Orientation Tour

Beginners

The UL is unique: a national, legal deposit library with an amazing collection of around 8 million items - over two million of which you can browse on our open shelves. If that sounds a bit daunting, why not come on a brief orientation tour to help you find your way around? We’ll even tell you what we keep in the famous Library tower ...

Please note this tour does not cover the University's electronic and digital resources: to find out more about using these, please see the classes in the Information Skills strand of the programme.

• All University members (this includes colleges and departments)
• UL Readers
• Particularly suitable for those new to the UL
• Further details regarding Cambridge University Library's eligibility criteria are available

Number of sessions: 1

• To learn your way around the building and its print collections
• To discover how to navigate our catalogues
• To learn how to order from the closed stacks and find your book on the open shelves

Walking tour and demonstrations

You can find out more about the Library, its collections and its facilities in the Powerpoint presentation Welcome to the University Library

• To enter the University Library you must have either a current University of Cambridge ID card or a current Reader's Ticket. For more information and to apply for a Reader's Ticket, please see the Admissions webpages

• Large bags and rucksacks may not be brought into the UL. Please leave yourself sufficient time before the tour to put your bag away securely in the locker room.

One session of forty-five minutes

A number of times per term