SCONUL Access
SCONUL Access is a reciprocal access scheme, granting borrowing privileges to library users of higher education libraries in Ireland and the UK. Each member library chooses which types of user to accept under the scheme. Its users are then offered exactly the same level of service by other member libraries.
For example, if a library offers borrowing under the scheme to full time postgraduates, then it can issue a SCONUL Access card to its own full time postgraduates. The different types of user are grouped under three bands:
Band A: staff and researchers
Band B: part time undergraduates and postgraduates, distance learning, placement, and full time undergraduates*
Band C: full time taught postgraduates
* Note that full time undergraduates do not have borrowing privileges.
NUI Galway offers borrowing to all three bands, but some other libraries in Ireland offer only one or two bands. Go to the SCONUL Access website for details of more than 150 participating libraries and check which types of user are accepted by individual member libraries. You should note the opening hours of libraries and any other local conditions.
The following Irish universities are members of the scheme:
- Dublin City University [Band A]
- National University of Ireland, Maynooth [Bands A B C]
- Queen’s University, Belfast [Band A]
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland [Band A]
- University College Cork [Bands A C]
- University College Dublin [Band A]
- University of Limerick [Bands A C]
- University of Ulster [Bands A B C]
To apply for a card, download a copy of the SCONUL Access application form and take the completed form to the Customer Services Desk on the ground floor of the Library. When visiting other libraries, you will need to present your NUI Galway ID and your SCONUL Access card.
The scheme does not provide automatic rights to access computer facilities, including access to electronic journals and databases. For more information on the scheme, go to the SCONUL Access website.
