How Do I Find a Book Using Primo

Navigate to Primo from the Library website: www.abdn.ac.uk/library

Members of the University: click on Sign in in the top right-hand corner. Sign in using 
username@abdn.ac.uk (e.g. u99jb22@abdn.ac.uk or s01ep2@abdn.ac.uk) and your password.
Please note: being signed in to your Microsoft 365 account makes the sign-in process easier.

External members, visitors and members of the public: The search features in Primo are freely 
available to all users. External members can sign in with the barcode on their library card and their PIN, make requests and view their Library account. Other users are unable to sign in.

If you want to see what books are available on a particular topic: 

1. Click on Advanced Search next to the search box
2. In the advanced search platform select Books+ and enter your search terms into the search boxes. For Primo’s search rules, see our quick guide at Quick Guide to Primo | Library | The University of Aberdeen

Click on Search

On your results screen:

1. From the Availability menu to the left of your results, select Available online to view books in electronic format or Held by library to narrow your results to books in paper format only.
2. Click on a title for the item’s bibliographic details and its location or provider (for e-books). From the item’s record you are also able to create a citation for the book, create a permanent link to it in Primo or email the book details to yourself.
3. Click on the large X to the left of the book’s record to go back to the results screen. X versions found appears where have more than one edition or if the book is available in print and electronic format. Click on See all versions to find out more.

Your results will be displayed in order of relevance. You can change this from the Sort by menu to the left of your results. Other options include: Title, Author, Date-newest.

If you want to find a specific book:

1. To start a new search, click on the New Search tab at the top of the screen. In the simple search box enter two important keywords from your book’s title and the author’s surname. These don’t have to be in any particular order, e.g. for: “Cite them right: the essential referencing guide” by Pears and Shields published in 2019 you could use: pears cite guide as your keywords. 
2. Make sure you change the search scope to Books+ from the list of suggestions that appears as you type in your keywords.
3. Paper books: Primo displays ‘Available at’ underneath titles of books in print format. Click on a book title; this opens the book’s record with information about the location, shelfmark and status of the book, i.e. whether it is available for borrowing or currently on loan. 
4. e-books: Primo displays ‘Available Online’ underneath titles of e-books. To open an e-book, click on its title. Then from the book’s record, click on the provider’s name, e.g. Ebook Central, to navigate to their website for full-text access. If you are working off-campus you may have to provide your University username and password again.

1. From the book’s record make a note of the location (the library branch holding the book), the Floor or Collection and the shelfmark.
2. Go to the appropriate library branch and find the book, then take it to the Issue Desk or a self-issue machine to be issued. If the holding library is on a different campus, use the Request option in the book details page to request a transfer to your preferred location.
3. If the location of a book is In Store you need to request it, i.e. ask for the book to be taken out of store and delivered to a library for you to collect. To request an item, you must sign in to Primo. Check your university email account regularly; we will send you an email once the item has arrived and is ready for collection.
4. If a book is on loan to another user, a due date will be displayed in the book’s details page. If you need the book urgently, you may recall it by clicking on Request. The current reader will have 5 days to return it.

Navigate to Primo from the Library website: www.abdn.ac.uk/library

Members of the University: click on Sign in in the top right-hand corner. Use your University of Aberdeen computer username and password to sign in – this provides smooth access to our online resources and allows you to make full use of Primo’s special features. 
Please note: being signed in to your Microsoft 365 account makes the sign-in process easier.

External members, visitors and members of the public: The search features in Primo are freely available to all users. Only University members can access our online materials. Selected e-resources are available via our separate Walk-In Users Service. More information on this service is available online

1. Enter your search terms into the search box(es)
2. Change the search scope to Books+ from the list of options that appears
3. From the options to the left of your results, select Available online
4. Primo will only show you books in electronic format – all records are labelled Available Online on the results screen
5. You can further narrow your results by Creation Date, Author or Subject

1. Click on the title of a book you wish to read online. This opens the book’s record
2. Check the bibliographic details of the e-book
3. Click on the provider’s name (e.g. University Press Scholarship Online, Ebook Central) to navigate to the provider’s website and access the full-text of the e-book

Primo is a collection of records and as such, it cannot find your keywords in the content of our books. Primo looks for your keywords in the title, author and subject fields of a book’s record.
Remember to use keywords in your searches that are likely to be found in the title of a book rather than a chapter. 

Searching within individual e-book collections often allows you to search across the full-text of the e-books we subscribe to. Using our e-book providers’ platforms, you can perform more comprehensive searches and expand them to include keywords beyond the title, author and subject fields.

1.  To explore our collections of e-books, use the Find Databases option at the top bar
2. Select All Ebook Collections. The e-book collections we subscribe to appear in alphabetical order
3. Click on the name of an e-book collection (e.g. Ebook Central ProQuest) to open its details page
4. Then in the View Online section in the collection’s details page, click on its name to link to it

Please note that different e-book providers have different rules regarding the amount of information permitted for printing and downloading.