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Interlibrary Loan Processes at DBL: ILL Policies

Information about ILL processes at DBL.

Copyright Notice

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

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 specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose 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 copyright notice should be included on/with every COPY  that is provided to patrons or other libraries

  • if the item is sent as a PDF email attachment, include this statement in the email
  • if the item is printed on paper, use the copyright notice stamp on the paper

Patron ILL eligibility

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service is an integral part of the Dulaney-Browne Library mission. Interlibrary lending allows the library to borrow library materials which are not owned by the Dulaney-Browne Library from other libraries. Most interlibrary loan requests are for books or journal articles, but we also borrow (and lend) audio-visual materials, scores, and more, though these other items may be more difficult to obtain. The National Interlibrary Loan Code, agreements with other libraries, and the copyright law govern the borrowing of these materials.

All current students, current employees (faculty and staff), and emeritus (retired) faculty of Oklahoma City University may borrow materials. However, if a patron’s borrowing privileges have been suspended due to overdue items or unpaid fines, interlibrary loan request privileges are also suspended. Alumni and courtesy card users do NOT have interlibrary loan privileges.

  • Patrons may request items from other libraries through interlibrary loan requests made through WorldCat or EBSCO databases or through the online ILL request forms on the web page. If they need additional assistance, patrons can contact any librarian, or the ILL Borrowing Specialist.
  • Patrons sign for all interlibrary loan items when they are picked up.
  • Returnable interlibrary loan items are checked out through WMS and the due date is modified to match the due date set by the lending library, which is indicated on the paper band placed around the item.

Misuse of the interlibrary loan service will result in fines and/or suspension of interlibrary loan privileges. Examples of misuse include:

  • Failure to return books on time.
    • There is a $.50/day fine for overdue interlibrary loan materials. Repeated offenses will result in the suspension of interlibrary loan privileges.
  • Failure to pick up requested ILL materials.
    • Repeated failure to pick up requested materials will result in the suspension of interlibrary loan privileges.
  • Requesting class textbooks available in the bookstore.
    • The Interlibrary Loan Specialist will notify the patron that textbook borrowing is not permitted.
  • Using interlibrary loan in place of materials available at the Dulaney-Browne Library or through its online resources.
    • Again, the ILL specialist will explain the limitations to the patron.
    • If there is a legitimate need to have a physical copy of a book for some reason, instead of an e-book, those will be considered on a case-by case basis by the Access Services Librarian..
    • Also, if DBL owns an item but it is lost or missing, we will usually try to obtain the item through ILL until a replacement copy can be purchased.

 

Patron ILL Costs

The Dulaney-Browne Library offers interlibrary loan as a service to students, faculty, and staff to supplement the materials that the library owns or leases. The library budget supports the basic costs of this service, including staff time, mailing or courier costs, and up to $15.00 in fees imposed by the lending library. Interlibrary loan staff members will make every effort to request items from libraries that do not charge a fee. However, if a fee of over $15.00 is necessary to receive the item, the ILL Borrowing Specialist will contact the relevant liaison librarian to vet the request. The liaison librarian will evaluate the request, consulting the requesting patron if necessary, and determine whether the library will pay any additional amount over $15.00. If the library will not pay the amount that is in excess of $15.00, the requesting patron will be notified of this before the request is placed, and has the option to cancel the request instead if they do not wish to pay.

The library staff may choose to order items requested through interlibrary loan for the library’s collection rather than request it through interlibrary loan. This will generally be the case for audiovisual items (CDs and DVDs) which are not available from “free” lenders and that are available for $14.00 or less through Amazon.

Interlibrary loan items that are returned late by patrons are charged $.50 per day, per item. We want to remain on good terms with lending libraries (or they will be reluctant to lend in future) and therefore feel it is reasonable to charge late fines to encourage timely return of items borrowed from other libraries. Lost borrowed ILL items are charged whatever the lending library charges us; this may include processing and/or late fees as well as replacement costs.

Types of Lending Requests

Other libraries across the U.S. (and sometimes internationally) can make requests for us to lend them items that they do not have. ILL requests can not be made by individuals; they must come through a library, preferably OCLC. International requests are considered on a case-by-case basis; check with the Access Services Librarian.

Copies: Requests for articles from journals or newspapers, book chapters, etc. Sometimes these already exist in electronic format (from journal databases or e-books); other times they will need to be scanned at the printer/copier or from microfilm or microfiche.

Loans: Requests for physical materials such as books, music scores, and audiovisual items like music cds or video dvds. We do not loan items that are on reserve (course reserve or permanent reserve), are reference materials, or that are archival materials (exception: we will loan the second copy of a thesis if we have two, with the restriction of in-library use only). If in doubt, check with the Access Services Librarian.

Note: We cannot loan e-books or streaming video or audio through ILL. The system is set up to auto-deflect requests for these items.

Lending Requests Made via Email

Occasionally we will get a request to lend an item via email, or even telephone. This usually occurs if the borrowing library is an international library, or if the item being asked for is of a type that we don't usually lend, such as a thesis. We will consider those on a case-by-case basis, but because our policies are set to auto-deflect such requests, the borrowing library has to contact us by email.

If the request is being made over the phone, ask the borrowing library to ALSO send an email, so that we have a record of it. You can evaluate the request as you are talking to the other person, and give them a verbal answer, but they should send a follow-up email after the conversation.

Print the email request. See what kind of item is being asked for, and if any of our policies cover it. Use the link in the WS-ILL tab to the OCLC Policies Directory--it should open with our library information, or enter OSZ which is our institution's symbol and search if it does not--and click over to the Policies tab.

Copies:

  • Archival items:
    • We will make physical or electronic copies of archival material if the original item will not be damaged by copying, AND subject to copyright restrictions.
    • Check with the Archivist to make sure requests for archival material can be filled before giving the requesting library an answer.
  • Audio-visual materials:
    • We will NOT make electronic copies of any AV materials (music, video, etc.), whether we own it as a physical item or streaming.

Loans:

  • International loans:
    • We will generally fill physical loan requests from Canada. For requests from overseas (e.g. Europe, Australia), consult with the Library Director.
    • For loans to Canada, we will loan for free if they loan for free to us; otherwise we charge what they charge. For loans overseas, we will charge the borrowing library for the shipping costs OR what they would charge us, whichever is greater. You can estimate what those would be using the international shipping price estimator at the USPS website
    • If we have to charge for an international loan, we can only accept IFM payments. We do not accept IFLA vouchers.
  • Special items loans:
    • We do not normally loan archives items at all. The only exception is theses, which we will only lend if we have two copies. Theses that are physically loaned are loaned for in library use only. Use the copy from the tech services area. If we do not have a second copy, we may be able to scan and send part or all of the thesis instead; consult with the Archivist to see if this is permitted or if copyright restrictions prohibit it in that particular case.
    • Reference items are not normally loaned either. If a library asks to borrow an item from our reference collection, consult with the Library Director and /or the librarian for that subject (for instance, if the request is for a Biblical commentary in the reference collection, consult with the Theology librarian).
    • Items on course reserve are not loaned on interlibrary loan until they come off course reserve.
    • Items on permanent reserve, such as the special dvd collection, some testing prep books, etc., are treated like reference items. Consult the Library Director.

If the borrowing library can place the request in WS-ILL, they should. We then handle it as usual.

If the borrowing library cannot place the request through WS-ILL for some reason, for instance it's an item type set to auto-deflect, there is an established process in place in OCLC to handle Off-System Requesting. It is important to follow this process so that such loans appear in our monthly statistics.

Copying Rules

If the article we are providing is available electronically (e.g. as a .pdf file, for articles or e-book chapters), you must determine if we are allowed to lend it electronically or not. These are the rules:

Electronic lending allowed:

  • EBSCO databases: journal articles can be sent via Article Exchange, email, fax, or US mail.
  • JSTOR database: journal articles can be sent via Article Exchange, fax, or US mail, but not email.

No electronic lending allowed (items must be printed and mailed):

  • ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database: one printed copy of a specifically requested thesis or dissertation. These must be sent via physical mail; no e-lending or fax.
  • Early English Books Online (EEBO) database: one printed copy of a specifically requested pamphlet or other work. These must be sent via physical mail; no e-lending or fax.

No ILL allowed

  • ACS (American Chemical Society) publicationsJournal of Chemical Education (no ILL is allowed from that journal at all).

Ebook chapters:

  • EBSCO &JSTOR permit ILL of a single ebook chapter (sending the same ways as noted above). However, ebooks (and also theses/dissertations, and EEBO pamphlets) are set to auto-deflect in OCLC. If contacted directly by the borrowing library, we will send those.

For any articles that we have as physical items (paper or microform, in basement storage), we will scan and send electronically. We will also scan and send electronically chapters of physical books that we own. The rule of thumb for the amount of a book that can be scanned for ILL lending is 1 chapter or 10% of the book.

If you get a request where you are unsure whether lending is allowed, or unsure about what format is permitted for lending, check with the Library Director.

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