Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery: Borrowing Policy

We will try our best to get you the materials that you need, but there are a few exceptions to what we can borrow from other libraries.

Please don't hesitate to ask us if you have a question about borrowing something.

What we are able to borrow?

• Books, book chapters, journal articles and other materials (such as government documents) that are owned by participating lending libraries in the contiguous U.S. are eligible for ILL.

Things we may not be able to borrow through ILL, though we will definitely try:

• Theses and dissertations.
  • There are usually only few print copies of these and they are owned by the library of the university where they were published.
• Recently published items (less than a year).
  • If it just came out, then other libraries likely won't have copies for us to borrow yet.

Items that CANNOT be borrowed through ILL:

• Things we already own at any of the TU libraries. (Either in print or electronically)
  • Try checking our catalog, Summon, or the journal list to see if we own it.
• Current textbooks.
  • This includes test preparation or review materials and required reading for classes.
• Bestsellers and mass market paperbacks.
  • If it's really popular here, then it's probably popular there too.
  • If you think it would be a good addition to our collection, then you can suggest we order it.
• Books that are really old, rare or fragile.
• Most eBooks/Digital books.
• DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs or other media.
• Entire issues/volumes of periodicals or conference proceedings.
• Musical scores.
• Non-circulating materials (reference books, dictionaries, archival materials, special collections, etc.).
• Patents, standards, specifications, technical papers.

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  How long can I keep the books that are borrowed through ILL?

• Articles:  An electronic version of your article will be delivered to your ILLIAD account. You will be notified via e-mail that your article has arrived. You will need to log into your ILLIAD account and then click on the link for “Electronically Received Items”. It is highly recommended that you either print the article or save it to your device. ILL articles are only available for approximately 7-30 days. If there are missing pages or other problems with the article, please notify us within 7 days after the article is posted to your account.
• Books and other printed materials:  The lending library determines the length of the borrowing period—so it will vary from one library to another. When we receive an item through ILL, the due date is already assigned. The due date is included on the slip that is attached to the front cover of the book. 
• IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU RETURN THE BOOK ON OR BEFORE ITS DUE DATE. Failure to return ILL books by their due date may result in a NON-REFUNDABLE fine that is equal to two times the replacement cost of the book. In addition, your ILL privileges can be suspended, temporarily or permanently.

How many items can I borrow through ILL?

• There is no set limit on the number of items that can be borrowed through ILL at any given time, however, we limit processing of requests to 10 items per patron per day. Also, copyright limits may impact how many articles can be borrowed from a journal.

In instances where the patron’s use of ILL has been restricted, ILL staff will work with patron directly to resolve problems with misuse of ILL privileges.

List of instances that can result in restricted use privileges (this is not exhaustive):

• Patron damages or loses ILL books
• Patron fails to respond to communications sent by ILL staff regarding overdue ILL loans
• Patron repeatedly duplicates article requests
• Patron habitually keeps ILL loans beyond the due date
• Patron refuses to return ILL items
• Patron repeatedly requests electronic materials with citations that cannot be verified or linked to an existing record
• Patron has been billed on their McFarlin Library account for lost or overdue library items​

IMPORTANT: All instances that result in restricted use are determined on a case-by-case basis. You will be dutifully notified of any issues regarding your ILL privileges.