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Duplicates (What to do when you receive duplicate copies of a requested item.)
Genealogical
material from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Items requested in WorldCat that never arrive
NonLINK libraries--Monitor your LINK account!
What
to do when you receive duplicate copies of a requested item:
Genealogical
material from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA):
"The National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) is a very useful
resource for patrons wanting genealogical materials and libraries that want
to help their patrons obtain them. The following web sites provide just
a few links to help patrons on their way to discovering the wonders found there.
Patrons may use the National Archives themselves if the item they have requested
through interlibrary loan is not available and happens to be owned there.
There are charges for some services offered by the National Archives, but since
patrons may access the site themselves their library does not have to be involved.
Remember, public libraries may NOT charge their patrons for interlibrary loan.
The National Archives has published and is offering free of charge some finding
aids for using their vast collections of materials. You can view a list
of these aids at http://www.archives.gov/publications/genealogy/free.html
. Information about how to borrow NARA materials is found at http://www.archives.gov/faqs/#borrowing
. Topics are listed alphabetically with separate headings including
Census, Genealogy, Photocopying, and Fees. For information about how to
order frequently-requested family history records: http://www.archives.gov/research/order/index.html
.
For more information about NARA, go to their web site at http://www.archives.gov
"
--thanks to Terry Wilcox, Reference and Loan Library, for this tip.
Items requested in WorldCat that never arrive:
What
to do when an item is indicated as "Lost" in LINKcat
When you find the item in LINKcat, but the only copy (or all copies) in LINKcat displays the status "Lost," go ahead and place a request in OCLC WorldCat. Put a note in the Notes field, for example: "The only copy in LINKcat is Lost."
"Need
by" dates:
Many library patrons (and sometimes
library staff) think that when they request an item through interlibrary loan
channels, if they say they need it by a certain date, it will somehow come sooner.
Please remember, and help your staff, colleagues, and patrons understand,
that this is NOT the case. In fact, it can have just the opposite effect.
To determine if a patron truly has a "Need by" date, and if so, what
it is, you might try asking "What is the latest possible date this material
will be useful to you?" That date, if any, is the "need by" date.
If they want the material no matter how long it takes, leave "Date Needed"
BLANK!
Why? If you enter a date in the Date Needed field, it means that you need
it by that date, and after that date you no longer want it. If no library can
fill it by that date, it will probably be cancelled. Libraries don't work on
requests with a "need by" date sooner than requests without a "need
by" date, so leaving "Date Needed" blank does not have any negative
effect.
One more thing: If the "need by" date is TOO soon, you likely won't
get it, no matter what date you enter! Anything with a "need by" date
of a week or less is too short. Two weeks may also be too short, but may be
possible.
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NonLINK libraries--Monitor your LINK account!
If you are a nonLINK library, you have a LINK patron account for your library, so that you may place holds for your patrons on items that your library doesn't own, that are in LINKcat. See "Using LINKcat (for nonLINK libraries.)" [password required]
It is very important that you:
It is very important that you contact the owning library, or Madison Public Library, at 608-266-6357, when:
you receive an item in Delivery that you have requested, but it is not checked out to you.
Do not request items cataloged as Reference that are owned by SCLS
public libraries through Interlibrary Loan. You can contact the owning
SCLS library to see if they will photocopy a particular section for you. If
you feel you have a special case and/or know of a library outside the system
that circulates the item, send the request on WorldCat only
if you have photocopy information (if patron doesn't know what they want, ask
for a photocopy of table of contents or index. Please remember to tell your
patron that 30 pages is the maximum that can be photocopied.)
"Too
New"
Items that are less than 4 months old, as determined
by the publication date on Amazon.com,
are too new to request through interlibrary loan.
What
to do when an Item is indicated as "Trace" in LINKCat
When you find an item in LINKcat, but the only copy in LINKcat displays the status "Trace," go ahead and place a request in OCLC WorldCat, but you may want to contact the owning library first. They may find it by checking their shelves. If you do contact the owning library, and they cannot find it, go ahead and request in OCLC WorldCat, but put a note in the Notes field, for example: "The only copy of this in LINKcat is Trace. I contacted [name of owning library] and they can't find it."
For more information about Interlibrary Loan, contact Cheryl Becker.
For information about using WorldCat to place requests for your patrons, or to check on the status of WorldCat requests you have placed, contact Madison Interloan by email.
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Page created 08/05. |
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