Services Available
Library Catalog Access
The library catalog may be searched online. For tips on searching the catalog, see our research helps.
Online Database Access
Several of the library's online databases allow home access for students enrolled in BJU courses. To access these databases, please contact the library and ask for the home user password.
Borrowing Books
The Library prefers that distance education students borrow books via the InterLibrary Loan (ILL) system of their local public or academic libraries. However, if those services are not available, the Library will loan books to distance education students under the following conditions:
Additional Information for foreign delivery
- Item Limit: up to 6 books at one time
The library reserves the right to reject requests for rare or out of print items, or books that are currently in high demand.
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Loan Period: 5 weeks, starting from the day the books are charged on the library's system
- Types of materials that may be loaned: circulating books, biographies,
dissertations (grads only).
No reference works, AV materials, software, audio, fiction, or juvenile items may be borrowed except by standard ILL through a public or academic library.
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Due date: stamped on the date due slip in the front of the book
- Delivery: J.S. Mack Library will pay the postage to send items
to you via UPS Ground; you must pay to return the items to us via UPS
Ground. Most books will arrive within a week.
Rush Shipping: Items can be sent 2-day air at student's request. The Library will bill all special delivery fees to the student's business office account. Please note that 2-day air is about $10 a pound.
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Renewals: An item may be renewed once if no other patron has placed a request for the book. Renew by email, fax, or phone -- mention that you are a distance education student.
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Returning items: Please ship the books to J.S. Mack Library by UPS Ground Service. A return label is included with the books.
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Overdue items: An item must be shipped on or before its due date in order to avoid overdue fines. If the item is shipped after the due date, it will be considered overdue and a fine will be charged. Items not received 4 weeks beyond the due date will be considered lost (see Lost items, below).
- Fines: Overdue books (books not shipped on or before the due
date) will be charged a fine of 25 cents per day. Fines will be billed
directly to the student's business office account.
In the event that a student does not have an open account at the business office, the bill will be mailed directly to the student.
- Lost items: Any item not received by the library 4 weeks after
its due date will be considered lost. The student will be billed for
the replacement cost of the book, all overdue fines, and processing costs
(currently $4 - $8 a book). The lost book charges will be no less that
$50 for each book. If a student knows he cannot find a book, he should
notify the library immediately to prevent the overdue fine from accumulating.
Sending your request
- Please check the online catalog to make sure we have the book.
- Fill out the book request form.
If you have problems using this form, please contact the library by phone, fax, or email and give us the book information.
We will process your request within 48 hours. Most books will arrive in 7-10 days.
Photocopies of Articles or Chapters
The Library will mail up to 5 photocopied articles upon request. (Please check our online databases first; many offer full-text articles in a variety of subject fields.) In some cases, copyright laws may prevent the library from filling a copy request. In that case, a student will be notified immediately.
In addition to articles, the library will photocopy limited portions of books or dissertations (no more than one chapter or 10% of the whole) upon request. Please give us accurate, specific page numbers.
Distance education students who are in the dissertation phase of a BJU graduate degree may request copies of entire BJU dissertations. See below, under "Dissertations."
- Fee: 20 cents per duplexed page for photocopying plus $1 postage for every 12 pages of material sent or part thereof.
- Delivery: Copies will be mailed to the student via first class US mail.
- Article availability: The library can only send articles from journals that are in the library's current holdings. If Mack Library does not carry a journal you are requesting, a librarian will contact you so that you can utilize ILL to obtain that article through your local library.
Sending your request
- Please check the online catalog for major magazines and journals to see if we carry that periodical. Do a title search on the journal title (not article title). Small religious publications are not cataloged; please send an email to library_distance@bju.edu to check our holdings.
- Fill out the article request form.
If you have problems using this form, please contact the library by phone, fax, or email and give us the book information. - For photocopied chapters of books, please contact the library directly.
We will process your request within 48 hours. Most articles will arrive in 7-10 days.
InterLibrary Loan (ILL)
The Library's ILL services (borrowing items not in the library's collection) are primarily intended for patrons in the Greenville area. To borrow an item from J. S. Mack Library's collection through ILL, please initiate the ILL request from your local library. The Library cannot ILL to you items not in our collection.
Dissertations/Theses
Bob Jones University doctoral students who would like a copy of a BJU dissertation should note the price structure below and complete the form. Copying and delivery of dissertations will take at least 2 weeks. Dissertations that are bound before mailing will take at least 8 weeks.
Photocopying of a dissertation is contingent upon receiving permission from the University to make a copy. The library will notify the student if the permission is denied.
Price structure
Each of the following fees will apply:
- 20 cents per duplexed page for photocopying
- $5 per hour for labor
- $2 handling fee per dissertation
- Shipping costs (calculated when mailed)
In addition to the above costs and at the request of the student, the library will have the dissertation bound as a hardcover for an additional $9. The library will send the pages to the bindery along with our regular monthly shipment. This process will lengthen the processing time by 6 to 8 weeks.
Sending your request
- Please read the pricing information above and contact the library if you have any questions.
- Fill out the dissertation request form.
If you have difficulty using the form, please contact the library directly.