Catalogs: Learn to search library catalogs effectively to locate books and other relevant materials
Annex Requests
The Library Annex is our off-site storage location (it's on Palm Road, near the the Cornell Orchards). You can request to have those books and journals delivered to a library on campus. Deliveries are made mornings, Monday-Saturday, usually about a day after you make the request. Here's how to request annex items:
Retrieve the catalog record of the item in question. Click on 'Request.' Unless you've already logged in, you'll be prompted for your netid and password. Select a pick-up location using the drop-down menu and press 'Submit delivery request.' Use this same process to request delivery of books from one library to another.
The Annex also has its own reading room. The address is Palm Road, off Route 366, and the hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4 pm.
Example Record
What to do if it's not available
If the catalog record indicates that the material is "charged," it means that someone else has signed out the book. When you click on "request," the system figures out the fastest way to get it to you. If it's a recall, that takes about two weeks. Borrow Direct is the fastest delivery:
If we do not have a book in our holdings, or if the book you need is already checked out, you can request to borrow through Interlibrary Loan Services or Borrow Direct
Click on the "request" button and Cornell's interlibrary services staff will determine if it's available from another Ivy League university (plus: Johns Hopkins, MIT, Duke, University of Chicago, & Stanford), and have it shipped to Cornell. The borrowing period is for eight weeks, renewable once. Books arrive in a week or less. If it's not available that way, they'll get it via ILLiad (InterLibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database) from another library or have articles scanned for you. Loan period is usually one month. Items can arrive in as little as a few days (or even the next day, in the case of scans) to a couple of weeks (This service will not work for items that Cornell already owns, but are checked out by other borrowers).
Looking for books not held by Cornell
If the book you are looking for is unavailable through Cornell, you can search WorldCat, an international catalog that includes Cornell's holdings, from the library catalog results page by clicking the "Request from Libraries Worldwide" link.
