The VeraLab booking system provide students with an online tool to book an individual library PCS, as well as university staff to book computer labs and workrooms rooms for a specific period.
The library consist of 185 clients PCS arranged in clusters. These PCs are situated in the ground and first floor of the library. Booking is required before utilising PC's situated in the areas:
Ground Floor General and Reserve Area PC's (UNVLIBA).
Ground Floor Disability Unit PC's (UNVLIBC).
First Floor General and Reserve Area PC's (UNVLIBD).
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Normal Period:
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Examination Period:
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University Recess:
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PC Group |
Description |
Total Number |
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Ground Floor PCs (UNVLIBA)
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All general use students’ PCs on the Ground Floor including the ones at the Reserve Section (except for catalogue and DSU PCs).
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(PC 1 – 124)
(Cluster 1 – 20)
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Ground Floor Catalogue PCs (UNVLIBB) |
PCs that are used for only searching and accessing the library’s online catalogue.
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(PC 156 – 166)
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DSU PCs (UNVLIBC)
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PCs for patrons with disabilities on the Ground Floor.
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(PC 125 – 131)
(Cluster 21)
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First Floor PCs (UNVLIBD)
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All general use students’ PCs on the First Floor including the ones at the Law Library (except for the catalogue PCs).
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(PC 132 – 155)
(Cluster 22 -25)
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First Floor Catalogue PCs (LIBE)
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PCs that are used for only searching and accessing the library’s online catalogue.
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Ground Floor (UNVLIBA) & First Floor (UNVLIBD) Workstations:
4 maximum sessions day.
2 hours per session.
1 hour break between UNVLIBA & UNVLIBD sessions.
You are required to change a workstation after each session.
Booked session expires after 15 minutes of no show.
Sessions can be booked 2 days in advance.
Sessions cannot be booked 5 minutes before its starting time.
A session cannot be duplicated or booked repeatedly for several days. i.e., for more than one day.
Sessions start and end time can only be in a multiple of 15 minutes. E.g., 09:00, 09:15, 09:30, 09:45.
Ground Floor Catalogue (UNVLIBB) & First Floor Catalogue (UNVLIBE) Workstations:
Do not require a booking.
10 minutes maximum time usage for each session.
10 maximum sessions per day.
3 minutes break between UNVLIBB & UNVLIBE sessions.
DSU (LIBC) Workstations:
Only DSU registered students are allowed to make a booking.
4 maximum sessions per day.
4 hours per session.
1 hour break after a session ends.
Booked session expires after 15 minutes of no show.
Sessions can be booked 2 days in advance.
Sessions cannot be booked 5 minutes before its starting time.
A session cannot be duplicated or booked repeatedly for several days. i.e., for more than one day.
Sessions start and end time can only be in a multiple of 15 minutes. E.g., 09:00, 09:15, 09:30, 09:45.
Classroom Bookings:
Only staff members are enabled to make Classroom bookings.
This entails booking an entire lab or a range of PCs for training or exams.
Classroom bookings can only be made in UNVLIBA & UNVLIBD labs.
Bookings can be made 5 months in advance.
Bookings can recur for the duration of the training or exam, e.g., for a week or a month period.
To make a reservation, login to VeraLab Booking Application - https://studentbookings.univen.ac.za/booking, from a mobile device or PC. Bookings can be done online either from off-campus or on-campus.
Alternatively, you can access the booking site from the library home page and the LibGuide pages or go to any library service desk for assistance with bookings.
The Booking Application login screen will then appear. Log in with your student credentials
Upon successful login, you will be presented with several tabs, and you can either create new reservation, view/edit/cancel existing reservations, or perform workstation or room search based on certain criteria.
To book for a PC or to create a workstation booking select a Room or Lab and Date from the dropdown menus presented.
You will be presented with a grid of available workstations in the selected lab for the selected date.
You can also view sessions that are already reserved.
For all the available workstations sessions, each cell in the grid contains a computer name and a Book link.
To make a booking, select the workstation you would like to book.
In the window that pops up, specify the reservation start and end times for the selected workstation on that date. Click on the Ok button to confirm your booking.
The system will display your booking confirmation.
Please Note: workstations marked as unavailable or reserved for a class cannot be booked.
To view/edit/cancel existing reservations, after login in, select My Bookings menu from the main screen.
When the screen opens, you can view all your reserved sessions.
To cancel a booked session, click on the delete ‘X’ button next to the session you would like to cancel.
To search for workstations based on certain criteria, select the Search Workstation menu.
For example, to search for computers with a Windows 11 operating system, type your keywords in the Operating System search box and select the Ok button. After searching, at the bottom of the window you will be provided with a list of rooms with workstations meeting your search criteria.
Note: Students are requested to visit the library information desk for assistance with bookings. Should library staff members be not available in the library clients can follow the procedure below to make bookings:
Go to - https://172.20.5.203/veralab/ClassBookingAction.do from your mobile device or PC.
When the Booking login screen appears log in with one of the provided usernames and password, or request the updated details from library.systems@univen.ac.za
Upon successful login, you will be presented with several tabs, and can either create new reservation, view/edit/cancel existing reservations, or perform workstation or room searches.
To create a classroom booking, select a Room or Lab and a Month (date) from the dropdown menus presented.
In the window that pops up, specify your username, your staff number in the Instructor Id field, your Course Name, your work email address, your class Start date, your class End date, as well as your class Start and End times for the selected lab. Click on the Recurrent option to duplicate the booking. Select the specific days you would like the booking to re-occur.
Click on the Ok button to confirm the booking.
The system will display your booking confirmation.
The library consist of eight (8) clients Group Workrooms.
Description and other applicable rules are outlined in detail below:
Group Workrooms |
Description |
Rules & Limits |
Group Workroom 1 |
Situated on the Ground Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Group Workroom 2 |
Situated on the Ground Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Group Workroom 3 |
Situated on the Ground Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Group Workroom 4 |
Situated on the Ground Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Group Workroom 5 |
Situated on the Ground Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Group Workroom 6 |
Situated on the First Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Group Workroom 7 |
Situated on the First Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Group Workroom 8 |
Situated on the First Floor.The room consists of the following equipment:
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Booking Is Required:
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Only UNVLIBA and UNVLIBD lab computers can be booked for classroom usage by staff members. Discussion or Workrooms can be booked and utilised by students and staff members.
To make a booking, visit or call the information desk for assistance. The assisting library staff member will then follow these steps to make a booking:
Click here to book, or alternatively go to - https://forms.office.com/r/Cc1bNBYLhU
Upon successful login, you will be presented with several tabs, and can either create new reservation, view/edit/cancel existing reservations, or perform workroom searches based on certain criteria.
To create booking, select any Workroom from the dropdown arrow and a Month (date) from the dropdown menus presented.
In the window that pops up, specify the client's student/staff number in the Instructor Id field; the registered student /staff's school + level of study for students or module level for academic staff members in the Course Name field e.g., Education (1st year); the university email address; the Start Date; as well the discussion Start and End times.
Click on the Recurrent option to duplicate the booking. Select the specific days you would like the booking to re-occur.
Click on the Ok button to confirm the booking.
The system will display your booking confirmation.
Should you be booking for a PC lab and would like the booking to continue for specific number of days, after completing your details click on the Recurrent option.
Provide the end date for your lab booking.
Select the days which the lab should be booked for.
Click on the Ok button to confirm the booking.
The system will display your booking confirmation as above.
You can view various bookable labs occupation and usage. This site allows you to view usage graphs as well as labs venue maps in real time. With this you can view computers which are use, those that are off, those which are not available, as well as accessing.
To view the real time usage statistics click here or follow this link - https://forms.office.com/r/Cc1bNBYLhU
The the real time usage statistics' lab usage table displays the following:
Vacant: PCS not booked / in use
Not Connected: PCS that are currently not connected to the internet or are switched off
Schedule: The operating days and hours, as well as the days when the labs are not operations. Click on the icon to vie the schedule for each lab
LiveMap: The graphical display of where each PC is located in the lab as well as its availability days and hours. Click on the icon to view the live map.
In Use: Total number of PCS that are in use
Usage (%): The percentage of clients utilising PCS/labs
To view a weekly booking schedule click here