Totally ILLmatic

By: Mr. T on November 11, 2006
2 comments
A recent post by awesome Lincoln blogger jwiltshire actually reminded me how nice the ILL system is. Yet many people I know have no idea that they can borrow practically any book or CD in a North American public library by using this service. This is a great option because – obviously – Lincoln’s library system doesn’t have as huge a selection as those of libraries in larger cities. I recently looked around for a CD set called “Dreams of the Blue Morpho,” which is one of a series of spoken-word comedy science-fiction/fantasy programs by ZBS Productions I used to listen to a while back. Its sort of like a mix between the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Raiders of the Lost Ark, if that makes any sense. The city’s libraries didn’t have it. I thought I’d post some brief instructions and screen shots just so fellow Lincolnite readers could see how easy it is to use the ILL service. image To find this one, you first have to navigate from the library’s main webpage to the “Research Resources” page. image Scroll down to the bottom until you hit the “FirstSearch” database and click on that option. After that you will be asked to enter your 14 digit library card number and 4 digit pin code. image You should then be taken to the FirstSearch home. Generally, you are going to want to use the WorldCat database in FirstSearch, which has books, CDs, DVDs, and so on. image From there, you are presented with your basic search forms. I entered “Dreams of the Blue Morpho” as a title and checked the “sound recordings” box below the forms. image Sure enough, it turned out that 19 other libraries across the nation had this CD set. image That includes libraries as far away as Alaska, Florida, and New York. image By clicking on the “borrow from another library” link, you will then either be prompted to re-enter your library code and pin if you are an old user, or create a new ILL account if you have never used it before. If I remember correctly, having an ILL account is different from having a regular library account. You still have to sign up for an ILL account as a library user. In anycase, doing so is pretty easy, and you can choose options on how you want to be notified when your requested item arrives, such as via email or mail. When you have an active ILL account, it will display your requests. Unfortunately, you can only have 5 active ILL requests out at one time, but that’s reasonable in my opinion. Additionally, it may take anywhere from a week to several weeks to finally get an item, but that is certainly better than not being able to borrow an item at all! As I noted earlier, this is a free service which you are already paying for if you are a Lincolnite. Might as well use it if you can. image

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

jwiltshire
November 13, 2006 at 5:59AM

Man that was a good album, I haven’t heard it in a while.

I will definitely have to revive my library usage, I’m rapidly running out of books at home.

Mr. T
November 13, 2006 at 2:05PM

Let me know if you want to borrow it. I have both the original AND the 10th Anniversary Platinum edition.

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