UniSA Library Guide: Know Everything About The Library

This UniSA Library guide touches on all the things that you must know as a UniSA student before you using the library.

The most important thing for every student is to know the facilities available and how to utilize them to support yourself.

Since the library is one of those facilities, let’s take a good look at the resources available and how to utilize them.

What You Must Know

The UniSA library is the largest academic library in Africa with over 2.7 Million collections. There are libraries at all UniSA service centers including the one in Ethiopia.

There is also an online resource to support all students who can’t visit the physical library locations.

The physical libraries have all the books the students might need for their studies. Even if the particular book a student wants is not available at the particular location, there is a request protocol in place. That means no matter where the book is, it can be shipped to the student’s location.

While students can borrow the book and send it home, there are also study facilities in most of the libraries. These study facilities have a very serene environment for studies.

For students who want to access the library materials remotely, there are many options available. One can access the library’s e-resources through the Mobile App or by visiting the Library Website.

The online resources include UniSA’s own collections in ebook format and resources from the database of other Scholarly Journals and Research papers websites.

UniSA Library Membership

The library is available for use by all types of students including some categories of Non-UniSA students. But there is a limit to what everybody can get access to and how much to pay for a membership fee.

Undergraduate Students
The library issues membership cards for R45 but the student must present Student ID during library card purchase. The R45 card cost will double up if the student is replacing a missing library card.
The student can borrow up to 8 items or 12 for music students and return them within 3 weeks unless recalled. The card is not transferable and the same applies to the student ID Card.

Day Visitors
Day visitors get to pay R50 per day to use the library. It is a daily service so the visitor must pay R50 any day they have to use the library.
There is no borrowing service for day visitors.

Community
The community can also get access to the library materials. For the community services, the user must subscribe to the library on 3 months, 6 months or 12 months terms.
Subscription costs R490 for 3 months, R640 for 6 months, and R940 for 12 months with additional R45 for a library card.
The user also gets to borrow 1 item from open shelve collection for 45 days. For additional items, you will have to pay R600 per item.

There are many other membership packages that are available. If you want to take a look at the other many memberships available, you can always check the UniSA website.

UniSA Library E-Resources

The e-Resources are available to the students with a little portion available to the public. The e-resources available to the students of the University of South Africa are strictly for learning and teaching purposes.

It is not acceptable for students or any other user to use the materials commercially or redistribute the contents.

The online access demands registrations and verifications of some sort to start using. Some of the materials also demand some kind of special access.

The e-library covers materials from UniSA and other publishers. This makes the terms and conditions very important for you since breaching any could get you in trouble.

You can access the library using this link.

African Digital Library (ADL)

The African Digital Library is accessible by anyone regardless of location. There is a wide range of library materials for learning and teaching purposes.

This library has a mission to make available ebooks for students and other institutions in Africa for free. You can view and make use of the materials for free with no subscription required.

All you have to do to start using this amazing e-resource is to head to the website and register

UniSA Library Log In

Since the “MyUniSA” account is an all-in-one account, you will need it for the library too. You might also have to read my previous article about the “MyUniSA Account”.

To log in, simply go to the UniSA Library Homepage using this link.

Click on “Log into MyLibrary”

Now enter your “MyUniSA” Username and Password

You should be able to log in successfully.

You can also use the mobile app to access the UniSA Library.

Simply search “UniSA Library” on the Google Play Store

Install the app and log in with your “MyUniSA” Login information. You should be able to access all the library contents via your mobile device.

Conclusion

In short, all UniSA students must know their way around the UniSA library. While most of the things in the library are for students, anybody can still get access at a cost.

There are also e-resources that anyone can access over the internet. It is very important to take note of the terms of use.

If you have any questions or suggestions, kindly leave a comment.