System Learning Commons

The Virtual Library provides students and staff access to a variety of digital reading and research tools to enrich and extend classroom learning, support essay writing, research, and classroom projects. 

Accessing the Virtual Library is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Have your student's board-issued email and password ready. Don't have it? Check with your homeroom teacher
2. Log into the Hub: https://students.hwdsb.on.ca/
3. Click the Virtual Library button or search for HWDSB Virtual Library

Copyright is a law that protects the moral and economic rights of content creators. Copyright defines the rights of both the creator and the user to ensure a balanced and fair use of copyrighted works. The Copyright Act is a federal law which you must follow whenever you reproduce or distribute someone else’s copyrighted works.

In Canada, copyright protection begins as soon as you produce something original in fixed form (written, video, etc.), meaning you immediately own the copyright for that item (unless you’ve agreed to sign ownership over to someone else.) Only the copyright owner has the right to decide when and how the work is used. Even if a work does not have the copyright symbol ©, the work is still protected under The Copyright Act (from The Copyright Act.)

What is protected under copyright?

• Artistic works such as drawings, engravings, paintings and photographs
• Computer/digital material like clip art, computer programs, databases, emails, blogs, wikis and websites
• Dramatic works including radio and television shows, films, plays and musicals
• Literary works such as books, magazines, pamphlets and newspapers
• Musical works such as arrangements, adaptations, sound recordings and sheet music

Fair dealing is a section of the copyright act which allows the use of a copyrighted work without permission from the owner. Fair Dealing allows the user to copy a short excerpt from a copyright-protected work (up to 10 percent). This may include, but is not limited to:

• One chapter of a book
• A single article from a magazine or journal
• An entire artistic work (including a painting, print, photograph, diagram, drawing, map, chart, and plan) from a copyright-protected work containing other artistic works
• An entire newspaper article or page
• An entire poem or single musical score from a copyright-protected work
• Entire entry from an encyclopedia, annotated bibliography, or similar reference work

You can use these materials for the following purposes only: research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism, review or news reporting.

It is NOT fair to copy multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected work.

Yes, HWDSB has both a Copyright Policy and a  Fair Dealing Procedure. 

You can also use the external links below to learn more about copyright, fair dealing, and intellectual property in Canada:

Plagiarism is "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: use (another's production) without crediting the source".

Merriam-Webster, 2023.

Exploring and gathering information is a critical first step to researching an assignment, including sourcing  information from trusted sources (like experts in the field.) Citations are a way of formally recognizing the experts you have learned from and used in your research. Their words and ideas are their intellectual property and a failure to reference them and their work is considered plagiarism or intellectual property theft.

To avoid plagiarism:

• Support your opinions with evidence
• Keep track of ideas and where you found them, including the title of the resource, author, publisher, date of publication, date you accessed the information, the URL you used, and the DOI for online articles.
• Cite your sources correctly

Citation Guides  are available to both students and staff to ensure credit is given to the person who wrote/created the item you are citing.  

The most commonly used citation guides are MLA and APA, but colleges, universities, and organizations may use other formats.  Students should speak with their teachers to find out what citation style is preferred before handing in an assignment. Citation Guides may be available in your school library, as well as for borrowing from Hamilton Public Library.

For further guidance on citation styles, please consult the Teacher Librarian(s) at your school.

The System Learning Commons does not recommend using a citation generator as they may not be formatted correctly according to the guides. If you use a citation generator, check with your style guide to address any errors.

College Libraries Ontario . (2023, May 18). Copyright. Learning Portal Home

College Libraries Ontario . (2023, April 27). How to Cite. Learning Portal Home

The Learning Portal at Ontario Colleges Library Services. https://tlp-lpa.ca/digital-citizenship/copyright

The Learning Portal at Ontario Colleges Library Services. https://tlp-lpa.ca/research

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Plagiarize. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 20, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarize

Family Literacy Day takes place every January 27^th to raise awareness about the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. Since 1999, thousands of schools, libraries, literacy organizations and other community groups have taken part in the initiative. (ABC, 2024)

Canadian School Library Day

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Canadian School Library Day, sponsored by Canadian School Libraries (CSL), celebrates the central role that school libraries play in the education and development of young people. CSL applauds the brilliant work that school libraries accomplish every single day across Canada. We invite everyone to shine a light on how learning in the Library Learning Commons is making a difference in their school, and share their accomplishments on Canadian School Library Day.

Canadian Library Month

October is Canadian Library Month, sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA). All month long, libraries and library partners across Canada are raising awareness of the valuable role libraries play in Canadians’ lives. More than just a place to find books, libraries promote cultural awareness, engage in the community, provide educational programs, support freedom of expression and so much more.​​​​​​

The Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) is Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and storytellers, held both virtually and in person in historic downtown Brampton. The FOLD provides one-of-a-kind events for kids and adults to engage readers, inspire writers, and empower educators by highlighting important and underrepresented voices. (FOLD, 2023)

HWDSB proudly supports both the FOLD and FOLD Kids program annually. For more information on the FOLD Festival, please contact the designated Teacher Librarian or Library Technician at your school or email [email protected].

The Forest of Reading® is Canada’s largest recreational reading program, offering ten programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages, celebrating Canadian publishers, authors and illustrators. The program begins in October with the announcement of nominated titles and ends in April with province-wide voting and celebrations.

For more information on the Forest of Reading, please contact the designated Teacher Librarian or Library Technician at your school or email [email protected]..

February marks Freedom to Read week in Canada, an annual event to raise awareness about censorship and access to diverse books and magazines in libraries. School libraries and Teacher Librarians play an important role in ensuring access to resources for all students that foster inclusion, diversity, and wellbeing. (Freedom To Read, 2024)

Sora Sweet Reads is a summer program designed for schools to encourage students to keep reading all year long. Running May-August, Sora offers a collection of free juvenile and young adult eBooks, as well as select audiobooks. Every time a student checks out a Sweet Read, they add to their ‘reading badges and achievements’. To access Sora:

• Visit www.hwdsb.on.ca and click Students
• Login to the Hub with your HWDSB Email and Password
• Click the Virtual Library and click the Sora icon
• Find Sora Sweet Reads at the top of the Sora homepage, May-August

Ready. Set. Read! The TD Summer Reading Club is Canada’s biggest, bilingual summer reading program for kids of all ages, interests and abilities. This free Club is offered at more than 2,000 public libraries across Canada, as well as online.

Hamilton Public Library (HPL) celebrates Summer Reading every year. For more information on their program, visit their website: https://hpl.ca/src

The Telling Tales Festival is a 2-day annual event celebrating Canadian authors, illustrators, and storytellers representing the best in Canadian children’s literature and arts. HWDSB works with Telling Tales to promote the event and support school author visits. For more information, please visit their website: https://tellingtales.org/