Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery (ILDD)

While the majority of requests are successful, it's very important to keep in mind that submitting a request does not guarantee that it will be filled. Reasons you may receive an unfilled notification:

      -None of our lending partners own the item

      -The lending partner may have policy restrictions that prevent lending the copy. This is more common with physical items like books

If you feel you have received an unfilled message by mistake or if you have questions, please contact the library.

Most ILDD requests are filled within 24 hours, however, there are times when a request can take longer, especially if the information needs to be altered in order to locate the correct resource. If you are filling out the blank form, be sure to input the information as correctly and completely as possible to avoid delays.

Some items may be difficult to obtain via ILL, such as:

• Recently published works
• Best-sellers
• Special Collection materials
• Genealogical Materials
• Audiobooks
• Videos

Check Other Sources

Before making a request, it may be helpful to check other resources like the library catalog, databases, and even Google Scholar to see if it is available. In the event the library owns the loan or article you need, you can access it immediately rather than waiting for another institution to process your request.

Include ISBN or ISSN

If you fill out the Blank Form, providing as much information as possible is helpful in processing requests in a timely manner. If you know the ISBN or ISSN number of your book or article, please include it in the request form. Our ILL tool will be able to search automatically for your document with the help of this number. You could then receive your electronic document even when the library is closed.

If you are not sure what a journal's ISSN is, you can look for it in Ulrichsweb, a database you can find on the A-Z Databases page. Simply put the journal title in the search box and the journal will come up with complete information on ISSN, publisher, formatting, and more. 

Include a Complete Chapter Title and Number

When requesting a book chapter, be sure to include a complete chapter title, the chapter number, and even a page range if you have it. Since only one chapter can be requested due to copyright restrictions, if the chapter is not clearly specified, your request could be delayed or even canceled.

Include a DOI or PMID

If you are requesting an article and using the blank form, try to include the DOI or PMID if possible. If you have one of these and put it in the Blank Form, you will see a little icon to the right of the text box that says "Auto Fill." If you click it, it will generate the other citation information based on that DOI or PMID and save you some time. When including the DOI, be sure to only include the actual DOI number and not the "https://doi.org/"  at the beginning, which is the URL that takes you to the article (for example, put 10.26443/mjm.v20i2.852 and not https://doi.org/10.26443/mjm.v20i2.852).