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Using the Search Portal

Sophie pages to delete:

https://sophie.onlineschool.ca/books/learning-commons/page/registered-patrons-overview

https://sophie.onlineschool.ca/books/learning-commons/page/enrolled-families-overview

https://sophie.onlineschool.ca/books/information-for-families/page/learning-commons-resource-overview 

https://sophie.onlineschool.ca/books/information-for-families/page/grad-student-textbook-booking

https://sophie.onlineschool.ca/books/information-for-families/page/search-portal-booking-multiple-items

https://sophie.onlineschool.ca/books/information-for-families/page/learning-commons-covid-policy

https://sophie.onlineschool.ca/books/information-for-families/page/shipping-information

What is the Search Portal?

The Search Portal is the place to access learningLearning commonsCommons resources such as physical books and kits, eBooks, audiobooks, databases, curricula, hands-on resources, supplemental packs, and inclusive education support materials.

Physical resources are shipped directly to your home if you live outside the Kelowna area of(e.g., Lake Country to West Kelowna.Kelowna). Please read the Shipping notes to learn more about how many free shipments you receive.

What is Available to Me?

HCOS Enrolled and Flex

HCOS Registered

Books, eBooks, audiobooks

✅

✅

Digital Unit Study Kits

✅

✅

Inclusive educationEducation books

✅

✅

Curriculum

✅

✅

Gr.Grades 10-12 Extended Loan General Textbooks

✅

✅

Robots

✅

❌

ADST/Steam Resources* 

✅

❌

Supplemental packsPacks

✅

❌

Inclusive educationEducation packs

✅

❌

Individualized Course Extended Loan Textbooks

✅

❌

Susan Barton Material

✅

❌

Microscopes

✅

❌

Physical Unit Study Kits

✅

❌

*ADST/Steam resources include hands-on items such as Keva planks, K’nex, Lego, Coding kits, Snap Circuits and Cubelets.

How to Log In

Parents

Parents use their Encom username and password to access the Search Portal, Sora, and Subscription passwords. To book physical books and curriculum for a student, log in to the Search Portal under your PARENTparent account. 

If you do not know your Encom password, you can reset it here.  If you don’t remember your username, it is usually FirstnameLastname. 

Important Note: If you ever changeChanging your password in Encom, itEncom will also change your password for the Learning Commons Search Portal, so please keep track of your login information. It takes 24 hours for the credentials to update.

Students

Students use their Encom username and password to access Sora eBooks and Subscription passwords. They cannot book physical items from the Search Portal, but they can view them. Bookings must be made on the parent account. If you do not know your Encom password, you can reset it here.

Loan Periods & Shipping

  • Make the most of your free shipments! Although there is no minimum, ordering more than one small item at a time is best, as shipping is expensive.

  • Maximum of 40 items per shipment.

    • Maximum of 8 media items, including DVDs, CDs, and CD Rom (part of 40 items max).

  • Book items well in advance – you can book items up to a year in advance, from September to June.

  • Extended Loan High School Textbooks (Gr.Grade 10-12)12 extended loan textbooks have a loan period of 8eight months with an option to renew for one month.

  • can

    be booked up to a year in advance (September to June). Overlapping bookings are not allowed if they exceed 40 items within the 10-week loan period.

  • Back-to-back bookings of the same items are not allowed. Items can be renewed twice for four weeks each time, provided the items have not been booked by someone else.

  • families receive eight free shipments (four round trips) per school year (August 1 to June 18). There is a maximum of 40 items per shipment, including a maximum of eight media items and six unit study kits.

Free Shipment Limits

Enrolled Families

  • Eight free shipments (4 round trips, there and four back) per school year, Aug. 1st. To June 18th.

  • Maximum of 6 unit study kits out at one time (part of the 40-item max).

Registered Families

  • Four free shipments (2 round trips, there and four back) per school year, Aug. 1st. To June 18th.

Searching for Resources

  1. First, log in so you can view all resources.

  2. On the Subs/Passwords tab, registered patrons will find a curated list of subscriptions to online research tools, videos, and other educational resources. 

  1. There is also an Advanced"Advanced" search (with And/Not options).feature.

  • Once

    You will see how many results were returned once you enter a term in the search bar,bar. you will see how many results were returned.

  • Use the “Refine Your Search” options in the left column to limit your results by Material Type, Audience, Author, and Series.

    • Check the boxes you want to refine by, such as Books or Kits.
      • Kits,
    • then 

  • Clickclick on the refresh"Refresh" button to see the refined search. 

Topics

  •  

     

     

     

    Topics are organized by subjects and by grades. This is a great way to quickly find a list of items and the unit study kits by grade. (Registered Families can only access the Digital Unit Study Kit Guides online.)


  • Click on a grade. 

  • On the left, you will see a list of Subjects. Click on a subject to view the list. When you hover over the title, a balloon pops up with information about the title. 

  • Use the arrow keys to go to the next page. You can also change the number of items per page in the top right corner.



Booking ItemsResources

  •  

  • Click directly on the title to be taken to the Title Details page to book the item.

  • The Title Record will show how many copies are available and the due date if it is already out.

  • You can save the item to a list if you don’t want to book just one item at a time or save it to book later.

Note: Even if an item is OUT or on HOLD, you can still book it for future dates (if it is available).

When
  • you

    Clickclick "Book Item.Item," Aa calendar will appear.

  • You will see your unique shipping “Site” on the top right. In this example, the patron is HCOS5, which means they are five shipping days from Kelowna.

  • The small red numbers indicate how many copies are available each day. Be sure to choose a date that allows the number of shipping days before you want to receive your items. The system will automatically change your date to allow for the correct number of shipping days.

  • Ensure that the item is available for the 10-week loan period. Patrons cannot book items for shorter periods. 


  • Shipping days are highlighted in dark orange on the calendar (weekends/holidays are not counted as shipping days, so seven shipping days are shown for the HCOS5 zone).  The requested date is Aug.August 6th.6. 

  • you

    Clickare ready, click “Book Items”

    Items.”

  • A pop-up will confirm if your booking went through, and you will receive a confirmation email.

    •  


  • Double-check

     

     

     

     

     

    You can view due dates, renew, change dates or cancel items online.  Please cancel items if your dates.plans Thechange systemso automaticallyother bumpsfamilies yourcan booking touse the nextmaterials.

    available date if it is unavailable for ten weeks. If the item is unavailable during the year, you will get a pop-up stating it’s unavailable. 
  • Items can be booked for shorter periods in some instances. Contact Shandra at swiebe@onlineschool.ca or Kelly Wiebe at shipping@onlineschool.ca to inquire about shorter loan periods.

Booking Multiple Items for One Date

  • Log into the Search Portal

  • Enter your keyword search term, or click Topics on the menu bar

  • Click on the Title

  • Add an item to My Lists by clicking the Save to My Lists button

    button.


  • A pop-up will ask you to create a New Favorite Title. Use dates of shipments or subjects as titles. You can search multiple subjects and add resources to your lists by creating different Titles.

  •  

     

    Once you have added all the books to your lists, click the My Lists icon in the menu. You will see all of your lists in the left column.

Items in your lists will be saved so you can add to them anytime. 

  •  

    To save

    time,

     use

     

    Use the List view (icon in the top right corners),corner and book all items for the same date by clicking the “Book Items” button at the top right of the page.

  • If you are in grid view, you must click the checkboxes for each item you want to book, then click Book Items.


  • Choose a date on the calendar and click Book Items. A pop-up will confirm your bookings. 

Important

note: If

 Booking Grade 10-12 Textbooks

  • Log in with your Parent ENCOM username/password, or click Forgot password. Click on “Topics.”

  • For Individualized Course textbooks, click on the Cr. 10-12 Course Extended Loan icon. (Enrolled Students only)

  • Click on the Gr. 10-12 Enrolled Students icon for other resources.

  • Click on the Gr. 10-12 Registered Students icon for resources available to registered students.

Manage your Account

You can view due dates, renew, change dates or cancel items online.  Please cancel items if your plans change so other families can use the materials.

View Due Dates and Renew Items

  • All,"
    • then 

  •  Clickclicking the Renew"Renew" button.

    • The

      renewal period is four weeks. Items neededbooked forby another patron will not renew.

    • The renewal period is four weeks.

    • Renew books no sooner than 1 - 2 weeks before they are due, or your loan period will be shortened. 

View all of your Bookings for the Year, Cancel or Change Booking Date

  • If you are in List View (upper right icons), enter the “From” and “To” dates (change to June of the school year to see the entire year’s bookings).  All of your bookings will be displayed.


 

You will see:

    • You will see:
      • The booking loan period
      • Shipping to and from days
      • The Cancel button - click to cancel your booking.* No Warning is given, so be sure you want to cancel it!
      • Edit Booking button - click to change your date.
  • If you are in Grid View, hover over the item record, and the Cancel and Edit buttons will appear.

Fines

Fines are charged for lost or damaged items. The fine can be paid with student funding or invoiced via Paypal. 

Avoid fines by:

  • Keeping kit items together in one area. Ensure the kit bag is not damaged or forgotten when preparing the return shipment

  • Check all kits for books and items as soon as you receive them. Contact us if anything is missing or damaged.

  • Prepare packages properly for shipping. Poorly packaged items result in damage!

Please Note:  Items borrowed from HCOS should not be shared with other families not registered or enrolled with HCOS. These materials are specifically for HCOS families. You are responsible for replacement costs of all items signed out under your account, regardless of how they are lost or damaged, except for courier issues.

Shipping Policies

Change of Address 

If you plan to move or have moved, please update your address in Encom and email Kelly at shipping@onlineschool.ca with the new address so the courier/Canada Post information can be updated.

If you do not update the Learning Commons with a change of address and a shipment is sent to the wrong address, you will be charged for the shipping fee and any lost items.  We do not receive updates automatically, so it is your responsibility to notify us! This will ensure your order is not lost or delayed due to the wrong address!

Shipping Outside of Canada

The Learning Commons does not loan items or ship outside of Canada due to shipping costs, limitations of loan periods, and higher risk of damaged/lost items. Families who are travelling or are missionaries have access to online resources. 

Returning Items

Call or e-mail to arrange a courier pick up or prepaid return: Kelly Wiebe at shipping@onlineschool.ca or Raine Oddy at Raine.Oddy@onlineschool.ca 

  • If you live outside the courier service area, we will ship by Canada Post and provide prepaid shipping labels for returns.

  • Items must be packaged in boxes or Tyvek envelopes (save the packaging in which the items were sent!)

  • Please don’t use paper envelopes as they rip too easily.  

  • Items damaged due to poor packaging will be billed to your account.

  • Families are responsible for paying for postage to return DVDs, CDs and small items that can be mailed if they cannot be returned with a larger shipment.

Local Patrons 

We do not ship locally. Patrons living in Kelowna, Lake Country and West Kelowna will pick up their items from the Learning Commons. Locals can book items out for a shorter period as no shipping time is involved. Contact the Learning Commons to have an item booked for a shorter period.

Learning Commons location:

  • Hours: Monday – Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

  • The Learning Commons is located in the Flex Academy building at 907 Badke Rd, Kelowna, BC, V1X 5Z5.  

  • Park in Visitor Parking spots between the school and the church.

  • You will see signs for HCOS Learning Commons shipping/receiving. Walk down the driveway beside the school building to the far end until you come to the door with a Learning Commons sign. Please ring the doorbell!  

 Directions are shared in the map below:

Who do I contact for help?

  • Contact us on Live Chat for a quick reply, or email the following staff:

    • Shandra Wiebe - Physical account/booking/reference questions. swiebe@onlineschool.ca 

    • Kelly Wiebe - Shipping information shipping@onlineschool.ca 

    • Raine Oddy - Shipping information raine.oddy@onlineschool.ca 


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