Mary and Jeff Bell Library
| Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about ILLiad and Inter-Library Loan (ILL) Policies |
Contents
- What are ILL and ILLiad?
- What materials can be requested through ILLiad?
- How many requests can I submit?
- What about Copyright and ILL?
- How long does it take for the material to arrive?
- When will I be notified?
- What materials do I return to the library?
- How long can I have the loaned material?
- What if I return a book late?
- How is ILLiad better than traditional ILL systems?
- How can I get my request processed faster?
- Are there any disadvantages to the electronic system?
- Why do I need a username and password to use ILLiad?
- What if I forget my password?
- What web browser should I use?
- Is security a problem if I use a public workstation?
- Why don't I see all my older requests when I look at my request history?
- What is electronic delivery?
- Who do I contact if I have problems with my request or questions about ILLiad?
- Why does my browser say that you're sending a cookie?
What are ILL and ILLiad?
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a free service offered to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi faculty, staff, and students. Since no library can possibly acquire all works published, the purpose of ILL is to obtain from other libraries materials needed locally. The conditions of this service are set by the Interlibrary Loan Code of the American Library Association and by the policies of individual lending libraries.
ILLiad is the electronic system you use to request an item through
Interlibrary Loan. The
name ILLiad can be thought of as an acronym for InterLibrary
Loan internet accessible database.
What materials can be requested through ILLiad?
The following materials can be requested through ILL:
|
•Books |
•Magazine and journal articles |
|
•Government documents |
•Conference proceedings and transactions |
|
•Theses |
•Dissertations |
|
•Microforms (copies only) |
•Newspapers and newsletters |
|
•Audiovisual materials |
•Public document |
Dissertations, theses, and material on microforms are available only at the discretion of the lending library. Requests for these materials may be denied. Rare books, reference books, archival materials, and audiovisual materials are usually not available for borrowing. With rare exception, materials located outside the United States can not be requested through ILL.
Please Note: Circulating materials and articles from periodicals owned by the Bell Library may not be requested through ILL with the exception of checked out, lost or missing items and requests for articles that contain graphics or tables. Materials only available in non-circulating collections (i.e., Special Collections & Archives) can be requested. Request assistance from a librarian for verification.
How many requests can I submit?
An unlimited number of requests can be submitted at one time. However, during times of heavy department workload and limited staffing levels, not all requests will be processed on the same day. Also, requests that exceed copyright restrictions may not be filled. If this is the case, please contact Pornuma Onnoum for more information.
What about Copyright and ILL?
The Copyright Act requires that during one calendar year only 5 articles from any one journal and only one article from a single issue journal be provided to a requesting library without payment of copyright royalty fees. Requests for articles, which would require payment of copyright fees by the library, are considered on a case by case basis. If you can not request any additional articles because of copyright limitations, please contact the Associate Director for Public Services so other options can be explored.
How long does it take for the material to arrive?
Articles usually arrive in 2 to 3 working days and books may take 5 working days or more. Articles from libraries within the Coastal Bend Health Information Network, a network of hospital libraries, can be obtained within 24 hours. It is important that requests are submitted well in advance of the date they are needed. Patrons can check the status of their request by logging into ILLiad and clicking the button for "View/Modify Outstanding Requests", then click the "View/Edit" button on the left side of the request. This will provide detailed information on the status of the request. Patrons must pick up electronically delivered items from the library's server in 15 days or the request will need to be resubmitted.
When will I be notified?
When the materials arrive you will be notified by email or telephone depending on your preference. If electronic delivery is preferred and possible, an email notification will automatically go out when the material is ready to be picked up from the computer server.
What materials do I return to the library?
Copies of articles and other types of materials are retained by the patron. Books must be returned by the date set by the lending library. Materials should be returned directly to the Mary & Jeff Bell Library Circulation Desk so that the patron's record is cleared. Renewals are granted at the discretion of the lending library; if a renewal is necessary it must be requested at least 3 days prior to the due date of return. All loaned items are subject to immediate recall. Patrons are financially responsible for books that are not returned, lost, or damaged.
How long can I have the loaned material?
Materials borrowed from other libraries through ILL are usually lent for a period of 4 weeks but it could be less depending on the policies of the lending library. The patron is responsible for the timely return of the materials or borrowing privileges may be blocked.
What if I return the book late?
Lending of another library's materials to TAMUCC patrons is a courtesy extended to our library. Abuse of the service by returning materials late may result in the suspension of checkout and/or ILL privileges.
How is ILLiad better than traditional ILL systems?
1.You will find it easier to submit your interlibrary loan requests.
With ILLiad, you
enter your name, address, and other personal information into
the system only once,
at the time of your first request.
2.Your request will be handled more rapidly and accurately as
problems relating to
misinterpretation of hand-written requests are eliminated.
3.You can get many of your photocopies more quickly through Electronic
Delivery.
4.You can get information about the status of your request through
the Web at any
time from any location without having to call the ILL Department.
5.Library personnel are able to serve you better because all
data about your request
and its handling is stored in a searchable database. We are able
to respond quickly
to your inquiries about your request. We are also able to gather
statistical
information about the performance of the libraries that lend to
us, enabling us to
make better decisions when choosing a lender to supply an item.
How can I get my request processed faster?
Be sure to provide accurate information on the title of the work, include any page numbers, and the ISSN number if the item is a journal. Also, verify first that the item is not available in the Bell Library for checkout.
Are there any disadvantages to the electronic system?
Some people might find it troublesome to have to log into ILLiad
using a username and
password. We believe this is less trouble than traditional paper
and electronic systems
which require you to enter your personal information with each
new request.
Why do I need a username and password to use ILLiad?
Your username and password allows us to give you secure access
to information about
your interlibrary loan requests. We can also enable you to edit
your personal information
such as your address or phone number.
Your username can be anything you like, such as your name, abbreviations,
or an
alphanumeric code. Your password also can be anything you like.
We recommend that
you follow good security practice and choose a password that is
different from those you
use to access other systems. However, no one but you will know
your password, not even
the library staff. The password you set is stored in an encrypted
file.
What if I forget my password?
In the event that you forget your password, please contact the
Interlibrary Loan Office at
(361) 825 - 6557. We can then reset your password allowing you
access to ILLiad.
Please change your password once you logon to ILLiad.
What Web browser should I use?
You need a Web browser that can handle forms, tables, and, preferably,
one that can
handle frames. We recommend either Netscape Navigator version
3.0 or greater or
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 or greater. Both browsers
are available for the
Windows 3.x, Windows 95 or NT, and Macintosh O/S operating systems.
Netscape
Navigator is available for UNIX.
Is security a problem if I use a public workstation?
Yes. Web browsers cache information and create a history file
on the local workstation.
This allows a subsequent user of the workstation to access the
system under your name
using the browser's Back button to recall a page from the cache,
or by finding a page with
your personal information in the browser's history file. If you
are concerned about the
security of your interlibrary loan requests, you can take the
following steps:
- Access ILLiad only from your personal computer or an
otherwise secure workstation. - Access ILLiad from a public workstation in the Interlibrary
Loan office in the library. These computers are supervised by
the library staff.
- When using a public access workstation:
Delete from the history file those pages that contain your
personal information.
Exit from the Web browser before you leave the
workstation. This prevents the Back button from
accessing the pages you were using.
Why don't I see all my
older requests when I look at my request history?
From time to time we purge older records from ILLiad. Our policy
is to keep requests
online for several years in order to comply with record keeping
requirements of the copyright law. Also, your request history
only includes requests that have completed the processing cycle
and have a filled or unfilled status. Requests still in the processing
cycle are listed in "View/Modify Outstanding Request."
What is electronic delivery?
Many libraries ship photocopies of articles to us in electronic format. In the past we printed these articles before delivering them to you. Now, through ILLiad, we are able to offer you the option of electronic delivery of these articles in PDF format (Adobe's Portable Document Format). You can read more about electronic delivery on the Electronic Delivery Information page.
Who do I contact if I have problems with my request or questions about ILLiad?
System Problems or Interlibrary Loan Questions: Interlibrary Loan staff at (361) 825-6557 or Robert Rios at (361) 825-2341 or via e-mail ill@tamucc.edu.
Why does my browser say
that you're sending a cookie? What's in it?
The Active Server Pages technology that we use to provide live
reporting for the web
sends a Session ID to be stored on your machine. You can refuse
this cookie and still be
able to use the ILL web pages and ILLiad without any problems.
Webpage revised on 09/14/2009
