Why and how should I sign into the Library Catalogue?

 

You do not need to sign into the SFU Library Catalogue to see the books, journals, and other items held by the SFU Library.  
 
Anyone can search the Catalogue and see items owned by the Library without signing (or logging) in.

How do I sign into the Catalogue?

Once you are in the Library Catalogue:

  • If you haven't started searching, click on "Sign in."
  • If your search is already underway, look for the yellow highlighted prompt to sign in.

Use your SFU computing ID to sign in

If you have a SFU computing ID, use it.

I'm an alumna/alumnus -- how do I sign in?

Use your SFU computing ID.  

If your SFU computing ID isn't working, or you have forgotten it, see About Alumni Email Forwarding to (re)activate your SFU Computing ID. 

No SFU ID?

Some borrowers, including non-credit students and external borrowers, are not issued SFU computing IDs.  

If you don't have an SFU ID but do have a library barcode, you can use your Library barcode and password.

Sign into the Catalogue to request items, check your account, update your PIN, etc.

When you sign into the Library Catalogue, you can do the following:

Request items

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  • Request (or place holds) on books and other items if the item is checked out by someone else or to have the item delivered between SFU Library branches.
  • Place an interlibrary loan (ILL) request for an item not held in SFU Library’s collection.  ILL requests may be placed by SFU students, faculty, and staff.

You will not see an option to request an item until you sign in.

See My Library account, renew books, update your PIN for the self-checkout KIOSK

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Once signed (or logged in) to the Catalogue, you can:

  • View the books and other items you have checked out
  • Renew the resources, such as books, that you have checked out
  • View your fines, if you have any
  • See requests (or holds) for books that you are waiting for.

Note that once you have returned books and other materials, they will no longer show in your Library record. However the Library sends an automatic email notification when you borrow materials, and you can use these emails to track your reading or borrowing history. 

To update your PIN (needed only for Self-Serve Checkout KIOSK):

  1. Sign into the Library Catalogue and go to My Library account
  2. In the Personal Details section, click on "UPDATE SELF-CHECKOUT KIOSK 4-DIGIT PIN".

Save items or searches to your Favourites

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Once signed in, you can pin to your My Favourites list:

  • Records for books and other items
  • Saved searches to reuse later
  • Searches performed during a Catalogue search session.

View citations or references to items from a few publishers who limit access to this content

Learn more

Almost all content providers allow citations for such items as journal articles to be viewed by anyone anywhere who searches the SFU Library Catalogue.  There are a few resources, however, such as citations contained within the Web of Science and Scopus databases, that can be viewed only if you are:

  • On campus, or
  • Off campus and signed into the Catalogue.
Accessing online content
 
Accessing online content like journal articles and ebooks is a different process from signing into the Catalogue, and you don't need to sign in to the Catalogue to do so. 

When you find items in the Catalogue that are available online, look for the "Access it" area of an item's Catalogue record, and then click on the publisher or content provider's link (e.g. JSTOR or PubMed).  

If you are off campus, you will be prompted to log in (authenticate). For more information, see Accessing online resources from off campus.

Get help with signing in

Contact staff in Access Services (Loans) for help with your account:

  • libcirc@sfu.ca
  • 778.782.4345 - W.A.C. Bennett Library, SFU Burnaby
  • 778.782.5050 - Belzberg Library, SFU Vancouver
  • 778.782.7411 - Fraser Library, SFU Surrey.