Category: How To

Nov 04 2022

How do I… Request an item?

Posted on by Amanda Bartel

If the University of Iowa Libraries do not have a book you’re looking for, or if it’s checked out, you can request the item and we’ll bring it to Iowa City for you for free! Here’s a quick walkthrough of the InterLibrary Loan (ILL) process:

1. Find the book you’re looking for. If the book you’re looking for is at one of our libraries, this is very simple. Just find it in our catalog log in, and click “Request Physical Item” or “Request PDF of a Single Chapter,” depending on your needs. For book chapter requests please note that all scan requests must be under 50 pages. If the item you’re looking for is on the shelf, simply use the drop down menu to choose the library where you want to pick up the book and we’ll get to work! You will get an email when it’s ready to be picked up. If the item is checked out, you’ll have the option to “Request this book through InterLibrary Loan.” See the next step for more information. 

2. If the book you’re looking for isn’t available through the University Libraries, you can request it through ILL. There are two main ways to get to the ILL form: The first one is through clicking the “Request this book by InterLibrary Loan” or “Request PDF of a Single Chapter” links on a book’s record. In the picture above they will be where the red box is. You can also find the form from any of our Libraries’ home pages, just hover over the “Services” tab and find “Borrowing From Another Library & Document Delivery.” Then click “Log In to Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery” to create a request.

3. You’re ready to create an ILL request. If you’ve arrived at the ILL form from an InfoHawk+ record, good news – much of the information has already been filled out for you! Scroll through and enter all of the required information, click submit, and you’ll be on your way. If you’re looking for a book that’s not in the University of Iowa Libraries catalog, hover over the “New Requests” tab, select the appropriate category, and fill out all of the required information. There’s no such thing as too much information when looking for a book, so be specific. This will help the librarians to find the right item for you. 

4. Now just sit back and wait. We work as quickly as possible to your items, but we can’t guarantee delivery times for anything (we are human!).You will get an email in your inbox as soon as your item is scanned at its pickup destination. You can also check on the status of your items under the History tab in the ILL system. 

When navigating to the ILL page you might have seen something called UBorrow. This is an ILL system exclusive to the Big Ten Academic Alliance that works much like our other ILL system. For information and video tutorials to use UBorrow, check out the LibGuide.

May 27 2022

How do I…. find a book?

Posted on by Amanda Bartel

Walking into the Engineering Library, you may not see what you’re expecting. In fact you may ask, where are all of the books? It may surprise you to learn that we have over 45,000 books in the library ready for you to check out. Here’s how you find them:

The view when you enter the library

When you enter the library, you will see one bookshelf in the main area. This is where we keep our periodicals (think magazines, journals, etc). If you’re looking for an article that doesn’t have online access, check here – you might just find it. 

 

Look to your left and you’ll see a set of stairs and an elevator. Take either to get to the basement.

The stairs and elevator take you to the same place – it’s all a matter of preference.

You’ve made it to the basement! Looks like there’s some good study space here, but that’s not what we’re looking for. Let’s take a look to the left. 

I spy some books in the back. Let’s investigate some more.

Ah, here are some books! And some more study space. Let’s find the book we’re looking for. All of our books are shelved using the Library of Congress system. Here’s a quick video on how that works, but you can always ask any employee, we would be happy to help you find a book.

Hoorah! Books!

Now that you’ve found your book, head back upstairs and to the Service Desk (you walked right by it when you entered the library). To check out your book, all you need is your IowaOne card (student ID).

There you go – you have a book! Keep an eye out for some special cases, which include permanent and course reserves. A permanent reserve is a book that would be difficult for us to replace if it got lost, so we just keep an extra eye on it. A course reserve is a book that is being used as a text for a class. Course reserves have a two-hour checkout so that everyone in the class has access. If a book you’re looking for is marked as one of these, just ask at the service desk.

Permanent and course reserves are indicated in a book’s digital record. Boxed in red here.