The Library's iCatalogue tells you what books are available at UKZN, in which library and in which section of the library, as well as the current status of a book: availability, checked out, on order, etc.
A guide to using the iCatalogue is available.
Training sessions on how to use the catalogue are offered at the beginning of each semester and on request.
General Stock Collection
The books are arranged on the open shelves in number order using the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme. Education books are housed in the Edminson Library on the Edgewood Campus, Pinetown and also on the 2nd floor of the Cecil Renaud (Main library) in Pietermaritzburg.
Click here for details on borrowing privileges for students and staff and library opening hours. Books may be renewed in person in the library or Online if they have not been requested by another borrower.
The iCatalogue on the Library's website can be used to track the location and availability of an item.
Dictionaries and Encyclopedia
Before you begin searching for information, make sure you understand the topic you are researching. Dictionaries provide definitions of unfamiliar terms, whilst encyclopaedias give more detailed explanations of topics.
1. For print dictionaries and encyclopedias search iCatalogue
2. Electronic dictionaries and encyclopedias:
Oxford English Dictionary This 20-volume work (2nd ed) can be searched online together with revisions being made for the 3rd ed. (Subscription)
Cambridge Dictionaries
A selection of dictionaries published by Cambridges University Press can be searched; also provides links to sites for language teachers and researchers.
Collins Word Exchange
An online dictionary and discussion forum for words (many of them slang) used in everyday speech but not yet in dictionaries; includes a dictionary of abbreviations used in mobile phone text messages and other word tools.
Webster's Online Dictionary
Contains at least 3,000,000 words and expressions from 90 modern and 10 ancient languages
Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology
Contemporary Women's Issues
Contemporary Women's Issues (CWI) is a multidisciplinary, full-text database that brings together relevant content from mainstream periodicals, "gray" literature, and the alternative press, with a focus on the critical issues and events that influence women's lives in more than 190 countries. CWI includes English-language titles from East and West Africa, Asia, and South and Central America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Articles on different subjects, Britannica's World Atlas, Timelines and Year-in-Review as well as Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus.
Encyclopedia of Case Study research
An encyclopedia encompassing breadth and depth—breadth of disciplines, philosophical paradigms, and geographic situatedness of case studies, and depth of experience, knowledge, and insight into case study research
New Encyclopedia of Africa
A reworking of the classic Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara (1997), this new version covers the entire continent and expands both the geographical range (by treating North Africa) and the chronological coverage (by addressing the twenty-first century). Anthropology, geography, history and cultural studies combine in this reference work to present Africa in a new light. The print set in 5 vols is housed in the Cecil Renaud Main Library, Pietermaritzburg. (Subscription)
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Covers Anglo-American, ethical and political, cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, continental and contemporary philosophy; over 25,000 hot-linked cross-references between articles and new links to other editorially reviewed websites. A useful resource for all levels of users. (Subscription)
Qualitative Research by 
A Pelican Book: Object-Oriented Ontology by 
The Posthuman by 
Becoming Human by 
Constructing Grounded Theory by 
How to Do Your Research Project by 
Transcribing for Social Research by 
Participatory Visual Methodologies by 
Critical Realism, Environmental Learning and Social-Ecological Change. by 
Routledge Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood by 
Public Policymaking by 
Understanding Research in Education by 
The Critical Pedagogy Reader by 
Education in a New South Africa by 
Continuity, Complexity, and Change by 
Home Education Series; Volume 1 by 
Principles of Educational Leadership and Management by 
Self-Narrative and Pedagogy by 
Surviving Your Dissertation by 
Polyvocal Professional Learning Through Self-Study Research by 
Rural Transitions to Higher Education in South Africa by 
Writing a Proposal for Your Dissertation by 
Designing Your First Research Proposal by Prescribed, recommended and heavily used books are usually kept in the Academic Reserves (Short loan) section. Academic Reserves material may not be taken out of the library. Please consult the issue desk staff.
African Digital Library
Provides a range of information resources. Registration is necessary and the username and password e-mailed to those who register must be used in order to access the digital library resources. The content of the African Digital Library is available at the Netlibrary.
African Writers Series
Heinemann's African Writers Series publishes texts of modern African literature. This electronic edition provides 181 volumes of fiction, poetry, drama and non-fictional prose, including works by Chinua Achebe, Ama Ata Aidoo, Steve Biko, Buchi Emecheta, Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head, Doris Lessing, Dambudzo Marechera, Christopher Okigbo, Okot p'Bitek and Tayeb Salih.
Knovel chemistry, mathematics and physics books
Full-text of the following titles is available in pdf format: Essential practices for managing chemical reactivity hazards; Handbook of mathematical functions with formulas, graphs and mathematical tables; International critical tables of numerical data, physics, chemistry and technology; Knovel critical tables; Smithsonian physical tables, 9th edition.
National Academies Press
Provides access to full-text e-books in a range of subjects including chemistry, physics, education, engineering and the sciences.
NetLibrary
The site provides access to the full-text of nearly 5,000 reference works, scholarly monographs, literature and fiction as well as nearly 3,500 publicly accessible titles. Subscribed content is listed in the library OPAC. Results of searches in the SACat database via SABINET Online often give links to e-books available through NetLibrary.
