April 17, 2013
Faculty Campus Delivery & ILLiad Loans
As you may now be well aware, the Kelvin Smith Library is implementing a new service for faculty within the College of Arts and Sciences, the Case School of Engineering, and the Weatherhead School of Management. This was originally announced in the KSL News Blog for March 2013, and requires that your academic department arrange to have a regular, designated drop-off point for OhioLINK and Interlibrary Loan items to be deposited. Individual faculty members must have registered for this service through a link in the aforementioned blog entry, and this will apply only to your OhioLINK loans.
As far as other Interlibrary Loan materials, such as those provided through your KSL ILLiad account, you must also contact the ILL staff for have the analogous service activated. This will require first that you have established an account in the KSL ILLiad system, which you may access at the KSL ILLiad Logon Page. To create a new account, please select the 'First Time Users' link, and follow the prompts. If you have already entered your profile, simply log into your existing account. Go to the Main Menu in the left-hand column, down to the 'Tools' section, and select 'Change User Information'. At the bottom of this page you will find instructions on how to have your ILLiad loan delivery option updated to accommodate Faculty Campus Delivery. Please note that you cannot make this change yourself, but must contact ILL staff to update this setting for you.
Please keep in mind that any items marked for 'Library Use Only' cannot be delivered, and will be held at the Kelvin Smith Library, where they must be signed out and used on-site. Faculty in the Music Department who would instead prefer to have such materials held in the Kulas Music Library must also contact ILL staff to request campus delivery service. Please note that Music Faculty who sign up for this option will have their circulating ILLiad loans automatically checked out and delivered to Kulas as well. On the other hand, OhioLINK book loans normally require that delivery location be specified at the time they are submitted -- so Music Faculty need only make the appropriate selection of 'Kulas Music Library' as their Pickup Location in each instance, for the equivalent service.
If you are Faculty in one of the *academic departments that have arranged for a delivery point for this service, and have set up your account profile in Kelvin Smith Library's ILLiad site, contact our ILL staff at smithill@case.edu to have your ILLiad loan services included with campus delivery.
*Please consult your department head or department assistant/secretary as to whether a drop-off point has been designated for library use. Academic Departments appearing in the 'Department or Major' list on the ILLiad 'Change User Information' page for Faculty (mentioned above) are marked with an asterisk (*) as well, if they have already made this arrangement with Kelvin Smith Library. Our current department list is also summarized in our Campus Delivery Departments page.
March 06, 2013
Reminder About Library-Use-Only Loans
Just a reminder that for certain materials, which are either fragile or normally treated as reference material, lender libraries will impose a 'Library Use Only' restriction on their use while on loan to us. We are expected to adhere to their policy conditions, or risk jeopardizing our good borrowing relations with them. Here are some basic guidelines to be observed in these cases...
-> Items are expected to be used only within the Kelvin Smith Library building. When not in use (but still required for future occasions), they should be left at the Service Desk to be replaced onto the hold shelf.
-> A library use slip is provided for for tracking usage of these items, and should be marked according to the times taken out and returned to the Service Desk.
-> Library Use items must be signed out by requestor, without exception, before being taken from the Service Desk -- as with any other materials lent through interlibrary loan.
-> These items must not be taken outside the library building -- under extenuating circumstances, ILL staff may occasionally suspend this if *adequately justified -- ask desk staff to contact us during regular hours.
-> If you are finished using Library Use items, please indicate this clearly to KSL desk staff at the time, so that these materials can be marked for prompt return to the lender library.
-> When overdue notices are sent out for these types of loans, we ask that you please respond if the materials are no longer needed -- also, keep in mind that renewals may be possible (when so indicated by the lender library), if requested early enough.
-> ILL staff may pull Library Use materials from the hold shelf without notice, once they become overdue and regardless of whether you have not responded to an overdue notice; items recalled by the lender will also be likewise returned.
*For example, if the requestor agrees to use materials only within an approved location in one of the university libraries' branch locations, due to the need for special equipment or resources available at that location.
Please remember that Library-Use-Only materials obtained through interlibrary loan service have been provided through the generosity of lender libraries that would otherwise not permit their external circulation. We appreciate your cooperation when using these restricted loans, by handling them with care and returning them as soon as possible after you have finished using them.
February 19, 2013
Loan Notifications from ILLiad: Overdues, Renewals, Recalls, etc.
Here is a quick overview of the sort of e-mail notifications you can expect to receive regarding your loans requested through ILLiad...
* Initial Pick-up - When a book or other loaned item arrives, you will receive this notice, which will indicate what the materials is, the due date, and any restrictions imposed by the lender institution library. We recommend you pick up and sign out the loan from the KSL service desk staff as soon as possible -- preferably within 10 days of the notification date.
* Courtesy Pick-up Reminder - When a loan has not yet been picked up, but is approaching its due date, ILL staff will send this notice beginning at about a week (5 business days) prior to the original due date. If you have lost track of your initial notification, this is the time to either pick up the material or let us know you no longer need it so we can send it back to the lender -- and remember if you do decide to check it out, you may still have an opportunity to request a renewal.
* 1st Overdue ("Due Soon" Notice) - This notice, for items you have signed out, is sent out automatically at a point 5 days prior to the original due date of the loan. This is the best time to request a renewal, provided lender policy allows. If you are finished using materials, this is a good point at which to return them also.
* 2nd Overdue - This is the first actual "Overdue" notice, which goes out automatically the day after the original (or renewed) due date. You should return your loan at this point, since you can no longer request a renewal through your ILLiad account. If you absolutely must have an extension, you will need to contact ILL Staff to have it requested on your behalf -- keep in mind that most lenders will not grant renewals on loans after they have already become overdue.
* 3rd Overdue ("BLOCKED" Account) - Finally, this message is sent out automatically for loans 14 days (2 weeks) past their original (or renewed) due date. At this point, your ILLiad account becomes blocked for certain ILL services, although you are not prevented from logging in. At this time, we advise that you return loaned materials as soon as possible, to avoid replacement billings from the lender library. ILL staff may also choose to manually repeat sending off this notification until the transaction is completed.
* Recall - Lender libraries may choose to recall their loaned items for use at their home locations, and will send our ILL staff notification of this. At this point, we will send along this message to you, and we ask that you return the loan to KSL at your earliest convenience -- of course, renewals are no longer possible under these circumstances.
* Renewal OK - If you have successfully submitted a renewal request through your ILLiad account (or by ILL staff intervention), and the lender has agreed to extend the loan period, you will receive this notification. The new due date will be indicated (either the default 14 days we normally request, or a shorter or longer extension determined by the lender library), and we ask you make note of it. At this point, you will not be able to request additional renewals online, but if absolutely necessary you may contact ILL Staff for this purpose.
* Renewal Denied - If you receive this notice on any checked-out materials after a renewal request has been submitted, the lender library has chosen not to grant the extension to the due date. You must return the loan to KSL as soon as possible, and if you need to borrow another copy we suggest you submit a new loan request through your ILLiad account.
* Unblocked - This notice will be sent if you have had one or more loans checked out in ILLiad that were two weeks or longer overdue (see above), once they have all been returned and cleared. The message will confirm that your account has been "unblocked" and your full ILL privileges are now restored.
As always, hoping this has been helpful information in guiding your use of interlibrary loan services.
January 28, 2013
ILLiad Requests and Non-Roman Alphabetical Characters
Just wanted to report a new development in how ILLiad processes non-Roman characters as they might be applied in your request citations. This will serve as an amendment to part of my entry of January 22, 2010, titled "Foreign Language Titles in Interlibrary Loan Requests". As a preface, "Roman" (or "Latin") is defined as the basic alphabetical character set used to write the English language, as well as the majority of European languages (with the notable exceptions of Greek and Eastern Slavic languages--e.g., Russian, Ukrainian) and many non-European languages worldwide. (As a side note, many modified Roman characters and most diacritical marks used to modify Roman or other alphabetial characters still can be read and imported by ILLiad.)
Upon testing the entry viability of several character sets in the ILLiad system, the following results have been discovered...
Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic and Hebrew alphabets all appear to be accepted and transferable by both ILLiad and OCLC WorldCat. On the other hand, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean writing systems, as well as Hindi script and Armenian alphabetical characters, cannot be effectively processed by ILLiad at all, and any such characters will re-appear as either nondescript place-holders or ASCII character codes within the submitted transaction record fields.
As to how these results are relevant and applicable to your request citation submissions in ILLiad, we would suggest the following...
*In the case of any text entries originally in Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic or Hebrew, it is preferable that in the case of critical search title information--i.e., loan titles (books, theses, music scores, etc.), journal or serial titles, or conference proceedings titles--to provide already transliterated into Roman alphabetical characters. Secondary title information, however, can conceivably be entered in its original form--i.e., in the case of article titles, book chapter titles, conference paper titles. Still, it is always preferable to provide this (and all) text in Romanized version.
*Avoid entering any text originally in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, or Armenian (or most other writing systems), unless these have already been transliterated into Roman characters based on a standardized method--in any of the data fields of the ILLiad request form you are using.
Since the OCLC WorldCat database, our principle holdings search resource, is still essentially based upon Roman characters, it is most helpful to ILL staff that you provide as much of your citation data in Roman transliteration as possible, in order to avoid excessive delays. Any text in non-Roman writing will effectively impede the efficient processing of your interlibrary loan requests, as our search processes must be performed primarily using Roman characters. Although ILL staff are often reasonably familiar with foreign languages or can consult readily available translation resources, it cannot be assumed that we are fluent or conversant in anything other than the English language for general research purposes. Any efforts you can make in providing easily readable information--in the written format most familiar to us--will most certainly contribute to the expedient processing of your ILLiad requests, and are greatly appreciated.
December 20, 2012
ILLiad Login vs. Single Sign-On
Just a reminder that your ILLiad Login is not the same as your CWRU Single Sign-On. When you set up a user account in Kelvin Smith Library's ILLiad system (or that of your respective service point library system), you create your own UserName and Password at that time. If you so choose, these can be the same as the CWRU Network ID Initials (e.g., 'abc12'), and the password you normally use when logging in with it. For the sake of uniformity, we recommend that you do use your Network ID also as your ILLiad UserName (unless another registrant has somehow already claimed the same character string for that purpose). However, for security reasons we suggest you use a different password, as you would with any other various site with which you have registered.
The university ITS staff have provided a Password Help page (also linked to the Single Sign-on page), which offers suggestions on properly creating a secure password string. We recommend you refer to it for creating your ILLiad password as well. You are certainly free to use the same password in both the CWRU network and ILLiad, if you so choose, but in that case, remember to change your password regularly. Keep in mind, then, that whenever you change your network password it does not automatically change your ILLiad password simultaneously. You will need to log into your ILLiad account separately and select the 'Change Password' option under the 'Tools' section of your 'Main Menu' to do this.
If you have questions or concerns regarding your ILLiad login or password, please contact us by phone at (216) 368-3517 or (216) 368-3463, or e-mail us at smithill@case.edu.
November 20, 2012
Browsers and Viewing PDF's in ILLiad
Just a few words about accessing PDF's downloaded from your ILLiad account...
Most browsers will provide a standard toolbar carried over from from Adobe Acrobat, which will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the viewer window. This should include icons for the print, save, e-mail, zoom, and fit size functions. If you use Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari, this is usually the case.
However, when you are using Google Chrome you will have to remember to hover your cursor over lower right area of the window. The icon panel will then appear, with options to fit size, zoom, print, or save your file. This is unfortunately not obvious to most users, and can be a bit disconcerting when you are accustomed to the features of other browsers.
Hopefully our suggestion will be helpful whenever you encounter this particular situation. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us by phone at (216) 368-3517 or (216) 368-3463, or e-mail us at smithill@case.edu.
October 25, 2012
2 Tips Regarding Article Requests
Just a couple recommendations for your article requests submitted through ILLiad....
* Please remember to fill out data fields properly, by entering the appropriate pieces of information from your citation into their corresponding fields. Avoid forcing an entire article or chapter citation into the 'Journal Title' or 'Book Title' field (or any other fields, for that matter), and be sure to separate the citation into its component parts for entry into their respective places. Do not overfill any of the shorter fields (such as volume, issue, year, inclusive pages), which are designed to accommodate limited numbers of characters--these will be truncated upon submitting. Any additional staff editing that will be required as a result can lead to delays and processing errors.
* When downloading your electronically received articles, please keep in mind that larger files will require more time than usual to load. Please also note the size column indication for the article you are attempting to view, which will appear in the table listing your current document files, on the same line as the corresponding transaction number. Finally, be sure to keep your PDF viewing software (i.e., Adobe Acrobat) and your preferred browser updated to the most current versions available.
These simple suggestions can often solve most of your problems with requesting articles, and with receiving them once they have been supplied.