LibrarySearch enables you to search for physical items in CCCU libraries, as well as lots of online resources, such as e-journals, e-books and databases.

If you need advice searching databases or other online resources, your faculty's Learning and Research Librarian(s) can help. You can book a one-to-one tutorial on a particular subject with them through the Learning Skills Hub or email learner@canterbury.ac.uk with your queries. And don't forget to view our subject guides to find the best resources for your subject area(s).

Collections and resources available include:

You can discover the location of all our items using LibrarySearch or the dedicated catalogue terminals in our libraries. You can learn more about LibrarySearch by completing the Using LibrarySearch Learning Skills Hub module or using our library guides.

Once you have found the item that you are looking for on LibrarySearch, click on the title to see if there is a copy available, and make a note of the classmark. The classmark is a series of numbers followed by three letters, which is the start of the author’s last name or the book’s title. The bookshelves will be in numerical order and in Augustine House, the sequence goes up from floors one to three:

  • floor 1 holds items 000-329,
  • floor 2 holds items 330-599,
  • floor 3 holds items 600-999.

In Augustine House the 24-hour and 7 day loan books are found on the open shelves all down the room on floors one, two and three. Whereas the four week loan books are on the moving shelves at the back of floors one, two, and three.

At Salomons Library all books regardless of loan status are in a single continuous run but a different classification system where the numbers are prefixed by letters. The books are held in alphabetical and then numerical order.

For more help read our guide on how to find books in the library or ask a member of staff who are on hand to help.

There are thousands of e-books for you to read or download at home or on campus. Just go to LibrarySearch to find what you’re looking for. See our guide on accessing e-books using LibrarySearch.

OverDrive is an online e-book and audiobook platform that works a bit differently from our other e-resources. It works best with the Libby App available for iOS and Android platforms. Books available on the Libby App must be taken out on loan to be used, much like physical books from the library, but your Libby App account is separate from your main library account. All Libby App books can be borrowed for seven days, and don't count towards your main borrowing allowance. Browse and borrow from our OverDrive collection here.

For up-to-date, specialist information and detailed research articles, make good use of journals (also known as periodicals or serials).

Most journal articles are available online via LibrarySearch or specialist databases. Learn more in our journal guides: Finding journal articles on a topic.

Whether you’re interested in today’s news or something long gone, you’ll find an extensive online newspaper collection in LibrarySearch, Search databases such as British Newspapers 1600-1950, the Financial Times and LexisLibrary.

Find out more about online news sources

For digital streaming and video platforms, look no further. We subscribe to Box of Broadcasts (BoB), British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFC), Learning on Demand, Kanopy and Digital Theatre Plus so you don’t have to.

With BoB you can record and watch programmes from over 65 free-to-air channels. Just search the extensive archive by title or keyword and you can create clips or compile your favourite shows into playlists and share them with others.

To Access Box of Broadcasts from the website: Click “Sign in” and enter Canterbury Christ Church University in the “Where are you from?” box. If you’re using your own device, you’ll need to sign in using your university username and password. If you’re using a university PC you’ll be automatically signed into BoB.

BUFVC, Kanopy and Digital Theatre Plus are available via the Find Databases A-Z menu on LibrarySearch.

Databases are great for primary research, background information, the latest thinking, detailed theory, standard reference, study skills, and literature searching, and we have plenty to help with your studies.

You can access resources such as archives; maps; data sets; subject-specific journal packages; information and news from industries and trades; online newspapers; audio, images and videos (from clips to full films and performances).

Many of the databases are linked to  LibrarySearch, but they can all be accessed using the Find Database A-Z menu. Each comes with a brief summary and some have a guide too. LibrarySearch will tell you where on campus you can access different databases. 

Doctoral and Masters by Research theses are listed on LibrarySearch. 

Theses completed before 2015 are kept as printed copies in Augustine House, and you will need to ask a member of staff at the Library Point to retrieve one for you. Doctoral and Masters by Research theses completed since 2015 are stored online in Research Space Repository. The Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (D.Clin.Psychol.) theses up to and including 2010 are held as printed copies in Salomons Library. Those completed from 2011 are stored online in the repository. Printed theses cannot be borrowed from CCCU libraries or photocopied.

To find theses on Research Space Repository, go to 'Search' at the top of the screen and then click on the magnifying glass. Click on "Search by fields...". Select ‘Thesis’ as the item type. You can also add other search criteria, such as author or subject, if you wish.

Doctoral theses are also stored on ETHoS, the British Library’s theses collection. For help finding theses on EThoS and elsewhere (including theses from other countries) please see our guide.

Undergraduate and Taught Masters theses are not kept in the library. Please contact the relevant faculty or school for information regarding these items.

This is a special collection of teaching resources in Augustine House. The Curriculum Resources collection is shelved at the back of Floor 2 (east wing), with equipment on the static shelves and fiction and non-fiction books in the moving shelves. Explore these resources to inspire creative lesson planning and borrow them to use in the classroom when on teaching placement.

Students may borrow up to 20 items from this collection in addition to their normal library borrowing allowance. Students based at Medway and Salomons can request items from Curriculum Resources to be sent to their home site for collection.

Finding resources

All the items in Curriculum Resources have CR before the classmark to denote that they are part of this collection. You can find all the CR resources listed on LibrarySearch. Use the filter “Curriculum Resources” in the left-hand column under “Location” to limit your results after searching for a topic.

Broad classmark subject areas in Curriculum Resources to browse are:

000 - Computing

500 - Maths and Science

100 - Philosophy

600 - Design and Technology

200 - Religious Education

700 - Art, Music, PE

300 - Citizenship

800 - Literature

400 - Languages

900 - History, Geography

Many books in the CR collection can be used for cross-curricular work, whichever main subject area they are shelved in.

Other material in Curriculum Resources

In addition to books covering the main curriculum subject areas, you will find other useful material kept in Curriculum Resources:

  • Children’s fiction is divided into Picture Fiction (PF), Junior Fiction (JF) and Senior Fiction (SF), plus big books. You can also find poetry, plays and literary collections and Group reading packs - multiple copies of fiction books which can be borrowed as one item, shelved at CR 428.
  • Dual-language books in many different languages shelved with languages at CR 400…
  • Equipment for the different subjects is on the open shelves. You can discover a range of exciting resources to borrow for including archaeological artefacts, musical instruments, geometric shapes, religious artefacts, computing microbits, maps, puppets, science equipment and many more!
  • Posters are shelved in large drawers.

Need Help?

If you would like any help or advice on using Curriculum Resources, please ask in the library or contact Catherine Sherwood, Learning and Research Librarian (Education).

The Sustainability Collection reflects the sustainability-related interests of the University across all faculties and departments. Among more than one hundred titles, you’ll discover seminal works that tell the ‘story of sustainability’ from its roots in the niche post-War environmental movement, to its current position as a concept with global currency.

The collection supports students undertaking the growing number of modules and programmes with an explicit sustainability focus and staff seeking to enrich their curriculum with sustainability perspectives.

The collection is held on the second floor of Augustine House in the atrium space. (Find it on the digital map). Books are available to borrow as part of your 4-week loan allocation of twenty items. See Borrowing, returning and reservations for further details.

You can discover the collection by searching through LibrarySearch like any other item. You can also filter your searches by “Sustainability collection” under Locations on the left hand side menu.

Browse all titles in the collection.

The University’s archives and special collections are held in Augustine House. Nineteenth century literature is a particular strength, with literary gems such as the Mary Braddon Archive, the Sarah Grand Collection, the Gaskell Collection and the Historical Children’s Fiction Collection. In addition, the University’s own archive of its history along with a small selection of eclectic historic books complete the collection. You can request to see items at the Library Point (ground floor of Augustine House).

Dover Methodist Scrapbook

A collection of newspaper articles, letters, posters and other printed ephemera related to the early history of Dover Wesleyan Methodism. Click here to find out more.

Mary Braddon Archive

Mary Elizabeth Braddon was a prolific writer of sensational fiction in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, producing more than 80 novels. The Mary Braddon archive contains unpublished material, correspondence and notebooks, as well as material relating to her children, including the artist and writer W.B. Maxwell and Gerald Maxwell. The archive is on loan to the International Centre for Victorian Women Writers and you can find out more about it here.

Sarah Grand Collection

The Sarah Grand collection contains letters and personal effects of the Irish feminist writer, who was active from 1873 to 1922 and was President of the Tunbridge Wells National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society. Her work explored the ‘New Woman’ ideal, contagious diseases and failure in marriage. You can read more about the collection here.

Gaskell Collection

The Gaskell collection was established in the 1980s to provide English literature students with a comprehensive collection of critical works related to one author which would illustrate changing viewpoints and methods of literary criticism. The collection consists of over 200 books including 19 volumes of the ‘Cornhill magazine’ and 29 volumes of ‘Household words’, 13 reels of microfilm – “Elizabeth Gaskell and nineteenth century literature: manuscripts from John Rylands Library, Manchester and copies of the Gaskell Society Journal.

Other Victorian women writers

We also have books and archival material relating to John Strange Winter (Henrietta Vaughan Stannard), Bessie Marchant and Hesba Stretton.

Historical Children’s Fiction Collection

The Historical Children’s Fiction Collection contains over one hundred titles published between 1871 and 1919. Many are beautifully illustrated. 

Historical Collection

This is a collection of books for and about education that were mainly published during the 19th century. To find out more about it visit the guide.

The Canterbury Christ Church University Archive

There are three parts to the University Archives, The Governors’ Records, The Unofficial Archive and the College of Guidance Studies Archive. Find more information on our guide.

As part of the Unofficial Archive, the university holds posters and printed ephemera from the Arts and Culture programme.

An alternative formats service is available for students with print disabilities. Visit alternative formats service for more information.

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