Throughout my years as an undergraduate student at American University, I can recall many instances in which I was conducting research for an important project or essay, and could not locate an available copy of the perfect book or journal article related to my topic. I’m sure that I don’t have to stress how frustrating that experience can be, as it is a common problem at smaller universities and colleges with limited electronic and physical holdings at the school’s library. On more than one occasion, I was forced to purchase my own copy of a book so that I could complete my assignment with all of the best, most appropriate resources available to me.
At that time, I was unaware of the Inter-Library Loan system which connects libraries around the country and even throughout the world to help provide their users with as many resources as possible. Not only does this network give library patrons access to the books held by libraries connected to the network, but patrons are also able to request copies of compact discs, DVD’s, VHS’s, microfilm, and PDF copies of journal articles held either physically or accessed through electronic database by the lending library. Being a patron of a library connected to the ILL system through the network, ILLiad, opens up a world of virtually unlimited access to a variety of resources.
Unfortunately for me and for my fellow students at American University, our university’s library was not a member library of the ILLiad world-wide network. As a result, I was never made aware of the amazing service provided to library users throughout the world. Though I could have accessed the ILL service through my local branch of the DC Public Library system, I was not even aware of the possibility. My fellow students and I would have benefitted greatly from information on the public library’s access to other libraries’ holdings, which our reference librarians could have given us some information on (even though AU itself was not a member library).
The summer before my first semester as a graduate student in the School of Library and Information Sciences at IUPUI, I applied for a position in the Inter-Library Loan Services department of the University Library. Before my interview, I had to take a crash-course in the ILL system, utilizing any web resources available which contained information about what exactly the system was and how it worked, considering that I had had no previous exposure to the service. Though I went into the interview woefully uninformed about the service, I since have learned more than I ever thought I could about the inner-workings of the ILLiad network and how to use the system to provide the best service possible to IUPUI University Library patrons.
In submitting a request to the ILL department, a library patron only has a few simple obligations. The first is to make sure that a copy of the item is not available via open access or through the library or another branch (in which case, a Request Delivery would need to be placed). If there are no available copies in the system, then the patron would simply need to collect as much information as possible about the specific item (title, author, publisher, year, edition, ISBN, etc.) or journal article (volume, issue, ISSN, inclusive pages, etc.). This information is filled into a simple form, and from there, it is the duty of the ILL librarians to process the requests.
Speaking from personal experience as a member of the ILL department at the IUPUI University Library, I know that all members of the department team do as much as they can to make sure that each request is filled, and it is only rare occasions in which patrons are not able to receive a copy of their article. I personally have utilized the service to get a number of items which I would have had to purchase on my own or completely forego including in my research had ILL not been an option (one of my requests was for a Master’s thesis written for the University of Chicago in 1933, which my supervisor was able to obtain for me after multiple personal calls and e-mails with the UC library!).
Overall, I have been very impressed with this service, and am very grateful to have had the opportunity to understand the ILLiad network from the inside, and I advocate that all students (whether undergraduates, graduates or PhD candidates) become familiar with the ILL system and the many benefits afforded to them as patrons of member libraries.
Links:
IUPUI University Library Inter-Library Loan Services:
ILLiad Page on the OCLC Website:
Wikipedia Article on ILLiad:
