Library Audio Tutorials: 8 good things to know about Swinburne Library
1. How do I join the library?
Listen to audio (MP3, 384k)
Welcome to Swinburne! If you have a Swinburne Staff or Student ID Card, then this is your Library card too. You are automatically a member of the Library, no need to do anything else. If you are employed at Swinburne through an agency or an affiliation of Swinburne, you may need to complete a Library Borrower Registration Form, available on the Library Web site and have it authorised by your Faculty, School or Department. If you are a student or staff member of another institution you can apply for membership through either the CAVAL or National Borrowing Schemes.
Always bring your ID Card or borrower card to the Library, as it is required for all transations.
2. What can I get from the library and what is my Swinburne login?
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The Swinburne Library Network consists of Libraries at each of the Melbourne campuses of Swinburne; Hawthorn, Prahran, Lilydale, Croydon and Wantirna. The collection consists of 100s of 1000s of books, ebooks, journals, newspapers, videos, in print and online. Your ID card allows you to borrow from any of these libraries.
You can also have items sent to your preferred location, by placing a hold through the Swinburne library catalogue using the Library barcode on your card. Your Swinburne student number, also on your card, along with your date of birth as 6 digits makes up what is called your SIMS username (*see note below). This allows you access to the online collections anytime, anywhere, through the Library's Web page on the Internet.
A good place to begin to explore the collections and services of Swinburne Libraries, is with the Library's Web Page. Here you will find the Library Catalogue and Subject Starter Guides.
The Library Catalogue will help you to locate books, ebooks, journals and videos that are in your Unit outlines and reading lists, and also to look for information on a topic for an assignment or presentation.
The subject starter guides will help you to do further research on a topic, as they list recommended databases and quality web resources for you to search in. Swinburne Library subscribes to many hundreds of databases that contain a variety of information that will be useful to you in your study and research. The information in Library databases includes academic journal articles, newspapers, trade and professional publications, statistics, legislation, standards, handbooks, market research and much much more.
To find out more, contact the Library, or attend one of the library training workshops.
*Note: this podcast was compiled before the term 'SIMS username' came into use, and uses the term 'Swinburne Login' instead. The login it refers to is the same.
*Note: at this time this podcast was compiled, our library training workshops were called "Smart Skills". They are now called library training workshops.
3. How do I photocopy or print and how much does it cost?
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If you want to print or photocopy at a Swinburne Library you will need a Copy Card. Buy a card from the vending machine with a $2 coin. The card has 77 cents credit on it, so do not discard the card, but recharge it with coins or notes whenever you want to print or photocopy.
Each photocopier and printer station has a swipe machine so that your copy card can be charged. Please ask the Library staff at your campus Library if you do not know where these facilities are.
Each A4 black and white copy or print that you do costs 11 cents. You can use the credit on your card for other things. A3 black and white photocopies cost 22 cents, colour printing and photocopying 66 cents per page, overhead transparencies, 66 cents. We also sell blank discs. Ask at the Service Desk in the Library.
4. How do I renew loans? What's my PIN? What's a hold?
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If you would like to keep the books you have borrowed for a bit longer, you need to renew them BEFORE they become over due. That is either before, or on the day they are due, but not after.
We send you a reminder notice before your items are due, to help you to remember to renew. This is via email, you can click on the live link in the email to renew the item.
You can also renew in the following ways: in person at one of the service desks or by telephone during open hours, by email, or by sms text message. Listen to the audio presentation on How to Contact the Library for details, or check the Library Web Site.
Just like with Internet banking, you can check the internet from wherever you are, at any time, to access your Library Borrower Record. See the link from the Swinburne Library Home Page that says "Check your holds and renew loans". You need to login using your Library Barcode. Have a look at your ID card, it is the number at the bottom starting with the letter "U". If you are a student, the pin you need to enter is the last 4 numbers of the telephone number that you had when you first enrolled. If it does not work check the MySwinburne portal site, or contact the Library.
The library charges fines for items that have become overdue but as you can see there are many ways for you to avoid them.
Check your Swinburne email regularly. This is how the library communicates with you when any holds you have placed are ready to be picked up, when items you have out are nearly overdue, and when they become overdue.
You can forward your Swinburne email to another email account if you wish. You can find a link to "email forwarding", when you have logged into the MySwinburne Portal, and on the Current Students page, or find it in the index.
Something new this year is the SMS alerting service from the Library. You can now get an SMS message from the library to let you know when your holds are ready. You'll need to register your mobile phone number to receive SMS messages. See the Library website for more information
5. How can I borrow a wireless laptop or book a study room?
Listen to audio (MP3, 418k)
You can also use your Library Card to borrow wireless laptops from all campus Libraries, and group study rooms from Hawthorn, Prahran and Lilydale Campus Libraries. Wireless laptops can be borrowed for 4 hours when available. Group study rooms can be booked for 2 hours and keys borrowed from the Service Desk. These rooms are a great place to meet your study groups and to practice group presentations. You can also book the rooms via email, phone or SMS, see How to Contact the Library.
There are other types of equipment available for students and staff, such as recorders, players computers and projectors. Check the Library Web site under Equipment for Loan, for details of what is available to you at your campus.
6. Can I connect my own laptop to the Swinburne wireless network?
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If you are a student or staff member and have your own laptop, you can connect to the Swinburne wireless network.
The wireless network is available at the five major campuses in Melbourne, and provides access to My.Swinburne, blackboard, webct, the internet and other network services.
To use the wireless network, you will need to download and install the Swinburne WiFi software. This software is available for loan at all library service desks. You can also download the software and instructions from the Information Technology services (or ITS) website.
The web address is www.its.swinburne.edu.au
For more information, go to the web address I've just mentioned. Or you can call the ITS Helpdesk on 9214 5000 between 8am and 10pm Monday to Friday and Saturdays between 9am and 5pm during semester time.
7. What do I need to do to use the Hawthorn 24 hour computer Late Lab?
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The Late Lab at Hawthorn Campus Library is a great facility which students from any Swinburne campus can use.
The Late Lab part of the Library is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Check opening hours over public holidays, by clicking on the link to Library Opening Hours from the Library Home Page.
A current Swinburne ID card with a Late Lab access number printed on it is required. Take your ID card to the Library service Desk to have Late Lab access activated.
The Late Lab opens 10 minutes after we finish closing the rest of the library. We ask students to leave the library and then come back through a different door using their Late Lab access card.
The part of the library with books gets locked up, but computers, printers & photocopiers, the copycard machine and the toilets are all available. There is also a free phone that can be used to call any Swinburne number, including security.
Later in the semester, your Latelab card will also allow you to access the Learning Hub on Level 1, which has over a hundred more computers and more seating and study space. This will also be open 24 hours.
Listen to audio (MP3, 1.1M)
You may want to contact the library for various reasons: renewing books or other items you have borrowed, making bookings for equipment or study rooms, or questions about finding information for assignments.
You can contact the Library in person. Members of the Library staff are rostered at each campus to answer your questions. Service desks are for questions about Library services in general, your borrower record for example. Consultation desks are for lengthier enquiries; if you are looking for information for an assignment, or need help with your referencing.
You can also contact the library by telephone, SMS and email.
The central telephone number for all Library related enquires is 92148330. During opening hours you will be connected to a Library staff member. If the line is busy or it is outside the Library opening hours you will be asked to leave a message. Always leave your name and ID number, contact details and the details of your enquiry and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
SMS
The library now has an SMS query service and staff aim to respond to your message within 3 hours, but usually faster than that if it is between Monday and Friday, 9am to 5pm. Our number is 0427 841 787.
We also offer an SMS alerting service where we send a message to your mobile phone when items you have placed on hold are ready to collect, or items you have borrowed are due back. You will also receive these messages on your Swinburne student webmail. Sign up for this service at any of the campus libraries.
Email
You will get a rapid response if you send a question or comment to library@swin.edu.au. Several librarians are rostered onto this service which provides answers to all types of questions. We also have an Ask Us! Webform on our website that you can use if you prefer.
Coming soon is an Instant Messaging service where you can chat with a librarian.
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