New Interlibrary Loan Text Messaging Feature!

George walked the distance to his apartment after a long day. He had been on campus most of the day in classes and working in study groups. Now, although tired he knew it was time to start work on his research paper.

                George switched on his computer and decided to check his email. To his surprise he found that he had three books available for pick up from interlibrary loan. These were books he had been waiting for and the main reason for his delay in finishing his research paper.  He sighed heavily; he would have to return to campus to pick up the materials. If only there was a way he could have been notified before leaving campus.

                Many students might find themselves in similar situations, with no email access to alert them of the need to stop by the library. Now thanks to a new venture here at the Frederick Douglass Library, students can be notified on their cell phones automatically via text messaging when ILL materials arrive.

                The service is easy to set up. All we need to know is your cell phone number and your provider’s email extension. Don’t know your provider’s extension? We have links that will help you find it.

                To set up this service follow these simple steps:

·         Login to your ILLiad account

·         Click on Change User Information (lower left hand side)

·         In the email field after your email put a comma (no space), your 10 digit cell phone number and your providers email extension.

·         Ex: jdoe@umes.edu,9876543210@vtext.com

·         Don’t know your provider’s extension visit the following websites to find it.

www.emailtextmessages.com

www.livejournal.com/tools/textmessage.bml?mode=details.

            Students are responsible for any charges related to text messaging. This is a great service that will allow students to be notified faster when ILL materials are available, due or have issues.

by Joseph Bree, Access Services Librarian