Step 1: Citation Information
If someone recommends a book to you, the first step in finding it is making sure you have all the citation information. Did they give you the title of a book chapter, the book title, an author's name? Sometimes it's not clear. Google it, or find it on Amazon to get all the publication details, and try to find a table of contents to read online! You might even find a preview on a book scanning website like Google Books or the Internet Archive that you can read for free if you search around a bit.
Step 2: Does Lesley Have Access to It?
Search Lesley's Catalog: See if we have it in the library, or as an eBook for those who aren't local:
Search
If you are local and can pick up print books, you can request books from other local university libraries that are part of our Fenway Libraries Online (FLO) consortium, or from other Mass public libraries part of the Commonwealth Catalog consortium. You cannot use another school's eBooks but you can borrow print materials by having them sent to Moriarty Library. We can't mail other libraries' books to you, so you can only request books from other libraries if you can come to our library to pick them up. If you aren't local, ask your local public library what their interlibrary loan options are!
Books will appear in the library's main @LL Search tool, but if you JUST want to search the book catalog, go to Lesley Library Catalog and search for a topic or the book title, not the chapter title. If you find it, put it on hold by clicking Make a Request in the right-hand menu, and choosing Request From Other Library.
Step 3: No Local Access
E-mail Micki (mharri27@lesley), because we might be able to buy an eBook fairly quickly for you. If we can't buy it, we can request it from another library. When a book isn't available through our consortiums (see above) then we can request an InterLibrary Loan (ILL) where were put out a request and hope someone around the world accepts and fills it.
If you're local and can come pick up a print book:
Request an InterLibrary Loan by going here, logging in, and clicking on New Request: https://research.lesley.edu/borrow/ILL
You'll see options for what you are requesting: article, book, book chapter, etc. If you request a book chapter it will be delivered electronically as a PDF you can download and keep.
If you're not local:
If you just need one chapter, request one chapter through InterLibrary Loan. Libraries can't scan more than one chapter, so make sure you look up the table of contents ahead of time to figure out which pages you need!
If you need a whole book, check with your local public library about their interlibrary loan services, or go to WorldCat to see which libraries around the world hold your book. If there's a University near you that has it (put in your zip code for a local search), look up that library's guest access policy online to see if you can go there. You probably wouldn't be able to check it out, but you could visit to read/scan it.
Tips for low-residency
If you want to check out books while you're here you can renew them a couple times online: https://libcat.lesley.edu (Click Log in to your account)
and you can mail them back to us. Our address is:
Moriarty Library
Lesley University
29 Everett St
Cambridge, MA 01238