Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Polices and FAQs

• What is Interlibrary Loan (ILL)?
• What is Local Document Delivery?
• Who may use Interlibrary Loan and Local Document Delivery?
• What's the first step?
• What kinds of materials are available?
• What kinds of material are NOT available?
• How long will it take?
• What are the costs?
• What are my payment options?
• How will I be notified?
• How long can I use ILL materials?
• Can ILL materials be renewed?
• Where do I return my ILL materials?
• Are there fines for ILL materials?
• Can I get a dissertation via ILL?
• Who do I contact if I have problems with or questions?
• What are the Copyright laws affecting Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery?

What is Interlibrary Loan (ILL )?

Interlibrary loan is designed to supplement materials available in the Ohio University collections and from other OhioLINK libraries. We belong to a network of several thousand libraries that do cooperative borrowing and lending of materials.

What is Local Document Delivery?

Local Document Delivery is electronic delivery of articles or book chapters owned by Alden Library or the Library Annex that are scanned and delivered to the web in PDF format for patron retrieval.

Who may use Interlibrary Loan and Local Document Delivery?

The faculty, staff, and students of the Athens campus, and members of the Friends of the Libraries of Ohio University (Alden Library).

What is the first step in using Interlibrary Loan?

Before you submit a request to ILL for a book or article you need to:

1. Check ALICE to make sure it is not available locally.
2. For books, check the OhioLINK Central Catalog. If there are no AVAILALBE copies, you can submit your request to ILL. To make the request you need the author, title, publisher, and year.
3. For journals not owned by Ohio University submit your request to ILL. To make the request you need the author, article title, name of journal or periodical, volume, number, date, and pages.

What kinds of material are available?

• Books or copies of book chapters
• Microform material
• Bound Journals usually are not available; however specific articles within bound journals can be requested

What kinds of material are NOT available?

• Materials in high demand at the lending library
• Rare, valuable, or fragile material, including manuscripts
• Materials with local circulation restrictions
• Archival material
• Audio and video recordings (including CDs, DVDs, Videos, etc.)
• Computer programs licensed to the lending library.
• Dissertations and theses
• Materials in special repositories such as law, museum, and corporate libraries

How long will it take?

At least two weeks. Requests filled by another library in Ohio could possibly take less time than requests filled from out of state. Requests filled by foreign libraries usually take longer than two weeks.

What are the costs?

Normally ILL charges are not passed on to faculty, staff or students, but the Libraries reserve the right to assess charges and/or copyright fees if a single request requires a large outlay of funds, or in the case of an individual involved in extensive research or requesting multiple articles from the same journal title. [For Friends of the Library, charges will be passed on to the requestor if we cannot get the item for free.]

What are my payment options if a fee is assessed?

Interlibrary loan fees may be charged to a University departmental account or paid in cash or check when you pick up your material at the Circulation Desk on the 4th floor of Alden Library.

How will I be notified when my request is filled?

By email, unless other arrangements have been made with the ILL department.

How long can I use materials obtained by ILL?

You can usually borrow materials for at least two weeks. Due dates are imposed by the lending library. Due dates and any restrictions are clearly marked on the yellow or buff sleeve attached to your material.

Can ILL materials be renewed?

Yes, unless the item you received says NO RENEWAL on the label. You can request one two-week (from original due date) renewal. Renewal requests must be submitted at least 5 days before the due date. Use the menu choice View/Renew Checked Out Items. If the lending library denies the renewal request, Interlibrary Loan will notify you within 3-4 days. Immediate recall may be necessary if the lending library requests the material to be returned before the due date.

Where do I return my ILL materials?

Please return your ILL materials to the Circulation Desk on the 4th floor with all original paperwork when you are finished. DO NOT use the book drop.

Are there fines for ILL materials?

Yes. The fine for an overdue ILL item is $3.00 per day.

Can I get a dissertation via ILL?

Yes. After you login, choose "Other" on the left side of the main page, then "Thesis/Dissertation" from the horizontal list. Note the other options described below the search form itself. For more information on obtaining dissertations and theses, see our Dissertations and Theses pages.