Books

The Moore Library holds the University Library's working collections in mathematics, physics, astronomy, computer science, materials science, engineering, biological, chemical, earth and environmental sciences including relevant material received under Legal Deposit legislation.

Borrowing from our collections

If you need to borrow any items from the following collections, please use our Reduced Contact Services to either place a Click & Collect order or visit our Study Spaces to browse and borrow in person. If you would like a scan of an article or chapter sent to your mail inbox, please place a Scan & Deliver order.

Please note: If you need to borrow a title from the Journals & Theses collections, due to their closed stack location, you will need to place a Click & Collect or Scan & Deliver order.

Main Collection

The main book collection is located on the second, first and ground floors of the Library.

Books are shelved by the (Library of Congress) LC classification scheme, an alphanumeric system in which the major subject divisions are allocated a single or double letter code between A and Z.

The full list of subject divisions in the book collection are available here, but the main categories used in the Moore Library are:

Reading List materials & recommended reading

The Library aims to purchase at least one borrowable copy of books on the current NatSci Reading Lists (except where these are available as e-books) and supplements these with academic staff-recommended reading. 

Materials Science Library books

Bookstock transferred from the Materials Science Library can be found on the lower ground floor.

Journals & Theses

The journals and theses collections are located in the Lower Ground. To borrow a title from these two collections, please place a Click & Collect order. If you would like a scan of an article or chapter sent to your mail inbox, please place a Scan & Deliver order. You should be aware that all journals titles within the classmark range QB-QC have now been relocated to the University Offsite store. Readers can request these items for consultation at the UL by making a request on iDiscover. If you are having difficulties doing this please contact a member of staff either in the library or via email at moore-library@lib.cam.ac.uk 

Reference books

Reference books (handbooks, dictionaries, etc.) and abstracts and indexes are shelved on the lower ground floor and are not normally borrowable.