Tips for Using Interlibrary Loan Service

Timing Your Requests: Locating and receiving books and articles usually takes a few weeks or less, but sometimes takes several months or longer. Service may be slower during busy times, and we are limited in the number of items we can process at once for a single patron. You should try to determine your needs early, and time your requests to allow for delays and to avoid receiving more than you can use in the time allowed for loans. Please note that most libraries will not risk their books in the holiday mails during much of December. Undergraduate students are encouraged to consult with their instructor when using interlibrary loan for short-term projects, since delivery time can be hard to predict.

Documentation: It is good practice to note the sources of your citations as you collect them. Occasionally we need to tell a potential lending library where you found your original reference to a needed book or article, and we -- or you -- may need to refer back to that source to clarify a problem.

Reference Help: Reference librarians will help you use this library to your best advantage, and can assist you with identifying what you need to request on ILL.

Following Up On Your Requests: You can log in to your online ILL account to see the status of your outstanding requests. Occasionally we must ask numerous libraries before we can find one able to supply what you need -- we will give up only if we reach a "dead end" or if your deadline passes. We will notify you if we cannot satisfy a request.

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