New @ the Library

Announcing ILLiad, Our New Inter-Library Loan System

The Jack K. Williams Library has a wonderful maritime/marine collection, but there are times when a researcher needs a resource that the Library does not own. That is when Inter-Library Loan ( ILL), defined by the American Library Association (ALA) as the "process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library," comes into action. ILL is so important to libraries that the ALA deems it, "essential to the vitality of all libraries."

The Library concurs completely and to that effect has implemented our new ILL ILLiad System. Currently [as of Sep, 2006] ILLiad is being used to loan materials to other libraries that request our resources, and consequently, is transparent to our customers.

However, in the next month or so, we will start implementing the borrowing portion of our new Illiad system. This process will be done in stages, so that it will be easy for our customers to gradually become acquainted with the new process to request resources through ILL. The current process will stay in place as the Library implements the new process. This will allow the curious to explore the benefits of our new ILLiad system.

Stay tuned to the Library's ILL page [ http://www.tamug.edu/library/services/illreq.htm ] as the Library implements our new ILL system--gradually!