Introduction to the Library and its collections
Goldsmiths is a College of the University of London. The Library can be found in the , which also houses IT Services, Media Services, the Copy Centre, and the Assistive Technology Centre.
Library mission statement
The Library will support the teaching, learning and research of the college by providing information resources in an appropriate range of formats, suitable study space and facilities for individuals and groups, and efficient and user-focused services (from the Library Strategic Plan, 10/06).
Library collections
The Library contains over 250,000 books and subscribes to 3.000 current journals, many of which are available electronically. In addition it holds a number of Special Collections, the Audiovisual and School Practice Collections. The Library's main subject strengths are in the creative and performing arts, humanities, social sciences and education.
Collections policy
Our collections support teaching, learning and research in line with the academic policy of the College.
The Library Collection Development Policy (revised March 2007) is available in PDF format.
The Library catalogue
The ALEPH library management system is used for all library functions, including the library catalogue. The catalogue is available on dedicated PCs on all floors of the Library and can also be accessed on the Web at library.gold.ac.uk using Netscape 6 and above, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and above, or Mozilla Firefox.
The catalogue includes records for all the Library's books, journals, audiovisual and electronic resources, and some special collections material. It is possible to perform a basic or advanced search by author, title, subject, keyword or number e.g. ISBN; to browse indexes; to filter search results by material type, language or collection.
Cataloguing standards
Library materials are catalogued using the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed. (AACR2), and MARC21, the international standard for machine readable cataloguing. Library of Congress Subject Headings are used for subject indexing.
The Library uses the Dewey Decimal classification scheme to classify its stock by subject. For an outline of the scheme see books and periodicals, or for details of classification for specific subjects, see subject guides.
Data protection
Information held by the Library is subject to the College's Data protection and Freedom of Information policies.