Interlibrary loans
What is the ILL service?
If you are unable to find the material that you need in the University Library, we may be able to borrow it from another library on your behalf through the Interlibrary Loans service. We have access to the British Library as well as other public, university and specialist libraries.
Who can use the service?
This service can be used by all University students and staff.
How much does it cost?
The Library covers the actual cost of the item which averages £6.00 for journal articles and £10.00 for books. We charge a £2 non-refundable contribution towards these costs at the time of the request.
Teaching staff and researchers may be able to charge this cost to their department. Please ask at the library enquiries desk when making your request if you wish to do this.
How long does it take?
Items normally arrive within 3 to 10 days. However, this can depend on how long it takes to locate the item, demand in its home library and the time it takes to arrive. Please allow as much time as possible for us to obtain the item for you.
How long can I borrow the item?
Journal articles are provided to us as photocopies. They are yours to take away and keep.
The loan period for other items depends entirely on the lending library. Items can usually be issued to you for between 3 and 6 weeks. You will be informed of its due date when you collect the item. The due date will also be noted in the front page of the book. The book can be recalled by the lending library at any time. If this happens we will email you and ask you to bring the book back as soon as possible. If a book is recalled you will not be able to renew the item and in the case of the British Library your due date will be shortened by 3 weeks.
If the item is rare or precious you might not be able to take the book out of the Library. This is called a consultation loan and the lending library sends the item to us with the understanding that we will not let it go out of the building with a user. You come to the desk to have it issued to you for reference use in the building only and it must be returned to the desk when you have finished. The book is usually still given to us for 3 to 6 weeks depending on the lending library.
Can I renew ILL items?
Renewals must be approved by the lending library. Please contact us at least 3 days before the item’s due date if you would like us to request a renewal. We will contact you when we have a reply.
There is a £2.50 charge for any renewal, which is charged to your account and will be payable on your next visit to us. If the renewal request is declined, you must return the item to us before the due date or fines will be incurred at 20p a day.
How/when will we contact you?
All correspondence will be sent via email to your University account unless you specify otherwise.
So how do I request items?
Come into the Library and ask for an order form from the issue or enquiry desk. Please note the £2 service charge is payable on request of an order form.
In order for us to locate the item, it is important that you give as much accurate information as possible. You may also wish to supply us with a copy of the reference source. If you can’t give us a copy of the reference source, there is a section on the form that says “Where did you find out about this book?”. Please put here the name of the book or article where you found the reference. This helps us to look up the citation to check for any information you may have not realised we needed. Please ensure that you give us your name, borrower number, and contact email address. It is also helpful if you provide us with a date of when the item will no longer be of use to you (i.e. your assignment deadline). This allows us to prioritise orders during very busy periods.
If you are ordering a journal article be sure to read and sign the copyright declaration on the back of the form.
Before submitting any requests, please check that we do not have the item already in stock using the library catalogue and EBSCO A-Z. If you are unsure how to use either of these please contact the Library enquiries desk or your subject Librarian.
Whilst we endeavour to provide our staff and students with the items requested, there are rare occasions when it is not possible. Sometimes an item is too rare or valuable for a library to lend to us, or sometimes it is in too much demand by their own users. On such occasions we regret that we cannot refund the service charge, as the library still incurs charges for submitting requests. We are also unable to refund the charge if the item is found to be available in the library. It is therefore important that you check we do not have it in stock. If you are in any doubt, please contact the library enquiries desk before requesting an order form.
What if I’m a distance learner and need to use the service?
We try to be as flexible as possible for our distance students. The interlibrary loans team are willing to do the following if you need an item but can’t get in to the Library to get a request form:
Book request:
Send us an email with the author, title, year, publication information and any volume or edition information that is important. We can add the charge of £2.00 to your account which will have to be paid next time you are in. Please note that we won’t send the book on to you when it comes to us. You will have to come to in to have the book issued to you.
Article request:
For copyright reasons you must sign the declaration that is on the back of our request forms. Email us your address so that we can send you a request card adding the £2.00 charge to your account. When we receive the article we can post it on to you. Please specify on the request form if you would like us to do this.