Consortium Loan Service
What is the Consortium Loan Service?
- The Consortium Loan Service (CLS) is a way to obtain books and articles
that are not available at Gelman Library.
- You can request materials at Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) libraries, other GW campuses (Mount Vernon and Virginia Science & Technology Campus Libraries), or from the WRLC storage center.
- Books can be delivered in a few days to the Gelman, Eckles, or Virginia Science & Technology Campus circulation desks.
- Articles can be scanned and posted as links to your MyAladin page, usually in a day or two.
- The service is available to eligible borrowers (GW faculty, students and staff).
- Click here for step-by-step directions and videos for placing a request.
Before you place your first request…
Register your email in myALADIN (use your preferred email address - only one email address can be registered). Go to www.aladin.wrlc.org and click on myALADIN.
To Request Books or Journal Articles
Go to the ALADIN page (www.aladin.wrlc.org) and follow these steps:
- Click on the WRLC Libraries Catalog button on the main ALADIN menu.
- Do a search for the BOOK TITLE or JOURNAL TITLE (for journal articles) of the item you are requesting.
- Before submitting your request, VERIFY that the
following conditions have been met:
- The book or journal is NOT currently available at your home library, meaning: All copies must either be listed in the online catalog as ”Checked Out/Overdue”, ”Lost/ Missing”, ”Non-Circulating”, or the item cannot be located in the stacks with librarian assistance.
- The book or journal’s status is ”Available” at the lending library according to its record in the online catalog.
-
The item circulates and/or is eligible for Consortium Loan Services. While printed journals do not circulate, most are eligible for CLS article requests unless otherwise noted.
- Important! - Check item availability for GM and GT items by clicking on the URL: George Mason Holdings or URL: Georgetown Holdings link. Those items that do not show as available in the GM/GT catalog should not be requested from GM/GT through Consortium Loan. For quickest processing, such items should be requested from other WRLC locations or directly from Interlibrary Loan if no other WRLC library has the item.
- Special Collections Materials
- Articles of 50+ pages
- Reserve Materials
- Reference Materials
- Electronic/Computer Resources and Journals
- Microform collections
- Law Library Collections (AL, JB, and LL)
- Materials which are “in process” or ”on order”
- Click on "Request through Consortium Loan Services" from the item record which you wish to request.
- Log in with your LAST NAME. Enter either the BARCODE number on the back of your GWorld card (begins with 22882) or your GWiD number (begins with G) on the next line. Then select your Institution (George Washington). Click GO.
Items that cannot be borrowed:
- Complete the form (as illustrated below) according to ordering instructions
and click on Submit Request to finish.
Pickup location should be your home library or the library to which you would like to have the item delivered, NOT the lending library.
You will receive a confirmation screen that your request is now pending at the lending library, and a CLS number for the request will be displayed.
Please note! – If the item in question is not eligible for CLS or not “available” at any other WRLC location, it will be immediately cancelled by the system. Requests are automatically forwarded to other available locations until either an identical, eligible and available copy is located, or none can be found and the request is marked “unfilled”. You may then place your request with the Interlibrary Loan office.
Processing Time and Notification Procedures
- Consortium Loan Services requests generally take 2 to 5 business days, although in rare cases they may take up to three weeks.
- Patrons are notified by e-mail or phone when requested items are available for pick-up.
- Available books are held for 10 days at the Gelman Library Circulation
desk on the first floor, after which they are returned to the lending library. Media items (DVDs, VHS tapes) are held for only 2 days.
- Once a request has been placed, you may view your current Consortium Loan Services and other WRLC libraries activities by clicking on myALADIN.
Web Delivery of Journal Articles through myALADIN
Patrons have the option to have journal articles delivered via the web through myALADIN. To use this document delivery option, you must register your e-mail account in myALADIN before submitting the request.
Keep in mind! - Due to limitations in copy quality, not all articles can be posted to Web Delivery. Where poor copy quality would result in an illegible scan, a hard copy of the article will be delivered to your pickup location instead.
If your e-mail address is already registered in myALADIN, you will automatically receive journal articles electronically.
- Patrons should allow 1 to 3 business days for delivery and will be notified by e-mail once an article is available. A direct link to the myALADIN login page will be incorporated into the e-mail. Articles will be accessible for a period of 2 weeks before they are automatically deleted. These documents are secure and available only via the patron’s individual myALADIN account.
- All documents are posted in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat version 4.0 or higher to read the documents. A link is provided on your Web Delivery page to a free download of this software. A copyright notice will be embedded on the first page of each document. Please note that some pdf files can be quite large due to article size or images that are included. Because of this, we do not offer direct email delivery of articles at this time.
- Questions and problems regarding web delivery of journal articles through myALADIN, should be directed to the lending library. You may also simply reply to the availability email message you received. Be sure to include your name and the CLS six digit request number.
Did you know? - Many recent articles are now available as full-text documents in the Gelman’s Electronic Resources databases. Check with a Reference Librarian to see if your articles may be available immediately online. In most cases, online articles may be printed, emailed, or downloaded.
Loan Periods and Renewal Procedures for Books
- Check with the Circulation Desk for Loan periods specific to your patron group, renewal limits, and fines and fees policies. All Consortium Loan items are subject to possible recall according to the lending library’s policies.
- Renewal requests must be on or before the due date. Only 3 online, email, or telephone renewals are available. After this, items must brought to the Circulation Desk for further renewals.
- Borrowed materials may be returned to Gelman Library, Mt. Vernon Campus Eckles Library, Virginia Science & Technology Campus Library, or any other WRLC Library.
Alternative Method for Consortium Loan Requests
An alternative method of requesting materials not available in Gelman is the Consortium Loan Form.
This form is intended for use by those patrons who cannot under normal circumstances initiate CLS requests via the online catalog, such as GWU Alumni, Friends, or CIRLA members with borrowing privileges who wish to obtain GWU items from off-campus locations or storage.
Eligible patrons who are otherwise able to log in to myALADIN should not use this form. They should instead use the request form integrated into the online catalog for the quickest processing of their requests.
- Go to http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/forms/consortium.cfm
- Before submitting a Consortium Loan through the web form, please consult the criteria in item 3 at the top of this page or read the CLS Guidelines on the web page carefully.
- Complete all required fields (designated by an asterisk) including email address so that we may notify you when the item is available.
- Copy and paste the information for the book or journal title you are requesting
- Click on Submit Request.
PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY!
Remember to logout of myALADIN if you are using a public or shared workstation.
Contact the GW Consortium Loan Service Offices
If you have questions about the Consortium Loan Service, please contact the Gelman Library System Consortium Loan Office.
Gelman CLS Staff Hours
Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
