Borrowing and Lending

Policies and other Information

• Borrowing Policy

  All Union College ID card holders must present their ID card when borrowing library materials. Community borrowers must present a valid Schaffer Library borrowing card when borrowing or appropriate identification (such as a Direct Access Program [DAP] card) when applying for a borrowing card.

  Who can borrow?

  Union: Students, staff, faculty.
  Community: Union Alumni, Faculty/Staff Retiree and Partner, DAP card holders (see below), Friends of the Library, UCALL Participants.

  Collection	Borrower Type	Loan Period	Renewal
  Books, Government Documents, Audio CDs	Student	One (1) Term	1
  	Faculty/staff	One (1) Term	unlimited
  	Community	Six (6) weeks	2
  DVDs	All borrowers	Six (6) weeks	-
  Current Reading Area / Schaffer Reads	All borrowers	Three (3) weeks	2
  General Equipment	Student/faculty/staff	4 hours / 24 hours	-
  Course Reserve	Student/faculty/staff	Four (4) hours	-
  Laptops and iPads	Student/faculty/staff	Two (2) weeks	-
  Interlibrary Loan (ILL)	Student/faculty/staff	Per lending library	Per lending library

  Items from the Reference and Periodicals collections are non-loanable, but can be used in the building. Special Collections & Archives materials are available for in-building use by appointment only.

• Circulating Collections

  The circulating collections at Schaffer Library are located around the building, on various floors. Visit our Floor Directory & Maps page to locate the print or media collection you are looking to browse.

  Some collections are located behind the Library Service Desk and must be requested for loan:

  • Course Reserve books
  • Library equipment, including chargers, adaptors, etc.
  • Loaner laptops and iPads
  • Specialized equipment for Film Studies and Music courses*

  * The Library Service Desk stores, manages, and loans this equipment, but borrowing privileges and use are dictated by the individual professor(s) for those courses.

• My Library Card Account

  All library users can login to their My Library Card account online to:

  • View current loans and active requests*
  • Renew materials.
  • Check for any fines and fees.

  * Some interlibrary loan (ILL) requests may not be reflected here and should be viewed separately in your ILLiad account. For more information about the differences between Primo and ILLiad, click here.

  My Library Card is available through Schaffer Library’s discovery tool, Primo:

  Login to Primo

  To login from the Schaffer Library homepage:

  1. Click “Login to Primo” in the center of the page, or “Primo Login” from the right-hand navigation bar.
  2. Union ID holders should select “Union users.” Non-Union ID holders should select “Community users.”
  3. All users should enter their email/barcode and password.

  In addition to your My Library Card account, Primo also provides access to search history, saved searches/items, and the RefWorks citation management system.

• Direct Access Program (DAP)

  Schaffer Library participates in the Direct Access Program (DAP) through the Capital District Library Council (CDLC). DAP is a resource sharing program between local area libraries, and Union College participates in two ways:

  1. Union College students, faculty, and staff may register for a DAP card at Schaffer Library to directly borrow materials from other participating DAP libraries in the area. CDLC keeps an up-to-date DAP member directory on their website. Borrowing policies vary from library to library, and DAP users are encouraged to return DAP materials back to the owning library when finished.
     
  2. DAP members from other libraries (i.e. a local public library, etc.) may register for a Schaffer Library Borrowing Card to directly borrow up to 10 items at a time. All DAP members must present a current DAP card to register for a Schaffer Library Borrowing Card.
• Document Delivery

  To further support research and learning, Schaffer Library will digitize articles and book chapters from print library collections for electronic delivery upon request. Document delivery is available to current Union College students, faculty, and staff.

  To request document delivery, do the following:

  1. Login to Primo, as requests will be tied directly to your library account.
  2. Search Primo for the article or book you are looking for.
  3. Open the record. In the “Get It” section, click on the “Digitization” link.
  4. A Digitization Request form will appear. Fill in the requested chapter/article information.
  5. Click “Send Digitization Request.”

  Login to Primo

  Document delivery processing time varies, but requests are generally filled within 1-2 business days. Once processed, the requestor will receive an automated email with the electronic file attached. Electronic files become property of the requestor.