Library regulations

Yes!

Public patrons are very welcome to visit the library and borrow books. Most books are available to visitors. However, course literature and methodology books are reserved for SSE students and staff.

SSE Students and staff

All SSE students and staff automatically get a library account when they start studying/working at SSE. The account needs to be activated before it can be used. You can activate it during staffed hours at the library info desk.

Public visitors

New borrowers can apply for a library card online, but it needs to be activated before they can start borrowing books. You can activate it during staffed hours at the library info desk.

Apply for a library card online

No, course books can only be borrowed by SSE students and staff.

Visitors are allowed to read course books on site at the library.

Normal loans - 30 days

Most books have a loan period of 30 days and can be borrowed by anyone.

Short loans - 7 days

However, the loan period for course books and methodology books are 7 days.

Only SSE students and staff can borrow short-loan books. Public users need to read course books and methodology books on site.

Loan renewal

Loans are renewed automatically unless someone else has requested the book.

Normal loans can be renewed for up to 6 months for public users and 12 months for SSE staff.

Short loans can be renewed for up to 3 months.

However, loans are renewed automatically for up to six months unless someone else has requested the book.

Most loans are renewed automatically, as long as no one else has reserved the book. If another user reserves a book you have borrowed, the loan will not be renewed, and you must return it by the due date. The library will send you an email to let you know that the book needs to be returned.

Normal loans can be renewed for up to 6 months for public users and 12 months for SSE staff.

Short loans can be renewed for up to 3 months.

You can always check your current loans and due dates by logging in to your library account.

If you return a requested item late, you will be charged 10 SEK per book and day.

The maximum fee is 250 SEK per item.

If your total fees reach 100 SEK or more, you will be blocked from borrowing books until the fees are paid.

If a book is not returned on time, the library will send reminders after 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. After 35 days, the book will be marked as lost.

If you lose a book, you will need to pay a lost item fee of 100 SEK, as well as the cost of replacing the book. The total charge, including administrative costs, will be at least 850 SEK.

Instead of paying the library to order a new copy, you can choose to replace the book yourself. This is often cheaper. If you choose to replace the book yourself, it must be in good condition.

Until the item has been replaced or the fees have been paid, you will be blocked from borrowing more books. 

Text and data mining, or TDM, means using digital tools to search through substantial amounts of text or data to find patterns, trends, or connections. 

TDM usually requires access to large data sets, such as articles, reports, or other material from academic subscription databases.

Example: a researcher might use TDM to analyse thousands of articles, company reports, or newspaper texts at once, instead of reading each text manually.

Sometimes, but not always.

Library databases are covered by licence agreements that decide how the material can be used,especially when it comes to text and data mining.

These agreements often limit automated downloading to protect the provider’s content, systems, and business model. When crawlers, scraping tools, or scripts download large amounts of material, it can look like misuse, even if the purpose is research.

So you are usually not allowed to download large amounts of material automatically.

If the terms are broken, access to the database may be blocked for all SSE users.

Example: a student wants to analyse trends in 5,000 newspaper articles. Instead of downloading the articles one by one, they use a script to automatically collect all texts. Even if the project is for research, this may break the database licence agreement. 

If you are planning a TDM project, please contact the library before you start. 

We can help you check licence agreements, copyright issues, and what options are available. Some database providers offer special services for TDM, and the library can help connect you with them.

When you register for a library card, you enter into an agreement with the library. This means that you agree to follow the library rules, including returning borrowed books on time and paying any fees if books are returned late, lost, or damaged.

You also agree that the library may process your personal data in order to create and manage your library account.

We only use your data to provide and manage library services.

The library needs to process your personal data so that you can borrow and reserve books.

This includes your contact information, as well as information about your loans, requests, and reservations.

Your data will only be used for library-related purposes.

Your loans and reservations are registered in the library system and they are confidential. 

This means that no unauthorized person can see which books you have borrowed.

Yes. You have the right to know what personal data the library has about you. Once your identity has been confirmed, you can ask the library to show you your library record.

Read more about how SSE handles personal data and what rights you have under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) here.