TCCL’s Interlibrary Loan Program

Despite the rows I’ve had with the Tulsa library in the past, I have to admit I really like Tulsa’s library system.

I’ve pretty much grown up in the library and have always liked Tulsa’s downtown library. If you can dodge the homeless crowd down there, the resource offerings there are unrivaled. And even if their patron login system isn’t SSL secured (I’ve asked them a million times to fix that security hole), their services offered online are pretty good.

In particular is a service I’ve utilized in the past. Normally if you cannot find a book at your particular TCCL branch, chances are another branch will have it, and you can request that book through your online patron account and they’ll deliver the book to your branch for pickup at no cost to you. However, if the book or resource you seek isn’t in the TCCL system at all, not all is lost. TCCL also has an Interlibrary Loan program which I’ve used three or four times in the past. If you have your online patron account set up, setting up your Interlibrary Loan account is just as easy. If you already have an account just log in and you’re good to go. If you don’t, just go to the “new user registration page.” Simple as that.

After you log in you’ll be presented with a page with all your options. One of those is to request the resource you were unable to find in the TCCL system.
There is a typically a $1.00 charge for each item requested through this system. Don’t quote me on that, I’ve only ever gotten books through this system, and it has always been a buck per book. That’s a small price to pay to have a book not in the TCCL system brought to your favorite branch from wherever they happen to find one for you. Also saves you from having to pay for a new or used book.

A few weeks ago I obtained a book through the TCCL interlibrary loan program. It cost me $1. I looked in several places online for a used book of the same title. The cheapest I could find was $10. So, yes, I saved $9. Granted I had to wait several weeks for it to be delivered (I think it came from Texas somewhere), but still… a penny saved…

I’ve always imagined the library as my own personal, giant office filled with information about anything I’ve ever wanted to know about. Complete with personal assistants who are always ready to help you find what you’re looking for. Ok, there’s always that one freak-oid book-worm sitting behind the computer who sighs when you come up asking questions, but those are rare and usually just summer help.

So what are you waiting for? YOUR library sits there for you and costs you nothing. Not utilizing it is a waste.

UPDATED:
Some geek emailed me nearly right after I posted this and asked about the security problem with TCCL library’s login page, so I’ll elaborate.

The TCCL’s login page here has some basic security flaws.
One, it is not SSL secured. In other words the information you type into the login fields are not encrypted before they are transmitted over the internet. You know a page is SSL secured if the URL starts with https://, instead of http://. SSL is standard everywhere for secure connections which include online transactions, online banking, even some email providers like Gmail provide SSL for security.
Two, the only thing required to log in is a name and library card number. So anybody in the world that knows your name already has half the information required to access your online library account. Getting the other half is as easy as a phishing scheme, a stolen wallet, or anybody glancing over your shoulder at the library.

The solution? Secure the connection. Require an additional password and give the user the option to change their user name and password at any time.