Reference books are frequently consulted and usually contain brief factual information, e.g. encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks.
The Reserves collection houses books and articles which are normally in the stacks but are currently being used in courses and therefore a high demand is anticipated by faculty.
See also: Course reserves and What Are Reference Books?
The Public Knowledge Project (PKP) is a multi-university initiative developing (free) open source software and conducting research to improve the quality of, and access to, scholarly communication as a global public good. Since its inception, PKP has been developing free and open source software (FOSS) including Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Monograph Press (OMP), and Open Preprint Systems (OPS) to facilitate scholarly publishing, while researching, as well as advocating for, open access in line with this mission.
More than 30,000 journals in 150 countries use OJS to publish research in 60+ languages, making it the most widely used scholarly publishing software in the world. In 2022 PKP became an SFU Core Facility, allowing PKP to draw on the institutional support of the Office of the Vice President, Research and International, in addition to its ongoing close working relationships with the SFU Publishing Studies program and the SFU Library and its Digital Publishing division.
You might hear about a place in the SFU Library called the "reference desk," where library staff provided in-person research assistance.
Now there are more options for research help:
Department library representatives:
To find the department library representative for your area, please visit Liaison librarians: Contact Information.
Liaison librarians:
Browse by librarians' specialties to find "your" librarian!
Or visit Ask a Librarian for more ways to get help.
Satisfy SFU's Open Access Policy (OAP) requirement in one easy step: share the finalized text of your published articles with the Library, and we will make them available to the public.
For more information, and to deposit your work, see the SFU Open Access Policy.
The W.A.C. Bennett Library is the main branch of the Simon Fraser University Library, located on the Burnaby Campus of SFU.
The majority of the Library's physical collections, staff, and services, are based at this location.
To find the Bennett Library, see What is the address of the Library?
To find a phone number or to reach Library managers or staff, see Contact us.
Looking for more? Try Library Search, the default search engine on the Library home page.
Copyright does not last forever - it does expire. When the term of copyright expires, the work is said to come into the "public domain" and is then available for anyone to use and copy without permission or payment. In Canada, copyright protection generally lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years past their death (though some specific types of works such as sound recordings may have different terms). However, due to the term recently changing from 50 years to 70 years, all works by creators who died in 1971 or earlier are now in the public domain; works by creators who died in 1972 or later, including those still living now, will be protected for their life plus 70 years.
However, content in which copyright has expired may be republished or re-released with additional material. For example, although Shakespeare's plays are not protected by copyright, many of the published editions of his plays contain added original materials (such as footnotes, prefaces etc.). There is a separate copyright in the added original material, based on the life of its creator, but the underlying text of the original work is still in the public domain.
Works can also be in the public domain because the copyright owner has given copyright in the work to the public. Some copyright owners have made clear declarations that uses of their copyright works may be made without permission or payment. Such a declaration may be found on the work itself or the website where it is found. The Reproduction of Federal Law Order, for example, permits anyone, without charge or request for permission, to reproduce Canadian laws and decisions of federally constituted courts and administrative tribunals in Canada. However, restrictions can be placed on the uses that can be made of works and, in this case, you must be sure to use the material accordingly.
Don’t assume that everything you find on the Internet is in the public domain just because it is publicly available. Most of the material you find online is protected by copyright; however, you may be able to use it for educational purposes because fair dealing or other Copyright Act exceptions cover many uses related to teaching. See the FAQs under Instructors – Using copyright protected material from the Internet for further information about using material found on websites.
For more information about duration of copyright protection in Canada see the Government of Canada’s About Copyright page and the Canadian Public Domain Flowchart by the Copyright Office at the University of Alberta (2024), licensed CC BY.
Some things are not protected by copyright. For example, copyright does not protect factual information or data, titles, short word combinations, names, characters, slogans, themes, plots, or ideas. These may be used or copied without permission or payment of royalties (unless they happen to be protected under trademark law).
Similarly, materials in the public domain can be copied freely, either because copyright protection has expired or because the copyright owner has indicated general permission to make copies. If the latter is the case, make certain you comply with any constraints the owner may have indicated regarding reproduction of the material.
