Requesting and Saving

Select a topic below or the Help Contents

• Locating An Item
  How to locate which libraries have the item found by your search
• Requesting AMICUS Items
  How to request the item found by your search. Also describes how to check the status of a request and how to renew a request to the National Library
• The Request Form
  How to fill in the fields of the request form
• Saving
  How to save your search results to a list
• Downloading
  How to download records in MARC 21 format

Locating An Item

What are locations?

Locations in AMICUS identify which libraries have the item found by your search. With hundreds of libraries across Canada reporting their holdings AMICUS often has several locations for an item. You can request the item from these libraries via interlibrary loan (ILL).

Where is the locations information?

AMICUS shows the Locations button to indicate locations information is present. The Locations button can display on the Record screen and below each result on the Results screen.

If no Locations button displays, this means that no library has reported having this item; you can request the National Library to search other sources for the item.

What type of information is there about the library location?

Click the Locations button to display the Locations screen with the information below.

• Library symbol: The Canadian libraries that have reported holdings for the item are listed alphabetically by their symbol. Click the symbol to display ILL information about the library.
  • Library name (if underlined, click to see the library's home page)
  • Loan policy for monographs and serials
  • Charges and terms of payment
  • Items not available for loan (example: rare books)
  • Comments
  • Library mailing address
  • Telephone, fax, e-mail and other addresses (example: IUTS)
  • Other library codes (example: WHO code)
  • Type of library (example: Public library)
  • Link to the library's Web, Telnet, or Z39.50 catalogues
• Holdings: For serials and multi-volume monographs, the holdings identify the specific parts of the item held by the library. The holdings may be incomplete; some libraries report selectively or for special collections only. For single volume monographs, the holdings area is usually blank. Holdings use specific abbreviations and punctuation.
• Availability for Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request: AMICUS shows the R (request) command if the item is available from a library. Click the R to display a form to request the item from the selected library. The code "not specified"before the R indicates the item may be available for ILL.

Customizing the Locations screen

You have the option to highlight your favorite libraries on the Locations screen.

Requesting an Item

You can request any item found in AMICUS. If AMICUS shows no locations for the item, you can request the National Library to search for locations in other sources.

Requesting an Item with Locations in AMICUS

1. Click the Locations button on the Results screen or the Record screen to see which libraries have the item.
2. Select a library on the Locations screen. Click the library symbol to display information about the library's addresses (including its e-mail address) and interlibrary loan policy.
3. Click the R command to start a request for the item. If there is no R command, the item is not available for interlibrary loan from the library.
4. Fill out the request form.
5. Click the Show Request button to see your completed request. To edit it, click the browser's Back button. To print it, click the browser's Print button.
6. Click the Send button to e-mail your completed request. The Send button does not display if your library or the lending library is missing an e-mail address (see step 2 above). In such cases, send the printed request via fax or mail.
7. The lending library receives your e-mail request in generic script. Recognized by most ILL departments, this script inserts three letter codes before the data, such as DAT before the publication date. Ensure that your library's e-mail address is listed correctly in the ILL directory. If the e-mail address of a borrowing or lending library is outdated or incorrect, the request cannot be e-mailed.

Requesting Locations for an Item with No Locations in AMICUS

1. If AMICUS does not have locations for an item, the Record screen displays the ILL Request to LAC button instead of the Locations button.
2. Click the ILL Request to LAC button to ask the National Library to search for the item in other sources. There is no charge for this service.
3. Fill out the request form. Remember to set the Service Type and Search Level. The LAC can provide the item on loan or photocopy if it is available at the LAC; otherwise locations will be provided.
4. Click the Show Request button to see your completed request. To edit it, click the browser's Back button. To print it, click the browser's Print button.
5. Click the Send button to send your completed request to the National Library.

Checking the Status or Renewing the Request to the National Library

For requests to the National Library you can check the status of your request or renew the request. Contact the Interlibrary Loan Division via e-mail (illservicespeb@lac-bac.gc.ca), fax (613-996-4424) or voicemail (613-996-3566)

The Request Form

The fields of the request form are described below. Fill in the fields in italics; those in bold are mandatory. The last fields (from Volume/Chapter to the end) are required for photocopy requests. Use the Tab key to move from field to field.

Saving

You can save yourn search results to create a bibliography. You can also download records to add to your local database.

To save from the Results screen follow steps 1 to 3.
To save from the Record screen follow steps 2 and 3.
Similar steps apply to the authority results and authority record screens.

1. Click the box beside each result you want to save.
2. Click the Save button. The View List screen displays what you have saved.
3. Click your browser's Back button to return to searching AMICUS.

To View, Print, Copy or E-mail the Saved List

To see what you have saved select the View List command available on most screens.

To print the list use your browser's Print command.
To copy the list use your browser's Copy and Paste commands.

To e-mail the list enter a single e-mail address in the box and click the E-mail To: button. If the list contains accents click the MIME box to retain the accents. If the e-mail address is incorrect the list will not be delivered.

Downloading

Downloading allows you to move records in MARC 21 format to your local database.

1. Save the records you want to download.
2. Click the View List command.
3. Click the Download button on the View List screen to have AMICUS convert the records to MARC 21 format before downloading.
4. Click the Download button again. Your browser displays an output box with instructions to allow you to specify where to store the downloaded records. For Netscape, click the Save File button and then specify a file name. Netscape may suggest the extension .html for your file name. You can change this to plain text (.txt) or another extension.
5. Click the browser's Back button to return to searching AMICUS.

Help Contents