Coronavirus and Library services

We are available 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday to support you.

Contact us by: 

• Email
• Library Chat (IM)
• Twitter
• Facebook

• Contact your department librarian with any specialist enquiries for your teaching, studies and research.

• Explore our research support guides and contact specialists on publishing, data management and research impact. 

We are now providing a Click and Collect service for Main Collection and Course Collection books that are not currently available online. 

Who can use the service? 

LSE postgraduates and members of LSE staff are currently able to use Click and Collect. 

What can I request?

You can request Main Collection and Course Collection books where we don’t have online versions available.

Any items which are already out on loan or from other Library collections will not be available through Click and Collect. 

How do I place a request? 

1. Login to Library Search and search for the item you need.

2. If the item is available, click 'Click and Collect request' in the record view and follow the steps.

3. We will email you further instructions within 5 working days.

How many items can I request? 

You can request up to 10 items at a time. 

Borrowing allowances have been increased so you can have 50 items on loan at any time.  

How long will you keep items for me to collect? 

We will keep items for you to collect for 5 working days.

Any uncollected items will be returned to the shelves.

Where do I collect items?

If we’ve emailed you to say the item is available, you can visit us Monday to Friday between 11.30am and 2.30pm to collect from a member of staff at the entrance to LSE Library.

You will not be able to enter the Library building. 

We aren't currently able to process any book returns so please do not bring items to campus, or attempt to post material back.

Keep any books you have on loan until we reopen.

All loan periods will be extended and you won't be penalised for overdues.

We have been able to secure additional resources to help you with your online learning, research and teaching. 

New and improved resources for LSE staff and students

• JSTOR - enhanced access to all JSTOR Archive and Primary Source collections covering all areas of social sciences and humanities. 
• Gale Primary Sources - access to Archives of Sexuality & Gender, China & the Modern World and Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
• Coronavirus Research Database.
• S&P Capital IQ - financial data, analytics, and research.
• Elsevier - Novel Coronavirus Information Center. 
• Law Trove - search and interrogate the wealth of Oxford’s law list.

Access a range of resources wherever you are in the world; including JSTOR, Project Muse, Sage Journals.

Find out about online resources for LSE Alumni and sign up for access

Free/Open Access resources 

• CORE - The world’s largest collection of open access research papers 
• Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) 
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) 
• JSTOR Open Access ebooks 

COVID-19 research available to all

• JSTOR - 26 journal archives in Public Health
• Oxford University Press
• Royal Society
• Taylor and Francis
• Wiley Online Library 
• Brill
• Cochrane Library
• Digital Science
• Emerald
• Microbiology Society
• MIT Press - Pandemics and Epidemiology
• Sage Journals
• Springer Nature

Due to the current situation with coronavirus, our archives and special collections can't be accessed.

We are currently reviewing our services and how we might be able to provide access to these collections in the future.

In the meantime, you can still access our digitised collections, or explore our collection highlights to find out more about our archives and special collections.

Our team of curators can help you according to their area of expertise.

You can also send us any general enquiries, and we'll do our best to help. 

Online exhibitions and collections

• Take a look at our Google Arts and Culture online exhibits. Explore campaigns and events that changed history, including stories of the women's suffrage movement, and LGBTQ+ activism.
• Explore the Women’s Rights Collection and other digitised archives and books on LSE Digital Library. 
• Browse collections and freely download images from our Unsplash and Flickr pages. 
• Access thousands of pages in our Economic History Digital Collection.
• Explore Charles Booth’s London: Poverty Maps and Police Notebooks.

If you can't access something that you need, let us know.

• Recommend we add an ebook to our collections.

We aren't able to order print titles at the moment, but if what you want is available electronically then we should be able to get you access.

If you can't access something that you need, let us know.

• Request an article or chapter through the Interlending service. 

We aren't able to order paper copies of articles or chapters at the moment.

The Library building is currently closed, but work is underway to reopen Library services in a way that is as safe as possible for students and staff.

In the meantime, all staff and students can search for and access online material remotely.

If you need material that is not available online, you can ask for an ebook to be purchased or request an article or book chapter.

Don't hesitate to get in contact with the Library team if you need any further help at this time.

We are aware that in the current circumstances some researchers aren't able to access some of the secure datasets they need for their research (eg ONS data). The Library, Research and Innovation and Cyber Security are working together to identify the researchers affected and investigate potential solutions. 

If you are facing issues for your research projects, please get in touch via datalibrary@lse.ac.uk in the first instance. We can then work with you and data providers to provide support. 

 As students and researchers are no longer able to conduct face-to-face data collection, new guidance has been produced to provide advice and tips for doing online data collection.

Please see our guides for:

• undergraduate and master's students

• postgraduate research students and researchers

Unfortunately we are unable to give remote access to Bloomberg; however, you can use S&P Capital IQ to access company data.  

Register as a new user with your LSE email address to access the site. 

If it doesn't have what you need, email datalibrary@lse.ac.uk and be as specific as you can about your data requirements so they can advise.