LibGuides: User Guide: Services

Circulation

Standard Books

Borrowing privileges are extended only to University of Sharjah currently enrolled faculty, students and staff who hold a valid UOS ID cards for periods specified below. However, number of books can be borrowed may change depending on the course subjects, availability of related books and the library utilized.

Your Status	No. of Books	Duration
Faculty	20	1 Academic Semester
Teching Assistants	15	4 Weeks
Postgraduate	15	4 Weeks
Undergraduate	8	2 Weeks
Staff	8	4 Weeks

It is the borrower responsibility to be aware of the “Due Date” and Request a Renewal. Renewal request must be received by the due date.

Reserved Collection

Specific items chosen by faculty may be placed on reserve, as long as with textbooks for the current semester.
Reserved materials are for internal use only. However, some titles (which are not highly required) can be borrowed for overnight and weekends with special permission from the librarian.
Borrowing of the Reserved Materials will not be allowed during the exam periods
Borrowing of the Reserved Materials will not be allowed during the exam periods

Reference Collection

Only Faculty and Teaching Assistants may check out reference materials for not more than 7 days loan period, subject to recall at a short notice if required

Periodicals

Faculty are eligible to borrow the current periodical issue for 2 days.NON-PRINTED MATERIALS (AUDIO-VISUAL, FLOPPIES, CDS, DVDS, ETC)
Faculty are eligible to borrow the non-printed materials for overnight or weekends.

The Fine Arts Library Policy

Reserved materials for assignments

If there is an assignment on certain topics the library staff chooses some books related to the subjects and place the temporarily on the reserve shelf to be used from the students who are in need.

Students from outside the CFAD:

Students from other colleges may check out two books from the fine arts library for Seven days. Borrowed items can’t be renewed it is heavily requested.

The medical Library policie

General Policies

It is Not allowed to borrow the same book for more than two consecutive times
It is Not allowed to borrow more than two books for the same subject

Library Fines and Charges

Regular Fines for overdue items

Regular overdue fines are 1 Dirham per day per item (maximum 45 Dirham). Additional fines above the regular fines may be charged if the item is damaged or not returned.

Charges for lost items

An item is considered lost when either the borrower informs the library that the item is lost or, the item has not been returned by the end of 30 days after the due date.
A borrower may replace lost materials with copies accepted by the library. Full information about the lost materials and the proposed replacement should be submitted to the library and must receive approval before purchase.
The charge for a lost library material, failed to be replaced by the borrower, is double the actual cost plus a processing/ Service Fee of (DHS 30).
The librarian will collect the fines, indicate it in the system, and issue a receipt.

Example : Book Price is 50 Dhs, the Lost fees are 50*2+30 = 130 + (Overdue charges if any)

Charges for damaged items

Damage Fee – based on assessment of damage – will be charged.
A borrower may replace damaged materials with copies accepted by the library. Full information about the damaged materials and the proposed replacement should be submitted to the library before purchase.
The charge for a damaged library material, failed to be replaced by the borrower, is double the actual cost plus a processing/ Service Fee of (DHS 30).

All fines are collected at any of the UOS Libraries. A receipt will be issued after which the hold is removed.

Reference

Professional librarians are available to provide Reference Services by guiding users in searching and accessing a wide range of library information resources and services.

Reference service has moved from the “traditional desk service” to working with users off-site. Hence, we are just a phone call or keystroke away. Inquiries can be submitted either in person, by phone, or using the e-mail, or fill Ask the Librarian E-Form available through the library homepage.

Research Assistance

Reference Librarians are available for in-depth personalized research assistance. Students, who are working on research projects, are encouraged to seek help in defining the topic terms, formatting a well-built search strategy, selecting proper resources to search, performing the search and locating materials. For assistance, please contact your library to schedule for an individual appointment with the reference librarian.

Document Delivery

Faculty, researchers and students are entitled to request an unlimited number of documents from scientific journals, conference proceedings, reports or other documents. In case UOS Library does not hold the requested items in stock, they will be ordered from the British Library Documents Supply Center. Such facility is also made available through ILL arrangement in practice with other local and regional academic libraries.

All are available free of charge to our users. To request a document, please fill the Document Delivery E-Form.

User Education

The library has developed a dedicated program to keep faculty and students be aware of the latest information resources acquired by the library, and to enable students to search, find, retrieve, evaluate and make efficient use of resources in the rapidly changing information world.

Sessions are conducted upon faculty request, for groups or on a one-to-one basis, in two levels, basic and advanced
Reference librarians may visit the classroom on faculty request and provide a customized course-related session covering information resources on specific subjects
Students may schedule with the reference librarian, individually or in groups, for specialized instruction sessions to seek help in their research projects.

Sessions are supported by research video tutorials, brochures and handouts posted on the library homepage

Current Awarness

The UOS Libraries offer Current Awareness Service such as,

Table of contents of recently received specific periodicals, are sent to the faculty on regular basis, when received at the library.
Regular library updates are e-mailed to medical faculty and students, to promote new resources and explain procedures on how to access and search them
A New Arrivals List includes the recently acquired books in one month, is published on the library homepage regularly
“Medical Sites Newsletter” which includes links to new valuable medical websites, is published in the Web Medical Resources Page
The Medical Library Blog was set up, aiming to provide up-to-date information on medical resources and promote the medical library collection, services, and training sessions.
Brochures, Signs and Posters are available in all libraries and via the library homepage.

In order to keep faculty, researchers and students aware and abreast of new resources and services, libraries offer Current Awareness Service in various ways.

Library staff creates Alerts or RSS feeds for faculty to enable them to receive Table of contents of recently published journal issues
Regular library updates are e-mailed to faculty and students, to promote new resources and explain procedures on how to access and search them
Announcements on library issues, such as new services, resources, new issues of the library newsletter, on trial resources, etc. are posted through the university homepage and the library homepage
A New Arrivals List includes books acquired books and is published on the library homepage regularly.

To request Current Awareness Service, please fill in the Current Awareness E-Form