Sometimes the requests we receive are very cryptic. For example, we received a request for newspaper microfilm that gave only the town and the date - no state information, and not the name of the paper.
When we looked up the name of the town, we found that three states in widely different parts of the US had a town by that name, and each had a library. Luckily we were able to reach the patron, who clarified what state she needed.
We also receive requests for items that have been released in multiple formats: book, large print book, audio cassette, CD, DVD, and VHS. It helps us tremendously to know what format you need, so please indicate that on the form. If it doesn't matter whether you have a DVD or VHS, please let us know that too. Sometimes if we can't find one format, we can find another.
Amazon often puts an ASIN in their records for which there is no ISBN. Unfortunately, many of those do not work in OCLC, the database we use for searching items. If the ASIN starts with a B or a 6, we cannot use it. ISBN-10 or ISBN-13's usually work - whichever you can find is fine.
The more clues we have, the faster we can locate an item!
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It is also extremely helpful if the request is written so that it can be read easily. Sometimes we really have to guess at contact info or the title of the item. Some patrons use return labels on the rquest forms.
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