Keeping Your ILL Request Histories Private

In June 2017, we will be “delinking” your names from your ILL request histories again, leaving only requests from 2017-present (or older requests if they are not yet completed).

We first did this in January 2016 and again in January 2017. This time we are delinking even more requests, because there is no reason that libraries should keep information about user requests once they are complete. This is private information and the safest way to secure private information is to just not keep it.

Of course, we understand that many people use their ILL histories to help keep track of their reading. So, we are aiming to strike the right balance between user convenience and privacy. If you do want to keep track of your ILL requests, we recommend using Zotero or another citation manager, tools that help you manage your reading history, as well as insert footnotes, create bibliographies, etc when you write.  You could also just use an Excel spreadsheet but it is best practice – and a great time saver – to use citation managers. (Unfortunately, exporting items from Excel into managers like Zotero would ultimately result in a loss of data and/or incomplete citations, so the best way to add ILLiad citations to citation managers is directly, one by one.)

So, to see your ILL requests from 2014-present, just log into your ILL account and click on View > All Requests (which includes items currently checked out) or View > Request History

And, if you want to save a list of all your 2014-2016 ILL requests, please just follow these simple steps…by June 1, 2017

  1. Login to your GC ILL account.
  1. Click on View > Request History on the left, which will give you all your finished ILL requests. (OR click on “All Requests” which gives you current requests, as well.)
  1. Highlight the fields from “Transaction Number” to “Status” and drag down to highlight your entire list
  1. Right click to Copy
  1. Open an Excel worksheet
  1. Click on the first cell, then right click to Paste, choosing the second icon (Match Destination Formatting).
  1. Adjust your column widths, save your file, and you’re done!

If you have any questions, please contact us at ill@gc.cuny.edu

About the Author

Beth Posner is the Head of Library Resource Sharing at The CUNY Graduate Center Library.