Services

Click here to view the service desk’s opening hours. 

The service desk offers many resources that students and professors need. We keep books on reserve that have been selected by professors for specific classes, and we lend these books to students for a period of two (2) hours. We can also help you with any questions about the library, and we offer 20-minute lightning tours if you want to learn about the most important library areas and services. The library staff at the service desk can give you access to group study rooms and help you book them for specific times. We also offer computer and printing assistance.

Saint Paul University students, faculty, and alumni: Book loans can be made in person at the service desk (see opening hours here) or online using your library account. To access your library account, visit Omni and click on the login (located in the top right-hand corner of the screen).

• For students: Sign in as an internal user and use your uOzone access credentials.
• For faculty and employees: Sign in as an external user with your @ustpaul.ca email.
• For alumni: Sign in as an external user with the email you provided to the library.

If you wish to return a book, please use the book return box located outside the library.

Renewals can be done in person at the service desk or online using your library account. To access your library account, visit Omni and click on the login (located in the top right-hand corner of the screen).

• For students: Sign in as an internal user and use your uOzone access credentials.
• For faculty and employees: Sign in as an external user with your @ustpaul.ca email.
• For alumni: Sign in as an external user with the email you provided to the library.

If you wish to return a book, please use the book return box located outside the library.

We are now offering a free home delivery service to members of the Saint Paul University community. This allows SPU students (undergraduate and graduate), faculty, post-doctoral fellows, affiliated researchers, staff, and alumni living anywhere in Canada but outside of the Ottawa-Gatineau region* to have up to ten (10) books from the library’s general collection delivered at no cost.

Details of the service:

• Delivery is available in Canada only (but outside the Ottawa-Gatineau region)*.
• Delivery is available for books in the general collection only.
• A maximum of ten (10) books can be requested and delivered at a time.
• Requests will be processed, when possible, within three (3) working days.
• Items are shipped using Canada Post.
• Estimated delivery dates or times cannot be provided.
• Return of borrowed items must be done using the enclosed postage-paid label. Only one return label will be provided; please take care not to lose it.

*This service is also available to those who have an illness or disability living within the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

How to request an item:

• Sign in to Omni.
• Perform your search.
• Open the record for the item you wish to borrow and select “Home Delivery.”
• Follow the instructions and complete the Home Delivery form, making sure to provide your current shipping address.

How to request a scan:

1. Sign in to Omni.
2. Perform your search.
3. Find your item in Omni and click on view the details.
4. Click the Scan on demand button.
5. Complete and submit the request form.

Within 1-3 days, library staff will make a PDF and send it to your @uOttawa email. During busy times, scans may take a little longer to arrive in your email.

We are also able to scan and send by email a PDF copy of articles and books (up to 20% of the book) that are only available in print format. Please send your requests in writing to biblio@ustpaul.ca.

What we offer:

• Research guides created by librarians to help you start your research;
• Help with search strategies;
• Appointment with a librarian for one-on-one research assistance.

We have created research guides to give you a starting point for your research. These guides are organized by discipline and contain resources that have been selected to help you find the information you need to complete your assignments. If you are not sure where to start your research or want some guidance on how to use the research guides, come by the service desk for some research assistance. We can help you find resources such as journal articles and books, search online databases, and manage your bibliography.

If you require information that is more specific or in-depth, or are working on a thesis, you can make an appointment with one of the librarians to receive one-on-one research assistance. Our librarians offer this help through:

• Phone meetings;
• Zoom and Microsoft Teams virtual meetings;
• Email;
• In-person meetings.

Please contact the librarian in charge of your program:

Marta Samokishyn: Canon Law; Theology; Conflict Studies; Leadership, Ecology and Equity; Counselling, Psychotherapy and Spirituality

• 613-236-1393 ext. 2313 or msamokishyn@ustpaul.ca

Victoria Tsonos: Social Communication; Social Innovation; Ethics, Social Justice and Public Service

• 613-236-1393 ext. 2222 or vtsonos@ustpaul.ca

The library offers help through the Ask a Librarian chat service, where students have access to librarians’ help in real time through a virtual chat. The service is available here or on the library’s homepage.

From September 3 to December 6, 2024, the hours for the chat service are as follows:

• Monday–Thursday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday & Sunday: 12 to 6 p.m.

The service is closed on Monday, October 14 (Thanksgiving).

From December 7–20, 2024, the hours for the chat service are as follows:

• Monday–Friday: 12 to 4 p.m.
• Saturday & Sunday: Closed

The service is closed during the holidays.

The Writing Centre is open Monday–Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Located in the library, the Writing Centre provides Saint Paul University students with assistance in writing, organizing, and formatting academic papers. Whether you are in the early or the final stages of the writing process, the writing advisor will provide constructive feedback and recommend resources and strategies that are tailored to your needs. You can also receive help if you are looking to avoid plagiarism, improve your time management skills, or understand your professors’ instructions and expectations.

Please click here for more information about the Writing Centre.

We provide in-class instruction targeted to your specific needs, in accordance with the requirements of your faculty and assignments. Professors can book these in-class sessions by contacting us at biblio@ustpaul.ca.

We also hold workshops—called Lunch & Learns—at the beginning of the fall and winter semesters; these Lunch & Learns are designed to help students use our resources effectively. The schedule is posted on our website and social media at the beginning of the semester.

The library has over 25 computer workstations for students who wish to use them to work on assignments. One laser printer, two black-and-white photocopiers/scanners as well as a colour photocopier/scanner are available.

Students must go to the Multiservices Centre to create and add money to their PaperCut account. Adding money to an account can also be done by sending an email to cms-msc@ustpaul.ca (include your full name and student number).

Please note that group study rooms are reserved for groups of two or more people.

The library has:

• Four group study rooms (2+ people)
• One graduate student study room

These rooms can be booked for two-hour periods through the library’s LibCal system. Two people must be present to ask the service desk staff for the key for a group study room reservation.

Studios are small office spaces within the library that are available for rental to conduct research activities.

The library has several studios that are available to be rented by students, professors, and researchers.

Once you have decided to rent a studio, you must read and fill out the research studio request form and send it to the Events and reservations Office : reservations@ustpaul.ca.

Please note that priority is given to Saint Paul University students.

Can’t find what you are looking for? We can help you borrow books and articles from another library.

As of July 4, 2023, RACER (the library’s legacy interlibrary loan system) is no longer available because its software is at end of life and is no longer supported by the vendor. You can now request items directly in Omni, either from the existing request form for items you find in Omni or from a new ILL form for items not found in Omni. This eliminates the need for a separate log-in and provides access to all the same items that could be requested using the RACER interface.

If you think that a book we do not have would be a valuable addition to our collection, you can suggest that it be purchased. Please fill out the following form (coming soon) to make a purchase suggestion and specify if it is a reserve book.

Borrower identification

• First and last names
• Status (faculty, PhD, masters, undergraduate, support staff)
• Phone number
• Email

Item identification

• Author(s) or editor(s)
• Title
• Publisher
• Publication date
• Edition
• ISBN