Mossey Library reinstalled the MelCat system that allows students, faculty, and staff to request books from any of the participating libraries in Michigan, according to sophomore library employee Marlow Canady.
“You have all of Michigan at your fingertips,” Canady said. “Delivery depends on the book, taking anywhere from a week to a few weeks to reach Mossey.”
Canady said MelCat is a great asset for students as a research tool.
“MelCat is super helpful especially for history and English classes when you have a specific book in mind that you need,” she said.
George Allen, Public Services Librarian at Mossey, said he is excited for the MelCat system’s return.
“MelCat will be the fastest and easiest way for Mossey Library patrons to get items from other Michigan libraries that they can’t find at Mossey and provide for just about anything they want to find whether it be books, CDs, movies, or audiobooks,” Allen said.
Junior Elizabeth Oxaal recounted a time where the book she was looking for was not available at Mossey. When told about the MelCat system, Oxaal said the database would ensure Mossey could provide for every book she needed.
“I’m not the type of person that buys books for classes,” she said. “I don’t have the money. MelCat makes a solution possible.”
Senior Juan Vargas Hernández said MelCat presents opportunities for pleasure reading or upperclassmen projects. He said he missed the MelCat system while working on his senior thesis.
“MelCat is a lot more user friendly and less time consuming as opposed to ILL (InterLibrary Loan) where you have to fill out everything manually,” he said.
The ILL system is still available at Mossey. It allows students to request books from outside of Michigan.
Hernández differentiated between the setups of MelCat and ILL.
“Something unique about MelCat which distinguishes it from ILL is in the process of requesting books; it feels like you’re navigating another catalog, which makes it really epic,” he said.
A scroll through MelCat confirms Hernández’s description, where MelCat makes books just one click away.
“If you want to buy a book, you should skim through it and make sure you’re interested and MelCat is a great way of getting the book quickly to have a look at it before buying,” he said. MelCat also provides an incentive for finishing research compared with databases that offer online pdfs.
“Don’t rely too much on online databases because you can get books that are conducive to finishing your research that are sitting on your desk and force you to finish your research as opposed to multiple open tabs on your computer,” he said.
