Loaning Simplified
By Rachel Davidson
A new interlibrary loan system, ILLiad, was put into effect on Monday at both Harrington Learning Commons and Heafey Law Library, allowing students and faculty to obtain articles, books and other resources not available on campus more easily.
ILLiad is one of the most popular interlibrary loan systems around the world, connecting libraries, universities and people to better share resources. ILLiad's services increase productivity by automating paperwork requests that would otherwise use valuable staff time.
While the LINK+ service will still be available and unchanged, this new system is important in order for members of the Santa Clara community to gain access to publications not available in either a LINK+ library or the Santa Clara libraries. And unlike the previous interlibrary loan system, requests for material will not be available on OSCAR and users must instead use separate login information for ILLiad.
Most of the articles made available by ILLiad will be offered in PDF format via electronic delivery, eliminating a time-consuming pickup and giving users immediate access to their requests in the convenience of their own homes. People using this system can use their personal computers when accessing their account in order to minimize security risks and prevent subsequent users from using another's name.
Senior Reference Librarian Ellen Platt outlined some of the new system's strengths, such as more flexible searching, better compatibility with other systems already on campus,and its self-service angle, which is a major advantage.
"People can see what's going on in their account instead of calling the library to ask where their things are," she explained.
People using the system for the first time will create their own personal account using the library barcode number on the back of their Santa Clara ACCESS card; this will allow a user to track the status of their requests online at any time. The material requested will be delivered directly into the user's personal account and is promised to arrive even more quickly than the old system.
Senior Erin Munekiyo worked at Santa Clara's library for nearly two years, where she was constantly working with students and staff who needed to request material through interlibrary loans. She said that the greatest challenge to this process was the uncertainty of when a request would be fulfilled. Munekiyo also said that the new system sounds much more reliable and she looks forward to using it in her studies.
"Right now we're in the wait-and-see phase as to how soon people discover it and start trying it out," Platt said.
The Santa Clara library is excited for this new system, as it will better meet the book-borrowing needs of both students and faculty than the previous system.