UOL Hotspot – David Wilson Library

Like a lot of university students, I spend A LOT of time in the library either revising, writing essays or even just searching the shelves for books which might help me!  I always spent a lot of time in my school library during sixth form doing work during my free periods, but the library at university is on a whole new level.  When you join the University of Leicester, there are induction sessions which teach you how to use the library effectively, but I am going to give you a quick overview of why I think our library is so great!

1. Online Database
   To save time searching all three floors of the library for books which may be relevant to your work, every student can use the online database to search for journals, articles and books.  This system allows you to search for key words (if you don’t know exactly what book you’d like), authors, or titles, and gives you all of the relevant texts.  Some of these are ebooks/journals which mean you can access them from anywhere, but it also gives you the library location for physical books via floor number, zone colour and uses the Dewey Decimal System for making finding the shelf location easier!  There are over 500,000 ebooks/ejournals available and in excess of 1.2 million printed books!
2. Room Bookings
   There is the option to book study rooms in the library for group work.  There are 16 rooms available to book throughout the day, every day.  This process is done online and you can book rooms for as long or as little as you like.  This is especially helpful for group work such as presentations, as in every room there is a screen which you can connect a laptop to, enabling to make rehearsing easier!
3. Opening Hours
   The library is usually open 24hrs!  Times do vary across different times of year and holidays, but the library is usually always available for last minute cramming and late submissions!  Blankets are available for those who want to work through the night and there is a cafe open until late and vending machines available.
4. Zones
   On every floor there are 4 zones – orange, blue, pink and yellow – and all floors are laid out in exactly the same way.  Blue and orange zones are the silent zones, and pink and yellow allow for quiet work (e.g. whispering).  Of course, for group work, it is best to book out the study rooms I mentioned above!  There are also places where you are able to eat on the ground floor, meaning if you want to spend a whole day in the library, then there is no need to leave in order to keep yourself fuelled up!
5. Computers and Printing
   There are many PC rooms available in the library, as well as the facility to borrow a laptop.  This is good if maybe you only have a desktop at home or if you want to use a borrowed laptop for group work in a study room.  There are also printers and photocopiers available in the library and you can use your student ID card to access these.  You can print straight from the library computers, or use the mobile-print facility to print from your own device.

If you want to check out the David Wilson Library website then please click here!  If you have any questions then please leave them below, or seek free to get into contact with our library staff – they are always more than happy to help!

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