Working Off Campus

• To use the Postal Loan Service you have to register with Learning Services.
• This can be done anytime after you have enrolled and have been given your Student ID number.
• If you are studying on any of the below courses you are able to use the Postal Loan Service.
• If you live within the same postcode as any of our 4 sites, then you are not able to receive postal loans. The post codes are L39, L40, L9, PR7 and M1.
• Please make sure your account is clear before you register or else we will be unable to deal with your request. You must ensure that you have no overdue or invoiced items on your account, or fines of over £10.

For help with registering  and ordering books to be posted out to you, please watch this video Postal Loan Service.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Courses

• Fast Forward
• MA Equality and Diversity Management
• MA Management of International Education
• MA Voluntary and Third Sector Management
• MSc Football Rehabilitation
• MBA Business Administration

Faculty of Education (FOE) Courses

• BA Teaching, Learning & Mentoring (Flexible Route)
• Clinical education programmes (FoE only)
• Continuing Undergraduate (CUG) Modules
• Dyslexia Project
• Flexible PGCE
• Future Teachers Programme
• MA in Education
• Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL)
• MaST project
• National Award for Senco
• BA Professional Development (Flexible route and Education only)

Faculty of Health and Social Care Courses

• Certificate of HE Health and Social Care - Care UK Staff
• Faculty of Health and Social Care Palliative Care students (based at Marie Curie Liverpool)

All Students on courses based at the following locations

• Coventry
• Lea Green
• Manchester Communication Academy
• Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology
• Wirral Professional Excellence Centre, Acre Lane

Please find more information about the service here

A guide to Off Campus Support [PDF]

• Once you have received confirmation that you are eligible to use the Postal Loan service you are able to reserve books and request that they are posted out to you.
• All items available in our collection are listed in the library catalogue.
• Log on to the library catalogue.
• Choose the My Account option and enter your single username (your Edge Hill number which begins with 100 or 200).
• Enter your network password.
• Search the catalogue and choose the Request button if you want to reserve an item.
• Choose the Mail option as the pickup location.

Items that are readily available will be sent out within 5 working days.

Issues That May Arise

• Books that are not readily available (e.g. on loan) will be sent out as soon as possible.
• Some items are not able to be posted out to you due to their size. If this happens, you will receive an email to tell you this.
• When the items are initially sent out you will receive one extra weeks loan on them.
• If you renew these items, this will automatically revert back to either a 1 or 3 week loan with no extension.
• Please ensure you return your books on time otherwise you will be charged fines.

Your Postal Loans will be sent out once they are available. If there is a queue - your book will be sent out, when you are at the top of the queue.

Your books will be posted out via Royal Mail, inside the parcel you will receive the books you have requested and a bookmark with details of the service and how to return items.

You need to check your Library account via the Library catalogue to check when items are due back - we do not stamp due dates on the date labels of any books.

When we post out your Postal Loans - we send out a complimentary e-mail telling you that they have been posted.

If you do not receive your Postal Loans within 7 days - please contact us immediately and we will look into this for you. It is also a good idea to check with your Local Sorting office to see if the item has been sent there in case they are unable to deliver it.

If you do not contact us within this time frame - you may be charged the replacement cost.

You can return your Library books to us in a number of ways

• Via your teaching Centre or Partner College
• You must ensure you hand the Library materials to the designated member of staff
• They will write you a receipt – please keep this for any queries
• If they are not available – please leave in a bag or envelope with their name on it
• The centres will arrange delivery to Ormskirk
• Your books will remain on your account until they are received at Ormskirk- where they will be backdated to the date you returned them
  

Parcel Force Service

• If you do not attend a teaching centre you can use the Free Parcel Force Return Service
• Each item you receive contains the details of this service and how to use it on a bookmark
• The service operates Monday-Friday 9am – 5pm only
• You ring 0844 800 4466
  and quote the Edge Hill account number
• You can only request the 48 hour service – any other service used will result in you being charged the full amount for this. If you are asked for a label by Parcel Force please say yes, if you do not they will be unable to collect your parcel, which will lead to delays in returning books and possibly fines.
• If you are unsure of the account number, please contact the Off Campus Team

You can re-use the padded bags we originally sent the books out to you in. There is no charge to you for this service. However we will be monitoring usage and cost. It is important that you try not to send back one book at a time.

By Post

• You can return books via the Post at your own cost, if you wish.

• You can return your items to one of the Libraries at Ormskirk, Aintree, Woodlands or Woodford Lodge, Shrewsbury and Acre Lane, Wirral.
• However you return your items you are responsible for ensuring that the books are returned on time.

Books returned late will incur the standard fines. Fines will be added to your account, please check this online and send a cheque for the amount due as appropriate. Your account will be blocked when you owe £10 or more.

• If we do not have in stock a particular Item that you require you can use the Inter Library Loan service.
• You can order items via the Inter Library Loan Service. Full details.
• Each request is charged at a non-refundable £2.00 charge, you will be asked to send a cheque to the Off Campus team.
• When the item arrives it will be posted to you at your home address. Please ensure these details are correct.

You Must Return The Item Via Recorded Delivery

• Late return of items will result in a fine of 50p per day.
• Lost items will be charged at the standard British Library rate of £135 per item.
• Journal articles will arrive as a photocopy and these you can keep.

Once you have enrolled on your course you are entitled to apply for a Unicard. This is of use to you for a variety of reasons. If you are going to come onto one of the 3 main University Libraries, you will need it for borrowing books and also as a form of identification.

Please e-mail a passport sized photograph in jpeg format of yourself to offcampus@edgehill.ac.uk  Alternatively you can post one to us at the Ormskirk address. We will post the card out to you within 5 days of receiving the photograph.

Photocopying Journal Articles

• Photocopying from print journals that are held within the collection at Edge Hill University can be requested, and those articles posted out to you.
• Please check the library catalogue to establish whether we hold the journal you require.
• Please print out, complete and sign the Journals Request Form [PDF].
• The form can be sent to us by fax or by post.
• Copyright laws currently prevent us from offering a truly electronic service.
• There is a charge of 5p per page to cover the cost of the photocopying; this will be added to your library record.
• You will need to send a cheque or come in and pay this when it gets to £5.

Photocopying chapters from books

• We will photocopy one chapter of a book (this complies with copyright law).
• You will be charged 5p per page and this will be added to your account.

Photocopying contents page

The Library Catalogue now has the option to show you the front cover and the Content page for most items. For any items that don’t have this function available, please e-mail offcampus@edgehill.ac.uk and we will photocopy the contents page for you.

You take your SCONUL Access card along with your Edge Hill Unicard to the library you want to use, and a library account will be set up there for you.  If you don’t have a Unicard as you weren’t on campus when you registered, you will need to get one.  If you are one of our distance learners we offer a service to post a Unicard out to you.  Please see our distance learners page, ‘Requesting a Unicard’ to find out more details.

In general you will be able to access books and journals for reference, and you can borrow from some of the book stock (usually the longer loan items) on your first or second visit. 

It does pay to check with the library you are visiting first though, as the levels of access vary from library to library. You may also, for example, be asked to bring in a passport photograph, or arrive within office hours.

Most institution libraries will not allow access to short loan items or electronic resources.

There are 170+ institutions to choose from throughout the UK and Ireland. 
See here for a full members list. If you are an undergraduate student, reference access is available at all the libraries within the scheme.

If you return a completed Application Form, to the Edge Hill University Library address:

University Library
Edge Hill University
St Helens Road
Ormskirk
Lancashire
L39 4QP,

We will send you a SCONUL card in the post, and you can take it from there.
For our Library Opening Hours see our website.

Please bring your SCONUL Access card and your home institution library card and present these at the Help Desk in the library. 
We will create a new library account for you and you will be able to take out a maximum of five 3 week loan books immediately. 
You will have full reference access, access to photocopy, binding and laminating facilities.

Individuals who cannot have borrowing rights within SCONUL Access scheme may be interested in our scheme for External members. 

Have a look at External Membership.

• Inspire is a national scheme which is available to all.
• Academic, Public, health and Specialist Libraries have come together to allow everyone to have reference access to their collections.
• Details for use are on the find it! website.

• The scheme facilitates access to HE, FE and Public Libraries across the region.
• As a member of Edge Hill you can be referred for reference access to another participating site.
• Further details and information about other collections are available via the ALLIS web pages.
• Application forms and membership cards are available from any Edge Hill Library Help Desk.

• Offers external membership to full-time Edge Hill students at a cost of £20 per annum.
• You will need to take your Unicard, a letter confirming you are a current Edge Hill student in good standing, and a passport sized photo.
• You are advised to check Lancaster's website for details of opening hours and staff availability.

The links below provide access to the home pages and catalogues of public and academic libraries, locally and nationally.

Of particular interest is The British Library. It holds millions of books, journals and newspaper titles, and sound recordings covering a wide range of topics. Full details of The British Library catalogue, and how to apply for a Readers Pass can be found here.

Local Public Libraries

Online access to the home pages of libraries in the North West

• Lancashire County Council - Public Libraries
• Liverpool City Council - Public Libraries
• Knowsley Council- Public Libraries
• Sefton Council - Public Libraries
• Wirral Council - Public Libraries

Academic Libraries

•  Library Catalogues in UK Higher Education
•  Copac Research Libraries
•  BOPAC2
•  UK Library Web Pages
•  LibWeb

National Libraries

•  British Library           
•  Library of Congress
•  National Library of Australia
•  Bibliotheque Nationale de France
•  National Library of Canada

Public Libraries

•  UK Public Libraries
•  Public Record Office