If a book appears only as a citation in Summon, here are you options for finding it:
- the book is probably not in physical form in the SIA library - but occasionally Summon gets it wrong. So double check in the book catalogue (you will also find a link to the catalogue on the top menu of the library homepage)
- check the e-books guide for e-book collections only available outside Summon: mainly useful if you are looking for works many decades old, though there are some small collections of recent works here too
- search in Library Hub Discover (LHD), which brings together the library catalogues of academic collections throughout Britain and Ireland. You will not have access rights to every library here, so you'll have to cross-reference the LHD results against our list of other libraries in London
- LHD is not completely accurate, so if you do not find the book you want, you could go on to search likely library catalogues individually. For instance the British Library for books published in Britain; the Tate for British art, and worldwide art since 1900; the National Art Library for any art-related subject; or the LSE for business, economics and social sciences. Follow the link above for these catalogues
- there are also libraries not listed in LHD, whose catalogues you can search individually. See the guide to Library Hub Discover.
You are also welcome to contact the SIA librarians for help. This is particularly worth doing if:
- you are unsure of all the book's details, e.g. the exact title or author's name; or
- the book has been published in the last few months. We may have ordered a copy, or we may be able to check if other libraries have copies they have not yet catalogued; or
- you would like to recommend that we buy the book. Please let us know your reason for wanting the book and, if relevant, why you think it could be useful for other students in the future. We cannot buy everything that is recommended to us, but we will look at your request seriously.
