Telebook: Delivery Services for Students at a Distance and Faculty of Education Students

Online Tutorial

Check out our quick, live-action tutorial on Using the Library's Telebook Service to learn how to look up books and other materials in the SFU Library catalogue and order them using Telebook.

The Service:

Telebook delivers library materials to eligible students.

Materials that can be delivered include:

• Books from the SFU Library, including government publications and conference proceedings (to addresses in Canada only)
• Books from other libraries (to addresses in Canada only)
• Theses held by the SFU Library (to addresses in Canada only)
• Photocopies of periodical articles from SFU and other libraries (worldwide)
• Photocopies of selections from SFU Library Reference books or books from the SFU Library Reserves area (worldwide)
• Videos from the general collection, including videos from the SFU Library Curriculum Collection (to addresses in Canada only)
• Videos from the Telebook collection (to addresses in Canada only)

Some materials cannot be delivered:

• Complete volumes of periodicals or magazines
• Rare and valuable books
• Books difficult and expensive to mail
• Reference books
• Books from the Reserves area
• Videos from the Media Resource Centre (formerly Media Collection), SFU Surrey Library, or Belzberg Library

Telebook reserves the right to limit the number of books and photocopies provided.

Eligibility:

Students in the following categories are eligible:

• students taking SFU Distance Education courses
• students currently registered in the SFU Faculty of Education and faculty members in the SFU Faculty of Education
• Thompson Rivers University Open Learning TRU-OL students registered in SFU Distance Education courses
• students in courses where previous arrangements have been made between an academic department and the library; contact your department if you think you may be eligible and ask them to contact library staff at 778.782.5596
• students outside the above categories on a pay-per-use basis ($7 per item from the SFU Library, $10 per item from other libraries on interlibrary loan; contact Telebook staff to set up arrangements).

When you make an online request for Telebook delivery of an item, your eligibility will be confirmed through your SFU ID barcode number. If you already have a SFU ID card, you will see this number right above the barcode. The barcode number always begins with 2934500.... Contact Telebook at tele@sfu.ca, if you do not have a SFU ID card and need a SFU ID barcode number.

We regret that we cannot mail books to addresses outside Canada because of mailing costs and time that books would be in transit.

Verifying Eligibility for Services and Access to Online Resources

Most of our online materials, such as online index databases, electronic journals, and e-books, are licensed exclusively for use by members of the SFU community, so when you connect to an online database, you will be asked to confirm your SFU affiliation in one of the following ways:

Option One:

• your SFU computing ID name
• your SFU computing ID password
• Tip: Activate your SFU computing ID online.

Option Two:

• your real name
• the barcode number from your SFU ID card
• Tip: Retrieve your barcode number online; or ask Telebook staff to send it to you.

How does the mailing out of books and articles work?

Requests are handled in the order they are received. Allow plenty of time to avoid disappointment.

Books or articles from the SFU Library are mailed within three working days of the request. Allow another week for the books or articles to reach you via regular mail.

If the requested title is not owned by the the SFU Library, it can likely be obtained through interlibrary loan. Add between one and four weeks to the time required to fill the request.

Costs

Eligible students receive this service at no charge.

• Books from the SFU Library collections are mailed with postage paid return labels and instructions for their return by regular post.
• Books obtained from other libraries through Interlibrary Loan are sent out by courier and instructions for return by courier with the prepaid label that is provided.
• Photocopies are yours to keep.
• Videos from the SFU Library collections are mailed with postage paid return labels and instructions for their return by regular post.

Students and faculty who are not in one of the eligible categories can use the service on a pay-per-use basis:

• $7 for each book or article from the SFU Library collection
• $10 for each book or article borrowed from another library through interlibrary loan

Ordering books and journal articles

Ordering books when you know the title is very easy:

• Look up in the SFU Library catalogue the title of the book you want to order.
• Click on the Request Item button at the top left of the screen.
• Show that you are an SFU student by entering your name and your SFU ID barcode number in the box on the next screen.
• Select the "Pickup Location" Telebook
• Click on the Submit button
• Library staff will mail the book out to you.

Ordering articles when you know the title is also easy:

• Look up in the SFU Library catalogue the title of the journal where the article you want to order is published
• Click on the Request Item button at the top left of the screen.
• Show that you are an SFU student by entering your name and your SFU ID barcode number in the box on the next screen.
• Select the "Pickup location" Telebook.
• Fill out the Request article form below (author and title of the article, the volume and issue numbers, page numbers)
• Click on the Submit button.
• Library staff will copy the article and send it out to you.

If you do not have a specific book or article in mind, there are several ways that you can find useful material:

• Look in the SFU Library catalogue for books on the topic.
• Use index databases related to your subject. The Where can I get this? link in most index database entries can be helpful in three ways:
  • If SFU has the publication in online format, follow the links to read the article online.
  • If SFU has the publication in paper format, use the Request link to order a copy of the article. (Remember: Pickup location=Telebook)
  • If SFU does not have the item in any format, and another library does, use the Request link to order a copy of the article from the other library (Remember: Pickup location=Telebook).
• Try one of the subject or assignment guides for more suggestions and assistance
• Ask a Librarian for help via phone, email, or online chat

Loan Periods:

Due date information is mailed with each book

Books that are not overdue can often be renewed online.

Overdue materials will result in fines and suspension of borrowing privileges.

Returning Books:

Return books and videos by mail using the package in which the item was received. Attach the return address label with guaranteed prepaid postage which was included in the package.

Photocopies of journal articles are yours to keep.

Borrowing from other libraries:

If SFU Library does not have a book or an article that you need, you can request items from other libraries by completing an online form. Books requested from other libraries will have shorter loan periods and are delivered by courier.

You are eligible to borrow books in person from several other academic libraries, through agreements between the SFU Libraries and libraries of partner institutions. These agreements are explained at the Canadian University Reciprocal Borrowing web site. To get a card at one of these partner libraries you will need a special card called a COPPUL card. Contact the Telebook office for your COPPUL card or other information.

Contact Library staff:

For research assistance, contact the liaison librarian for your subject area, or use one of our Ask a Librarian services. Online help is provide from the Library's web site www.lib.sfu.ca, where there are guides for many courses and subject areas.

For information about SFU ID barcode numbers, or materials being mailed to you, contact Teleboook staff:

• E-mail: tele@sfu.ca (This is the preferred way.)
• Phone from within BC: 1-866-277-9675
• Phone from outside BC: 1-778.782.4896
• Fax: 778.782.4908
• Mail: Telebook, WAC Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC V5A 1S6