Interlibrary Loan (ILL) FAQ

Log in to interlibrary loan.

If this is your first ILL request, enter your Network ID and passphrase to complete your profile.     

What you will need to provide:                                                                      

• Name
• Address
• Indiana University Email (<username>@indiana.edu or <username>@iu.edu email).
• Library ID number (your 14-digit library barcode number).       
• Status at IU (for example faculty, staff, or student).   
• Department (undergraduates, this corresponds to your major; or, if undecided choose UDIV).  

You will also select mail or electronic delivery. 

After you register, you will be prompted to log in with your Network ID (username) and password. You will then reach the ILL Main Menu where you can make your request.

Request Article Delivery

If a copy of an article or a book chapter is owned only in print on the Bloomington campus, we will scan it and deliver it to you electronically. We will notify you via email when the document is available. 

InterLibrary Loan Requests  
Use ILL to request an item not owned by the IU Library system.

You can request books, microfilm, microform, conference proceedings, music scores, dissertations, CDs, and videos. You can also request articles and chapters from journals, conference proceedings, and anthologies.

Distance Education Document and Book Delivery Requests
We will send books to the address provided in your Document Delivery profile. Delivery of Bloomington-owned materials usually takes one to two weeks. We do not lend books from other libraries for distance education students.

Materials may be returned in person, by U.S. mail, or courier. Graduate students may borrow circulating materials for 120 days. Undergraduate students may borrow circulating materials for 45 days. There are exceptions, so be sure to check the due dates for each item delivered. 

As a general policy, we will not fulfill requests for any book currently available in a library on the IU Bloomington campus. If a book title is available on another IU campus, please request it through IUCAT.

Other items may be requested through Document Delivery Services.
 

To review your requests, log in to your ILL account on the Document Delivery Services website.

Scroll down to "Account Information" where you can:

• view and edit your outstanding requests.

• view items that you have received electronically.

• view due dates and renewal options for items that you have checked out. 

• view your completed requests. 

• view items that have been cancelled either by you or the Interlibrary Loan staff. You may resubmit these items with more complete and/or accurate information. 

Recently published books are often in demand at the libraries that own them, so they are harder for us to get from the lending library. You may suggest the purchase of such materials for the IUB collections. 

When?

The time to receive an item varies; 70% of articles/chapters and 55% of books are received in 7 days or less. When several libraries must be contacted before an available copy is located, the process may take longer. Requests that must be sent internationally may take longer than this average. 

Where?

We will deliver books or other physical items to faculty's campus mail addresses, or we will send a notification to your IU email that your item is ready to be picked up. Distance Education Document and Book Delivery Requests will be delivered to the address in your profile.

You may pick up books and other physical items at the Herman B Wells Library Circulation Desk on the first floor of the East Tower. This is also where you should return items.   

Photocopied/scanned material, such as a journal article or a book chapter, can be viewed and downloaded via the Document Delivery Request system. We will notify you via email, and then, you can log in to your account and find your materials under "View/download electronically received articles."

The loan period for borrowed material is set by the lending library and is indicated on a date due slip in the book. Users can renew ILL books if the lending library allows it, but not all items are renewable. To renew ILL items, log in to the Document Delivery Services website and navigate to “View/renew checked out items.”

You should be particularly careful to honor due dates on ILL materials so that we can maintain good relationships with lending libraries.

We will send any overdue and/or recall notices via email. You will be billed for non-returned overdue items, and library privileges may be suspended until materials are returned. If you continually disregard due dates, you will not be allowed to request items via ILL.

The lending library may impose restrictions on the use of ILL materials. For example, some materials must be used inside the library and may not be taken home. Some do not allow photocopying. Some require the signature of readers of unpublished dissertations. You should not let others use the borrowed books unless special arrangements have been made.