On Hold: Materials that are owned by Northwestern and requested by students are put on hold at the library. Items will be held at the Evanston circulation desk for you to pick up if you select the physical item as opposed to an electronic item. (You can also request that items be shipped to your home address; to do this, use the Request function under the item record in the library catalog and click the dropdown box to type in your home address, city, state, and zip code. The item status in your library account will then show up as shipped or en route, as opposed to On Hold.)

On Reserve: OLLI course coordinators can place materials on reserve for their class and do so via their Canvas course site in the Course Reserves section (see the left sidebar menu and select Course Reserves, then use the menu on the Course Reserves page to select what items you want to put on reserve).  Physical reserve materials have a shortened loan period to ensure each class participant has equal access; electronic reserve items (scanned articles and e-books or book chapters) have a loan period that lasts the entire quarter and students access the items via the Canvas course site using the View Item link in the Course Reserves section.  Physical reserves are held at the Main Circulation Desk in Evanston where students can ask for them in-person; the items have a loan period marked on the physical item (usually 2 hours).

E-Reserves: These are items (journal articles or book chapters) that are available online through the Canvas site for your class.  Articles are requested by instructors, and are only accessible by students via Canvas. 

Interlibrary Loan: Also known as ILL, Interlibrary Loan is a way for students to access materials not owned by Northwestern.  Articles will be delivered electronically through email.  Books will be delivered through mail, and could take 2-6 weeks depending on how accessible the requested material is, and how far the book must travel.  To set up an Interlibrary Loan account, click here. 

Online Catalog: Northwestern's collection is organized into an electronic catalog that can be accessed online.  It is called NUsearch, and can be accessed by clicking here.  Electronic materials are listed in NUsearch as well as the print resources. You can also renew materials you have checked out using NUsearch by clicking "Sign In" top right of NUsearch page.