Frequently Asked Questions
General Information:
Information about Interlibrary Borrowing (obtaining books not owned by the UW Libraries):
Information about your Interlibrary Loan account
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How does the Interlibrary Loan database work?
You will be using our interlibrary loan database to place and track your requests.
The database offers you many advantages:
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It's easy to submit your interlibrary loan requests. You will need to enter your name, address, and
other personal information only once, when you first register. The information stays on
file for all future requests. You can change or update it yourself at any time.
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You can get information about the status of your request through the Web at any time
without having to contact the Interlibrary Loan office. Just connect to your Interlibrary Loan account
from any computer through which you can access the UW Libraries Home Page.
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You can get many of your articles more quickly through Electronic Delivery.
- All your loans will be available at the Circulation Desk at the UW Library
of your choice. You will be able to pick them up during the hours that the selected Library unit is open.
Of course, you are always welcome to come to our office if you have questions,
comments, or need to talk to our staff. We reccommend that you return borrowed materials
directly to our office, especially if the due date is near. Photocopies can be mailed to your campus address or
picked up at the Suzzallo Library Circulation Desk. The can also be mailed to your home address for a fee.
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All of your checked out Interlibrary Loan materials will appear in your UW Library account,
along with UW and Summit materials you have checked out. In your Interlibrary Loan
account, the status of those UWE borrowed items will be "An ILL In Transit to Pickup Location"
until they are returned to the lender.
Currently registered UW students, faculty, and staff must use their current UWNetID to access the system.
Your UWNetID, or your username and password, allow us to give you secure access to information about your
interlibrary loan requests.
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How do I fill out the request forms?
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Use the book request form to request the loan of books and most microfilmed materials.
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There is a separate form for borrowing theses and dissertations.
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Use the newspaper request form to borrow microfilmed newspapers. Fill out one form for each newspaper title you
want to see, listing all the dates required.
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Use the article request form for journal articles, conference papers, patents, and standards. You may use the
article request form for chapters in books.
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Journal article citations generally follow a standard format. For example: "12(3) June 1999 12-15" means volume 12,
issue number 3, published in June 1999. The article appears on pages 12-15. Putting those numbers in the right
place in the request form is important!
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If an ISSN or ISBN number, or the OCLC accession number is provided in the database entry, please include it in
the space provided.
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Incomplete or incorrect citations delay the process. If you are not sure of information, don't guess. Use
the links suggested below in the "Tips" section to look up an abbreviated journal title. Go back to your database
and retrieve information you left out the first time. When you provide us with a complete, correct citation we
have a much better success rate.
Why does Interlibrary Loan assign an account to me when I register?
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All registered Interlibrary Loan users are assigned a standard account. Unless you authorize payment you
will not be charged for any services. If you fail to authorize charges for a fee-based service
we will cancel the request without taking any other action on it. You may resubmit the request after
authorizing costs.
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How can I get UW Libraries materials delivered to me?
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Interlibrary Loan is a fast, convenient way to get photocopies of articles from journals held in your
home campus library. There is a $7.00 convenience fee charged per journal article. Articles can be delivered by pdf
or mailed to your campus box for free. There is an additional $7.00 charge per article to have them maled
to your home address.
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If you are a currently enrolled, non-resident (distance learning) student, Interlibrary Loan can mail books owned
by UW Libraries or article photocopies to your home address. This may be the most convenient way for you to obtain
materials from the Libraries. There is a $7.00 charge for this service. We do not mail books to a UW campus address.
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Remember, there may be copying and delivery fees associated with these services. Be sure to authorize
billing when you place your requests. Requests for fee-based services which do not authorize the associated charges
will not be accepted.
Services and Costs
Tips for effective use of Interlibrary Loan services
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Provide us with a complete, correct citation. Include the author(s), title, and year of publication for books;
journal title, article author(s) and title, volume, date, and pages for journal article requests.
We have a much better success rate when you provide us with enough information to identify the item.
If you are requesting a fee-based service please remember to authorize charges when filling out your request form.
Requests for fee-based services which do not authorize the associated charges will not be accepted.
Services and Costs
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The following information pertains to interlibrary borrowing; materials not owned by the UW Libraries which are
obtained from other libraries.
How long does it take to receive interlibrary borrowing materials?
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Loaned books, dissertations, or microforms take an average of one to two weeks. Some materials may take longer for
a variety of reasons.
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The current average time for receipt of photocopied materials is 6 days.
- Please be sure to tell us the date after which you can no longer use the item. We will keep trying to obtain
it until this date. Asking for something by tomorrow won't make it happen faster!
How long can I keep the materials?
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Photocopies of articles are yours to keep.
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Materials loaned from other libraries usually have an initial loan period of 3 weeks. Loan periods are determined
by the lending library. Renewals can often be arranged.
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Can I renew interlibrary borrowing materials?
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One 3-week renewal may be requested online at Your Library Account
You may request a renewal unless your loan is marked "Non-renewable". All loans are subject to recall by the lending library.
How many requests can I make?
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There is currently no limit placed on the number of interlibrary borrowing requests which may be submitted per
week. We do ask that you keep in mind the fact that books may be sent for a limited time without possibility of
renewal; please do not request more than you can reasonably use in the time in which they are here. Please call
ahead if you plan to submit more than 25 interibrary borrowing requests in a week.
Can I borrow journal issues and volumes?
Some older journals are available for interlibrary loan on microfilm. A very few bound volumes of older journals
are available for loan. We cannot obtain a loan of a current journal issue; we can get photocopies of
articles for you instead.
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Borrowing Dissertations and Master's Theses
- There is a separate form for requesting PhD dissertations and Masters theses. It is helpful if the name of the
institution granting the degree is included with the author and title of the dissertation.
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We always try to borrow the print version of dissertations and theses, but some are available for loan only in microform.
If you are unwilling to use a microfilm or fiche, please state your preference in the "Notes" field
of the thesis request form. As with other loans, turnaround time is usually 2-4 weeks if the item is on the
shelf. We are able to obtain about 75% of dissertations requested.
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An alternative is to purchase a dissertation from the UMI
Company. You may make your own arrangements to purchase these items.
Turnaround time for UMI's Dissertation Express service (unbound three-hole
punched copies of dissertations) is 3-5 days for $29.50.
Materials published in Proceedings
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If you wish to order a photocopy of an article published in a proceedings,
use the article order form. Some lenders will not loan conference proceedings, so it is always a good idea to
cite the article required even if you would like to borrow the entire proceedings volume. Use the notes field
on the request form to tell us that you would prefer to borrow the volume.
Newspaper loans
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If you want to see information published in newspapers, we can often borrow microfilms of the newspaper. Please use
the newspaper request form and tell us the title, the date range you wish to borrow, and the city and state where
the newspaper was published. Libraries will typically loan only a few reels at a time and will not send out more
until we have returned all outstanding loaned reels. Please keep track of what you have already seen and
place a new request for the remaining dates needed after returning films out on current loan.
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Pickup and delivery options:
- Borrowed materials for UW Seattle patrons can be delivered to most Library locations. Indicate your choice
of pickup location on each request form as you place your request.
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You will need to bring your UW Library card with you when you come in to pick up your materials.
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Materials requested for UW Bothell or UW Tacoma delivery will be sent via courier to those Libraries.
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You will receive one notification regarding your newly arrived Interlibrary Loans. It is a hold pickup notice
generated by the Library circulation system, notifying you when your books are on the hold shelf and ready for you to
check out.
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Materials will be held at the chosen circulation desk for 7 days, as are all other held Library materials.
- Interlibrary loans will appear in your UW Library circulation record. All UW Library regulations and
penalties apply.
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Distance Learners may request that materials be mailed to their home. This option caries a charge of $7.00 per item.
We require all materials mailed back to Interlibrary LOan be sent via a tracked, insured delivery method
(UPS, Federal Express, U.S. Priority Mail).
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Photocopies (not loans) can be delivered to a campus mail box. If you do
not have a campus box, copies may be picked up at the Suzzallo Library Circulation desk. They can also
be mailed to your home address for a fee.
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Material delivered to you electronically is available by clicking on the "View/Download electronically
received articles" button on your Interlibrary Loan account main page.
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If you have questions or comments regarding your interlibrary loans you are always welcome to drop by our office. We are located in Suzzallo Library, ground floor, room 027. You may also phone us at 206 543-1899 or email interlib@u.washington.edu
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How do I return borrowed materials?
- Materials borrowed through Interlibrary Loan can be returned to our office
or handed over to staff at a Library Circulation desk. Please do not return
interlibrary loan materials to dropboxes.
The paper band identifying an Interlibrary Loan book must be left on the cover at all times.
Proxy Borrowers (research assistants who have borrowers cards to be used to check out materials for faculty)
- The proxy account needs to remain separate from the personal accounts of both the faculty member and research assistant. You must already have an official ENHANCED proxy borrower account and card set up by the Library Cashier before registering a proxy account for Interlibrary Loan service.
- When setting up an Interlibrary Loan proxy account for the first time:
- Select the "UW Proxy borrower's" link on the Interlibrary Loan home page.
- Select the "First Time Users" link.
- The account must be in the name of the Principal Borrower, with the proxy borrower listed as the "Person authorized to pick up materials."
- Last name - Principal borrower's last name
- First name - Principal borrower's first name
- Person authorized to pick up materials - name of the proxy borrower
- Username - the last name of the Principal Borrower preceeded by a number.
- Password - anything you choose.
- For questions about obtaining proxy borrowing privileges contact the Library Cashier on the first floor of Suzzallo Library; they are open Monday through Friday. The office hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.; closed on holidays. They can be contacted at (206) 543-1174 or emailed at libcash@u.washington.edu.
- For questions about proxies and Interlibrary Loan, please contact the Interlibrary Loan office at 206 543-1878 or 543-1899 or email interlib@u.washington.edu
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What does it mean if my account has been blocked?
- Your Interlibrary Loan account may be blocked if you have materials more than 2 weeks overdue, or have unpaid fines
from the Library Cashier.
- The block cannot be removed until the overdue books have been returned, or the Library Cashier has cleared your Library account.
- If your ILL account is blocked you will not be able to place new requests, view pdf documents, or request renewals
on your other loans.
- To have the block removed, please contact the Interlibrary Loan office when you have returned all overdue
ILL materials.
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Items that are not borrowed via ILL:
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Materials owned by the UW Libraries unless missing or at the bindery. If the UW material you need is currently checked out, you may be able to request a copy through Summit. In most cases we can get a copy from a Summit library faster than we can recall material from a UW borrower. The UW copy may be recalled; a recall makes the material available to you in 7 to 14 days depending on when it was checked out.
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Books for course reserve use.
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We cannot borrow books from other libraries for individuals not affiliated with the University of Washington.
Items that are difficult to borrow via ILL - many libraries to do not lend the following types of materials:
- Textbooks
- Reference materials
- Books or other items published in the last year. Please consider a Purchase Suggestion.
- Entire volumes or issues of periodicals
- Non-print formats; cds, videos, kits, slides, etc.
- Genealogical and local history materials. Please cite any names or other entries you would like to have photocopied.
- Materials published prior to 1850, archival, rare manuscript, or fragile materials, or newspapers unless available in microform.
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Can I request materials for my own (non UW-related) research?
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Materials for personal or recreational use by UW affiliates may be obtained through Interlibrary Loan for a fee.
Costs for this service are not subsidized by the UW Libraries. You can get the same services for free from your
local public library, but you may request materials through Interlibrary Loan if you prefer to do so.
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Be sure to authorize charges when you fill out the request form.
Services and Costs
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COPYRIGHT law pertains to journal articles
as follows:
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17. United States
Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted
material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and
archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One
of these specified conditions is that the photocopy/reproduction is not
to be "USED FOR ANY PURPOSES OTHER THAN PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP, or
RESEARCH." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or
reproduction for purposes IN EXCESS of fair use, that user may be liable
for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse
to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order
would involve violation of copyright law.
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Last modified: Wednesday February 20 2008
