Tips for Best Service

We strive to locate and obtain requested material as quickly as possible, but here are some things to do which will speed up this process.

1. Carefully search the Randall Library catalog
2. Give a complete and accurate citation
3. Make sure your personal information is accurate
4. List the source of your citation
5. Limit requests to a reasonable number
6. Allow enough time to get your materials
7. Follow up

Carefully search the catalog

We generally do not borrow items that are owned by the library unless it is checked out, listed as missing or otherwise unavailable. Searching for an item in the catalog may well tell you we own it!

Complete and accurate citations

When filling out the request form, complete as much of the information asked for as possible. It is especially helpful to give us the ISSN for a journal title as that uniquely identifies that journal title and ISBN for books. If your citation has an abbreviated journal title, it is important to fill in the journal title field with the abbreviation just as given; cutting and pasting this information from your source to the ILLiad form is the easiest way to ensure accuracy.

Give us accurate information about yourself

If Interlibrary and Document Services gets your requests filled quickly, it does not do much good if we do not have current contact information for you. ILLiad notifies customers via email and if your email address is not a valid one, we will have no way of letting you know your material has arrived. Faculty, staff and graduate students are also eligible for campus delivery so be sure that your address is current as well. To change your personal information in ILLiad, logon with your username and password and scroll down to the end of your main menu, to the Review Personal Information section. Click on the Change User Information button, edit the field you need to change, and click on the submit button to send the edits.

Source of your citation

It is important to tell us where you got the citation for your ILL request. Give us the database name, journal name and article title with page numbers, bibliography title or any other information you have about the source. This will allow us to verify a citation if we run into a problem.

Limit requests to a reasonable number

Keep in mind that if you order twenty books at one time they will arrive at once and have to be returned to the lending library around the same date. It might be better to space out your requests over a little longer period of time so you can take advantage of reviewing your materials in batches. ILL staff reserves the right to prioritize requests if you submit more than twenty in any given week.

Allow time to get materials

Plan ahead so the material you need will be available for your research when you need it. Requests are usually filled within one to three weeks of being requested, but delivery time can vary. Books generally arrive and are delivered within a week and journal articles generally arrive within a week or two. If we receive the article electronically you may have a turn around time of only two or three days! Just remember to allow time for delivery of all your materials.

Follow Up

If you don't receive your material on a timely basis and your ILLiad record does not show that a request has been cancelled or returned, contact us. You can call us at 962-7005 or 962-3272 or send us an email at libraryill@uncwil.edu. We will be happy to answer your questions at any time.