Monday, February 15, 2010

Genealogy and Interlibrary Loan

If the genealogy book you need is not available at your home library, you may be able to borrow it using Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Many libraries subscribe to the OCLC database known as WorldCat.

Their patrons can search for titles, authors, and subjects of genealogy books, magazines, and videos in libraries worldwide. When they find something they want to borrow, they ask their home library to borrow it for them.

Enter your Glenview library card number to use the FirstSearch WorldCat database from your home.

OCLC has a resource called WorldCat Focus on Genealogy which includes an FAQ, a tutorial on how to use WorldCat effectively, success stories of people whose genealogical research has been advanced by WorldCat, and a quick reference guide to using WorldCat.

If the item you want to borrow is reference material, the library that owns it might choose not lend it. But you might still be able to use it at that library. You might also be able to request copies of the parts you need.

If the item you need is owned by the National Genealogical Society Book Loan Collection, your home library will have better luck borrowing it for you.

In November 2001, the National Genealogical Society (NGS) moved most of their lending library holdings from their headquarters in Virginia, to the St. Louis County Library (SLCL) in St. Louis, Missouri. The collection consists of approximately 20,000+ books. Previously loaned only to NGS members, this collection is now available to the general public through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) via their local library.

1 comment:

Alice said...

Thanks for calling attention to the Genealogy resource helpers available for WorldCat searchers. One note for readers: we're in the process of updating those WorldCat tutorials now--so don't be dismayed if the screens don't look exactly like what you see on the PDF! (Hint: searching on WorldCat.org has gotten even easier, with a richer feature set from the time we initially did these tutorials!)