Yes, you can make an interlibrary loan request for the title and we will try to borrow it from another library for you. You can use our interlibrary loan requesting function to make your request directly to one of several university libraries, including the University of British Columbia or University of Alberta.
You likely don't need to worry. In fact, your thesis or dissertation (and other scholarship) being openly available can increase readership and citation rates, among other benefits.
Here are some concerns you may have heard, and some evidence for why they are mostly unfounded.
The fact that your publicly-available thesis or dissertation might be copied also means that it is easy to find in order to compare texts and check for plagiarism. A work being openly available as soon as possible - and clearly dated and time-stamped - deters plagiarism by providing proof of the earlier appearance of one work compared to another similar work (see Suber 2012; Cirasella and Thistlethwaite 2017).
We have not encountered any data or anecdotal evidence to justify a concern about predatory publishers taking publicly-available theses or dissertations and publishing them without the author's consent. SFU grad students own copyright in their theses and dissertations; it would be an illegal act of copyright infringement for a publisher to publish one without the author's permission. If you have been contacted by a publisher about publishing your thesis or dissertation, the Library provides information and tools for assessing a publisher or journal.
A number of surveys of publishers with offices in North America and the UK have found that only a small percentage of publishers across disciplines would outright reject a manuscript based on a thesis or dissertation (see Gilliam and Daoutis 2019; Ramirez et al 2013; Ramirez et al 2014). In most cases an article, chapter or book will be significantly reworked from the earlier version: Harvard University Press has said that "we expect that the final product will be so broadened, deepened, reconsidered, and restructured that the availability of the dissertation is irrelevant."
Still have concerns? Talk to your supervisor or contact the Digital Scholarship Librarians at digital-scholarship@sfu.ca.
This fact-checking method is about quickly assessing and evaluating information -- before you invest in reading or viewing a source.
SIFT is made up of four "moves":
Before you read or share something, ask yourself:
If you don't know, use the other moves to learn more.
Before you read or watch something, it's good to know where the information came from.
What's the creator's expertise, or agenda (or both)?
To find out if a claim is controversial or represents wide consensus, look for how the subject is covered by:
Understanding the context and history of a claim will give you a strong foundation for further investigation (if you choose to go further!).
What is the context? Did the original source make the same points?
Trace the claim, quote, or media back to the original source to get the full picture.
The brief summary here of the SIFT method was adapted from Michael Caulfield's SIFT (The Four Moves), under CC BY 4.0.
Yes. "In process of cataloging" books have been received by the library and are waiting to be catalogued. To request (or place a hold on) an "In process of cataloging" item, find the title in the Library Catalogue and request it.
You will be notified by email in 2-3 working days when the book is ready for pick up at the Circulation/Loans desk at the library location you selected: W.A.C. Bennett (SFU Burnaby), Belzberg (SFU Vancouver) or Fraser (SFU Surrey). If you do not receive an email notice from the library, check the library catalogue: the item will have a call number and the status will change to "on hold shelf" when it is ready for pick up.
Yes. These are books that have been ordered but have not yet arrived.
Requests (or holds) may be made for these books. Please be aware that it may take a number of weeks or months for an On Order item to arrive, so note the order date. If it is recent, it is less likely the item will arrive quickly.
To put a request (or hold) on these items:
You will be notified by email when the book is ready for pick up at at the library you selected: Bennett (SFU Burnaby), Belzberg (SFU Vancouver) or Fraser (SFU Surrey).
When you fill in the Citation Finder/ILL form to request a book that is missing or lost from SFU, you will not be able to get past the catalogue record because there is an existing record for the item you want. To get past the catalogue record, follow these steps:
For more information, see InterLibrary Loans: Borrowing materials from other libraries.
Yes, you may recall it by placing a request (or hold), and it will be returned to the library sooner. Once you have done so, you can view the Catalogue record for the item to see its new due date.
For more information about recalls and requests and how they work, see Requests for books (placing holds, recalling books).
There are many possible reasons.
First be sure you are at the correct library branch (W.A.C. Bennett (SFU Burnaby), Belzburg (SFU Vancouver), or Fraser (SFU Surrey)), and in the correct location (eg. curriculum, Lam, Surrey Oversized, Belzburg reference).
Then, make sure you are in the right section (other books will have similar call numbers). Check the shelves carefully - a book may be just a bit out of place, or may have gotten tucked behind other books. Check near the photocopiers.
If the book has been recently published, look on the new book shelves at the branches (in Bennett located in the lounge on the 3rd floor).
If you still can't find the book after looking for it, go to the Circulation/Loans desk and ask to have the book traced.
Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) is a free piece of software that allows you to read ebooks that have Digital Rights Management (DRM) attached. After installing ADE, you will be prompted to login with or to create an Adobe ID.
This software enforces Digital Rights Management (DRM) on the downloaded files, restricting the time period during which the ebook can be used, as well as the number of devices (6) to which it can be transferred; there may also be restrictions on the number of pages that can be printed.
Currently, selected ebooks accessed on the Proquest Ebook Central and EBSCOhost platforms can be downloaded in their entirety in PDF format by authorized Library users, using ADE.
In order to download EBSCO or Proquest Ebook Central ebooks, you must have Adobe Digital Editions installed on your computer. You will also need to use Adobe Digital Editions to transfer an ebook to a supported portable eReader device.
Once you have selected a title for downloading on the ebook platform, you may be asked to sign in to your platform account. When the download is activated, a control file with the .acsm filename extension will be made available for download. This file contains information that will govern the use of the actual ebook PDF file on your computer. If you have installed Adobe Digital Editions, opening this .acsm file instructs the program to download the ebook PDF file and open it in the Adobe Digital Editions interface.
Downloaded ebook files can be transferred to mobile devices via a free personal account (Adobe ID) that you set up with Adobe. This account can be created during Adobe Digital Editions installation, or afterwards from the program interface using the Authorize Computer command on the Library menu. Once this is done, up to 6 mobile devices may be authorized with the same Adobe ID, allowing the ebook file to be transferred from the computer onto which it was downloaded.
Some devices (such as the Sony Reader or Kobo eReader) can load the ebook PDF file directly; others, such as the iPad, iPhone or iPod, require an app such as Bluefire Reader in order to read the ebook.
While a mobile device can be authorized under different Adobe IDs, it is not possible to change the Adobe ID on the downloading computer.
In most cases, mobile ebook reader devices connected to your computer will be automatically detected by Adobe Digital Editions and displayed as "bookshelves" on the interface. To transfer an ebook PDF file to the device, drag and drop the ebook onto the appropriate "bookshelf". When using an app such as Bluefire Reader to view ebooks on Apple products, however, you will need to use iTunes to transfer ebook files: go to the Synch> Apps page and scroll down to see the available options for File Sharing. When adding ebooks to be transferred to the mobile device, make sure to choose the PDF file, not the .acsm file. By default, downloaded ebook PDF files are saved to the My Digital Editions folder.
How does the library know when my borrowing time is over?
There is metadata in the PDF files, managed by Adobe Digital Editions. Metadata is necessary because of the terms of the lending agreement and copyright.
Do I have to be connected to the Internet to read the ebooks?
No, once you transfer the PDF to your mobile device, you no longer need to be connected to the Internet to read the ebook.
If I just want to read the ebook on my computer or on a library computer, do I need to download anything?
Usually, no, you can read the ebook online. However, some ebooks from Scholars Portal do require Adobe Digital Editions software and an account in order to read.
Can I use a computer in the library to download the ebook to transfer to my portable device?
No, you must use your own computer to download Adobe Digital Editions and the ebook to transfer to your device.
Do I have to create and use an Adobe ID?
You are not required to create an Adobe ID, however authorizing with an Adobe ID allows you to download files to your computer or mobile device, and transfer files to other devices or computers registered with the same Adobe ID.
Platform specific help:
Adobe Digital Editions Support:
Your use of the Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) service is voluntary. Please be advised that the personal information you disclose to ADE is stored on servers located in the United States of America.
When you use this service, no personal information about you is collected by or for Simon Fraser University. Canadian privacy laws do not apply to personal information you provide directly to ADE. You may wish to review the Adobe privacy policy before using the service.
SFU Vancouver's Belzberg Library has two digital voice recorders and so does SFU Burnaby's W.A.C. Bennett Library. They can be borrowed for 24 hours and you can see whether they have been signed out by looking at their Catalogue record. For more information, see the Olympus VN-702PC manual.
