Services for distance education students

Welcome to distance education students

The staff of the Health Sciences Library welcome you to the University as a distance education student. We are committed to providing you with resources to assist you in your studies and encourage you to use the library and its resources.

As an enrolled student you are entitled to access and use all libraries within the University of Sydney Library system. The Health Sciences Library is located at Lidcombe. An online library learning module describing the collection and services offered is available from the library website. However, if you live in a remote location, you may be able to arrange borrowing privileges at another appropriate tertiary institution near your home or workplace. You will find instructions on how to organise this under Reciprocal borrowing.

If you have a disability, check out the additional library services we offer.

|Top of page|

Contacting the Library

Distance Education Service team - We handle all requests for library materials for students who are unable to personally visit the library.

Ms. Sriyani Kulasuriya
Telephone: (02) 9351 9078
Fax No.: (02) 9351 9421
Email: fhsdochs@library.usyd.edu.au
Postal Address: P.O. Box 170, Lidcombe 1825

Faculty Liaison Librarians - The Library has specialist subject librarians who can help you to make the best use of the University Library's services and resources e.g. You can request a literature search for your research topic. They can be contacted through email or in person.

|Top of page|

Hours of Opening

Semester
Monday to Thursday 8am - 9pm
Friday 8am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm

Inter Semester and Long Vacation
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday and Sunday Closed

|Top of page|

The Collection

The Library's collection of approximately 80,000 books, videos, dvds, and combined print and digital resources is particularly oriented towards the health sciences. We can obtain material from libraries elsewhere for you if required, including all other libraries in the University of Sydney Library system.

The Library catalogue lists all the materials held by the University of Sydney Library, a network of 17 libraries located on nine campuses. The Library web site provides access to services and resources, anywhere at anytime. Self-service options are offered through the catalogue.

|Top of page|

Requesting Material

Requesting material is via the University Library's Document Delivery Service which requests material from other libraries and document suppliers in Australia and around the world for postgraduates and academic staff. This service also supports distance education students by providing access to material not electronically available in the University of Sydney Library.

In addition, the service enables postgraduate students and academic staff to request articles via DIRECT from the Ovid subject databases or directly with suppliers such as the British Library or Uncover.

You need to register for ILL/DD services. To register, login to MyLibrary and then click on the link "Register here" link. Once registered, logon to MyLibrary and then click on the link "Request items from Document Delivery" to start requesting. To comply with the Copyright Act 1968 you must tick the declaration on the request forms stating that you will comply with Copyright requirements.

Some books in heavy demand are not available for postal loans. Videos, dvds and books are not available for overseas loan. As an alternative, web delivery of articles or book chapters that you request can be provided (limited to approximately one chapter per book).

You can renew loans yourself using MyLibrary if it is from a renewable collection and there are no holds on your items.
You can also renew in person, by phone (935 19423), email or by fax (9351-9421).

|Top of page|

Reciprocal Borrowing (ULA)

ULA - University Library Australia - is an Australia-wide borrowing scheme. Students or members of staff of the University of Sydney are eligible to borrow from other academic libraries. Students of the University of Sydney are required to pay a $50.00 fee to the host library, where photo identification and proof of current enrolment is required. Staff of the Univeristy of Sydney will need to present photo identification and proof of current employment/affiliation to the host library. There is no charge for University of Sydney staff. It is your responsibility to contact the host library and find out how long it takes them to make library cards. You cannot presume that you will have immediate borrowing rights.

Details of registration and borrowing conditons is available at: http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/borrowing/reciprocal.html.
For participating libraries see the ULA homepage : http://www.caul.edu.au/ula/index.html

|Top of page|

Access to Electronic Resources

The library catalogue lists resources in all the collections of the libraries of the University of Sydney, including books, journals, conference proceedings, newspapers, audio-visual materials, print and electronic resources.
Through the catalogue, you have access to:

|Top of page|

Internet Resources

Material available on the Internet varies widely in quality. It can be time consuming to actually locate appropriate information. Library staff have therefore identified useful Internet sites covering core subject areas in the Health Sciences. These subject guides are at: http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/subjects

Information on searching the Internet and search engines are also available from the Library website.
If you cite Internet resources, you may consult the Internet citing guides or the Faculty's Guidelines for presentation of assignments.

|Top of page|

The Health Sciences Library staff are here to support and assist you in completing your studies and enrich your learning experience at the University. We welcome your suggestions and feedback.