Interlibrary Loan Policies

Purpose and Scope

Interlibrary Loan service is available to current students, faculty, staff, and other University of Arkansas affiliates. (Students, Faculty and Staff of the School of Law must contact the Young Law Library for interlibrary loan services.)

The Interlibrary Loan Department supports the research and teaching needs of the University community by providing access to materials not owned by the University Libraries and by managing retrieval of items held in library storage facilities. Research related to outside employment or commercial pursuits is not supported.

The Department is unable to borrow current editions of textbooks or other required course material.

Fees

Interlibrary Loan services are normally provided at no cost to students, faculty, staff, and Cooperative Extension and Experiment Station employees. Others to whom the library has granted paid-for borrowing privileges will be charged what the library is charged if the cost for an item exceeds $25.00.

Fees for lost or damaged items and nonrefundable processing fees will be charged to all users, regardless of status or affiliation. If an item becomes so overdue that the library receives an invoice from the lending library, the charges will be billed to the user. If the missing item is subsequently returned and the lending library accepts it, the fee for the item will be removed from the user’s account. However, the processing fees are nonrefundable and the user will be responsible for those charges in all cases. Unpaid bills over $10.00 will result in the inability to register for classes, receive grades or order a transcript.

Delivery Times

Most articles arrive within 24-48 hours during the work week.

Most loaned items (books, microfilm, media) arrive within 5 working days.

Many factors impact the ability to obtain an item quickly. Some of these are:

Loan Periods

The loan period is determined by the lending library. Overdue notices are sent to you via email. Failure to return materials on time will cause the library to block your privileges and you will be billed for any items that are not returned by the third overdue notice period. Unpaid bills over $10.00 will result in the inability to register for classes, receive grades or order a transcript.

Loan Restrictions

Occasionally, as in the case of rare or fragile material, a lending library will require an item be used in the library only, that it not be photocopied, or that no renewals will be allowed. These conditions will be indicated on the label attached to the item as well as in the email notification message. All lending library conditions will be observed.

"Need By Date"

The Department will continue to try to locate your requested items up until the date you indicate on the ILLiad request form. Please give us a realistic date by which you no longer need the item. Entering ASAP in the "need by date" field will not cause us to process your request faster. All requests are processed on a first-come first-served basis. The best way to make sure we are able to find your item quickly is to give us the most complete citation you can find. Telling us where you found the citation can be of great help in case we need to refer to that source.

Notification

Virtually all communication between you and the department will occur via email. You will receive pickup notices, overdue notices and questions we may have about your request through your University of Arkansas email account. Please be sure to check it regularly.

Recalls

If you receive a recall notice for an interlibrary loan item, please return it to the Interlibrary Loan Office immediately. We will try to locate another copy for you. All materials borrowed through interlibrary loan are subject to recall by the lending library at any time. Failure to respond to a recall notice will result in a block on your library privileges and may cause fines and/or fees to be billed to you.

Renewal Requests

Renewals are granted at the discretion of the lending library. Renewal requests should be submitted via the users' ILLiad account at least three working days prior to the due date. Overdue items cannot be renewed. Items with NO RENEWALS indicated on the label cannot be renewed.

Rush Requests

Copies needed within 24 hours or books and media needed within 5 working days are considered RUSH requests. RUSH requests should be submitted only in extreme cases such as publishing or grant proposal deadlines.

Submitting Requests for a Faculty Member

If you are working for a faculty member, please use that faculty member's ILLiad account to make requests. If you make requests for someone else using your own account, you will be held responsible for the items if they are not returned.

Textbooks

The Interlibrary Loan Department is unable to borrow current semester textbooks. Requests for current textbooks will be forwarded to the appropriate subject selector for purchase consideration.