The Elm Student Newspaper
Library now offers inter-library loan service online
Derek Bayne
Students can access the school's
partnership in the inter-library
loan service online.
Christina Vouros, Elm photographer
The library's inter-library loan system has been online for over a week now, and the library staff is hoping to drum up more support for the system.
Initiated in response to direct requests by the Student Government Association, the inter-library loan system is a way for Washington College students and faculty to acquire needed materials not found in the Miller Library, said Reference Librarian Dr. Ruth Shoge.
The inter-library loan system links WC to many universities and institutions, allowing a student to search the country for a particular book or article, and then have it sent to the Miller Library.
The new system puts this previously available service online, allowing students to check up on requests they have made, renew books they have ordered, and even make requests electronically, from any computer. "Even if you are at home you may order a book. Of course, you still have to get to the college to pick it up," Shoge joked, "but it is a great way to get a citation from anywhere."
This new system does not only benefit the students. Bernadette Stenger, a staff member at Miller Library, said the new system is quicker. "You just need your last name and your ID number ... Plus, it makes things easier for us."
"There is less paperwork. A lot less paperwork for us," said Shoge.
Students are also saved a few hikes to the library, as the online loan system allows one to check up on the status of requested materials. "It saves students from having to find someone who knows where their materials are," said Stenger.
Once signed in, students may request a material simply by filling out a form very similar to the paper ones used for this service. One may specify whether it is an article or a book they are searching for, and may even request certain editions or certain publication dates.
Perhaps the best part is that "when it asks for minimum cost, you of course put in none," Shoge said.
The new online request form works well with the already extensive database searches the library offers over the Internet for use by WC faculty and students. "When you find a full citation on a database, you just cut and paste it ... This cuts down on typing errors," said Shoge.
Any problems may be e-mailed to the library staff via a special page on the Web site. This new system is so efficient, it is hoped to make the paper system obsolete. "We might even get rid of the paper requests," said Shoge.
This, she hopes, will get the system more use as well as cut down on the paper work the staff encounters and some of the problems of the old system.
"Understanding handwriting was a big problem," Shoge said of the old paper forms.
Since its inception one week ago, the system has had one student user.
The library hopes to improve upon this, as considerable effort was put into making this service available to students. "They asked for it, they got it, and they gotta make sure that they use it," Shoge said.
Once requested, materials usually take at least ten days to be processed, shipped, and to arrive at the library.
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