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How to Use Interlibrary Loan

Submit a request

All current students, faculty and staff automatically have an Interlibrary Loan account. Login to your account and select the appropriate Request Form.

Document: A photocopy, such as a journal, newspaper, or magazine article, map, or conference paper
Loan: A loan of a physical item, such as a book, entire conference proceeding, map, CD, DVD, VHS, or microform
Book Chapter: A copy of a chapter from a book or anthology.
Thesis: A loan of a thesis or dissertation.

Please Note: If the item is owned by the UA Libraries but cannot be found on the shelves, please enter a note indicating that it could not be found in the Notes field.

Once you have submitted the request, it is sent to be processed. We will notify you by email once your request is filled.

Check the status of a request

To view more detailed information, click on the transaction number next to your request.

Cancel a request

Click on the transaction number next to the request you'd like to cancel. Click on Cancel Request.

If your request does not appear under Outstanding Requests, or if the Cancel Request button is not available, please contact us as your request is already in process.

Canceled requests

Typically, an ILL request is canceled for one of the following reasons:

The item is owned by the UA Library
The item cannot be found as cited
The item is non-circulating or currently in use
We cannot locate a library which owns the item
The item is too new and has not been cataloged by a library, or has not yet been published

If the reason for cancellation can be corrected, please follow the instructions provided in the cancellation message. For all other inquiries regarding cancelled requests, please contact Interlibrary Loan.

Access your interlibrary loan

Loans: Notification will be sent to your official university email account when your item arrives. You can then pick it up at the Express Document Center located on the first floor of the Main Library. To check you information, login to your account and click on Tools > View/Change User Information.

Articles: All article requests are delivered to your e-mail. The e-mail will link to a copy of the article in PDF format.

To view your articles requested, Login to your account and select the link to View > Electronically Received Articles.

To view of download the article, click on the transaction number next to it. These articles will remain available for 30 days.

Please Note: If for some reason we cannot obtain an electronic version of your request(s), we will print and mail you the article(s) to the address indicated on your original request.

Renew your interlibrary loan

The front cover strap of your ILL item will indicate whether or not the lender allows renewals of ILL items. Under the heading Please note these lending restrictions,

You will see either:

Renewals OK

No Renewals

If renewals are allowed, follow these instructions to request a renewal of your ILL item.

To renew an ILL item online:

From the UA Library Web page , click on the Interlibrary Loan link.
On the next page, click on Logon to My ILL Account.
Login with your UA NetID .
On the left side of the Main Menu page, click on the Checked Out Items button under the "View" heading.
A list of your checked out ILL items will be displayed.
Click on the Transaction number for the item you want renewed.
Click on the "Renew Request" button immediately above the Transaction Information table. Please Note: if you do not see the "Renew Request" button, either renewals are not allowed, or you are not yet within the allotted 5 day renewal period (see below). if you believe there is an error, please contact us.
You will be notified via email if the renewal was approved or denied.

*Renewals can be submitted no earlier than 5 days before the due date and no later than the actual due date. Most institutions have a default renewal time period that they grant to ILL items. These default renewal times can range from 3 days to 3 weeks, or occasionally even more time, depending on the lending library's policies.

Please Note: The lending library is solely responsible for the decision of how long to extend the due date. The lending library may decide to not renew the material at all, even if renewal requests are allowed.

Please Note: If you submitted a renewal request and have not received a reply, you are still responsible for returning the item by the due date listed on the cover sheet. Overdue material is subject to overdue fees, and possible replacement fees, regardless of whether a renewal request is in process. If the due date arrives and you have not received a response to your renewal request, please contact us regarding the status of your renewal.

Return your interlibrary loan

Please Note: You are still responsible for returning ILL material by the due date listed on the cover sheet regardless of whether or not you have received a courtesy reminder email or overdue notification emails for an item. Overdue material is subject to late fees and possible replacement fees if the item is not returned in a timely manner. Please see the UA Library's fee structure page for more information on overdue and replacement fees.

Please return ILL loan requests to the Express Document Center. If desired, a receipt, which is included with the ILL request can be date-stamped by the Express Document Center to verify an item's return.

If the Main Library is closed, ILL loan requests can be placed in the Main Library bookdrop. However a receipt would not be possible using this method.

Log-in problems

There are a few reasons why a user may not be able to log into the ILL request system:

You are new to the university.
You UA NetID is incorrect or inactive.
You have never used ILL or any library service before, but are a current and valid UA student, staff, or faculty member.
You have an extremely overdue item(s) and have been blocked from the system.
Your regular library fines exceed the maximum $5 limit and have been blocked from ILL.

For reasons 1-3, you will see a message indicating that the system does not recognize you as a student, faculty member, or staff person when you try to log in. If this is the case, please contact the ILL office by phone (621-6438) or email and we will enter your information directly into our system.

For reason 4, you are responsible for the return of the material by the due date. The overdue fine for ILL items is $1.00 per day and applies to all users.

Items extremely overdue (14 or more days overdue) are subject to a $140 replacement fee which will appear in your library circulation record. In addition, you will be blocked from using the ILL request system. If the book is returned after the 14-day period, the $140 can be waived, but you will still be fined a $15 overdue processing fee. Once we receive the overdue items, you will regain access to the ILL request system.

For reason 5, you will need to pay the fine in full, negotiate the fine at the Circulation Desk, or fill out a fines appeal form online. Once the fine is cleared on your regular library account, you will regain access to the ILL request system. For more information please see the Fines and Appeal Web Page .

Printing problems

If you are encountering problems viewing or printing your article(s), please make sure you are following these recommendations:

Download your article and then Save to Disk . This works best if you are trying to access your article via a dial-up or other slow Internet connection. The articles are in PDF format and are rather large, so it is best to download the file completely, save it to an area on your computer's hard drive, and then print or view your articles off-line.

Be sure you have the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC . You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer and we recommend that you have the latest version .

If none of these recommendations help you or fix your problems, please contact us .