NEWS RELEASE

November 9, 2005

 

PROSPECTOR RELEASES NEW ARTICLE DELIVERY FEATURE FOR SELECTED LIBRARIES

 

The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries in conjunction with Colorado State University has released a new article delivery feature within the Prospector union catalog.  Historically, the Prospector system has allowed patrons to request books, DVDs, CDs, and videos for delivery to your local library.  These were items that must be returned and have been cataloged by its participating libraries.  However, if a patron wanted a copy of a journal article they would need to go back to your home library and use interlibrary loan.  The new “Request Article” button located near the top right of the Prospector screen provides the ability for patrons to request articles for online delivery.

 

Initially, only selected libraries have opted to activate this feature within Prospector, but in each case once a patron has selected a home institution the best options will be provided.

 

The system works as follows:

 

  1. Select the “Request Article” button on the top right of the Prospector screen.
  2. Choose your home library
  3. If your library is participating in this new project you will be taken to a screen for identifying their online journals or an article requesting form
  4. Fill out the article request form with you known citation for a journal article
  5. In many cases the system will first check to see if your article is available online.  If so follow the link and you are done.  If not, select the “Interlibrary Loan” option at the bottom of the search results screen and your request will be transferred into a system called RAPID developed by Colorado State University
  6. Your request will go to one of the participating libraries and they will scan the article and email you in about a day giving you the URL to view your article online

 

There are some variations in how this works at various sites depending on certain pieces of software they locally have available at that library.

 

If a library is not using the RAPID software from CSU, the patron may be taken to a local library Web page where they can look for journals or databases that may be available from that library.  However, if you do not find the journal you want you must contact your home library for more information.

 

Libraries participating in the first release of the new advanced Prospector/RAPID article delivery project include:

 

Auraria Library

Colorado College

Colorado School of Mines*

Colorado State University

Regis University

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Denver (Penrose Library)

University of Northern Colorado

University of Wyoming*

 

*These libraries will activate the RAPID delivery feature in the near future

 

 

For more information contact your local library.

 

Additional information about Prospector is available from:

 

George Machovec

Associate Director

Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries

3801 E. Florida, Suite 515

Denver, CO  80210

help@coalliance.org

http://www.coalliance.org (Alliance URL)

http://prospector.coalliance.org (Prospector URL)

 

Additional information for librarians about the RAPID article delivery system is available at http://rapidill.org