The RPS Library provides access to a sizeable collection of electronic resources through myLibrary. However, there will be occasions when you will want to use information that is available only in print, in the form of books or older articles. The information below will help you find ways of sourcing printed information. It is organised by resource type: book or journal article/book chapter.
There are two ways in which to obtain a book: buying it or borrowing it.
Buying a book new is straightforward, for Pharmaceutical Press titles please visit their website or for other publishers try Amazon or any specialist scientific or medical bookseller.
Buying books secondhand is often cheaper. The following sites may be useful in your search for secondhand books:
Borrowing
You will need to investigate what library options are available to you, and what each library will enable you to borrow. Each library will be different in the titles it has in stock and whether you are able to take the books away with you. In most instances you will have to visit the library in person to access the books you need, and in many cases the books will be for reference use only.
The most common library options are as follows:
Public libraries
All counties have a public library system. For more information about public libraries and the services you can expect from them, visit the Directgov website. Once you have joined your local public library you can use their Inter-Library Loan service to request books and articles from other UK libraries for a charge. Contact your local public library for more information.
Higher Education libraries
Most HE institutions grant access to members of the public to their print collections (and to their electronic collections, but usually on campus only).
For a full list of Higher Education institutions see:
Use the links from the various listings to locate your nearest institution’s website and navigate to its library’s web pages to find its policy on members of the public accessing the library. All HE institutions will allow reference access, and some will allow membership usually for a fee. Each institution will be different so you will need to investigate any HE institution near you. We have compiled a list of HE institutions that teach pharmacy, and have provided a link to their libraries’ membership advice, to help you in your search.
NHS libraries
All pharmacists are entitled to an NHS Athens username and password, which will enable you as a registered pharmacist to make use of the electronic resources provided by the NHS.
Pharmacists directly employed by the NHS will also be able to make use of their local NHS library’s print collection. NHS Evidence Health Information Resources includes a search facility that will help you identify your local health library. Before visiting any health library do telephone in advance to confirm access arrangements.
National libraries
Use the links below to find out more information about your national library:
British Library
Homepage; Reader registration; Services for researchers; Catalogue
National Library of Wales
Homepage; Reader registration; Services for researchers; Catalogue
National Library of Scotland
Homepage; Reader registration; Services for researchers; Catalogue
All of the national libraries grant access to researchers, provide reference access to their collections and offer support in finding information. None of them offers a lending service to individuals, so if you wish to consult a book, you must do so in their reading rooms. Alternatively you can borrow books from the national libraries via the inter-library loan service offered by your public library.
Independent health libraries
For a list of independent health libraries (and NHS libraries) see the Health Library & Information Services Directory. You can search the directory for libraries local to you. Contact details for each library are available on the Directory and be sure to phone in advance of any visit to confirm access arrangements and the services available to you during your visit.
Searching for books
Before using any library it is always a good idea to find out whether they hold the types of texts you are likely to need. To do this you need to locate and search their catalogues which are usually available online and free to search.
If you would like to search simultaneously the catalogues of the major research libraries in the UK (including HE, national and the larger independent health libraries) use COPAC.
The Society Library’s catalogue is still available and will provide you with information about relevant titles. If you are able to visit the Society, you can access these titles for reference use only.
The following information applies equally to journal articles or book chapters, where you want to consult only a portion of a journal or book (in accordance with UK copyright law). ‘Article’ will here be used to signify both journal articles and book chapters.
You will be able to source articles in a number of ways:
Purchasing via the internet
Use Google or another search engine to locate online the article you are interested in. Whether the article is available online will be dependent on the policy and resources of the publisher. Some publishers have made all of their content available online, but many so far have made only the most recent articles available online. Once you have located the article, there will quite possibly be an option to buy a download of the individual article.
Purchasing from a library
If you are able to locate a library that holds the article that you are interested in, they may offer a document supply service through which you will be able to buy a copy of the article.
The most well-established and frequently used document supply service is that offered by the British Library. You can request any article held by the British Library using their British Library Direct service.
Your public library can also act as an intermediary for requesting and receiving articles from the British Library through their inter-library loan service.
Visiting a library that holds the original work and copying the article for yourself
See the section above about accessing books for more information about the different types of libraries and how to access them.