Steps to locate an item & make a request with BorrowBooks Step 1: Enter your search terms
On the homepage enter one or more search words (e.g. ‘joyce’ or ‘james joyce’) and select which search option of keyword, title or author searching you require. The results of a search will depend on the way in which the search is entered and can vary according to the different catalogues’ settings. It is recommended when searching for an author, to enter the author’s surname first.
Step 2: Choose your search option
Your search can be customised in three ways:
1. By selecting the ‘Search all Catalogues’ button you include all the available online public library catalogues in the scope of the search
2. By ticking the ‘include library websites’ option before selecting the ‘Search all catalogues’, you can add the libraries’ general websites, some photographic archives and various national institution catalogues in the search
3. Alternatively, if you want to search one or more catalogues in particular, opt for the ‘Select Catalogues to Search’ button, which will take you to a screen where you can select individual libraries’ catalogues to search. Having selected the libraries to search, now click the ‘Search Now’ button. This brings you to the search results.
Step 3: Search Results
The search results appear in real time as the online catalogues are queried by the BorrowBooks.ie system and as they send back responses to the system. The BorrowBooks.ie system counts the ‘hits’ returned by each online library catalogue and presents them in a list. If the search website option is ticked, it also carries out a search of the website of each public library website and returns the number of hits from the website.
Some results will come back before others. Where the BorrowBooks.ie system cannot get a response from a particular catalogue, it may show that catalogue as ‘down’. This does not mean, in all cases, that the online catalogue server is in fact out of service; it may be due to a network problem which slows down access to the particular server at that moment in time, or may be due to other external technical factors.
Step 4: Select a catalogue
You can click on any of the search results. This will open the selected catalogue, as well as on online form which allows you to make a request. You are encouraged to request from your own local library where possible, before attempting an ILL request from a third party library.
Step 5: Make your Request
To make your request, fll in the BorrowBooks request form on the top of the catalogue listing, using the information presented in the catalogue below.
Many of the form fields on the request form are mandatory – if you try to send a request without completing them, you will be prompted to complete them. Having completed the form, click the ‘Send My Request’ button and the ILL request is now initiated. The request is sent to your own library service who will process it for you and keep you advised of progress.
To send a message to your librarian (e.g. to cancel a request), click here