Advanced Searching
Tips for better results:
- Use the connector OR between your search terms find results that have any one of those terms. You could enter "Krushchev OR Castro" [without the quotes] with this option to get results that mention either Krushchev or Castro.
- Truncate a word with a * to get variations of that word. You can enter "presiden*" [without the quotes] to get mentions of either "president" or "presidential" or "presidency."
- Use subject terms for more precise results. To find good subject headings for your topic, if a keyword search returns at least one relevant item, pay close attention to the section of the record labeled "LC Subject Headings" and click on the links from the meaningful subject headings you find there. You can also search the online Library of Congress Authorities Catalog.
- Distinguish between searching for an exact phrase vs just for all given terms. Searching without quotes for free world will include books about making the world free from hunger. Using quotes around "free world" will find only find mentions of the Cold War-era nations allied with the United States instead of with the USSR.
WorldCat
Discover and request books from elsewhere with WorldCat.
In WorldCat, match any word by connecting them with OR, e.g. Bowie OR Travis, match exact phrases with quotation marks, e.g. "free world", and truncate search terms with an * instead of a ?. For instance, presiden* for president or presidential or presidency.
- WorldCat (FirstSearch) This link opens in a new windowHas over 246 million bibliographic records of books, websites and Internet resources, computer programs, films and slides, journals, magazines, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, newspapers, sound recordings, and videotapes.
Interlibrary Loan Details
If there's something you need that we don't have, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan and have it delivered here, usually at no charge.
Creating Your Account
If you haven't used Interlibrary Loan (ILL) before, you'll need to first create a special account for the ILL system. You can create the account by:
- Going to Interlibrary Loan Request
- Clicking on "Create Account"
- Reading and Agreeing to the Copyright Restrictions
- Then click on "First Time Users Click Here"
Filling Out the New User Registration Form
On the New User Registration form, watch out for these three things:
- Your BuffGold number will need 9 digits. The first 3 of those digits will usually all be zeroes. If your ID number is 987123, enter 000987123.
- The e-mail address must be your WTAMU e-mail address, including the @buffs.wtamu.edu or @wtamu.edu ending.
- The username also must be your WTAMU e-mail address, including the @buffs.wtamu.edu or @wtamu.edu ending.
Creating an ILL Request
There are four principal ways to submit an Interlibrary Loan Request. The third and fourth on this list may often be the most convenient.
From our home page:
If you already know that we don't have your item and you want to go to the request form directly without searching in our resources, you can find it from the Cornette Library's home page under the "Services" menu, on the pages about services "For Students" and "For Faculty & Staff."
From our home-page discovery search:
If you've searched using our home page's discovery tool and found something we don't have here, you can click the "Request the article from Interlibrary Loan" link within the "Get It" section. If you are already signed into ILL, the link will open a request with most information of the article or book filled out.
From WorldCat
On the other hand, if you've done a search in WorldCat and found an item listed that we don't have, you can access the request form directly from the item record in such a way that the details will already be filled in for you. From your search results, click on the item's title, which will take you to the item record. In the section entitled "Get This Item," there is a bullet point with a link reading "Request via Interlibrary Loan" on the line labeled "External Resources." Using that link will automatically populate the fields of the request form with your item's details.
From a periodical database search result
If you've found an article through one of our periodical databases, click the "Find Full Text" or similar link. This will take you to our Discover service. From here follow the directions above from the "From Our Catalog" section.
Delivery could take as little as a couple of days or as much as three weeks. See here for more information about Interlibrary Loan. Click here for our ILL FAQs. For our Interlibrary Loan policies click our Library policies section then select the Interlibrary Loan.