E-LIB user guide for students

E-LIB is the library portal of Phu Xuan University at https://elib.pxu.edu.vn. You can search the print catalogue, check whether a book is on the shelf, read digital resources and follow the books you have borrowed, on a computer or a phone.

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1. Signing in

1. Click Sign in at the top right (on a phone: Account in the bottom bar).
2. Choose Sign in with Google and use your university email (…@pxu.edu.vn, …@nbs.edu.vn, …@topicauni.edu.vn, …@equest.vn or …@kuv.edu.vn). No separate password is needed.
3. On your first sign-in the system creates your account with the Student role. If the library has already imported your class list, your student ID and faculty appear right away; otherwise ask the library to have an administrator add your student ID so that borrowing is quicker.

You can also skip signing in: Continue searching without signing in on the sign-in page takes you straight to the catalogue.

Without a university email

If you only have another Google account (for example Gmail), sign in with it anyway. E-LIB opens the Request access to E-LIB page:

1. Write your full name, student ID, class/faculty, programme and why you need the library in Your details and reason (at least 10 characters).
2. Click Send request. The page shows Request awaiting approval; until then the features that need an account are not available, but you can still search as a guest.
3. The library approves or rejects the request and emails you the result. Once approved, sign in again and you can use E-LIB as a Student.
4. If the request is rejected, the page shows the library's note; after 7 days you can click Send a new request with more details.

If the library has already added your email to the user list, you can sign in straight away without a request. E-LIB only signs in with Google, so the email must be a Google account.

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2. Searching print books

Home page

The home page has the big search box with shortcuts (Print books, Textbooks, Digital, Open textbooks), library totals, New arrivals, Popular books, Categories (with the number of titles), New resources and the open-textbook libraries. When you are signed in, the On loan / Due soon / Overdue tiles and your first loans appear at the top, together with a notice if your account is suspended; library announcements are shown as a banner.

Search

• Type a title, author, ISBN or subject into the search box on the home page (or Search in the bottom bar on a phone). Vietnamese can be typed without diacritics: "kinh te vi mo" still finds "Kinh tế vĩ mô".
• Call numbers are searchable too. Typing or scanning a book barcode (for example ELIB-00012) opens that book's page directly with the copy highlighted.
• The home-page search box searches print books and digital resources at the same time. Results have three tabs: All (the default — the first few hits of each kind, with a See all link), Print books (borrow at the library) and Digital (read online); the number next to each tab is the hit count for that kind, so you always see whether the other kind has results. Print books in the top menu opens the Print books tab directly.
• Digital resources are also matched on their description and table of contents (chapter and section titles of LibreTexts textbooks), so a narrow topic such as "firewall" finds textbooks that have a section on it; the card then shows In the contents: …. Title matches are listed first.
• Results with copies on the shelf show Available a/t (a copies left out of t); titles whose copies are all out show Borrowed. The icons above the list switch between list and grid view.

Filters and sorting

• The All tab only offers Category and Faculty; the other filters are in the Print books tab.
• Material type: textbook, reference, monograph, thesis, journal…
• Category and Faculty: narrow down by subject area or managing faculty.
• Available only: hides books whose copies are all on loan.
• Sort: relevance, newest, most borrowed, by title.

Book page

Shows the description, authors, publisher, year, ISBN, call number, subjects and the Copies in the library table with each copy's barcode, location (shelf) and status (Available / Borrowed / Lost / Damaged); a borrowed copy shows its due date. When you open the page from the QR code on a book label, that copy is highlighted. More in this category suggests related titles (for a book without a category: the most borrowed books). Subject tags are clickable and start a new search.

Scanning the QR code on a book label

Every book in the library carries a label with a barcode and a QR code. Scanning the QR code with your phone camera opens that book's page, which is handy for checking that the book on the shelf is the one you need.

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3. Borrowing and returning

E-LIB has no online reservation; borrowing and returning happen at the librarian desk:

1. Search first to see whether the book is available and on which shelf.
2. Bring the book to the desk with your student card, or open Account → Library card on your phone so the librarian can scan your QR code.
3. The librarian scans each book's barcode and confirms. The due date appears immediately under Current loans.
4. To return, simply hand the book to the librarian; the system updates instantly.

To renew, visit the desk or contact a librarian before the due date (students cannot renew online yet). The maximum number of renewals is shown in the Borrowing rules card under Account → Profile.

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4. Borrowing rules

The rules are configured by the library and may change. The maximum number of loans, the loan period and the number of renewals that apply to you are always shown in the Borrowing rules card under Account → Profile; ask a librarian about reminder and suspension settings if needed. Defaults for students:

While you have an overdue book or your account is suspended, you cannot borrow more until the book is returned and the suspension ends. Overdue books must still be returned as soon as possible.

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5. My account

Open Account (top right, or Account in the bottom bar on a phone — that bar also has Home, Search, Digital and Loans, which opens your current loans directly):

• Profile: name, email, student ID, faculty, role, account status and the Borrowing rules card (maximum books and how many you have now, days per loan, renewals, link to this guide). If you are suspended, the end date and reason are shown here.
• Current loans: books not yet returned, with the barcode, borrow date, due date and the days left ("{n} days left" turns amber when 2 days or fewer remain, "Due today" on the last day) or, in red, the days overdue.
• Loan history: finished loans (returned or reported lost) with barcode, borrow date, due date, return date and status; a late return shows how many days late it was.
• Library card: your name, role, faculty, email, a personal QR code and a barcode of your student ID, to be scanned by the librarian when you borrow without your student card.
• The account menu (click your name / avatar) also has User guide (this page) and Sign out.

On a phone you can add E-LIB to the home screen (Chrome: ⋮ menu → Add to Home screen; Safari: Share → Add to Home Screen) to open it like an app.

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6. Digital library

The Digital library holds textbooks, reference material and open educational resources. Filter by source (OpenStax, Open Textbook Library, LibreTexts, Phu Xuan University Library — the library's own uploads), language (VI / EN buttons) and category; the search box on this page searches within the chosen filters. Each card shows the type (PDF or External), licence and, for PDF files, the number of views. Click an item to open its page (description, source, licence, subjects, size; LibreTexts textbooks also have a collapsible Contents panel). Two kinds of items:

• Links: click Read online to open the provider's page (OpenStax, Open Textbook Library, LibreTexts, public Google Drive…). Many open textbooks also offer Download PDF (open licence).
• PDF files uploaded by the library: you must be signed in, and you read them directly in the E-LIB reader. The reader has page buttons, zoom in / out and full screen; use the arrow keys on a computer, or swipe left / right on a phone to turn pages. Every page carries a faint watermark with your student ID / email. These files are read online only: there is no download button, and right-click and the save / print shortcuts are blocked.

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7. Open textbooks

The Open textbooks page introduces collections published under Creative Commons licences, which are free, legal and may be translated and printed: OpenStax, Open Textbook Library, LibreTexts and VOER (Vietnamese). About 6,000 English textbooks from OpenStax, the Open Textbook Library and LibreTexts are already listed in the Digital library (each panel shows how many) and can be searched directly in E-LIB; use Visit to go to a collection's own website.

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8. Reminder emails

The system emails your university address automatically:

• Due soon: once, when 2 days or fewer remain before the due date (per the borrowing rules), sent in the morning.
• Overdue: repeated every 3 days until the book is returned.

If you cannot find an email, check the Spam / Promotions folder.

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9. Changing the language

Click VI | EN (next to the globe icon) in the navy strip at the very top to switch between Vietnamese and English. English page addresses start with /en (for example elib.pxu.edu.vn/en/search).

A Chinese interface is also available, without a button: add /cn after the domain yourself (for example elib.pxu.edu.vn/cn or elib.pxu.edu.vn/cn/search). Book data (titles, descriptions) stays in its original language; category and faculty names are shown in English.

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10. Cô Châu, the assistant

Once signed in, every catalogue and reader page has an Ask Cô Châu button in the bottom-right corner — the library's AI assistant. Cô Châu queries the E-LIB data directly, so she only names books the library really holds:

• Printed books: ask by title, author, subject or ISBN. The answer tells you how many copies can be borrowed, the shelf location and the call number; click a title to open its page.
• Digital resources and open textbooks (OpenStax, Open Textbook Library, LibreTexts, PDFs uploaded by the library) with a link to open each one.
• Your loans: ask "when are my borrowed books due?" to see due dates and how many more books you may borrow.
• Opening hours, address and contact details of the library.

Two ways to use it, switched with the two buttons at the top of the panel:

• Chat: type a question and press Enter. The conversation is kept until you close the browser; New conversation clears it.
• Talk: tap the microphone and speak as on a phone call; Cô Châu listens and answers by voice, and both sides of the conversation appear as text below. The browser asks for microphone permission the first time; tap the square button to end the call. Each account may start up to 6 calls per hour.

Cô Châu only answers questions about the library and its collection; borrowing, returning and renewing still happen at the librarian's desk. An AI assistant can make mistakes — check the book page when it matters.

Frequently asked questions

Contact the library by the email in the footer, or at the desk during opening hours.