Suggest a book

You have access to over 750,000 print and ebooks but we know that we won't always have the book that you need for your teaching or for your research. There are a number of ways that we can get hold of books and other materials for you. If you need a book for your own research, an Interlibrary Request is likely to be the quickest method. Please see the 'Access books for your own research' section below. Academic staff may also make purchase suggestions. We consider all suggestions carefully, as each School has a fixed book budget allocation. Please use the 'Suggest a book' section below.

Access books for your own research

You can use our Interlibrary Requests service to obtain books and other materials not held in the Library. This will usually be the quickest way for you to gain access to materials. If you have requested a book, we will offer access to an ebook where available.

Find out more about the interlibrary requests service

Request materials for teaching

The University uses an Online Reading Lists system called Talis Aspire. Online Reading Lists are an important teaching tool and a way to ensure the availability of resources in the Library.

Online Reading Lists Support

Our Online Readings Lists team offer dedicated 1-2-1 training, showing you how to take full control of your Online Reading List so that you can populate/edit/update it with minimum time and effort. Please get in touch with your availability and we will be happy to schedule this for you.

If your book request is for Online Reading List material, please contact readinglists.lib@sussex.ac.uk and we can ensure that you are set up correctly to edit your Online Reading List.

Once you have submitted your Online Reading List, we consider the estimated number of students and will purchase multiple copies as appropriate. Full details and step-by-step instructions are available in our online guide.

Suggest a book for the Library collection

If your request is urgent, please use our Interlibrary request service: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/info/ilr. If your book request is for reading list material, please contact readinglists.lib@sussex.ac.uk.
<h3 class="wcmform-title">Suggest a book form</h3> <form class="style1 wcmform" action="" method="post" id="fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded"> <input type="hidden" name="csrf_token" value="MTY5NjE3NDMyMzNiY2UzNDhiYWYzMTkwZjM1MTU2OWY0NTliMDEyNTZlZGJhZTZiZTlhNjRlNWJhNTQ3MjNhZWFiNzY5MDJlYTYxN2IwODUyNGI3MTBhZTMx" /> <input type="hidden" name="form" value="AB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED" /> <fieldset data-id="fs-0"><dl><dt><label class="required" for="TGkb5aid4e">Your name</label></dt><dd><input type="text" name="TGkb5aid4e" id="TGkb5aid4e" required="required" /></dd><dt><label class="required" for="omTc6cuGwM">Your Sussex email</label></dt><dd><input type="email" name="omTc6cuGwM" id="omTc6cuGwM" required="required" /></dd><p class="information">We will usually supply an ebook, if available. If you would prefer a print copy, please enter "PRINT required" in the box below.</p><dt><label class="required" for="tPdDlg8gAU">Please provide as many details as possible including title, author, ISBN and edition, if relevant.</label></dt><dd><textarea name="tPdDlg8gAU" id="tPdDlg8gAU" required="required" style="width:98%;height:10em;" class="elementTextarea"></textarea></dd><dt><label class="">Reserve</label></dt><dd><div class="elementGroupContainer elementCheckbox"><label><input name="KrO8vOdeQD[]" type="checkbox" value="Please reserve this item for me:" /> Please reserve this item for me:</label><br /></div></dd><p class="information">If you do not hear from us, please presume that your request has been purchased.</p></dl></fieldset> <input class="button" type="submit" value="Submit" /> </form> <script type="text/javascript"> $(function(){ function bytesToSize(bytes) { var sizes = [' bytes', 'KB', 'MB', 'GB', 'TB']; if (bytes == 0) return 'n/a'; var i = parseInt(Math.floor(Math.log(bytes) / Math.log(1024))); return Math.round(bytes / Math.pow(1024, i), 2) + sizes[i]; }; function wordCount(str, charlist) { var len = str.length, cl = charlist && charlist.length, chr = '', tmpStr = '', i = 0, c = '', wC = 0, reg = '', match = false; var _preg_quote = function(str) { return (str + '').replace(/([\\\.\+\*\?\[\^\]\$\{\}\=\!<>\|\:])/g, '\\$1'); } var _getWholeChar = function(str, i) { var code = str.charCodeAt(i); if (code < 0xD800 || code > 0xDFFF) { return str.charAt(i); } if (0xD800 <= code && code <= 0xDBFF) { if (str.length <= (i + 1)) { throw 'High surrogate without following low surrogate'; } var next = str.charCodeAt(i + 1); if (0xDC00 > next || next > 0xDFFF) { throw 'High surrogate without following low surrogate'; } return str.charAt(i) + str.charAt(i + 1); } if (i === 0) { throw 'Low surrogate without preceding high surrogate'; } var prev = str.charCodeAt(i - 1); if (0xD800 > prev || prev > 0xDBFF) { throw 'Low surrogate without preceding high surrogate'; } return false; } if (cl) { reg = '^(' + _preg_quote(_getWholeChar(charlist, 0)) for (i = 1; i < cl; i++) { if ((chr = _getWholeChar(charlist, i)) === false) { continue; } reg += '|' + _preg_quote(chr); } reg += ')$'; reg = new RegExp(reg); } for (i = 0; i < len; i++) { if ((c = _getWholeChar(str, i)) === false) { continue; } match = (c.search(/^[A-Za-z]+$/g) !== -1) || (reg && c.search(reg) !== -1) || ((i !== 0 && i !== len - 1) && c === '-') || (i !== 0 && c === "'"); if (match) { tmpStr = tmpStr + c; } if (i === len - 1 || !match && tmpStr !== '') { tmpStr = ''; wC++; } } return wC; } var debounce = function(func, wait, immediate) { var timeout; wait = wait || 250; return function() { var context = this, args = arguments; var later = function() { timeout = null; if (!immediate) { func.apply(context, args); } }; var callNow = immediate && !timeout; clearTimeout(timeout); timeout = setTimeout(later, wait); if (callNow) { func.apply(context, args); } }; }; var useUI = (function(){ var i = document.createElement('input'); i.setAttribute('type', 'date'); return (i.type == 'text'); })(); $(document).on('focusin', 'input[data-ui=date]', function(){ if (useUI) { var opts = { changeMonth: true, changeYear: true, dateFormat: 'yy-mm-dd', yearRange: '1900:+20' }; if ($(this).attr('min')) { opts.minDate = new Date($(this).attr('min')); } if ($(this).attr('max')) { opts.maxDate = new Date($(this).attr('max')); } $(this).datepicker(opts); } }); $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED input[type=submit]').click(function(event){ var invalid = []; try { invalid = $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED :invalid'); } catch (e) { invalid = $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED [invalid]'); } if (invalid.length) { $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED').addClass('dirty'); } $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED').trigger('wcmFormPreSubmit', [event]); if (!invalid.length) { if ($(this).data('submitted') === true) { event.preventDefault(); } else { $(this).data('submitted', true); } } }); $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED input.includeother').focus(function(){ $('input:radio', $(this).closest('dd')).prop('checked', false); $('input:radio', $(this).closest('label')).prop('checked', true); $('input:checkbox', $(this).closest('label')).prop('checked', true); }); $('input:radio', $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED input.includeother').closest('dd')).change(function(){ if ($(this).val() != $(this).attr('name')+'_other') { $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED input[name='+$(this).attr('name')+'_other]').val(''); } }); $('input:checkbox', $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED input.includeother').closest('label')).click(function(){ if (!$(this).is(':checked')) { $('input[name='+$(this).val()+']').val(''); } }); $(document).on('keyup', '#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED input[type="text"][maxlength]', debounce( function(event){ var input = event.target; var span = $(input).next('i.suffix').find('span'); var length = parseInt($(input).val().length); span.text(length + ' out of ' + $(input).prop('maxlength') + ' used'); if (length > parseInt($(input).prop('maxlength'))) { span.addClass('overload'); } else { span.removeClass('overload'); } }, 150 )); $(document).on('keyup', '#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED textarea[data-max-length]', debounce( function(event){ var input = event.target; var length = 0; if ($(input).data('maxType') == 'character') { length = parseInt($(input).val().length); } else { length = wordCount($(input).val()); } var span = $(input).next('i.suffix').find('span'); span.text(length + ' out of ' + $(input).data('maxLength') + ' used'); if (length > parseInt($(input).data('maxLength'))) { span.addClass('overload'); } else { span.removeClass('overload'); } }, 150 )); $(document).on('keypress change', '#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED span[data-multiple]:last-of-type > input', function(){ var newspan = $(this).parent().clone(); var total = $('span[data-multiple]', $(this).closest('dd')).length; $('input', newspan).each(function(){ $(this) .attr('name', $(this).attr('name').replace(/\[\d+]/, '['+total+']')) .val('') .removeClass('hasDatepicker') .removeAttr('id required'); }); $(this).parent().after(newspan); $(this).parent().append('<a href="#rmmultiple" class="rmmultiple"> X </a>'); }); $(document).on('click', '#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED a.rmmultiple', function(e){ e.preventDefault(); var div = $(this).closest('dd'); $(this).closest('span[data-multiple]').remove(); var spans = $('span[data-multiple]', div); if (spans.length == 1 && $(spans[0]).data('required') == true) { $('input', $(spans[0])).attr('required', true); } return false; }); $(document).on('change', '#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED input[type="file"]', function(e){ if ($(this).data('filesize') && typeof this.files[0] !== 'undefined') { var maxSize = parseInt($(this).data('filesize'), 10); if (maxSize < this.files[0].size) { alert('That file size (' + bytesToSize(this.files[0].size) + ') is too large. A maximum of ' + bytesToSize(maxSize) + ' is allowed.'); $(this).val(''); } } if ($(this).attr('accept') && $(this).val()) { var ext = '.' + $(this).val().split('.').pop().toLowerCase(); var accept = $(this).attr('accept').split(','); if ($.inArray(ext, accept) == -1) { alert('Invalid file type. Only ' + accept.join(', ') + ' allowed'); $(this).val(''); }; } }); $('input:radio[data-more-info-listener]', $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED')).change(function(){ var watcher = $('div[data-more-info-watcher="' + $(this).data('moreInfoListener') + '"]', $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED')); if (watcher.data('moreInfoTrigger') == $(this).val()) { watcher.removeClass('hide') } else { watcher.addClass('hide'); $('textarea', watcher).val(''); } }); $('#fAB077494-57F1-9329-C06E-FA87CAE485ED').trigger('wcmFormPostLoad'); }); </script>
Alternative formats

Students who are unable to use print may also request purchases of specific texts in alternative formats. If students require access to alternative formats please advise them to contact library.membership@sussex.ac.uk to discuss their needs. It may not always be possible to purchase items in other formats.

Inspection copies

The Library is not able to arrange for inspection copies on behalf of Academic staff. Many publishers are happy to provide inspection copies for materials under consideration, although limits and retrictions may apply.

For further information, visit the publisher's website directly.

Publisher	Availability/ restrictions
Bloomsbury	5 titles per year per academic. Available only to academics teaching courses with 12 or more students. Feedback must be submitted within 60 days of item receipt to retain print copies free of charge. Electronic copies are available for 90 days only.
Cambridge University Press	6 titles per year per academic. Hardback only provided where paperback is not available.
Harvard University Press	3 titles per year per academic. Paperback and online copies only. Requests for physical copies must be made in writing, using a departmental letterhead. Physical copies must be returned after 30 days.
Oxford University Press	5 titles per year per academic. Paperback only.
Palgrave Macmillan	Unavailable.
Pearson	Restrictions unknown
Polity	Available only to lecturers teaching courses with over 12 students.
Routledge	Availability and limits at publisher discretion. Title must be priced at £80 or under. Feedback must be provided.
SAGE	15 titles per year per academic. Only 3 titles can be considered at any one time. Available only to academics teaching courses with 10 or more students. Feedback must be submitted within 30 days of item receipt. Paperback and online copies only.
Springer	Unlimited online copies. Registration to Springer is required. Print copies will only be provided if an online copy is unavailable. Access to each online title will cease after 30 days.
Stanford University Press	Online copies will be provided free of charge. Access to each title will cease after 60 days. Physical copies will incur a processing charge.
Taylor and Francis	Unavailable
Verso	3 titles per year per academic. Copies must be returned within 28 days. If the title is not adopted, the copy will be charged for.
Wiley-Blackwell	Restrictions unknown