Inter- Library Loans

Introduction

The inter library loan system provides access to material not held in the College Information Store. It should be used after you have searched and used College resources thoroughly. Staff and students eligible to use UEAlibrary should also check and use their stock. We will not be able to obtain for you on interlibrary loan material held at UEA. Remember that many articles in journals are available online in full text or as an abstract. Both staff and students can use the inter library loan service, but the material requested must be for college work or research. As there is a charge to the Information Store for this service we ask you to check our stock carefully.

Be selective in choosing which items you require
Try not to submit large numbers of forms at any one time. This may result in your receiving more items than you may work on at the same time.

There is a small charge, currently £2 for each request. This needs to be paid when the request is made. No refund is given unless the item can not be processed due to lack of information, because the item is not available in the U.K., or because our Advisers have been able to find the information online.

Request forms

Request forms may be obtained from the Information Storeon the main campus or at Norfolk House. In order to provide the item you want as quickly as possible, it is vital that all the information requested is provided and that the form is filled in legibly.

The copyright declaration on the back of the form must be signed. It should also be noted that current copyright rules mean that we can only request one article per issue of a journal. If you need more than one article from the same issue we will ask for the whole issue.

Journal databases sometimes give references to articles in foreign languages; often the abstract may be in English but not the full text. If an English translation only is wanted please mention this on the form.

Completed forms should be handed in to the Library Resources Adviser on duty at the Enquiry desk along with payment. These will be checked to make sure that the request is not for an item held in stock and also that the request is relevant and essential to your work.

How many requests?

You may have a total of 10 requests outstanding at any one time. Books that are on loan to you are counted as an outstanding request until they are returned. Photocopies are no longer outstanding once they have been given to you.

If you have unpaid fines we will not be able to process your interlibrary loan requests; please make sure you have cleared any debts!

How long will it take?

Once your request has been received by inter library loan staff bibliographic details are checked. Then staff search library catalogues to find a supplier.

Obtaining an inter library loan takes time, usually 7 working days, sometimes longer. Books may be already on loan to another library in which case we will be added to a waiting list. You will be notified if there is a delay and asked if you are willing to wait. If you do not respond within 10 days it will be assumed that you wish to cancel. Sometimes one library will refer us to another and again you will be asked to confirm that the item is still needed.

If you have provided an insufficient or incorrect reference you will be asked to provide a copy of your source. It is always a good idea to keep a note of such details.

Receiving items

You will be notified when the item you want has arrived. The item must be collected from the Information Store. Please do so promptly as books will be on loan for a definite period and renewals are rarely possible.

Books are normally loaned to us for three weeks. There may then be another three weeks automatic renewal subject to recall. However, these details vary from item to item. Renewals are only made in exceptional circumstances and requests must be made at least five days before the return date. Please consult the information given to you inside the book and do not remove any labels or slips. Occasionally, books are loaned to us on condition that they are only consulted in Information Store. In these circumstances, we cannot make exceptions.

If you request books during the vacation you must be prepared to collect and return them on time. Readers often hand in requests at the beginning of the summer vacation when the items are not wanted until September by which time we may have returned them to the lending library. In such situations, given that we usually pay a fee for each loan,we will not repeat the request.

You may keep photocopies of articles. We can, in some circumstances, forward copies of articles to you electronically. There are rules relating to copyright which must be adhered to when using secure electronic delivery (SED). Articles may be printed once only, must not be copied, stored or altered.

Returns

Please return books on or before the return date. The overdue notification is not a reminder but is sent out when the item is very overdue and must be returned immediately to avoid fines. Some libraries make very heavy charges for overdue items: all such charges will be passed on to the reader.

You must return items to the Information Store at City College. Do not send them directly to the supplying library even if they are late. The current charge for lost books is over £140 and this charge is passed to the reader.

Books borrowed on inter library loan must be treated with care and returned on time. Not following these rules could jeopardise our chances from borrowing from a library in the future.

If you have any queries about this service please contact the inter library loan section inthe Information Store on tel: 01603 773052.