Local Searching in ILL

Before you decide to acquire a requested item via ILL, you might want to search for that item in your own catalog to verify that your library does not already own it.

To determine if an item is available in your catalog:

  1. Choose New Requests from the Function list.
  2. Select the request. ILL displays the Edit Request window.
  3. Choose Search | Local. ILL displays the search prompt. By default, the system inserts information from the request into the currently selected index. For example, if you perform a local search on a request for the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", that text would display in the prompt. If you select a different index, ILL automatically retrieves any available information for that index from the request.
  4. Modify the search as appropriate:
    • Delete a search string by placing the cursor at the end of the string and pressing any keyboard button.
    • Enter revised search data.
  5. Choose the Search buttton. ILL performs the specified search and displays the results:
    • If no record matches the search you specified, ILL shows where the item would be located in a browse display. No local copy is available; you must perform a remote search to determine if the item is available via ILL.
    • If a local record matches the search you specified, ILL displays the bibliographic record. Continue to the next step.
  6. Determine whether there is an item record for the requested item. If the request is for a journal article, you must determine whether there is an item record for the desired issue. In addition, you can view the checkin card and its holding statements or view the item records for bound volumes (and unbound issues, if your library creates such item records).
  7. Continue as appropriate:
    • If there is an item record for the requested item (or issue), place a hold on the item for the patron. When you place a hold, ILL automatically cancels the request.
    • If your library has the title, but there is no item record for the item (or issue):
      1. Cancel the ILL request.
      2. If the requested item was a journal article, send the patron a message explaining that your library has the journal which contains the desired article.