Research FAQ

The library is open from 08:30-17:30, Monday to Friday.

The library is available to programme participants and staff. Employees of corporate members can also register for access. The library is not open to the public. Postgraduate students (doctoral and masters) at universities in the Republic of Ireland with genuine scholarly needs who wish to visit the library must request to do so in writing in advance of any visit and will be only considered on the condition that their research is not for profit or part of their work.

E-mail:knowledge@imi.ie  Phone: +353 1 207 8513 +353 1 207 8514

You can register for an IMI Knowledge Centre account if you work for a Member organisation of the IMI. Select the Register for Access link on the Library Homepage. See this guide for further details. If you already have an account and need to reset your password select the forgot my password link on the My Library Account page. See this helpful guide for instructions. 

The majority of library emails will come from knowledge@imi.ie.

Emails relating to you single sign-on account, of particular importance when you need to reset your password, will be sent by admin@idp.imi.ie.

Check your spam folder in case library emails are being filtered out of your inbox. Spam filters usually include the ability to whitelist or mark email addresses or domain names as safe senders to prevent emails from being rejected or sent to a junk mail folder. You may want to whitelist the two email addresses listed above.

IMI Open. Ask at the desk for the password.

Drinks are permitted in the library. Please be careful and use a lid on cups. Consider bringing re-usable cups to reduce waste. Be considerate of others. You must clear your workspace of any rubbish. Please recycle as much as possible. 

Print and electronic books will appear in a library search. You can search by author, title, keyword, subject or ISBN and refine your results by selecting Book / eBook. You can also limit your results in an advanced search to only include items at the library. Alternatively, you can access the book catalogue directly or browse the bookshelves virtually

You can borrow up to 6 books for a period of 2 weeks. Masters students may borrow 8 books at a time. Books will auto-renew 3 times, provided no other user has requested that book in the meantime. In this instance the book must be returned immediately. E-books are acquired by the library under licensing agreements that can limit how many patrons can read a title simultaneously; it is usually either 1, 3 or unlimited.

You can read e-books in your browser or you can download them. Downloaded e-books are borrowed. You will not have perpetual access to the e-book, the file will eventually become inaccessible. Borrowing periods are shorter for e-books, usually no longer than 2 weeks. You will need Adobe Digital Editions to read borrowed e-books. You will prompted to create an account with Adobe. You should consider this if you want to read borrowed e-books across multiple devices. You will need to the EBSCO Audiobook app to listen to e-audio books.

You can tell whether or not a book is on the shelf because it will either be listed as available or checked out. We group books on similar subjects together. If you have searched the system for a book you need to take note of its call number. Because all books are arranged by topic every book on a topic will have an identical call number, e.g. marketing is 658.8. The call number is printed on the spine of every book and it tells you where your book is in the library. 

No. It is best that you leave the books on the trolley for staff to put back on the shelves in order

These are Reference items for consultation within the library only. They are distinguished by a yellow sticker on the spine and are shelved near the staff desk. We try to have non-circulating copies of the most frequently borrowed titles.

Dissertations will appear in your normal search results and you can refine your results to only display dissertations. You can further refine your results to only display dissertations submitted to IMI that held for consultation in the library. These dissertations are available on request and cannot be reproduced, photographed or copied in any way. You can expand your range and consult external databases to access dissertations and theses submitted to other institutions.

• ETHoS (Electronic Theses Online Service) from the British Library
• DART-Europe E-theses Portal
• Trove (National Library of Australia)
• Theses Canada (Library and Archives Canada
• nzresearch.org.nz

You can suggest books for purchase. There is also an inter-library loan service available to programme participants. This means that we can request books and journal articles from another library on your behalf. Inter-library loans cost €6.00. Read more…

You will receive a due date reminder email before the item is due back. A link to renew your books will be provided in this email. Alternatively, you can renew your book using the Renew my books icon in our Quick Links. You can also contact us by phone or by e-mail. Renewals are only possible 5 days before the due date. Renewals are not an option if somebody else has a hold on the book. 

When you find a book you want to place a hold on, click on the icon with three horizontal dots. Here you will see a drop-down menu with the option to ‘Place Hold’. Once the book is available, you will receive an email ‘Hold Available for Pickup from IMI Library’. We will notify you as soon as the book is available and will hold the book for three working days before it is released to the next borrower. If you are unable to collect the book in person, you can ask for the book to be posted. Include a postal address (this service is only applicable to Ireland). See this short video that explains how to place a book on hold.

The book returns box is located outside the Knowledge Centre entrance. If you cannot return checkouts in person you can return them to the library by post. Include a return address on your package. 

The library does not cover return postage expenses.

Contact the library as soon as possible to let us know. If you cannot locate the item our preference is for a first-hand replacement copy of the same edition. The alternative is a standard replacement fee of €60. A direct replacement is the only option where the cost of the lost book exceeds €60. If the lost edition is out of print, we will accept a copy of the latest version.