Request rare books online

Princeton University has recently implemented a new online rare-book requesting service for placing requests to consult any rare book or manuscript held in Firestone's Rare Books & Special Collections Department, Mudd Library and Marquand Library.  Users wishing to consult rare book material at Princeton will now be required to submit requests online. Both Princeton and non-Princeton users of items in rare collections may search for an item in the Main Catalog or SearchIt@PUL and request to consult the item(s) in a rare book reading room in one of these three libraries; online finding aids will also link into this system. All patrons wishing to consult rare books will need to set up a rare book account, which can be done by requesting to consult an item online, and then either setting up a rare book account or entering one's username and password (netID and password for Princeton affiliates). The system is called Aeon, and is very similar in look and feel to a system that Princeton has been using some time for interlibrary loan, called Illiad. Aeon allows patrons to keep a record of every rare item consulted, and may "clone" requests to look at an item again that may have been consulted previously. One can also request many items at once without submitting them, putting requests into a "review" status for submission at a later date. One may request to look at an item at a particular day and time, but the item will not be pulled ahead of time. Rare book hours in Marquand remain Mon.-Fri., 9-5, and a spot in Marquand's rare book reading room is not guaranteed. For more information about this new service, please visit this site.