike books that will have an individual entry for each copy. This is why it is easier to request a journal via the online store request form.

Individual catalogue entries for all periodical issues start from January 2000. These will appear on the holdings list along with the run information. If the volume and issue you require does not appear on the individual item record please check holdings information. In order to retrieve the correct item it is desirable to include the full periodical title (please do not use abbreviations if it is possible to avoid them), year and volume number.

It is common for sources to misquote reference information. If article details are included we will endeavour to locate the required material if at all possible.
Journal holdings information can be found by looking on Explore under 'UCL Journals'.

You will need to ensure that any item records found correspond to that which you are looking for, as there are many journals with similar titles or the same title but different publishers.
Journals that have locations other than ‘Stores’ will be on the open shelves. If you cannot find the item on the open shelves, please do NOT request this from stores. Report the item to the Library Issue Desk/Help Point.

If you cannot find the item on the catalogue, it is most likely not held by UCL and you should consider trying to obtain the item via another library, through an inter-library loan, or by suggesting UCL purchase a copy.

• Other libraries available to UCL users.
• Interlibrary loans.
• Suggest a purchase to UCL (UCL students only).

If you have any problems whilst searching for an item, please contact an Enquiry Desk directly, email library@ucl.ac.uk or phone 020 7679 7789.

Theses

Stores hold a copy of most UCL PhD Theses, from 1910 to the present and a selection of Masters Theses.

In addition to the PhD’s we hold, we also have a selection of Masters Theses for the following subjects:

• Conservation Studies.
• Clinical Psychology.
• Built Environment Studies
• Museum Studies.

The current 5 years of Environmental Studies Masters Theses are held at the Bartlett Library Issue Desk.

In order to retrieve the correct item, it is necessary to include the date of the work, author's name and full title of the thesis on the Store Request Form. 

Certain restrictions as to when you can consult this material are applied due to copyright law. Theses are kept under restricted access for reference only in the library. This means they cannot be borrowed and are only available for consultation during Issue Desk/Collection Point opening hours.

We do not hold any Undergraduate dissertations. If you are interested in this material please talk directly to the relevant faculty department.

If a reader requires access outside of these hours they must contact the stores desk directly.

Some Clinical Health Psychology (D.Clin.) dissertations are in two volumes, the second of which contains confidential medical material and is marked Restricted Access, in red, on the spine. If you need to consult volume two as well as the main dissertation then you need to obtain a letter from the director of the sub-department of Clinical Health Psychology, at the time of writing this is Prof. P. Fonagy.

Please note

Failure to return a thesis to the Issue Desk/Collection Point on time, or removing it from the library, may result in the suspension of library privileges.

Other items

The Store holds a number of DVD’s, videos and pamphlets. Please check our library catalogue (Explore) – if you cannot find the item, it is likely not held at UCL. You may wish to use Library Hub Discover, which searches many UK National, University and specialist research libraries. 

Special Collections

Store does not hold rare, fragile or any other material requiring special handling. This material is held by UCL Special Collections. Such material cannot be borrowed and an appointment must be made prior to material being made available for consultation. Please contact them directly at spec.coll@ucl.ac.uk.