Guide to Library Research in Science

Lesson 11: Borrowing from Other Libraries

One of the advantages of membership in the CONSORT and OhioLINK consortia is that College of Wooster students have access to the resources of many academic libraries, large and small, in the state of Ohio. And, if the required materials cannot be found in Ohio, they can usually be obtained from outside the state. This lesson describes procedures for borrowing materials from other libraries. See the Interlibrary Loan page for additional information.

Borrowing Books

If you need a book that is not available at The College of Wooster, but is listed in either the CONSORT catalog or the OhioLINK catalog as being available, click on the Request This Item button to request that the item be delivered to you from the holding library. Fill in your name and the barcode number that appears on your campus ID card and click on the Submit button. (The OhioLINK catalog will also require that you select your school.) The book will arrive in three to four working days and you will be notified by e-mail or campus mail when it is available.

If the item you need is not available at any of the CONSORT or OhioLINK libraries, you may submit an Interlibrary Loan request using the ILLiad electronic Interlibrary Loan request form. (See below for more information about using ILLiad.) Because books requested through Interlibrary Loan are outside the CONSORT and OhioLINK systems, they take a little longer to arrive, usually two to three weeks. You will be notified by e-mail or campus mail when the item you requested is available.

Requesting Journal Articles

Because libraries do not loan physical volumes of journals, it is not possible to request journal articles using the Request This Item function in the CONSORT or OhioLINK catalogs. If the journal article you need is not available at The College of Wooster either in print, in micro format, or electronically, you will need to request the article using the ILLiad electronic Interlibrary Loan request form. (See below for more information about using ILLiad.) The responding library will send a photocopy or an electronic copy of the requested article. Articles obtained from CONSORT or OhioLINK libraries usually arrive within one week, but articles requested from outside Ohio may take two to three weeks.

Using the ILLiad Interlibrary Loan Request Form

You may request books, government documents, theses and videos that are NOT available through CONSORT or OhioLINK using the ILLiad form. Please Note: ILLiad requests for those items that are available through CONSORT or OhioLINK will be returned unprocessed.

You may request journal articles that are not available at The College of Wooster, either in print, in micro format, or electronically using the ILLiad Web form. Please Note: ILLiad requests for articles that are available at The College of Wooster will be returned unprocessed.

The ILLiad Web form also is accessible from the Library Quick Links menu on the libraries’ home page. For basic information about ILLiad and to register for the service, select the First Time Users link on the ILLiad Web page. Additional information about ILLiad is posted on the libraries’ ILLiad FAQ Web page.