Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about ILLiad

Contents

  1. What is ILLiad?
  2. How is ILLiad better than traditional ILL systems?
  3. Are there any disadvantages to the electronic system?
  4. Why do I need a username and password to use ILLiad?
  5. What if I forget my password?
  6. Is security a problem if I use a public workstation?
  7. Why don't I see all my older requests when I look at my request history?
  8. What is Electronic Delivery?
  9. Who do I contact if I have problems with or questions about ILLiad?
  10. Why does my browser say that you're sending a cookie? What's in it?

What is ILLiad?

ILLiad is the electronic system you use to request an item through Interlibrary Loan. The name ILLiad can be thought of as an acronym for InterLibrary Loan internet accessible database.

Back to Top

How is ILLiad better than traditional ILL systems?

  1. You will find it easier to submit your interlibrary loan requests. With ILLiad, you enter your name, address, and other personal information into the system only once, at the time of your first request.
  2. Your request will be able to be handled more rapidly and accurately by the Interlibrary Loan Staff.
  3. You can get your journal articles at your convenience through Electronic Delivery.
  4. You can get information about the status of your request through the Web at any time from any location without having to call the ILL Office.
  5. Library personnel are able to serve you better because all data about your request and its handling is stored in a searchable database. We are able to respond quickly to your inquiries about your request. We are also able to gather statistical information about the performance of the libraries that lend to us, enabling us to make better decisions when choosing a lender to supply an item.
Back to Top

Are there any disadvantages to the electronic system?

  1. Some people might find it troublesome to have to log into ILLiad using a username and password. We believe this is less trouble than traditional systems which require you to enter your personal information with each new request.
  2. Rather than copying and pasting an entire citation, you will now need to enter each field separately (author, title, etc.)
Back to Top

Why do I need a username and password to use ILLiad?

Your username and password allows us to give you secure access to information about your interlibrary loan requests. We can also enable you to edit your personal information such as your address or phone number.

Your username can be anything you like, such as your name, abbreviations, or an alphanumeric code. Your password also can be anything you like. We recommend that you follow good security practice and choose a password that is different from those you use to access other systems. However, no one but you will know your password, not even the library staff. The password you set is stored in an encrypted file.

Back to Top

What if I forget my password?

Please email: library_document_delivery@csumb.edu or call: 831-582-4325 for assistance with forgotten passwords.

Back to Top

Is security a problem if I use a public workstation?

Only on the few public workstations that do not require you to login as a CSUMB student, faculty or staff member. Web browsers cache information and create a history file on the local workstation. This allows a subsequent user of the workstation to access the system under your name using the browser's Back button to recall a page from the cache, or by finding a page with your personal information in the browser's history file. However, if you haved logged in to the CSUMB campus domain, your cached session will not be accessible to other users. If you are concerned about the security of your interlibrary loan requests, you can take the following steps:

  1. Access  ILLiad only from campus lab workstations or library workstations that require you to log in to the CSUMB campus domain, or use your personal computer.
  2. When using other public access workstations that do not require a campus login:
    • Delete from the history file those pages that contain your personal information.
    • Exit from the Web browser before you leave the workstation. This prevents the Back button from accessing the pages you were using.
Back to Top

Why don't I see all my older requests when I look at my request history?

From time to time we purge older records from ILLiad. Our policy is to keep requests online for several years order to comply with record keeping requirements of the copyright law.

Back to Top

What is electronic delivery?

Many libraries ship copies of articles to us in electronic format. In the past we printed these articles before delivering them to you. Now, through ILLiad, we are able to make these articles available to you in PDF format (Adobe's Portable Document Format). You can read more about electronic delivery on the Electronic Delivery Information page.

Back to Top

Who do I contact if I have problems with or questions about ILLiad?

Back to Top

Why does my browser say that you're sending a cookie? What's in it?

The Active Server Pages technology that we use to provide live reporting for the web sends a Session ID to be stored on your machine. You can refuse this cookie and still be able to use the ILL web pages and  ILLiad without any problems.

Back to Top