Holland College

Welcome to the Library


Services to Distance Learners

Circulation Services

When you register at Holland College as an off-campus learner, within a few weeks you should receive a welcome letter and borrower's card in the mail from Library Services. On the back of the card you will see a label with a barcode and 14-digit number. You can use this number to make requests in our online catalogue or to request online renewals of items you have borrowed. We will ship requested items to out-of-province borrowers via Canada Post, enclosing a postage-free return label. If you are studying in-province, we will ship items to your nearest Library branch. You may borrow up to six items at a time from us, and you may renew your loans up to five times, provided there are no pending requests for the items. The loan period for out-of-province distance learners is longer than normal (usually about one month), in order to compensate for shipment times. Although we do not charge late fees for overdue items, you will be charged for replacement of any materials that are lost or damaged.  

Reference (Q & A) Service

Have a question that needs an answer? Send it along to one of our trained library staff. You can either: We'll do our best to reply within 24 hours!

Brush Up Your Information Skills

If you need help finding and using information, please ask us or check out the following links:
  • the tipsheets on database use (posted on our Databases page under each title) suggest simple search techniques when you need to find magazine or encyclopedia articles online
  • our Info Skills section includes slideshows, factsheets, and handouts on topics such as how to build a good search, how to construct an outline or mindmap (for a short paper or presentation), how to evaluate information, and how to handle (cite) sources.
Off-Campus Access to Restricted Online Resources

Some Holland College online learning materials, such as several of our article databases or encyclopedias, are by subscription only and are licenced for use only by currently enrolled students and staff. When you attempt to access these resources from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter the barcode number from your library card, described above. For more information on off-campus access to restricted resources, please click here.