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Place a Reservation

Reservations may be placed on items in the local collection if they are currently on loan. Reservations can be placed on an individual title or on a set of titles. When placing reservations on a set of titles, you can choose whether you want to reserve all titles in the set, or only some of them depending on which items become available first.

To place a reservation on an individual item:

  1. Open the Find Information menu in the Navigation panel and select Catalogue.
  2. Perform a search for the title you would like to reserve using any access point and view the record in full display.
  3. Select the Place Reservation button displayed at the top and bottom of the record display. This button will only appear if a reservation may be placed on this title. A form will be presented for you to complete.
  4. Enter your borrower ID and PIN if you are not already logged in.
  5. Select the location from which you would like collect the item.
  6. Select the item you would like to reserve. You can choose from the following:
    • Any copy from any location.
    • Any copy from a specific location and collection.
    • A specific copy.
  7. Select an expiry period or enter a specific expiry date. Your reservation will be automatically cancelled if not satisfied by this date.
  8. Enter any notes you would like to include then select the Place Reservation button.
  9. You will be advised if there are any charges or problems with your reservation. If all if well and you wish to proceed with your reservation, select the Continue button. Select the Cancel button if you don't wish to place the reservation.
  10. If you decided to proceed, details of your reservation will be displayed. This includes your current rank in the waiting list for the title.

To place a reservation on a set of items:

  1. Open the Find Information menu in the Navigation panel and select Catalogue.
  2. Perform a search for titles you would like to reserve. If you retrieve a more than one record, your result set will be displayed in brief display.
  3. Browse through your page of retrieved records and mark the checkbox for titles you would like to reserve.
  4. Once you have selected all the titles you would like to reserve on the current page, select the Reserve Selections button displayed at the top and bottom of the page. If your search has retrieved less than 30 records, you may also select the Reserve All button if you would like to place a reservation for all the titles in your result set.
  5. The reservation form will be displayed. Any titles you are unable to reserve will be displayed at the top of the form, followed by the list of titles included in this reservation.
  6. Enter your borrower ID and PIN if you are not already logged in.
  7. Select the location from which you would like collect the item.
  8. Select the number of titles you would like to have allocated you to to satisfy this reservation. For example, you may have performed a search for titles on a particular subject and would like to borrower just one of the items retrieved but don't really care which one. You would just like to have the first one available. In this case, select 1 from number of titles required. You can however also place a reserve on all the titles by choosing the All titles option.
  9. Select an expiry period or enter a specific expiry date. Your reservation will be automatically cancelled if not satisfied by this date.
  10. Enter any notes you would like to include then select the Submit button.
  11. You will be advised if there are any charges or problems with your reservation. If all if well and you wish to proceed with your reservation, select the Continue button. Select the Cancel button if you don't wish to place the reservation.
  12. If you decided to proceed, details of your reservations will be displayed. This includes your current rank in the waiting list for each title.

You can also use the My SavedList facility to build up a set of titles you would like to reserve. Please refer to the section on placing reservations in the My SavedList help page for details.

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Place a Request for an item not held in Hertfordshire

If you are unable to find the item you are looking for in the local catalogue, you can place a request for an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) from another academic or public library. Some charges may apply for some requests.

To place an Interlibrary Loan request:

  1. Open the Services menu in the Navigation panel and select Interlibrary Loan Request.
  2. If you are not currently logged on you will be prompted to identify yourself for this transaction. Enter your borrower ID and PIN then select the OK button.
  3. The Interlibrary Loan request form will be displayed. Please enter as much information as you can about the item you require. You must enter the title of the item.
  4. You will also need to enter a date after which the item is not required and the location from which you would like to pickup the item.
  5. A confirmation page will be displayed. This will indicate if there are any charges associated with your request. It will also give you the option to return to your request form, to cancel the request or to continue with your request.
  6. Select the Continue button to proceed with your request. Your request record will be displayed including the request number.

You will be advised by the Library when your item is ready to be picked up. You can also track the progress of your request or cancel your request by using the facilities in My Library. Please refer to the section on cancelling reservations and requests in the Using My Library help page for details.

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Set up an Alert Profile

You can setup an alert profile online at any time using the facilities provided in My Library. Please refer to the Alert Profiles help page for information on how to create and update your alert profiles.

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Renew My Loans

You can renew your loans online at any time using the facilities provided in My Library. Please refer to the section on renewing loans in the Using My Library help page for details.

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Change My PIN

You can change your PIN online at any time using the facilities provided in My Library. Please refer to the personal details section in the Using My Library help page for details.

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Cancel a Reservation or Request

You can cancel your current reservations or requests if they are no longer required. You will need to access your records using My Library. Please refer to the section on cancelling reservations and requests in the Using My Library help page for details.

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Add a Review

As you browse through the records in your result set after performing a search in the Library Catalogue, you will notice that some records are displayed with a number of stars. This indicates that one or more reviews have been attached to the record displayed. The number of stars displayed is an average of the ratings given to this record by the reviewers. Ratings are given as a number between 0 (very bad) and 10 (very good).

Do the following to add your review to a record:

  1. Retrieve the record you want to add your review to and display in full display.
  2. Click on the link to Add your review. This will display a form for you to complete.
  3. Enter your borrower ID and PIN if you are not already logged in.
  4. Select the rating you would like to assign with 0 being very bad and 10 being very good.
  5. Enter your comments. You can enter as much text as you like. Press Enter to start a new paragraph.
  6. Select the Add Comment button to submit your review. Your comments will be reviewed by library staff before being made available for general access to others.

You can also amend and delete existing reviews by accessing these records in My Library. Please refer to the section on ratings and comments in the Using My Library help page for details.

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