Park’s Library has begun a new document delivery service program this year.

The program enables students and staff to obtain articles or sections from any holdings the library has without having to go into the library and find it on their own.

“[The new program] is open to all students, faculty and staff, no matter where they are in the state of Iowa, or outside of the state for that matter,” said Cathy Highland, supervisor of Document Delivery/Photoduplication.

Highland said to use the service, people must pick up an information packet from the library and fill out a form requesting articles from any journal or book.

“The more information that students, faculty or staff can give the librarians on the forms, the quicker the turn- around time … in some cases we’ve become sleuths. Usually the turn-around time is 24 to 48 hours,” Highland said.

The fee for using the request form is $5, which is payable by cash or by departmental purchase order. Students may also charge the service to their U-bills or use the ever-popular Mastercard, Discover and Visa.

The $5 fee covers a regular 20-page order. However, using Federal Express or UPS requires an additional charge.

Additional charges also are added to any requests which are called or faxed in for an additional charge.

The service has to abide by federal copyright regulations, although it is possible to clear the copyright laws by paying a clearance fee, she said.

Highland said the largest group using the delivery service is the veterinary medicine program.

“Because of the distance between their campus and the main campus, it’s easier for them to have information delivered — or sometimes students are here and want something from the vet-med library,” she said.

Students at the extension campuses such as Sioux City, North Iowa Area Community College and Fort Dodge also can request items from the library.

Faculty can save themselves time and stress by using the service rather than trying to hunt down what they need at the library, Highland said.

The Document Delivery/Photoduplication Department is currently working on a Web site to complement the new service.