FAQs

Frequently asked questions about the library.

Yes. We have more than 200,000 e-books. You can find them by searching Library OneSearch, using the Books tab. On the results page, go to the left column and select eBooks:

If OneSearch is not available (e.g., when we are updating the indexing on Sunday evening), you can still search e-books by going to this page and choosing the collection you wish to search.

Note that to read e-books, you'll need to log in using your TWU username and password. Alumni and community borrowers must be in the library or on the TWU wireless network to access e-books.

It depends on the provider. If it is an EBSCO e-book, you can see the concurrent user level by clicking on the title from the EDS results page:

 

   
Towards the bottom of the record, you will be able to see the concurrent access level:

 

Yes. Pages and chapters can be downloaded without signing in to MyEBSCO, but due to publisher restrictions, most of our ebooks allow only limited downloads of portions of the book. This may be up to 110 pages or as few as 10, depending on the publisher.


To determine what you can download, look for Publisher Permissions:


In the Table of Contents for an ebook, you can download individual chapters up to the limitation stated by the publisher's permission:


Ebooks can also be borrowed to read offline for 1 hour, 2 hours, or 21 days. Many of our limited user-access titles are restricted to 1- to 2-hour loans. To borrow an ebook, you will need to sign in to your MyEBSCO account. Your MyEBSCO account is different from your TWU sign-in and will need to be created for other EBSCO features such as saving items to a folder. You will also be directed to download a program called Adobe Digital Editions for viewing/browsing the ebook offlilne.  Mobile/tablet app users can now read ebooks on their handheld device without downloading Adobe Digital Editions. 


To borrow an EBSCO ebook, click on the Read Offline button.


Note that this is NOT for downloading and saving an entire ebook as a PDF, but it is a feature to checkout the ebook for offline viewing.

To determine if a title is restricted to a 1- or 2-hour loan, look for the concurrent user level on the ebook record page:

Borrowing summary for different concurrent user levels:

Single User titles (1-user access) = borrow for 2 hours; high-demand titles are restricted to 1 hour
Multi-user titles (3-users access) = borrow for 2 hours 
Unlimited User Access = borrow for 21 days

This is usually a problem only with EBSCOhost eBooks. The easiest solution is to try using a different browser.

If that doesn't work, here's EBSCO's workaround: 

To ensure eBooks are displayed in the eBook viewer in the browser window:

  1. Launch Adobe Reader.
  2. Click the Edit menu in the toolbar at the top of Adobe Reader.
  3. Select Preferences from the drop-down list of options.
  4. Select Internet in the left-column of the resulting menu.
  5. Mark the check box Display PDF in browser.
  6. Click OK.

eBooks now display in the eBook viewer without displaying individual PDFs for each page.
Note: If you have both Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader, you will need to make this change in both applications. This does not work with Apple's Preview PDF reader.

Older theses are located on the Lower Level of the library. 

For newer theses check the Locating Dissertations and Theses page. If you still have questions, contact a librarian.

 

The Harro Van Brummelen Curriculum Resource Centre contains materials of particular interest to teachers and education students, although anyone may check them out. It's on the Upper Level. The call numbers for all Curriculum Resources begin with LT.

More information is on the Curriculum Resources page.

Course Reserves contains required materials identified by TWU instructors for use in their courses:

  • Books
  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Course materials

They may be signed out for short periods of time (2 or 8 hours; 2 or 3 days).
To find materials on reserve, go to the Short-term Loans (Reserve) link on the library home page. You can search by instructor, course number or course name.

Reference books include dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories and bibliographies that are frequently referred to. They are integrated into the main book collection but are distinguished by having orange spine labels. They cannot be borrowed.

Many reference books are available electronically. You can often find them through our Research Guides.

Reserves differ from requests too.  A request is an item in the collection that someone has asked to have access to by using place hold link in the catalouge.

Print journals are on the lower level of the library, east end. All journals are shelved in alphabetical order by title.

Visit the History of TWU page or the University Archives.

Further resources include:

Developing leaders together : the principles behind our learning community. (2002). Trinity Western University. LE3.T78 A6573 2002 copy 1

Enarson, D. E. (1996). Thine hand upon me : he tells it like it was : memoirs of David E. Enarson. D. Enarson. BX7548.Z8 E53 1996 copy 1

Hanson, C. B. (2001). On the raw edge of faith : the exciting first hand story of Trinity Western College, Canada’s unique liberal arts college in British Columbia. C.B. Hanson. LE3.T78 H36 2001 copy 1

Snider, R. N. (2016). Against all odds-- : Trinity Western University : 1974 to 2006--to the praise of His glory. Trinity Western University. LE3.T78 S6255 2016 copy 1

Tomé, C. (2002). Trinity Western University : stories of faith and transformation (1st ed.). Trinity Western University. LE3.T78 A656 2001 copy 1

TWU uses two forms of classification for books. The main one is Library of Congress (LC) and all the call numbers on these books start with letters.

The other system (Dewey Decimal) starts with numbers and is found on books that came into the library from the Northwest Baptist Theological College Library. Dewey books are located on the upper level.

Eventually, all books will be classified by Library of Congress call numbers.