An interlibrary loan (ILL) differs from a regular library hold in that your local library is looking for items outside of the system. When you place a regular hold from your account, items are being transferred within the 12 libraries of the Brazoria County Library System (BCLS). Placing an interlibrary loan means your item can come from libraries in a neighboring city, a city in Texas, or another state in the United States.
You would place an interlibrary loan when BCLS does not have an item but it is available to borrow through WorldCat. WorldCat.org is a database of library materials owned by libraries around the world. It is the world’s largest library catalog. Local public library systems will only borrow from within the U.S. however.
To place an ILL through BCLS follow the following steps:
STEP 1: Type in your book title from the BCLS home page
Click search and the page will transfer you to the results page. If there are none within the system, you can expand the search to the WorldCat catalog/database.
STEP 2 : Select the ILL Database link from the Public Access Catalog (PAC)
When BCLS does not have a title available in any of their branches you will get this “No titles found (0 hits). After revising your search using their tips, and rechecking your spelling, you can expand your search to WorldCat.
Step 3: Select ILL/WorldCat radio box and click “Set Database.”
.
STEP 4: CLICK PLACE REQUEST
Notice the highlighted sections let you know your are searching WorldCat and there is no “Availability” button listed to the right of the title.
STEP 5: SIGN IN AND COMPLETE THE ILL REQUEST
Your interlibrary loan requests will appear under the “requests” tab of your patron account.
EXTRA TIPS
BCLS seems to search WorldCat through its public catalog already. HOWEVER, I would suggest you use WorldCat’s open link to search the WorldCat catalog for your title, and see if a library within driving distance has it. For example, I was looking for Sam Usher’s STORM. Despite narrowing my search and searching by “author,” the title was not coming under the typical ILL search.
Public library catalogs are not as smart as Google search. They cannot fix your spelling so always make sure you are inputting accurate and easy commands for them lol.
The WorldCat catalog is a lot more intuitive. I could search for “Storm Sam Usher” and it immediately retrieved the title I wanted:
It pulls ups libraries up to 200+ miles from your location. In this case it listed Houston and Harris locations, but also Fort Bend County, which is where I picked up the title.
Realize that if you have library cards in multiple systems (which is totally legal) you can place holds and interlibrary loans at all systems and pick them up at a the location most convenient for you. In Texas, you only need to show proof of residence and a government ID to obtain a library card.
You can absolutely be part of as many systems as you’d like. Just be aware most still charge overdue fees so make sure returning hardcopy materials is convenient for you. But you can always take advantage of their e-branches and online resources!
Click here for how to place interlibrary loans at Fort Bend County Libraries!
Biblioterika 
3 Comments