Spring Arbor University Crusader

Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Michael Metts Katherine Moyer, works in ILL student worker submitting student request

Few venture to the basement of White Library but tucked away in its corner is a place of exceeding academic worth. That place is Interlibrary Loan.

ILL is a system of borrowing and lending research resources with other state, nation and worldwide libraries. Students. faculty and staff can request books, articles, CDs, DVDs and the like for extra resources that SAU may not have.

After requests are made Katherine Moyer, the ILL technician, along with five student employees, finds the best and fastest way to locate the requested item. Most items come from Michigan libraries, "but we've gotten stuff from all over the U.S. and overseas, too," Moyer said.

The day-to-day routine consists of ordering requested materials, lending out materials to other libraries, making copies of articles to send to students and other libraries and making sure citations are correct. Senior Travis Lambert said working at ILL has helped him to "learn how to research."

Moyer also stressed ILL joined up with MelCat about a year ago and students should take advantage of it. MelCat allows students to search in other Michigan libraries and order through them, it cuts out the middle man of the ILL staff ordering the books or other materials by allowing the students to do it for themselves.

"It's the same basic idea behind ILL," said Moyer, "except it's so much easier, it's a lot faster and there's so much out there." The books or other resources come in to ILL once the materials are processing the department will notify you. Also, resources do not have to come in print form; many articles are available online, which is much faster.

Moyer says her favorite part of the job is "finding stuff for students. A lot of teachers do interesting research, too. It's neat to see what people's interests are."

For more information or to use MelCat visit the library website. To order through WorldCat visit w

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