Verification and local catalog search

An initial step in the ILL process should be to search the catalog of the home library, the library where the patron is served and is making the request.  Complicating this process, though, is that many times slight errors in the information the patron is looking for will mean that the patron may not find a resource that is actually available in the home library.  Thus, the first thing that library staff should do for a patron requesting something that isn’t in the catalog is to verify the bibliographic information for that item. 

Asking the patron for the source of their information, looking online somewhere as simple as Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com to verify book titles, or checking online indexes such as EBSCO for journal information can be effective ways to verify that titles, authors, publishers, dates, etc. are correct.  Since this information will have to be verified before sending out an ILL request , this is time well spent.

After double checking the information the patron was looking up, taking the time to search the catalog (and/or online subscription databases) once more with the patron might save the time and cost of using ILL.  If there was an error in the original information, the patron may find that the home library does indeed have what was wanted.   If a specific title is not found, another question to ask is whether something similar will fill the need, or whether just that specific item is wanted. 

Sometimes patrons will be happy with something on the same topic, especially if they can have the item immediately rather than going through the ILL process and waiting for their information to come.

Click the arrow below to continue.