How to Search for Books

Searching for Books
Creating your Account
Requesting Books Online
What if NLU doesn't have the book I want?

Searching for Books

  1. Go to the NLU Library’s home page and click on Books under “Find It” in the top left quadrant of the page.
  2. Click on NLU Catalog to search for books located at NLU Campus Libraries.
  3. Enter your search term in the search box and click on the “SEARCH” button.
  4. To request a book, you will need to click on the title to bring up the full record, and then click on “Request Item” located in the blue navigation bar in the lower part of
    the screen. NOTE: You will need to create an account to request books -
    See CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT & REQUESTING BOOKS ONLINE below.

Creating your Account

  1. In order to use all of the functions of the catalog (request books, view your
    account, renew books, etc.), you must first create an account.
  2. Set up a free account by clicking on the Login link in the upper right corner of
    the screen. Then click on “Create New Account.”

    VuFind_CreateNewAccount
  3. Choose a username & password. We recommend using your NLU portal username and password. NOTE: Your password can be reset if you forget it, but not your username, so please be sure to choose a username you will remember.
  4. You will need your 14 digit library ID#, found on your MY NLU Portal page (i.e. 19XXXXXXXX2840), to enter as your Barcode. You will only need this information once in order to set up your account.

    VuFind_Barcode_is_LibraryID

Requesting Books Online

  1. Click the tile of the book you would like to borrow; then click the “Request Item” tab located in the blue navigation bar in the lower part of the screen.

    VuFind_Request_Item_tab

  2. You will be prompted to log in to your account. Log in in with the username and password that you created.
  3. Once you log in, you will be asked to “Choose item” if more than one copy of the book is available, choose a copy from a specific location.
  4. Then “Choose pick-up library.” Select “National-Louis University” from the list of libraries.
  5. Then “Choose pick-up location.” Select the NLU campus library from which you would like to pick up the book. If you are an off-campus or online student, you may select “Off-Campus/Online-Mail” to have books mailed to your home.

    VuFind_Choose_pick_up_location
  6. Click on the Request button at the bottom.
  7. If you requested to pick up a book at a particular campus, you will receive an email or phone call when the book arrives.
  8. Click on “Your Account” at the top right corner of the screen to check the status of your requests or to renew books.

What if NLU doesn't have the book I want?

  1. If there are no matches for your book in the NLU catalog, you can click on “Repeat search in the I-Share catalog,” which will search the collections of more than 70 other academic libraries in Illinois.

    VuFind_Repeat_search_in_IShare

  2. To find more books on your topic, change the drop-down menu next to the search box from “Local Catalog Only” to “All I-Share Libraries.”

    VuFind_Search_all_IShare_Libraries

  3. Follow “SEARCHING FOR BOOKS” steps 3 and 4 above.
  4. If your book is not available through the I-Share catalog, you can request the book through ILLiad. or information ILLiad, go to http://nlu.illiad.oclc.org/illiad/FAQ.html. For instructions on using ILLiad, go to http://libguides.nl.edu/content.php?pid=29776&sid=217908.

 

For more information or help, call a campus library at 800.443.5522, Chicago x3376 / Lisle x4530 / North Shore x2288 / Wheeling x5503. Or email libref@nl.edu.