As an off-campus student, your needs are somewhat unique, and as a result, the Archibald Library has special policies and procedures designed to make doing research as easy as possible for you. The following procedures apply only to students who are registered as distance learning students and off-campus seminary students. They do not apply to on-campus students who take a distance learning course.
Creating a Borrower Account
To set up a borrower account, contact the Circulation Desk at 306.801.4481/4698 or library@briercrest.ca, and we will create a borrower account for you. Please include your name, address, and phone number. You need a borrower account to access any of our online resources like journal databases and e-books.
Finding Books
You can search our catalogue online.
Borrowing and Renewing Books
When you have selected the book(s) you would like to borrow, send an email to library@briercrest.ca. Please include the title, author, and call number of each book as well as your name and mailing address.
Instructions on the best way to do this.
In order to verify if your books have been sent, go the the library catalogue and log in to your account. Any books listed under your account have been sent to you.
Books may be borrowed for an initial three week loan period. The check-out limit is 10 items (17 items for seminary students). Only ten items will be mailed at any one time.
Three renewals are permitted (renewals are for two weeks at a time). The fourth renewal is granted as a courtesy to allow time for books to be sent back to the library before fines begin to accumulate. Items requested by another student must be returned and cannot be renewed. Renewals can be requested online through the online catalogue, by phone, or by email.
It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that a renewal request is made with sufficient time for material to be returned to the library before the due date if the material has been requested by another student. It is also the responsibility of the student to return books with sufficient time to ensure that they arrive at the library on or before the due date.
The library also supplies audiovisual resources that are part of distance learning course requirements. Unfortunately, we cannot lend other audiovisual materials from our collection to distance borrowers.
Sending and Receiving Books
Library books are sent to you using the postal system, and students residing in Canada will be sent a postage-paid return-mailing label, and students residing in the United States will be responsible for return mailing costs. American students should indicate on the parcel that the items are used library books to avoid duty charges at the border. The student will be held responsible for any charges incurred at Customs. Books cannot be mailed outside Canada or the continental United States.
If you are on campus for a modular course and won't be back on campus soon, it is to your benefit to have any books you check out while you are here mailed to you rather than taking them with you. Any books you take with you will have to be returned in person or mailed back at your expense; if we mail them to you we get a special rate that includes return postage, saving you the cost of mailing them back.
Paying Fines
Students are responsible for any charges incurred for overdue or lost items. Cheques may be mailed to the library. Please ensure that payment for any outstanding fines is received by the 21st of each month, otherwise the fine balance will be transferred to your student account along with a $5 transfer fee.
If you wish to pay by credit card, you may contact the circulation desk at 306.801.4481/4698.
The fine schedule is available on the General Information page.
Journal Articles
The library will scan and e-mail copies of journal articles that we have in our collection to current students. The cost for this service is $2 for handling plus $0.10 per page scaned. For copies of articles from journals that we do not have in our collection (acquired through ILL), the minimum charge is $5 per article plus any shipping and handling. Payment for articles must be received by the 21st of each month and any outstanding fees will be transferred to the student's account at the finance office along with a $5 non-refundable transfer fee.
Online Journal Databases and E-books
The library subscribes to a number of online journal databases and e-book collections that distance learning students may access from home using their student ID number. These databases can be accessed through the library's Journal Databases web page.
Reference Assistance
If you need help finding material for your research, feel free to contact the library staff. They will be more than pleased to help you.
Other Procedures and Services
For other library procedures and services, please see the General Information and Library Services pages. For more information or assistance, please contact the library at 306.801.4481/4698 or library@briercrest.ca.
