Interlibrary Loan
September 15, 2008
I have recently discovered an amazing free resource that I have been neglecting for years: the library. I used the library at the University of Oklahoma when I attended there years ago, but after graduation I assumed that I would no longer be able to access university libraries and that a public library would not have anything of any use to me.
About the same time I was starting Journey to the Sea (back in July), I rediscovered the library. I have since been to three nearby university libraries to research and make photocopies. I have friends and family that work at university libraries, and some have sent me photocopies of articles and pages from books. I have also received a few books through interlibrary loan, including the main source I used for my most recent article in issue three of Journey to the Sea, “The Disobedience of Iblis in Sufism”.
It took a small series of events for me to realize all this way available to me. Here’s how it happened. First, my mother got a job at a university library and started mentioning all the cool services they offer. Then a friend started praising Google Book Search, which I then started using somewhat regularly. One day I discovered the links throughout their site labeled “Find In A Library.” I followed those links to WorldCat where I was able to find that a particular book I wanted at a couple of nearby university libraries. I didn’t think they would let me in the library if I wasn’t a student, but I called and found out otherwise. I spent a few hours that night doing researching at the library. Later I talked with another friend about the experience, mentioning that I only wished I could get interlibrary loan for books the local libraries did not have. He informed me that I should be able to get books in this way through my local public library. Who knew?