Interlibrary Loan

If the Rod Library does not hold the material you need, the ILL staff will try to get it for you.

Process

When you submit an Interlibrary Loan request, an Interlibrary Loan staff person will perform a search of thousands of other library catalogs to find the item you need. We make every effort to obtain the material free of charge. If a title cannot be located in a library which lends materials free of charge, you will receive an email notification of the cost. You must agree to pay the charges before the title is ordered.

Once the item is located in another library's collection, we will submit your request in compliance with the library's requirements. We receive about 90% of all materials requested.

Request Item Through Interlibrary Loan

Availability

Interlibrary Loan service is available to currently enrolled graduate students, undergraduate students, faculty, staff and emeritus.

Interlibrary Loan Lending of materials from Rod library is available only to other libraries or institutions. Individuals interested in requesting materials from our library should contact their local public, academic or corporate library. Our lending policies are available via the OCLC policies directory or on our Website.

Picking Up Requested Materials

Materials ordered through Interlibrary Loan may be picked up at the Library Services Desk with a UNI ID any time the library is open or in some cases delivered via e-mail. Borrowers are notified through their UNI e-mail account as soon as the material is received.

Guidelines

Items Not Available Through Interlibrary Loan

The National Interlibrary Loan Code states that most libraries will not lend rare or valuable material; bulky or fragile material; material in high demand at the lending library; material with local circulation restrictions; or unique material difficult to replace. Experience has shown that the following materials are also not available:

very recent or popular titles
entire issues or volumes of periodicals
dissertations available for purchase elsewhere
National Technical Information Service microfiche
long runs of newspaper microfilm
genealogical items.

Recent textbooks are not available on Interlibrary Loan.

E-Mail Notifications

The library uses your UNI e-mail address for delivery of all notices. If you prefer to use an e-mail address other than your UNI account, login to your ILLiad Account and enter your preferred e-mail address in the patron information section.

Renewals

A renewal of the loan may be requested unless the lender has specifically indicated "no renewals". If a loan needs to be renewed, the user should ask for a renewal two days in advance of the item’s due date so the permission to renew may be obtained from the lender. Visit the Interlibrary Loan office or phone 273-2912 to request a renewal.

Cost

Books and articles obtained from most Iowa libraries are provided to UNI without charge, but many out-of-state libraries charge from $5.00 to $30.00 for lending a single title and often as much for photocopying an article. Charges for borrowing books will be passed on to faculty and staff. Photocopy charges will be passed on to all patrons.

Time Requirements

There is typically a seven to ten day turnaround time on each request. Place orders for research materials well in advance of the time they are needed. Requests cannot be handled on a “rush” basis. If you have time restrictions please fill in the "Not Wanted After Date" on the electronic form.

Maximum Number of Requests

Patrons are limited to 25 requests per week.

Users of the ILL service must abide by Rod Library's copyright restrictions policies.

Loan Periods

The loan period for books, microform, and other non-photocopy items is determined by the lending institution. Overdue items are assessed fines established by the lending library.