Library Services

Learn about the library services available to on-campus, distance, and off-site learners.

Reference Circulation Reserves Interlibrary Loan

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Access the Library While Off Campus
Find access information and resources for distance and other off-campus learners.
Book the Collaboration Lab
Book our collaboration lab for meetings, events and groups.
Reserve a Study Room
Students may reserve one of three rooms for group or single study.
Renew Materials
Renew materials you have taken out & more.

Reference

Student Reference

The reference staff of the Pope Pius XII Library is available to help you in locating information. You can schedule an appointment by contacting the reference staff. You can contact the reference staff through voicemail at 860.231.5435. You can email the reference staff at [email protected]. Or you can always stop by the library in person to speak with reference staff. Librarians can also meet with you virtually on Teams.

USJ faculty can schedule research instruction sessions for their classes by submitting this form or by calling the Library at 860.231.5435, or visiting the Library. Instructional sessions can be conducted in the Library or in your classroom or virtually via Teams.

Faculty Reference

Want to test student work for plagiarism? Turnitin.com allows professors to submit student papers and run them against an Internet search and millions of other student papers to see if there are significant similarities. Turn it in integrated with Blackboard, so any faculty member can set up a Turnitin assignment by following these steps. Faculty members who have questions can submit a ticket for assistance.

Circulation

Borrowing Privileges

Bring your valid USJ ID to get a borrower’s account at the Library. You can obtain a new or replacement ID at the Public Safety Office in McDonough Hall (860.231.5222). Verified alumni may request a courtesy card from library staff members to borrow four items from the collection. These borrowing privileges will be active for one year and can be renewed upon request.

Loan Periods

Books circulate for eight weeks from the checkout date with an optional renewal time of three additional weeks. Audio-visual and test materials circulate for seven days. Reserve items have varied loan periods, depending on each instructor’s wishes.

Renewals

Online renewal is easy!

Go to your Library Account.
Type your 14 digit barcode (on back of your student/employee ID) & your PIN. If you don’t have a PIN, you will be prompted to create one.
Your account should open. If it does not, click on My Account.
A list of checked out items should appear. From here you may renew all, or renew selected items.

If you prefer, you can still bring the item to the library for renewal. But for your own security, renewals cannot be made over the phone. Items may be renewed once and the renewal loan period for books is 3 weeks.

Please note that items on reserve for a class may not be renewed. Renewals may also be denied if the item has a hold list.

Returning Items

Please return borrowed materials to the circulation desk in the reference room. You may use the book drop near the front entrance for after-hour returns. Most Connecticut libraries will also accept your borrowed materials and forward them for you at no cost.

Overdue/Replacement Fees:

Overdue fees for regularly circulating items are 10¢ per day.
Overdue fees for reserve items are $1.00 per day.
Overdue notices are issued on the 1st and 15th day after materials become overdue. Bills for replacement costs are issued on the 28th day.
Once an account has fees of $5 or more, borrowing privileges are suspended until the items are returned and the fees are paid in full.
Students with library fees reaching $30 will have transcripts and course registration blocked until the fees are paid in full at the library.
Fees for replacement of items include the fair-market value cost of the item, and a $10 processing fee for each item.

Reserves

Student Information

Traditional reserves are available at the circulation desk. Please locate the reserve items you need in the “Faculty Reserves” notebooks at the desk. Library staff will assist you with the retrieval of these materials. A USJ student identification card is necessary to use reserve material.

Some reserve items must be used in the building. Others are assigned to the following categories by faculty:

One-Day Loan
Two-Day Loan
Three-Day Loan
One-Week Loan

Students may borrow one circulating reserve item to remove from the Library. There is a minimum $2.00 fine for removing reserve items without authorization. Please note that using a reserve is not always a confidential circulation transaction.

Faculty Information

Please give the Library three to five days to process reserve materials. Reserve materials are processed in the order in which they are received.
Materials from other libraries may not be placed on reserve. However, the Library will attempt to purchase the required item.
The Library allows you to authorize your class reserves as extended loans. Please provide your student with a written note for the Library staff under this special circumstance.

Interlibrary Loan

The Interlibrary Loan department supports the research of students, faculty, and staff by providing article delivery and short-term loans from other libraries.

How to Make a Request

Before submitting an article request, please check Publication Finder to see if the journal you need is part of USJ’s extensive collection of electronic and print resources.
You may request a book using the online form.
You may request an article using the online form.
Please include complete citation information for each article you request.
Most articles arrive the next business day, some arrive in an hour and some can take several days to arrive. Patrons are urged to plan ahead as the response time of thousands of libraries cannot be predicted.

Fees

Whenever possible, interlibrary loans are a free service; the Library is a member of OCLC and Libraries Very Interested in Sharing (LVIS), which enables us to borrow on a reciprocal basis across the country. Please check to see if the item you are looking for is part of USJ’s extensive collection of electronic and print resources. Please use the links above to check Encore for a book or Journal Finder for a journal. If the item is not available the librarians can assist you in determining if there is an open-source (free) resource available and in that case, there will be no charge. If the item is not available to free of charge or in the collection and you still wish to have it obtained by the library, you will need to follow the procedure below.

Using the links above complete the appropriate form for a document.
If the library confirms that USJ does not own the document, the requester will be directed to:
1. Go to MyUSJ > Go to Cashnet
2. Locate the Interlibrary Loan Fee section.
3. Select the icon and follow the instructions to pay that $5 fee (faculty may be reimbursed via their professional development funds for this fee).
Once the fee is paid, the requester will then need to forward a copy of the CashNet receipt to [email protected].
With confirmation of payment, the document will be secured and forwarded to the requester.

This change will be effective August 15, 2018. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Loan Periods

Any articles you request are yours to keep.

Copyright Restrictions

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “Fair Use”, that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve a violation of the copyright law.

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