Schools and colleges: Schools and Colleges

Sixth form and College students (Year 12 or 13 equivalent only) are welcome to visit our libraries for independent study.  Before visiting:

• Make sure you have your physical sixth form or college ID with you and proof that you are over 16.  If that is not available please get a letter from your school or college confirming that you are over 16.
• Check our opening hours for visitors
• Check the information about our two libraries so you can choose the best one for your interests

Sheffield Hallam University has two libraries, Adsetts and Collegiate, one for each campus.  The libraries have the books, computers and other resources that our students need to do their work.

If you're not a student or member of staff at Sheffield Hallam, and you are 18 or over, you can still use the libraries. You will need to bring with two forms of identification, including one photo ID.  You can:

• Look for books and print journals to use for your projects
• Make photocopies or scan documents (scanned documents are sent to your email address)
• Access selected 'Walk In' electronic resources using Visitor PCs

Off campus you can use this guide to access free online resources

You can preview resources available on Visitor PCs: Electronic resources for visitors

If you need help while you're in one of the libraries, just ask at the Helpdesk.  Collegiate Library Helpdesk is on the ground floor next to the main entrance.  Adsetts Helpdesk is on Level 4.

The libraries have different books based on the courses that are taught at each campus.

You can find books using our Library Search PCs, which are on every floor of the libraries.  Just enter a title, author's name or topic in the search box then click 'Search'.  Next, click on either 'Adsetts Library' or 'Collegiate Library' underneath the Library location filter to hide electronic resources (which you can't use) and show you resources on the shelves in the library (which you can).

To find a book on the shelves, you'll need to know, which library it is in, the shelfmark and, for Adsetts library, which level it is on.

Each book in the library has a shelfmark (a number and at least two letters displayed on the spine) which indicates exactly where to find it in the sequence on the shelves. Books are arranged in number order - lowest numbers first. When reading shelfmarks, remember that the numbers can include decimals. The number reflects the content of a book so similar books are shelved together.

For  the book above, 727 is for Educational buildings.  0941 after the decimal point means that it's also dealing with British history. SA is from the first two letters of the author's name though sometimes the letters are taken from the title.  Books with the same number are shelved in alphabetic order by these letters.  This book is shelved on Level 5 of Adsetts Library.

Here's an overview of how subjects are divided up in the Dewey system.