What is CURBA?
CURBA is the agreement between University libraries that allows Canadian university students, staff and faculty to borrow items while visiting other institutions.
Here are the four logos you will see on the different CURBA cards:
- Please note these cards are for 'in person' borrowing; not for Interlibrary Loan. Patrons must be physically visiting other institutions.
- Cards are free, but patrons are responsible for any late fees.
Here are the four logos you will see on the different CURBA cards:
COPPUL, OCUL, CREPUQ, and CAUL/CBUA cards all fall under the CURBA agreement.
SMU is a partner in CURBA through the Council of Atlantic University Libraries (CAUL).
Users of other cards under the CURBA agreement must obtain cards through the patron's home institution, as that is the only way to confirm they are a patron in good standing.
If a patron comes to the library with one of these cards, you must create a record for the patron before items can be signed out.
To create a patron record for all CURBA cards, except CAUL (see next section), create a new record as you would for a new student. The only difference is the new patron status is '79 CURBA', and is used for all patrons regardless of status at the home institution. This status is only for all non-CAUL borrowers.
If the patron has already been set up by another Novanet institution, we would just add Local Privileges for SMU.
The privileges for borrowers with the CURBA patron status are:
CURBA patrons can return items at any Canadian university library. All items are shipped to the home institution through Interlibrary Loan.
We can renew items for a CURBA patron borrowed from any Novanet institution (all universities and community colleges in Nova Scotia). A patron seeking renewal for items from outside Novanet must contact the lending institution.
For more information on CURBA, visit http://www.coppul.ca/rb/rbindex.html
Back to Patron information
SMU is a partner in CURBA through the Council of Atlantic University Libraries (CAUL).
Users of other cards under the CURBA agreement must obtain cards through the patron's home institution, as that is the only way to confirm they are a patron in good standing.
- For example, if a patron from UBC comes here, we cannot issue a COPPUL card. We do not have them. We also would not issue that patron a CAUL card, or an OCB card. Under CURBA, patrons must obtain the card that corresponds to the home institution from that institution's library.
- CAUL cards are issued to Atlantic Canada students traveling outside their province.
If a patron comes to the library with one of these cards, you must create a record for the patron before items can be signed out.
- If someone comes with an OCUL (Ontario Council of University Libraries) card, the patron must also present a valid University ID from his or her home institution. All other patrons just need to show the CURBA card with a valid expiry date.
To create a patron record for all CURBA cards, except CAUL (see next section), create a new record as you would for a new student. The only difference is the new patron status is '79 CURBA', and is used for all patrons regardless of status at the home institution. This status is only for all non-CAUL borrowers.
If the patron has already been set up by another Novanet institution, we would just add Local Privileges for SMU.
The privileges for borrowers with the CURBA patron status are:
- Three weeks for books
- Periodicals and videos: seven-day loan
CURBA patrons can return items at any Canadian university library. All items are shipped to the home institution through Interlibrary Loan.
We can renew items for a CURBA patron borrowed from any Novanet institution (all universities and community colleges in Nova Scotia). A patron seeking renewal for items from outside Novanet must contact the lending institution.
For more information on CURBA, visit http://www.coppul.ca/rb/rbindex.html
Back to Patron information