The mission of the Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Department is to facilitate access to materials not owned by the Furman University Libraries. This is done in support of the study and research needs of current students, faculty and staff of Furman University. As part of its mission, the department will explore and utilize alternative avenues of access to remote resources (i.e. full-text databases, commercial document delivery sources and current awareness services.) Obtaining materials often involves requesting them from other institutions world-wide. As part of a larger interlibrary loan community, the ILL/Document Delivery Department will in turn loan needed items from our collection to other institutions.

Who can use Interlibrary Loan services?

ILL/Document Delivery service is for use by current students, faculty and staff of Furman University. These services are not available to alumni, Friends of the Library or FULIR students.

What can be borrowed?

The ILL/Document Delivery Department will ATTEMPT to acquire any type of material needed including media (videos, film, sound recordings), and sheet music in addition to books and journal articles.

ILL should not be used as a substitute for purchasing textbooks. Loan periods are typically 2 - 4 weeks, not an entire term.

Some dissertations are available for loan. If we are unable to borrow a dissertation, it may be possible to purchase the dissertation from a commercial document delivery service. The fee is $10 per dissertation.

There is no charge for standard ILL/document delivery service.

Acquiring copies (journals, book chapters, etc.) takes, on average, 5 days. Acquiring books and sheet music takes, on average, 10 days.

Are there deadlines for submitting ILL requests?

The deadline for submitting requests for books and other loaned items is 14 days before the terms ends. On average it takes 10 days to acquire loaned items. Requests for books and other loaned items needed for the current term will not be processed after the deadline.

The deadline for submitting requests for articles is 7 days before the term ends. On average, it takes 5 days to acquire copies. Requests for articles needed for the current term will not be processed after the deadline.

Special circumstances must be brought to the attention of the Interlibrary loan department. If it is possible to obtain an item after the deadlines, a $10 per item fee will be applied to offset the cost of rush delivery.

Can I renew an ILL item?

It depends. The lending library determines the length of a loan and whether any renewals are allowed.

Renewals can be granted only at the discretion of the lending library. Contact the Document Delivery office at least 5 days prior to the due date to request a renewal, as most institutions will not grant a renewal if the due date has already passed.

Most institutions will only grant one renewal per item, so multiple renewal requests are discouraged.

Any items marked "No Renewals" by the lending library are not eligible for renewal requests and must be returned by the due date.

All patrons are charged $1 per day per item for any ILL items that are not returned or renewed by the due date. Once an item has been returned, any overdue charges will be calculated and added to the patron's record in ALCUIN. Patrons will receive a notice stating the amount of overdue charges accrued for each overdue item.

Patrons are responsible for noting the due dates and will not receive courtesy due date reminders.

Renewals can be granted only at the discretion of the lending library. Contact the Document Delivery office at least 5 days prior to the due date to request a renewal, as most institutions will not grant a renewal if the due date has already passed.

Most institutions will only grant one renewal per item, so multiple renewal requests are discouraged.

Any items marked "No Renewals" by the lending library are not eligible for renewal requests and must be returned by the due date.

Additional ILL Policies

• In order to ensure equitable service, the ILL/Document Delivery Department reserves the right to process no more than 10 requests per person per week.
• Rush requests must be brought to the attention of the ILL/Document Delivery Department Staff.
• The patron is responsible for items lost or damaged while in their possession. Since the library's relationship with other lending institutions is negatively affected when items are lost or damaged, patrons will be charged the cost of the item plus a $25 bill fee. Payment of lost item charges does not transfer ownership of the item to the patron. Library charges not paid are referred to the Business Office for collection.
  
• Only in special circumstances will we process requests for items owned by Furman University Libraries.

Before Placing an ILL Request

1. Check ALCUIN (the library’s online catalog).
   ALCUIN QuickSearch
   Title Keyword Subject Author ISSN/ISBN  

2. Check PASCALCAT to see if the book you want is available at another South Carolina academic library through PASCAL Delivers.

3. Check the E-Journals List (List of Online Journals) to see if the article you want is accessible electronically.

• Interlibrary Loan requests must be made using one of these methods:

• via the ILL Online Request Form,

• by emailing citation(s) to the ILL/Document Delivery Department (document.delivery@furman.edu).

• When submitting requests for journal articles, include the complete journal title, not the abbreviation. If you are unsure of the journal title, ask a Librarian for help or consult one of the following web sites:

• All That Jas (Journal Abbreviation Source)
• Medline

• Please include your name, email address and phone number on any correspondence sent to the ILL/Document Delivery Department.

• Items requested can be picked up at the Circulation Desk in the James B. Duke Library.

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 specified 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 institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order, if in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

• The Document Delivery Service Desk is open during normal library hours.

• The ILL/Document Delivery office is open from 8-5 Monday through Friday. Call or come by the office during these hours to check into the status of a request, or to discuss a special request.

   

ILL/Document Delivery Online Request Form

 

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This page maintained by Laura Baker