Once you have found one suitable book or article, you can use the subject headings for that item to find similar materials -- often by clicking on them.
And after a keyword search in a catalogue or database, you can sometimes limit your search results by Subject (subject heading).
For more help with subject headings, Ask a Librarian.
The Canadian Copyright Act, SFU copyright policies and various agreements and licenses entered into by the University with copyright owners and representative organizations cover the use of copyright materials at Simon Fraser University. The Copyright Act is the legislation in Canada that sets out the rights of copyright owners as well as what users can and can’t do with copyright protected materials. SFU's copyright policies describe how the university manages copyright and how copyright protected materials can be used for university teaching, learning, research and administration purposes. The University also has special agreements with copyright owners, such as subscriptions to electronic journals, which give you additional rights to certain content.
In order to determine whether what you want to do is permitted, you need to check that you comply with any agreements or licenses covering the work in question and/or the Copyright Act and SFU policies. The Copyright Decision Tree and the Copyright and Teaching Infographic can help you determine how you can use copyright protected works.
If you’re not covered by any agreement or license or an exception under the Act, you’ll need to get permission for what you want to do from the copyright owner.
You have the right to make copies of your own work to distribute or share in any way you like. If you want to make a handout for the rest of your class that includes material that you did not create (or in which you no longer own the copyright, such as a published article), you may be able to include excerpts of the work under fair dealing or another Copyright Act exception - see the Copyright and Teaching infographic for details. If your use does not fall within the guidelines on the infographic, you may need the creator's or copyright owner's permission to include their work.
Bridgeview community centre
11475 – 126A Street, Surrey, BC V3V 5G8. Phone: 604-592-7081
Chuck Bailey recreation centre
13458 107A Avenue, Surrey, BC V3T 2X3. Phone: 604-598-5898
North Surrey sport and ice complex
10950 126A Street, Surrey, BC V3V 0E5. Phone: 604-591-4410
If you are creating promotional materials for your department, or hiring a photographer for an event, contact SFU Communications & Marketing or the Communications staff in your department or faculty.
You will want to make sure your contract addresses the copyright ownership and the rights for the resulting product - you will want to make sure it transfers copyright in those materials to SFU, including the exclusive right to use that image, footage or track in any way and for all time. This means the creator cannot license or sell the materials to anyone else, and it means that no restrictions exist in the ways in which SFU and its departments can use the material. Keep all signed agreements on file in your office.
Keep in mind that if you are recording events, you may need to have any speakers sign a speaker release form. There can also be privacy issues related to recording events. Contact the University's Information and Privacy Officer with any questions about privacy.
Contact the Copyright Office (copy@sfu.ca) with any questions, or for template contracts and forms.
If your department needs photographs, video footage or music for promotional uses, check SFU's Image Library. This eliminates copyright concerns because the copyright in these images already belongs to SFU.
If you do need to license media that was created by someone outside of SFU, there are a few copyright considerations to keep in mind.
A media outlet or other company or organization may have a standard agreement for licensing copyright protected works. You will want to review this document carefully to ensure it includes the right for SFU (not just your department) to use the image/footage/track in any way and for all time. If this is not part of their standard agreement, ask to negotiate it in.
If you are asking an individual (such as an alumnus or student, attendee at an event or other member of the public) for permission to use their image/recording, you will have to provide a license for them to sign; this license should give SFU the right to use that material in any way and for all time. The SFU Copyright Office can provide a template license or help you craft one.
Keep all signed agreements on file in your office.
Whether or not you can use a screenshot and whether you require permission to do so depends on several factors, including:
More resources:
Students at SFU are subject to Canada's Copyright Act and SFU's Copyright Policies when doing coursework and creating assignments including papers, projects, artworks and presentations. Students can use the fair dealing and educational exceptions when using copyright protected works in assignments for classes (see the Copyright Infographic for details).
Students own copyright in the works that they create at SFU, and such assignments, presentations and projects cannot be copied without the student's permission, except in certain situations outlined in the Copyright Act (see the Fair Dealing Policy for details).
Please note that theses and dissertations require different copyright considerations because they will be published; see the Copyright and your thesis page for further information.
Instructors own copyright in their teaching materials such as presentation slides, exams, lecture notes and the delivery of the lecture itself, and students cannot copy these works without the instructor's permission, except under fair dealing or another exception in the Copyright Act.
The Copyright Office provides information and assistance to students on our Students pages and via email (copy@sfu.ca). We also provide a sample copyright statement for instructors to use in course syllabi.
An item with the "in transit" status is being transferred from one branch library to another for a request (or hold) or is being returned to its home branch.
A reference book with the "in transit" status is being transferred from Library Processing (at Bennett) to its home library (Surrey or Belzberg).
Exception: Bennett Reference books with the "in transit" status are usually on the shelf. Please check the Bennett Reference location and report to the service desk for a correction.
W.A.C. Bennett Library (SFU Burnaby) has an assortment of equipment available for loan such as laptops and phone chargers.
