Are you getting enough Zs?

In the past year, the catalogs of more than a dozen New Hampshire libraries newly became Z-targets in the NHAIS ILL System. Are you searching all those Z-targets? If not, you may be missing out on some titles in your searches.

Each username (like NHHSXXill) can save selected resources for searching. When logged in, check the top right of the screen for Your Account and select Your Favorite Resources.

If there's a minus sign next to "Library Catalogs" then your default setting for that login is to search only selected catalogs (which you can see by clicking the eye icon) rather than all available catalogs.

That doesn't matter for purposes of creating your lender list--the lender list build process does its own searching of all resources in the system once your request is submitted--but what if the item you're after is only found in a Z-target that's not selected? In that case, you won't be able to create a request in the system.

It makes sense to have the cataloging login (username ending with "cat") restricted to search only catalogs like the NHU-PAC--why bother picking from dozens of records that match your ISBN when most of the time you'll find a quality matching record from OCLC in the NHU-PAC?--but if you're doing ILL work, it's often to your advantage to search as many resources as possible. NHAIS ILL System usernames ending with "ill" or "all" should be configured to search all available catalogs by default. Follow the steps above and, if you find a minus sign, click on it to change it to a checkmark. Then click the Save Resources button (bottom right) so you'll be searching all catalogs whenever you use that login.

For widely held titles, you'll often see results from the NHU-PAC first while the ILL program continues to search other catalogs. If what you're after turns up right away, you don't have to wait for the searching to end before you select a record and create a request--remember that, once your request is submitted, the lender list build process does its own search of all catalogs in the system to determine where your request will be routed. Even if you searched just selected catalogs, that has no bearing on the locations in your lender list. Each library has a preferred lender list which determines the order in which a request will go to holding libraries.

Any questions? Contact the NHAIS Help Desk via e-mail or phone 603-271-2141.