About Library Hub Discover
Jisc Library Hub Discover exposes rare and unique research material by bringing together the catalogues of major UK and Irish libraries. In a single search you can discover the holdings of the UK’s National Libraries (including the British Library), many university libraries, and specialist research libraries. This service replaces Copac and SUNCAT, providing access to a growing range of library catalogues, with a new interface style and updated search facilities, with more changes in the pipeline.
Library Hub Discover is one of three services built on the Jisc National Bibliographic Knowledgebase, a growing collaboration with an increasing number of libraries contributing to the shared database, to benefit the academic and broader research community as well as local library activity and developments. The other services are:
- Library Hub Compare: Collection analysis service for library staff in Jisc member libraries and other NBK contributors. For more information see Library Hub Compare.
- Library Hub Cataloguing: Shared cataloguing service for library staff in Jisc member libraries and other NBK contributors.
For information about Library Hub Cataloguing, including Terms of use, see About Library Hub Cataloguing.
Service Features
See our video introduction to the service.
The Discover service provides the foundations on which we will continue to grow. Features include:
- A single search box that allows keyword searching as well as the ability to generate complex Boolean queries. Details are given in the Search Help
- An advanced search providing detailed options for defining a search, including searching for maps and music
- Location searching eg. for materials within a particular region, or for individual institutions and their branch libraries.
- A wide range of contributing libraries, with increasing numbers of UK university contributors and specialist research collections
We are continuing to work on the Discover service across a number of areas. We are continuing to work with more academic and specialist libraries to load additional catalogues and ensure regular updating is established where appropriate. Some specialist collections are static and regular updating is not required. And we are working to introduce new interface feautes as part of ongoing service developments, as well as in reponse to requests from service users. We review all the feedback we receive and use that to help us focus our development activity.
Terms of use
Use of the the Jisc Library Hub Discover service
You may use material contained in the Library Hub Discover service and Web site for personal and educational (non-commercial) purposes. The Database and Web site may not be exploited for any commercial purpose without our express written consent.
If you wish to discuss your use of Jisc Library Hub Discover please contact help@jisc.ac.uk stating that your query is for Library Hub Discover.
Copyright
Materials contained on this website are subject to copyright and other proprietary rights.
For content supplied by Nielsen Book Services Ltd:
"Copyright in any bibliographic data and cover images supplied by Nielsen Book Services Limited is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved."
Disclaimer
Jisc accepts no responsibility for the consequences of error or for any loss or damage suffered by users of any of the information and material contained in this service or any site you may access through this site. It is possible that the information may be out of date, incomplete or the opinion of the author. It is advisable that you verify any information from this website before relying on it.
If you are aware of any errors within the Web site, please contact the Jisc Helpdesk at help@jisc.ac.uk. However, if you find any errors in the catalogue records please contact the contributing libraries directly, as noted below.
Record errors and problems
Book cover images
If you notice a problem with the book cover image being displayed in any records you can report this through the Jisc helpdesk (help@jisc.ac.uk). We will investigate to see why it's happening. The cover images come from an external supplier, so we will pass on details of the problem but we cannot resolve it directly.
Removal of a book cover image
If there is a book cover image displaying in Library Hub Discover that you think needs to be removed for copyright reasons then you can report this through the Jisc helpdesk (help@jisc.ac.uk). We will contact our image supplier to discuss the issue you have raised and the image may be suppressed whilst we do so.
Errors in the records
All the records in Library Hub Discover are supplied and updated by our contributing libraries. We do not amend the records, because any changes we made would be over-written when we next received an update or reload from the library. So any errors or other data problems need to be reported to the originating library. If the library chooses to change the record in their local catalogue, we will then receive the updated version of the record in the library's next update, which will correct the record in Library Hub Discover.
A Library Hub Discover record may have been created by merging records from multiple contributing libraries. In this case an error is often only present in a few of the original records. To check which libraries you need to contact, in the Result screen select a library name to see the Holdings Display, which shows the record supplied by that individual library, allowing you to see if it contains the error. You can use the list of libraries on the right of the Holdings screen to move between the individual library Holdings displays associated with that record.
You can find contact details for all our contributing libraries via our Libraries page. Select the name of a library to see their information page, including contact information.
If you find an error that doesn't seem to occur in any of the individual library records shown in the Holdings display, please let us know and we will investigate the source of the problem. You can contact us via the Jisc Helpdesk help@jisc.ac.uk.
Removal of a record
If there is a record in Library Hub Discover that you think needs to be removed then you need to contact the libraries that hold the document in question. If those libraries choose to remove the document from their collection they will delete the record from their local catalogue. After which we will receive a deletion record in their next update and the record will be removed from Library Hub Discover.
You can find contact details for all our contributing libraries via our Libraries page. Select the name of a library to see their information page, including contact information.
Offensive language statement
Our contributing institutions from across the UK collect materials reflecting a broad range of history and cultures, with the aim of creating a faithful historical record. As a result, some of the descriptions that seek to accurately describe library materials may reflect outdated, biased or offensive views. In addition, some cultural heritage institutions collect and preserve materials relating to controversial events, preserved for their historical significance.
Library Hub Discover makes freely available catalogues of material held in nearly 200 libraries across the UK. Some catalogue entries may have been written at a time when there were different attitudes towards language and diversity, some may use language that is part of the work being described, or provided by the creators of the material. There is currently work going on in the UK and further afield to research the issue, listen to user communities, and experiment with ways to improve diversity and inclusion and counteract bias.
If you do have any concerns about language or bias in any of the content on Library Hub Discover, please email help@jisc.ac.uk. We will pass your concerns on to the relevant institution, and will also use your feedback to help us think about how we might analyse the records on Library Hub Discover for bias and offensive content and find ways to work with our contributors to address these challenges.
Please email help@jisc.ac.uk if you would like to make any comments or suggestions.
Links to Other Websites
This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content and/or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware of when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. The Jisc privacy statement applies solely to information collected by Jisc services.
Library Hub Discover record displays may include material drawn from external services or document specific links to relevant material provided by an external service. In some cases this results in the provision of your computer's IP address and the relevant document identifier (eg. ISBN) to the external service in order to enhance the records with document specific information or links.